Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has established and launched Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA) India on the eve of World Malaria Day 2019. The vision of the scheme is to initiate a Trans-institutional research alliance for evidence-based support to accelerate malaria elimination in India. The overall goal is to bring together all stakeholders working on malaria including researchers, health-care professionals, government and non-government organizations, public health representatives, policy makers under one roof.
The key objectives of MERA India are
i) to prioritize research to address gaps and challenges,
ii) to orchestrate research with stakeholder engagement,
iii) to promote and facilitate planning and conduct of prioritized research and
iv) to translate and disseminate research into impact.
Research Challenges Associated with Malaria Elimination in India
The Thematic Working Groups (TWG) meetings on the following subjects
a)Epidemiology and Parasite Biology
b) Vector Biology and Control, identified and recommended the following priority areas to be listed in the 1st call for proposals under MERAIndia.
ELIGIBILITY: Individuals holding permanent positions inMedical colleges/ universities, educational and research institutes, NGOs, industries
HOW TO APPLY: Duration of the research proposals should be preferably up to two years. All projects involving research on human beings/animals must be cleared by the Human ethics committee/Animal ethics committee of the respective institute.Interested applicants are required to email the concept proposal to meraindiaicmr@gmail.com. The format for preparing the concept proposal is given below. Our advisory panel will review the submitted proposals and shortlisted applicants will be contacted to submit the detailed proposal.
IMPORTANT TIMELINES: The last date for submission of concept proposals is 31st October 2019 till 5.00 pm. The result of the shortlisted applicants will be displayed on ICMR and MERA India website on 15th November 2019. The last date for submission of detailed proposals by shortlisted applicants is 15thDecember 2019 till 5.00 pm. Result of the selected projects for funding will be displayed on or before 15th January 2020.
