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Founded: 2014, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

204 members, from 91 institutions and 28 countries

The redeLEISH Network brings together leishmaniasis experts in Latin America to increase collaboration and maximize existing resources and expertise in areas where serious gaps exist.

The network promotes the sharing of information on treatment, diagnosis, and development of clinical trial design for cutaneous leishmaniasis. It also enables the exchange of technical and scientific knowledge among participants, and it contributes to the implementation of strategic policies and research priorities. Through the mapping of possible research centers and the implementation of training in Good Clinical Practice, redeLEISH also strengthens institutional capacity for clinical research.

A web forum facilitates the exchange of information and technical discussions to support the implementation of clinical trials in the region. It was created in 2015 as a virtual tool to integrate its members and to promote dialogue among them, as well as to update the progress and implementation of clinical trials, provide documents and publication sharing and generate discussions on the challenges in the development of and access to treatments for cutaneous leishmaniasis.

redeLEISH Manifesto

redeLEISH released a manifesto during the WorldLeish 7 conference in August 2022 calling on the scientific community and health authorities to prioritize the need to develop simple diagnostic techniques for cutaneous leishmaniasis.

InfoLEISH newsletter 7th edition

Previous InfoLEISH newsletters

Newsletter No. 6, July 2022
English Español Português

Newsletter No. 5, October 2021
English Español Português

Newsletter No. 4, July 2019
English  Español Português

Newsletter No. 3, June 2018 
English  Español  Português

Newsletter No. 2, May 2017
English  Español  Português

Newsletter No. 1, May 2016
Español  Português

Platform updates

2019 Highlights

  • Data-sharing project, with support of WHO-TDR, to collect information on routine CL treatment efficacy in children up to 10 years of age and elderly people in order to provide evidence and make recommendations to the national leishmaniasis programmes of Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru for case management
  • Facilitated the development of consensus among investigators to reduce the follow-up time to assess treatment efficacy for CL patients included in clinical trials, from 180 days to 90 days
  • Preparation of a Phase III CL clinical trial in five sites in Bolivia, Brazil, Panama, and Peru
  • Collaborative project of four RedeLEISH sites in Brazil to conduct a clinical trial to assess efficacy and safety of a drug combination for mucosal leishmaniasis

2018 Highlights

  • 62 people trained in Good Clinical Practice at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, in collaboration with DNDi, and 30 on leishmaniasis in a multicountry training.
  • Conducted clinical trial to assess efficacy and safety of a drug combination for mucosal leishmaniasis
  • Supported the creation of the first association of leishmaniasis patients in Brazil (ABRAPLEISH)
  • Supported the third edition of the ‘Brazilian Patients Forum against Infectious and Neglected Diseases’ during the 54th Brazilian Congress of Tropical Medicine (MedTrop).
  • With WHO/TDR, supported harmonization of criteria for cutaneous leishmaniasis clinical trials and conducted a systematic review to assess therapeutic response and relapse rates.

2017 Highlights

  • Launch of a manifesto, signed by 143 investigators and civil society representatives, for mucocutaneous leishmaniasis to raise the awareness of the scientific community and policy makers of the urgent need for more research for this very neglected form of leishmaniasis.
  • Co-organization of the ‘Brazilian Patients Forum against Infectious and Neglected Diseases’ during the 53rd Brazilian Congress of Tropical Medicine (MedTrop).
  • In coordination with TDR/WHO, supported efforts on the harmonization of criteria for clinical trials in cutaneous leishmaniasis and conducted a systematic review to assess therapeutic response and relapse rates.

2016 Highlights

  • Completion of a collaborative research project of species identification conducted in Pará, Mato Grosso, and Acre (Brazil), and preliminary results presented during annual meeting.
  • INFOLEISH, the network’s first newsletter was launched in May

2015 Highlights

  • Originally created as a Brazilian network of investigators, in 2015, redeLEISH was extended to include reference centres and experts from other Latin American countries.
  • The second meeting was held in Medellin, Colombia, with the collaboration of PECET (Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases/ University of Antioquia), and Ruta N Medellin. This meeting had more than 65 representatives from 35 institutions, among them 17 reference centers from 8 countries (Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico), representatives of PAHO, TDR/WHO, FIOCRUZ, and of the Colombian and Brazilian Ministries of Health to identify the capacity of clinical research in Latin America and to consolidate the framework of collaborative projects. Furthermore, the agenda included a discussion towards the target product profile of a rapid diagnostic test for CL.
  • A Webforum was created, to act as a virtual platform that could serve as a real space to share experiences in leishmaniasis.

Contact the redeLEISH network