International organizations

International organizations have been involved in many of these activities, including the ministries of health of the countries concerned, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Oxford University and Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou in Paris. In Canada, we are working with Dr. Annie-Claude Labbé of the Université de Montreal and Dr. Eric Frost from our own department to conduct diagnostic tests supporting these projects. Dr. Frost’s laboratory is currently working on the detection by nucleic acid amplification of some fifteen pathogens potentially involved in bacterial vaginosis, using specimens from over 1500 women recruited in four west African countries. Involvement in international health may also take the form of an elective research internship in molecular biology.

The post-doctoral program also encourages international clinical internships organized on a case-by-case basis. In recent years, residents from the program have done internships at the Medical Research Council Laboratories in Gambia, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a primary health care facility in Mali. A resident has also taken the Gorgas Course in Tropical Medicine in Lima, Peru (unfortunately, this option requires substantial personal financial resources).

In addition, Dr. Louiselle LeBlanc, an Assistant Professor in the Infectiology Department, is currently working in Rwanda on an HIV treatment project organized by the University of Maryland with USAID funding.

On a more local level, the Infectiology Department has developed, in collaboration with the Pediatrics Department and the health and social service centre of the Sherbrooke University Geriatrics Institute (CSSS-IUGS) and with funding from the Regional Agency, an infectious diseases screening program for recent immigrants who come to Sherbrooke from developing countries (approximately 1000 per year). This program will be operational in early 2009 and will increase our senior residents’ exposure to tropical pathologies during their outpatient internships.