MAL-ED: A Network for the Study of Malnutrition and Enteric Diseases
Poor nutrition is linked to more than half of child deaths  worldwide and to acute and chronic morbidity for children in the developing world. The MAL-ED program will study the relationships between malnutrition and enteric infections, and their consequences. It is a five-year multi-site project administered by the Foundation for NIH and the Fogarty International Center, supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of approximately $30 million.
Malnutrition and diarrheal diseases are linked in a complex, vicious cycle: under-nutrition contributes to the severity of disease caused by intestinal infections, and infection affects the gut’s capacity to absorb nutrients, thus contributing to further malnutrition. By developing a clearer picture of this relationship, the study hopes to facilitate the design of betterintervention strategies.
The study will be conducted across eight sites, all using the same or harmonized protocols, in an effort to answer three questions:
- Whether specific enteric pathogens or combinations of
pathogens have stronger associations with malnutrition than others;
- Whether there is a particularly vulnerable period in infancy/early
childhood during which specific enteric infections cause greater morbidity; and
- Whether results from one locale can be extrapolated to
other populations based on common environmental and biological determinants.
MAL-ED will conduct epidemiological, microbiological, physiological, immunological and psychological tests;
integrate the data and develop models and tools for other researchers to use. The MAL-ED network will also
collaborate with other projects to determine genetic factors and the contribution of normal gut flora to susceptibility to
malnutrition and its consequences.
Related Links: MAL-ED Website Contributors
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