McCord Research Foundation Presents Michigan State University Merritt Lab with Grant To Study Buruli Ulcer

IOWA CITY, Iowa (November 17, 2008) –The McCord Research Foundation (www.mccordresearch.com), today presented the Aquatic Entomology Lab at Michigan State University—commonly referred to as the Merritt Lab—with a grant for $143,000. The grant will help the Merritt Lab continue its mission to study and identify the causes and routes of transmission of Buruli ulcer, a skin disease prominent in many parts of Africa. A portion of the grant will also be used to develop education and family support programs aimed at teaching families how to identify and seek medical intervention for the ulcer in its early stages.

The McCord Research Foundation grant enhances the funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Infectious Disease section to conduct a five year study investigating possible links among biting aquatic insects, water quality, landscape and Buruli ulcer transmission in Ghana. The NIH grant was awarded to Michigan State University, with a subcontract awarded to the University of Tennessee.

“Buruli ulcer is a devastating disease affecting thousands of children throughout west Africa, particularly in Ghana,” said Dr. Richard Merritt, Professor of Entomology, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. “The McCord Research Foundation’s generous grant will help to support research into how this horrific disease is transmitted. It will also allow us to work with staff in the country itself to establish an education program assisting parents to identify the presence of the ulcer in their children. We’re hoping to eliminate the stigma associated with Buruli ulcer and get families to take action early, reducing the often painful suffering and isolation that goes along with contracting the disease.”

“We are honored to fund the excellent work Dr. Merritt and his team are undertaking with regard to Buruli ulcer” said Darlene McCord, Ph.D., FAPWCA, of the McCord Research Foundation. “This disease ruins entire families’ lives, and the more we know about it, the better chance we have of stopping it. I have already invested my own research energy into creating a topical wound care product that can effectively treat and heal the ulcer once it’s established. My hope is that my treatment will become obsolete, and that no child will have to suffer the physical and social hardship associated with contracting Buruli ulcer,” she continued.

The bacteria responsible for Buruli ulcer—Myocobacterium ulcerans—is a genetic cousin to the one that causes leprosy and tuberculosis. Like leprosy, patients with Buruli ulcer can develop painful and unattractive sores on their body that can eventually cripple and even kill them.

More common in children then adults—about 70 percent of those with the disease are younger than 15 years old—Buruli ulcer mainly affects children in poor, rural areas. If left untreated, the ulcer can spread and painful scar tissue develops. The disease also destroys the social and emotional lives of school-age children because they are isolated from family and friends. Most aren’t even allowed to attend school, due to their condition.

"The McCord Research Foundation grant will help ensure that Dr. Merritt, his students and other researchers have the resources needed to continue their work to eradicate Buruli ulcer," said Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “This partnership between MSU and the McCord Research Foundation will have a tremendous impact on the quality of life in communities throughout Africa. It represents how universities and foundations can work together to effectively address a health crisis in ways that no one organization can do alone."

About the Merritt Lab

The Aquatic Entomology Lab at Michigan State University, better known as the Merritt lab, is a group of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as post-doctoral and research associates, who study and research the ecology of aquatic insects under the direction of Dr. Richard Merritt. The Merritt lab functions under the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University, where Dr. Merritt recently served as Chairman from 2002-2008. Mollie McIntosh, a postdoctoral research associate, and Ryan Kimbirauskas, a Ph.D. graduate student, are members of Dr. Merritt’s team, committed to researching Buruli ulcer.

About McCord Research Foundation

Established in 2008, the McCord Research Foundation is the philanthropic arm of McCord Research, supporting programs and causes close to the heart of McCord Research founder, Darlene McCord. The Foundation currently funds activities in three areas: athletics at the University of Iowa; research fellowships in the University of Iowa biosciences department; and independent labs working on researching Buruli ulcer. The Foundation’s unique Pennies Have Power program utilizes the fundraising skills of children helping children, by empowering gradeschoolers to raise money to help Ghanaian children suffering with Buruli ulcer . To find out more about how your school or group can get involved with Pennies Have Power, go to www.mccordresearch.com.