AHRI hosts international experts for a
new clinical trial to assess treatments
for cutaneous leishmaniasis
Armauer Hansen Research Institute(AHRI) hosted a productive consultative and kickoff of workshop for a new research project, MAMS4CL: A Multi-Arm, Multi-Stage Clinical Trial for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, funded by Global Health EDCTP3. The workshop was held 15-1 7October, 2025 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia.
The workshop brought together the consortium members from Europe and Africa: the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom), The Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (Belgium), Uppsala University (Sweden), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI,Ethiopia), Wollo University (Ethiopia), and Arba Minch University (Ethiopia).
For our stakeholder consultation, we welcomed key representatives from the National NTD program, the World Health Organization Africa Office (WHO-AFRO) and WHO’s Ethiopia country office. We were also joined by international and national experts with a wealth of experience in research and treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis from Drugs for Neglected Tropical Diseases initiative (DNDi), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF-Holland), the University of Tunis, Addis Ababa University, Arba Minch Hospital, ALERT Hospital and Boru Meda Hospital.
Dr. Sagni Chali welcomed Prof. Afework Kassu (AHRI DG) who delivered an opening speech to begin the expert consultation. He welcomed the attendees and thanked them for coming together to address the global challenge of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Mr. Tesfahun Bishaw, NTDs programme lead in Ministry of health (MOH) Ethiopia, set the scene by giving an overview of the national context.
Dr. Endalamaw Gadisa, Senior Scientist at the AHRI’s malaria and NTDs division, outlined the national burden of leishmaniasis, current treatment options, and the capacity of the Ethiopian health system to tackle the disease.
Prof. Michael Marks and Dr. Yohannes H/Michael presented important findings fro mthe SHARP project, which explained the unfavorable outcomes of the routine care for cutaneous leishmaniasis, low cure rate, lack of evidence on optimal treatments, and impoverishing catastrophic cost of care and care seeking attached to it.
A key outcome of the expert consultation was the consultation discussed chemotherapeutic options, as mono or combination therapy, safety and efficacy outcomes, inclusion and exclusion
criteria.
In addition to the consultation, the consortium members also held an internal workshop to get to know each other, share knowledge across disciplines, and plan for the project. This was followed by fruitful presentations on project’s various work packages (Clinical trial by Dr Saskia van Henten, pharmacokinetics by Dr Wendy Chu, health economics by Prof Catherine Pitt, and social science by Prof. Jennifer Palmer) by theconsort ium members. On the final afternoon, Consortium member institutions held an internal meeting to discuss how to consolidate findings, integrate capacity building into the project, and consortium management structure.
The workshop was adjourned by an appreciation and heartfelt thanks by Dr Endalamaw Gadisa to all experts, consortium members, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health for their contributions and collaboration.