WWARN Reception at ASTMH conference
Many thanks to all who attended the event that was jokingly referred to as WWARN's First Birthday Party. Carol Sibley introduced Philippe Guerin as the Executive Director of the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network and Tom Kanyok as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Program Manager. Brief descriptions of scientific goals were presented by Ric Price, Karen Barnes, Bill Watkins, Chris Plowe, and Dominic Kwiatkowski. Ric Price and Grant Dorsey gave a demonstration of the prototype web application, showing its current utility and explaining some future goals.
The next year will be crucial to the success of WWARN. Realizing the full potential of WWARN depends entirely on groups contributing their data and taking advantage of analysis tools. Resistance data with adequate geographic, temporal, and demographic representation are key for optimal use of antimalarials. Expanding upon the prototype database requires input from all interested parties. In order for standardized protocols, data analysis tools, and results to be helpful to policy makers, WWARN needs intellectual contributions from a variety of researchers and policy makers.