The World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Public Library of Science (PLOS), and other experts have identified a diverse group of tropical diseases that disproportionately affect disadvantaged populations, women, and children, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America (i.e., the Global South). These neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are categorized by a lack of research funding and preventative measures. NTDs additionally pose surveillance challenges, as many are highly asymptomatic with long incubation periods. Efforts and resources to mitigate the burden of NTDs pale in comparison to global campaigns to combat diseases like tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. Yet the burdens of NTDs are significant, resulting in approximately 200,000 deaths annually, billions of dollars in economic loss, lifelong health consequences, and social stigma. NTDs have only recently become a global health priority, and more research is critically needed to improve targeted interventions, education, and treatment.
The goal of this special issue in Frontiers of Epidemiology is to stimulate novel research that studies NTDs using geospatial science approaches. Modern epidemiology increasingly incorporates spatial paradigms, which can greatly improve key findings and public health implications of NTD research due to the inherent nexus between health and place. We hope to publish high-quality research from authors all over the world that covers a diverse range of NTDs, such as dengue and chikungunya, Chagas, Hansen's disease (leprosy), schistosomiasis, trachoma, and others. We especially invite scholars to contribute research who live and work in the Global South or low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the vast majority of NTD burden is located. Submitted papers should highlight spatially-explicit methodologies, such as spatial or spatiotemporal statistical modelling, geographically-weighted regression, Bayesian statistics, spatial network analysis, ecological niche modelling, remote sensing, geovisualization techniques, geostatistics, and mixed-method and/or qualitative approaches.
We invite authors to submit original papers that can range from research articles, review papers, short communications, or policy and practice briefs. Example topics/themes can include the following: retrospective or prospective analyses of NTD outbreaks; novel geovisualization techniques to communicate key findings; co-occurrence of numerous NTDs in high-risk regions; research and policy agendas; knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of populations at-risk of NTDs; predictive modeling; impact of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria co-morbidity; disparities in health care accessibility; the use of high-performance computing to analyze complex and massive spatiotemporal data for the discovery of relationships and patterns between NTDs and the environment; data science approaches such as data mining and machine learning; and longitudinal analyses of cohorts affected by NTDs.
More info here.
Abstract Deadline: Nov 1st, 2022
Manuscript Deadline: March 1st, 2023
Any questions can be sent to the co-editors:
Dr. Michael R. Desjardins, Johns Hopkins University (mdesjar3@jhu.edu)
Dr. Catherine Lippi, University of Florida (clippi@ufl.edu)
Dr. Irene Casas, Louisiana Tech University (icasas@latech.edu)
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