The CArdioMEtabolic at LSTHM research interest group (CAMEL) works to increase the profile of cardiovascular disease and diabetes research conducted at the LSHTM and MRC units, promote collaboration across research groups, and strengthen the quality and impact of cardiovascular disease and diabetes research from the LSHTM and MRC units. Activities include regular meetings and seminars to present ongoing projects, provide feedback on proposals and connect with other researchers.

Anyone interested in joining or to know more can email CAMEL@lshtm.ac.uk

CAMEL sub-groups

13-30 Blood Pressure Research Interest Group

The 13-30 blood pressure research group has recently been established to convene researchers at or affiliated with LSHTM, who work on research which focuses on hypertension in young people in sub-Saharan African settings. Young people aged approximately 13-30y are under-represented in existing evidence and international recommendations for this age group are weak. The group aims to provide a platform for sharing of ideas and support for common challenges, in order to identify research priorities and explore opportunities for future collaboration.

For anyone working in this area and interested in joining the group - please contact kalpana.sabapathy@lshtm.ac.uk cc'ing camel@lshtm.ac.uk

The next virtual meeting is on 4 September 2024.

Point-of-Care (PoC) Diagnostics for NCDs Research Interest Group

The Point-of-Care Diagnostics for NCDs group is a new special interest group within the CGCC and CAMEL. The burden of NCDs is increasing across the globe but access to tools for diagnosis and monitoring of NCDs, especially in low-resource settings, is not sufficient. Point of care diagnostic tools present a potential solution. This group will connect researchers within or affiliated with the LSHTM community who are interested in the development, validation and implementation of PoC tools across all NCDs and in all settings. The group will create a repository of tools to align efforts and facilitate ongoing research and proposal development.

The next meeting is planned for September 2024.

If you are interested in learning more about this group, or in joining please contact alexander.perkins@lshtm.ac.uk cc’ing camel@lshtm.ac.uk.

The Cancer Interest Group (CIG) promotes sharing of ideas and collaboration between cancer researchers at LSHTM. The group welcomes anyone interested in cancer research and meets every 3-4 months to share and discuss relevant cancer research. For more information about the interest group email Clare.Gilham@lshtm.ac.uk.

Multimorbidity broadly describes the coexistence of multiple health conditions in an individual. It magnifies the physical, psychological, social, and financial consequences of ill health, and exposes the limits of approaches to health and care organised around single diseases. The burden of multimorbidity is increasing globally, and presents a particular challenge to fragile health systems in low and middle income countries.

The multimorbidity research special interest group is open to LSHTM-affiliated researchers, their partners, and collaborators, working on topics related to multimorbidity. Reflecting the cross-cutting nature of multimorbidity-related research, the group membership includes people from a wide variety of methodological disciplines and disease areas.

Our aim is to provide opportunities for networking and promote collaboration; increase the visibility of multimorbidity research; and ultimately strengthen the quality and impact of multimorbidity research. Our activities include meetings for group members, as well as seminars which will be open to all, and advertised though the CGCC mailing list.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the group, please sign up for our mailing list here. If you would like to hear about our seminars, please sign up to the main CGCC mailing list here.

The NCDs in Humanitarian Settings Special Interest Group collaborates with partners to improve NCD care delivery in humanitarian crises, including fragile health systems, disaster and conflict settings. We have launched a knowledge hub to present the ongoing work in this area and to collate the key resources accessibly in one place. The knowledge hub acts as a repository for clinical, operational and M&E guidelines and tools, training materials, research publications and projects, and events around NCDs in humanitarian settings. The repository will be continuously updated with emerging resources and research to keep it relevant to the community.