Scientific Views

2023 marked a year of significant progress for Penta. In the face of ongoing infectious disease challenges, our team leveraged innovative approaches and fostered strong collaborations to deliver impactful outcomes.

This article was written by Alasdair Bamford and Anna Turkova, senior researchers at MRCCTU at University College London and Penta ID Network members. It is taken from Penta’s 2023 Annual Social Report.

In this interview, we speak with Prof. Ali Judd, who co-chairs Penta’s Scientific Committee and is a renowned expert in paediatric infectious diseases. Dr. Judd is playing a key role in shaping Penta’s approach to emerging infections and child health.

In this article, Dr. Alasdair Bamford and Dr. Anna Turkova, both senior researchers at MRCCTU at University College London and Penta, offer valuable insights into Penta’s impactful strategies.

This article was written by Eleanor Namusoke Magongo, Team Lead Pediatrics and Adolescent HIV Care & Treatment AIDS Control Program, Ministry of Health Uganda. It is taken from Penta’s 2022 Annual Social Report.

This article was written by Laura Mangiarini, Penta Foundation Chief Operations Officer. It is taken from Penta’s 2022 Annual Social Report.

This article was written by Philippa Musoke, Penta ID Network ODYSSEY Co-investigator in Uganda. It is taken from Penta’s 2022 Annual Social Report.

Hilda Angela Mujuru, member of the Penta ID Network, gives an account of HIV in children in the early days, and highlights the importance of Penta’s work in improving the lives of children with HIV.

Paolo Palma talks about Covid-19 vaccines and the absence of an HIV cure.

Prof. Timo Vesikari, a vaccine specialist, answers some questions around the research on COVID-19 vaccines and the implications they may have on children.

Pablo Rojo, and Anna Turkova – members of Penta ID network have provided some rationale, and highlighted some challenges related to including adolescents in HIV clinical phase 3 trials of antiretroviral drugs in their co-authored commentary in the Journal of the International AIDS Society.

On July 9th 2020, Martina Penazzato presented at the plenary session on Pediatric HIV at the 23rd International AIDS Conference.
We met with her and asked for her thoughts on what Penta can do to continue the fight against paediatric HIV, particularly in light of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Antimicrobial resistance is responsible for half of all sepsis-related deaths in newborns in hospital. Babies which survive these type of infections face the possibility of neurodevelopment deficits. There is an urgent need to prioritized neonatal infection research in terms of diagnosis, prevention and treatment options for severe neonatal bacterial infections.

The burden of neonatal sepsis is particularly felt in India: incidence and fatality rate are very high if compared to high resource countries. Moreover, causative agents are often multidrug-resistant bugs. Policy makers, researchers, funders must work together to find the answers needed to improve clinical outcome of newborns in low-resource settings.

Penta has used its years of experience and learning in the field of HIV, and taken this approach into the antimicrobials field. Penta’s approach is unique because Penta works both in infection prevention and treatment. It is through this that Penta can make progress in improving clinical outcomes and reducing children’s mortality worldwide.

Penta’s holistic approach to severe infections makes our strategy unique. Penta works both on mother and child, working to prevent mother-to-child transmission, but also on the identification of optimal treatment for infected babies .

Listen as Dianna Gibb and Anna Turkova discuss the results of the ODYSSEY trial and the treatment of paediatric HIV with Peter Hayward of the Lancet HIV