Impacting Global Health Through Equipment Repurposing: Measurable Progress Through the Accumulation of Many Tiny Victories

There is an active and growing effort occurring in laboratories throughout Africa to research the underpinnings of endemic communicable diseases, many of which are considered “neglected tropical diseases” as defined by the World Health Organization. Across the continent, scientists, doctors, health care workers, and students investigate the in vitro activity of pharmacologically active extracts against known pathogens in hope of discovering new treatments for the diseases that affect the local population. During the summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to visit laboratories in 3 different countries engaged in this area of research through participation in the Merck Fellowship for Global Health (Merck is known as Merck, Sharp & Dohme outside of the United States and Canada.), in which Merck sponsors employees on a short-term sabbatical to work with a global health-focused nonprofit organization. This commentary describes the objectives of the fellowship program, the specific project to which my co-fellow and I contributed, and the story of a subsequent equipment donation effort that was inspired by my individual fellowship experience. It also captures a few of the more notable challenges and opportunities for the scientists in the laboratories we visited. Finally, for the reader who may be curious as to how she or he can contribute, I hope to move you to action by highlighting some of the opportunities for researchers to positively and creatively impact global health from their “home” lab benches and hoods.