Perspectives on Strengthening Cancer Research and Control in Latin America Through Partnerships and Diplomacy: Experience of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Global Health.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, are the leading causes of preventable and premature death in the Americas. Governments and health care systems in Latin America face numerous challenges as a result of increasing morbidity and mortality from cancer. Multiple international organizations have recognized the need for collaborative action on and technical support for cancer research and control in Latin America.

Canada-United States-Mexico Trilateral Cooperation on Childhood Obesity Initiative.

Childhood obesity is an important public health problem that affects countries in the Americas. In 2014, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Member States agreed on a Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents in an effort to address the impact of this disorder in the Americas region. The interventions laid out in this regional plan are multi-faceted and require multi-sectoral partnerships.

Towards sustainable partnerships in global health: the case of the CRONICAS Centre of Excellence in Chronic Diseases in Peru.

Human capital requires opportunities to develop and capacity to overcome challenges, together with an enabling environment that fosters critical and disruptive innovation. Exploring such features is necessary to establish the foundation of solid long-term partnerships. In this paper we describe the experience of the CRONICAS Centre of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, based at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, as a case study for fostering meaningful and sustainable partnerships for international collaborative research.

Training and Capacity Building in LMIC for Research in Heart and Lung Diseases: The NHLBI-UnitedHealth Global Health Centers of Excellence Program.

Stemming the tide of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide requires a multipronged approach. Although much attention has been paid to disease control measures, there is relatively little consideration of the importance of training the next generation of health-related researchers to play their important role in this global epidemic. The lack of support for early stage investigators in low- and middle-income countries interested in the global NCD field has resulted in inadequate funding opportunities for research, insufficient training in advanced research methodology and data analysis, lack of mentorship in manuscript and grant writing, and meager institutional support for developing, submitting, and administering research applications and awards.

Tackling NCD in LMIC: Achievements and Lessons Learned From the NHLBI-UnitedHealth Global Health Centers of Excellence Program.

Effectively tackling the growing noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) is a major challenge. To address research needs in this setting for NCDs, in 2009, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and UnitedHealth Group (UHG) engaged in a public-private partnership that supported a network of 11 LMIC-based research centers and created the NHLBI-UnitedHealth Global Health Centers of Excellence (COE) Program. The Program's overall goal was to contribute to reducing the cardiovascular and lung disease burdens by catalyzing in-country research institutions to develop a global network of biomedical research centers.

Management of NCD in low- and middle-income countries.

Noncommunicable disease (NCD), comprising cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are increasing in incidence rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Some patients have access to the same treatments available in high-income countries, but most do not, and different strategies are needed. Most research on noncommunicable diseases has been conducted in high-income countries, but the need for research in LMICs has been recognized.

HIV and noncommunicable cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases in low- and middle-income countries in the ART era: what we know and best directions for future research.

With the advent of effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV is becoming a chronic disease. HIV-seropositive (+) patients on ART can expect to live longer and, as a result, they are at risk of developing chronic noncommunicable diseases related to factors, such as aging, lifestyle, long-term HIV infection, and the potential adverse effects of ART. Although data are incomplete, evidence suggests that even in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are increasing in HIV-positive patients.

Grand challenges: Integrating mental health care into the non-communicable disease agenda.

In the third article of a five-part series providing a global perspective on integrating mental health, Victoria Ngo and colleagues discuss the benefits and requirements of collaborative care models, where non-communicable disease and mental health care are integrated and provided in the primary care setting.

Systems and capacity to address noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are increasingly getting attention from different forums, including media outlets, health agencies, and the public and private sectors. Progress is being made in addressing NCDs, though more slowly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as compared with high-income settings. Here, we offer an analysis of the challenges faced in LMICs.

Recipes for creating animal models of diabetic cardiovascular disease.

For more than 50 years, investigators have unsuccessfully tried to recreate in experimental animals the cardiovascular complications of diabetes seen in humans. In particular, accelerated atherosclerosis and dilated cardiomyopathy, the major causes of mortality in patients with diabetes, have been conspicuously absent in many mouse models of the disease. Under the auspices of the NIH, the Animal Models of Diabetic Complications Consortium has worked to address this issue.

Vasopressinergic regulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and stress adaptation.

Vasopressin (VP) stimulates pituitary ACTH secretion through interaction with receptors of the V1b subtype (V1bR, V3R), located in the plasma membrane of the pituitary corticotroph, mainly by potentiating the stimulatory effects of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH). Chronic stress paradigms associated with corticotroph hyperresponsiveness lead to preferential expression of hypothalamic VP over CRH and upregulation of pituitary V1bR, suggesting an important role for VP during adaptation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to stress. Vasopressinergic regulation of ACTH secretion depends on the number of V1bRs as well as coupling of the receptor to phospholipase C (PLC) in the pituitary.

Regulation of vasopressin V1b receptors and stress adaptation.

Vasopressin (VP) regulates pituitary corticotroph function by acting upon plasma membrane G-protein receptors of the V1b subtype (V1bR), coupled to calcium-phospholipid signaling. The number of these receptors in the anterior pituitary varies during stress in direct correlation with corticotroph responsiveness, suggesting that the V1bR plays an important role during adaptation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to stress. The molecular regulation of pituitary V1bR involves transcriptional and translational mechanisms.

Translational regulation of the vasopressin v1b receptor involves an internal ribosome entry site.

Posttranscriptional mechanisms play an important role regulating pituitary levels of vasopressin V1b receptors (V1bR) during adaptation to stress. This study investigates the involvement of an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the 5'untranslated region (5'UTR) on V1bR translation. Transfection of bicistronic luciferase constructs into MCF-7 cells showed marked increases in translation of the second cistron after insertion of a 499-bp fragment of the V1bR 5'UTR in the intercistronic region, independently of cap-mediated translation, indicating the presence of IRES activity.

Transcriptional regulation of the pituitary vasopressin V1b receptor involves a GAGA-binding protein.

The role of CT repeats (inverted GAGA box) in the rat vasopressin V1b receptor (V1bR) promoter in the transcriptional regulation of this gene was studied in H32 hypothalamic cells, which express endogenous V1bR. Transfection of a 2.5-kb V1bR fragment (2161 bp upstream and 377 bp downstream of the proximal transcriptional start point) into a luciferase vector (V1bRp2.