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.