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A simple dipstick assay for leprosy: development, evaluation and application
Bührer-Sékula, S.
Publication date
2000
Link to publication
Citation for published version (APA):
Bührer-Sékula, S. (2000). A simple dipstick assay for leprosy: development, evaluation and
application. s.n.
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Acknowledgements s
Performingg the work presented in this thesis was only possible thanks to the contribution off a huge number of people, with special reference to the school children survey in which aroundd 25,000 people were involved, including teachers, parents and children. I am gratefull for the human spirit I saw during the past years. Without the great help of so manyy of you, this work would never have been possible. I always enjoyed working with people.. During the last few years I became conscious about how much we can share and gainn from each other.
First,, I would like to express my gratitude to the study population who agreed to participatee in these studies.
II would like to thank my promoter Prof. Dr. William Faber for his assistance and guidance.. I would like to express my appreciation to the special support that he gave me duringg the school children survey in Brazil. I thank my Brazilian co-promoter Dr. Euzenir Nuness Sarno who gave continuously encouragement and assistance. I specially want to thankk Dr. Paul Klatser my co-promoter in The Netherlands. I appreciated and enjoyed workingg with him. It was always nice to know that at any moment I could go to his office withh a question. He influenced me very much in my research during these years. I almost panickedd when he was appointed as the Head of the Biomedical Research Department of KITT and realized that his time would be much too short for long discussions. In the end it turnedd out to be a positive change, I am forever indebted to him.
II express my gratitude to Dr. Linda Oskam for having spent so much of her time discussingg the work with me. Her support and advice in the last phase of the thesis preparationn is much appreciated.
II would like to thank all my colleagues at KIT. It is really special to be able to say that in ourr department I got help from everyone. From the moment Jannet van Leeuwen joined mee in the preparation of the school children survey (SCS) she gave a lot more than just herr best. Jannet and also Nel Kroon where relentless in their efforts when assisting in the testingg of thousands of samples from the SCS. To both of them I am most thankful. II also want to express my sincere gratitude to the ones that as volunteers, here in the Netherlands,, joined the fight against leprosy and dedicated their time to help a friend. A speciall thanks to Isabel Vöhringen who dedicated many weeks helping me with the schooll children survey. Without them, organizing the material would have been much moree difficult.
II am grateful to Dr. Henk Eggens for encouraging me to participate in the International Coursee on Biomedical Research Development (ICBRD). I express my appreciation to all 109 9
thee people from the Netherlands Leprosy Relief (NLR) in special Helga Dietrich, Daan Posteenn and Bert Zielhuis for their support. I would like to thank Erik Slim for all the fruitfull discussions we had.
Thiss work would not have been possible without the cooperation and support from Brazil. II am indebted to Dr. Maria Leide Wand-Del-Rey de Oliveira and Dr. Gerson Fernando Mendess Pereira who supported my studies in their role as 'Coordenador(a) Nacional de Dermatologiaa Sanitaria'. Their recommendations for collaboration made it possible to performm the studies presented in tree chapters of this thesis. Without their help it would nott be possible to build up the necessary relevant networks in Brazil enabling the studies inn Brazil. I would like to extend my words of thanks to the dedicated staff of the Brazilian Nationall Leprosy Control Program.
II am thankful to Dra. Maria Aparecida de Faria Grossi, Enfa. Marizete Altoe Puppin, Dra. Heloisaa Helena Ramos Fonseca and the staff of the State Leprosy Control Programs in Minass Gerais, Espirito Santo, and Santa Catarina. I also want to express my gratitude to alll the workers and coordinators of the Control Programs as well as the Education Departmentt staff involved in the studies. I am much indebted to the medical doctors that participatedd as project leaders in every state. They performed a great deal of work organizingg and executing the field activities in their states. We gained a lot from Dra. Elisabetee Santos Madeira's ability of organizing fieldwork in Espirito Santo. Her knowledgee helped us when planing and executing in the other states too. It was encoragingg to have Dra. Rita Lecco Fioravanti and the students from the Faculdade de Farmaciaa e Bioquimica do Espirito Santo performing enthusiastically the fieldwork. I am especiallyy grateful to Dr. Marco Antonio Dutra for caring on alone the last phase of the
fieldworkfieldwork in Minas Gerais. Some special words to Dra. Magali Chaves Luis for her dedicationn to the study despite of being so busy with her patients and the preparation of
herr own thesis. I also thank the students from Santa Catarina that participated in the SCS. II would like to express my gratitude to the support received in the Laboratório de Hanseniasee at FIOCRUZ Institute in Rio de Janeiro, a very stimulating research environment.. I enjoyed working there and so did all students from The Netherlands that performedd studies applying the dipsticks. The collaboration between KIT and FIOCRUZ, whichh emerged during these years, with Dr. Euzenir Nunes Sarno and her team, has provedd to be very fruitful. I am especially thankful for Dr. Elisabeth Pereira Sampaio for herr support and friendship. I thank Dr. Haroldo de Mattos and Dr. José Nery for their speciall dedication in support.
II would like to thank Dr. Ronaldo Derzy Amazonas and Dr. Aluysio de Albuquerque Silvaa Junior, the Board Directors of Instituto Alfredo da Matta for their permission and supportt to perform two studies of this thesis in their Institute. I would like to extent my wordss of thank to the enthusiastic staff; without their help it would not be possible to have
Acknowledgements s
suchh productive stay in Manaus. Especially, I wish to express my gratitude to Dra. Maria daa Graca, her generosity and friendship made my stay special. The support of the team of medicall doctors from the Institute was very much appreciated. I want to thank the Sisters Angela,, Lucia, Aldenise, Natividad, Martina, Montserreat, Guilhermina, and the lovely Irmaa Teresa. They were a wonderful family for me during my stay in Manaus, their dedicatedd work is extremely inspiring.
II want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Pamela Wright. When I first met Pamela she wass the ICBRD course coordinator. I had no idea how much my life would change after thatt day. Her ability of identifying and solving problems combined to her capacity of creatingg a pleasant and inspiring learning environmental brings the best out of everyone. I willl be forever grateful to her faith in my capacity. I would like also to mention Dr. Stella vann Beers for her support and encouragement. It was special to have her as a teacher and I appreciatedd working with her later at the Department of Biomedical Research.
II especially thank my parents, whom I love very much.
Myy last words are full of love and appreciation for the ones that had to resign from many thingss on my favor. My beloved family never complained and continuously supported me. Itt is extremely satisfying to have experienced the support from them. I felt how unlimited theirr love is and I am proud of having them. I have valued and appreciated the help my sonss Conrado and Ricardo gave in the process of finalizing this thesis for printing. The respectt to my work and the care to myself were intensively expressed by my husband Joaoo Alberto. Without his support and inner strength I could have never got so far. Especiallyy I express my love and respect to Joao Alberto who encouraged me to stay workingg in the Netherlands in a project that stimulated me so much.
