The growing awareness of the so-called neglected tropical diseases is witnessed by increased political and financial means to control these diseases, recent publications in the top biomedical literature (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine and PLoS Medicine) and the launch of two new open-access journals that are devoted to the neglected tropical diseases, namely PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and Geospatial Health. Members of STI serve on the editorial and advisory boards of both journals and a number of papers authored/co-authored by STI staff have already been published or are currently in press in these journals.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (http://www.plosntds.org) is the first open-access journal devoted to the world’s most neglected tropical diseases. It is the latest addition to the Public Library of Science (PLoS) family, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco. The journal is published online, featuring high-quality, peer-reviewed research on all scientific, medical, and public-health aspects of these forgotten diseases affecting the world’s forgotten people. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases is particularly keen to publish research from authors in countries where the neglected tropical diseases are endemic. It aims to (i) provide a forum for the neglected tropical diseases community of scientific investigators, health practitioners, control experts, and advocates to publish their findings in an open-access format; (ii) promote and profile the efforts of scientists, health practitioners, and public-health experts from endemic countries, and build science and health capacity in those countries; and (iii) highlight the global public-health importance of the neglected tropical diseases and advocate for the plight of the poor who suffer disproportionately from these diseases in endemic countries. Prof. Peter Hotez from the George Washington University in the US acts as the editor-in-chief. The journal’s start-up phase is supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Geospatial Health
Geospatial Health is the official journal of the Global Network of Geospatial Health (www.GnosisGIS.org) which was founded as the result at a Team Residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy in April 2000. The focus of the journal is on all aspects of the application of geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS) and other spatial analysis tools in human and veterinary health. The first two issues published clearly show that the neglected tropical diseases play a prominent role in Geospatial Health. Dr. Robert Bergquist, formerly with the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Developing Countries (TDR) acts as the editor-in-chief and the journal is published at the University of Naples, Italy.

Prof. Dr. Jürg Utzinger
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