Our Research

The core activity of TARGET is running the trial, which enrols 2,800 children aged 2 to 59 months with acute watery diarrhoea and malnutrition, randomly assigning each to three days of azithromycin, three days of ciprofloxacin, or placebo. Recruitment takes place at sites in Kenya and Tanzania, with every child followed for 90 days to assess hospitalisation, mortality and recovery.

Led by KEMRI, with ELCT running the Tanzanian site and the University of Washington contributing protocol and data expertise built up over 15 years of joint trial work in the region.

Not every child with watery diarrhoea needs antibiotics. This activity tests a point-of-care haemoglobin test, alongside laboratory analysis of stool samples, to work out which children are most likely to benefit from treatment. The aim is a simple, affordable rule that clinics can apply without waiting days for lab results.

Led by ELCT and supported by KEMRI.

A result from Kenya and Tanzania today needs to hold up elsewhere, and under future conditions. This activity combines weather data, disease patterns and climate projections to test how far TARGET's findings generalise across sub-Saharan Africa, and models how the balance of benefit and antimicrobial resistance risk might shift as the climate changes.

Led by ELCT and AUMC, with weather monitoring from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority and modelling support from the University of Virginia and Emory University.

Recommendations for new treatment guidance require a clear picture of current care practices. This activity maps how diarrhoea is currently managed at the study sites, the treatments health workers prescribe, the expectations caregivers bring, and the reasoning behind both, through interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with providers and families.

Led by AUMC/AIGHD, with NIMR and 3OC contributing social science and stakeholder mapping.

Trial data only changes practice if it reaches the people who write treatment guidelines. This activity builds the communication and dissemination plan behind this website, runs stakeholder engagement with national and international health bodies, and produces policy briefs aimed at Kenyan, Tanzanian and global decision-makers, including WHO guideline committees.

Led by 3OC, with input from every partner in the consortium.

TARGET pairs its clinical and research work with structured training for the scientists who carry it out. This activity funds mentorship, short courses and long-term training for early-career researchers at KEMRI and ELCT, so the next generation of trial leaders in Kenya and Tanzania can run studies like this one without outside support.

Led by KEMRI, with contributions from AUMC/AIGHD and ELCT.