Wel1come Trust - Wellcome Trust

pathological approaches. While the muco-cutaneous forms are atpresent the main health hazard, the re-emergence of Kala-azar inIndia was noted as a significant possibility.NutritionThe Trust has established a number of activities in this field whichat first sight appear to be less connected than the investigationsundertaken on Leishmania. Mention of the retirement of Dr. Foyand Dr. Kondi from the Wellcome Laboratories in Nairobi hasbeen made elsewhere. Following their observation that lack ofriboflavin and pyridoxine were significant in the production ofanaemia in malnourished populations they have undertaken intensivenutritional studies of these factors in baboons. Believing cirrhosisof the liver from pyridoxine deprivation might be a precursor ofmalignant change they have continued their experiments and havenow shown that some of the baboons so deprived are excretingalpha-fete-proteinin their urine.Two ofthe alpha-fete-proteinpositivebaboons who have died had tumours in their livers. Two otherbaboons that died were negative for alpha-fete-protein and have notbeen shown to have tumours. This work will continue to receivesupport from the Trust. The pioneering efforts of Dr. Foy andDr. Kondi will be continued at the Wellcome Laboratories inNairobi under the direction of Dr. L. G. Goodwin, Director ofScience at the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine at theLondon Zoo. The programme of research will continue to be onnutrition and anaemia but especially on the importance of vitaminB12 and folic acid. Dr. R. Siddons has initiated research on B12deprivation in Nairobi and the team in the laboratories will continuethe development of the programme. Dr. D. Gatenby Davies hasbeen appointed local director of the Nairobi laboratory.Despite the importance of malnutrition in the world today it isvery neglected as a subject for research, especially in Britain. TheTrustees were therefore pleased to provide funds to build alaboratoryat the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine whereProfessor John Waterlow, formerly Director ofthe M.R.C. TropicalMetabolism Research Unit in Jamaica, has been appointed to the39