Centre set for third major grant

Professor Steve Ward said the school would be the lead partner

A leading research institution for tropical diseases is about to clinch its third major grant within weeks.

The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine hopes to secure £11m from the EU Commission to support research to generate new anti-malarial drugs.

Ten days ago, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates donated £28m to the school as part of a £145m gift to malaria research worldwide.

That announcement came just days after the centre was awarded £18m.

It was to help build a new unit for research leading to the development of insecticides, vaccines and drugs to fight malaria and other life-threatening tropical diseases.

Professor Steve Ward, deputy director at the school, said the latest grant would mean Liverpool would be the lead partner in a European consortium working on the EU-funded project.

He added: "Liverpool is probably the foremost centre in Europe for developing drugs to fight diseases of neglect like TB and Malaria."