Mission
The mission of the New Diagnostics Working Group (NDWG) is to provide a coordination and communication platform for stakeholders, in order to facilitate their common work towards the development and adoption of new diagnostic tools for tuberculosis.
History
The NDWG was established in 2001 as a platform with focus on promoting development and adoption of new and modified diagnostic products. Since then, the Chairs, Core Group, Secretariat, and all the members of the NDWG have contributed significantly to the advances in the field of TB diagnostics. Promising technologies have been screened and a series of new product developments initiated, supported, subjected to field trials and ultimately endorsed by WHO for roll-out in endemic settings.
Concurrently, tools such as the WHO/TDR TB specimen bank and strain bank were developed to better assist researchers, to enable such tools development, and to contribute to validating their potential future public health impact through mathematical modeling.
Because of the enormous increase in the range, speed and intensity in the TB diagnostics development effort, the current pipeline is the largest that has ever been.
This has made it a priority for the NDWG to produce a scientific blueprint for the development of TB diagnostics. This publication is intended to facilitate coordination and collaboration across the diagnostic research and development landscape. It provides a framework to guide all those involved in diagnostic development through the different phases of the development value chain - from the discovery of new techniques and tools through to their delivery and implementation in high-endemic countries.
Structure
The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) is the lead agency and Dr. Mark Perkins, FIND’s Chief Scientific Officer, is one of the Co-Chairs of the working group. Since 2009, the NDWG has a second Co-Chair who is elected by the membership. This position is currently held by Dr. Daniela Maria Cirillo of Hospital San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. The Secretariat is housed by FIND with Alessandra Varga.
A Core Group, with representation from major constituencies including academia, diagnostic developers, industry, NGOs, and the patient community, along with six Subgroups are supporting the Working Group.