As Georgia’s immigrant and refugee communities grow, so do Georgia’s cases of infectious tropical diseases. Also known as neglected tropical diseases, these illnesses are endemic in some low-resource countries and cause considerable disability and dysfunction.

Carlos Franco-Paredes, MD, MPH

Carlos Franco-Paredes, MD, MPH, a researcher and clinician at the Emory TravelWell Clinic at Emory’s midtown campus, provides pre- and post-travel health care to international travelers, including faculty, staff, students, business travelers and missionaries. Franco-Paredes, an expert in infectious diseases, also treats immigrants and refugees affected by neglected tropical diseases. He and colleagues recently received funding to study the epidemiology and treatment outcomes of tropical infectious diseases in immigrant and refugee communities in Georgia.

With a grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Franco-Paredes and his colleagues are assessing the prevalence and the outcomes of hepatitis B, Chagas disease and leprosy.

In fact, the clinic is the main referral center for leprosy in the region, and physicians there currently care for about 25 patients with leprosy, a chronic disease. Most of the cases are found in foreign-born individuals, particularly patients from Central and South America and Asia.

Franco-Paredes’ collaborators include Uriel Kitron, PhD, Emory professor and chair, Environmental Studies, and Sam Marie Engle, senior associate director, Emory’s Office of University Community Partnerships.

To hear Franco-Paredes’ own words about his research into neglected tropical diseases, listen to Emory’s Sound Science podcast.