Parasitology Resource Information Management CentreFireflower Parasitology Resource Information Management (PRIM) Centres are now being established, and are being set up to work together as one virtual Centre. This can be accessed via the Internet through global portals at well known institutes of health research around the world. Clients from all over the world will be able use our Parasite/Pathogen Research Management (PPRM) Application for the integrated electronic collection and management of multi-media data. Our software service deals with all aspects of research, teaching and practice of parasitology in humans and domestic animals. All parasites, animal, fungal, plant and microbial parasites are considered. Clients can use and store their own data using this application. They can develop collaborative networks, and access the full facilities of Fireflower which can link distant partners together, from field and laboratory, in real time. All data collected (site, collector, date and time) and all metadata (who entered the data, owner, date and time) are automatically recorded and searchable. Clients can publish their work and fast track this with our associated sources, and can, at their will, contribute their data to the Fireflower PRIM Centre. Where clients are institutions, team leaders can provide different levels of authority to members of their teams for editing and accessing the team’s information. Fireflower’s intention is to provide the best possible tools to facilitate the best research. We have developed aquatic and terrestrial parasite data resources. With several laboratories and hospitals we are looking at the spread of Toxocara in Europe and the Middle East, and immunological host/parasite interactions between different species of the parasite and its hosts. We are also concerned with Schistosoma in the wetlands of Africa, South America, China and other areas in East Asia, and the development of vaccine trials. Government agencies and commercial interests may browse our data resource. They will be given the ability to download copies of data for data mining purposes or for other reasons. Visit The World Federation of Parasitologists website |