Searching for a Technology-driven Acute Rheumatic fever Test (START) is a collaborative trans-Tasman research study conducted by The Kids Research Institute Australia, Menzies School of Health Research, the University of Auckland, the University of Otago, Edith Cowan University and the University of Western Australia.
The study will test immune responses in blood samples from people with and without acute rheumatic fever (ARF) within Indigenous Australian communities and New Zealand Indigenous Māori and Pacific Island communities to find a unique marker that reliably identifies ARF. This will provide the basis for a confirmatory (diagnostic) blood test for ARF and possible targeted treatments that reduce development of its complication, rheumatic heart disease.
The START study is a collaborative study, funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant (No. APP1147531).
