Geographic distribution of key network institutions conducting R&D on the neglected diseases of the DECIT/CNPq Program, 2001�C2007.

For each disease we mapped the ten institutions ranking higher in total number of publications on neglected diseases in international peer-reviewed journals having at least one Brazilian author (the ��top-10�� institutions in Chagas, the ��top-10�� in dengue, etc.). The majority of the ��top-10�� Brazilian institutions are located in the more developed regions of Brazil (South/Southeast, 54 institutions) and not where most of these diseases are endemic (North/Northeast/Center-West, 11 institutions). Co-authorship network analysis allowed the identification of 9 additional key institutions from these less developed regions based on another criterion: their critical role in contributing to network structure, function and sustainability due to their location at ��cut-points�� of the networks. Brazilian cut-point institutions at N/NE/CW: Aggeu Magalh?es Research Center (CPqAM), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife, Pernambuco; Center for the Biological Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Macei��, Alagoas (CCBi); Federal University of Bahia (UFBA); Federal University of Cear�� (UFCE); Federal University of Goi��s (UFGO); Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE); Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN); Hospital Anis Rassi, Goiania, Goi��s; Tropical Medicine Research Center, Porto Velho, Rondonia (CEPEM).Foreign institutions collaborating with Brazilian authors: * London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; University of Tubingen; ** University of Glasgow; Purdue University; George Washington University.