Supported by THE MALARIA RESEARCH CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM INTRODUCTION Brian Greenwood LSHTM APPMG Nov 10 th, 2014

 Sub-Saharan Africa still has some of the worst health statistics in the world.  Poor health holds back economic development.  Low income countries face particular health challenges that differ from those of wealthy countries.  The climate of tropical Africa favours some infections that are infrequently encountered in high income countries such as malaria and the NTDs. WHY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA NEEDS ITS OWN STRONG MEDICAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY Low income countries need to invest in health research

WHY RESEARCH IN AFRICA SHOULD BE DONE BY AFRICAN SCIENTISTS  African scientists are best quipped to determine the research priorities for their community.  Local knowledge facilitates many aspects of research.  Local ownership of research findings facilitates translation of research findings into practice.  Local scientists with an international reputation can help to guide policy.

CHALLENGES FACED BY AFRICANS IN PURSUING A RESEARCH CAREER  Difficulty in finding an academic position.  Difficulty in obtaining research funds.  Lack of facilities for research - equipment etc.  Overloading with teaching and administrative responsibilities.  Lack of guidance in research and career development.  Lack of a career pathway.

SCHOOLCHILD UNDERGRADUATE PhD STUDENT POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW RESEARCH GROUP LEADER DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH INSTITUTION 4 years 5 years TRAINING A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH SCIENTIST 10 years

SCHOOLCHILD UNDERGRADUATE PhD STUDENT POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW RESEARCH GROUP LEADER DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH INSTITUTION THE GATES MALARIA PARTNERSHIP (GMP)

THE GATES MALARIA PARTNERSHIP Research capacity development activities  Buildings and equipment.  People - postdoctoral fellows x 6 PhD students x 34 Research fellows x 6 KCMC, Tanzania Dr Evelyn Ansah

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE GMP CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Strengths  High quality of the PhD and postdoctoral students.  Strong financial and supervisory support.  High quality research outputs – over 400 publications.  High level of retention of PhDs and post-docs in Africa. Weaknesses  A focus on individuals and limited involvement of, and support for, the students’ host institutions.

– 2015

THE OBJECTIVE OF MCDC TO STRENGTHEN THE ABILITY OF AFRICAN SCIENTISTS AND INSTITUTIONS TO CONDUCT HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH ON MALARIA.

SCHOOLCHILD UNDERGRADUATE PhD STUDENT POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW RESEARCH GROUP LEADER DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH INSTITUTION MALARIA CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM

THE MALARIA CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 1. PhD programme  T wenty students were enrolled though an open selection process held at each partner university.  Students are supported by an African supervisor and a northern partner co-supervisor.  A personal planning programme is provided for each student.  Successful students are eligible for the award of a first post-doctoral fellowship. (11 students have completed their thesis and 7 are on track)

THE MALARIA CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2. Post-doctoral programme  30 previous GMP PhD students or post-doctoral fellows joined the MCDC investigators programme.  MCDC investigators were eligible to apply for modest ‘initiative awards’ and a small number of larger grants.  A formal mentorship programme was established.  A one-year research leadership course, run in collaboration with Quilibra, has recently been started.

THE MALARIA CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 3. Institutional strengthening  Baseline needs assessment of constraints to postdoctoral training at each university undertaken at the beginning of the programme by a team from LSTM and a more recent assessment of research management support systems undertaken.  Implementation of changes recommended on the basis of the baseline needs assessment such as improvement of the physical environment for PhD and postdoctoral students and procedures for postdoctoral training.  Courses for PhD supervisors and mentors.  Establishment of Career Development Groups and embedding them within the structure of their host institution.

CHALLENGES FACED BY MCDC  A cceptance that an appropriately remunerated PhD fellowship is a full-time job.  Limitation in the time available to senior African scientists to spend on capacity development activities which may not be recognised in their promotion prospects.  Development of critical scientific thinking.

– 2014 DELTAS

DELTAS Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science  The Wellcome Trust put out a call in August 2014 for a new round of research capacity awards – the DELTAS programme, which must be African lead.  MCDC conducted a competitive process to decide which of the African partners might take over responsibility for running the MCDC successor programme.  A proposal from the University of Dakar was selected as the strongest bid but a good proposal was submitted also from the College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi.

NEXT STEPS  Approximately 150 letters of intent for support from the DELTAS programme were received by the Wellcome Trust.  If either or both of the proposals originating from the MCDC consortium are short-listed, the MCDC secretariat will provide support in writing a full proposal if this is requested.  Whichever grants are successful in gaining support from the DELTAS programme, lessons learnt during GMP and MCDC should help in taking the research capacity development process in Africa the next step into the future.

Supported by THE MALARIA RESEARCH CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS MCDC Secretariat David Schellenberg, Amit Bhasin Hazel McCullough, Helen Allwood Karen Slater, Lien Tran African Partners Oumar Gaye Moses Kamya Gibson Kibiki Wilson Mandala Victor Mwapasa Harry Tagbor Northern Partners Alister Craig Pascal Magnussen Anja Terlouw Thor Theander

LOI submitted October 2nd Professor Oumar Gaye The Department of Parasitology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal

PROVISIONAL PARTNERS IN THE UCAD PROPOSAL Northern partners  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine  Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine  University of Copenhagen African partners  MRTC, Bamako, Mali  MRC Unit, The Gambia  KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana  Biotechnology Centre, University of Yaounde, Cameroon