1. BUIDING RESEARCH CAPACITY & TRANSFORMATION
Glenda Gray
President & CEO SAMRC
Fogarty Symposium
IAS Paris July 25th 2017

2. Publications is the index closest to the GDP/capita
Scientific Productivity is a much better predictor of economic wealth and human development than any other variables
Jaffe K et, al Plos one, June 2013

3. Health science growth in ssa
Reference: Scopus 2012 Publications in STEM & Health Sciences

4. Current status of science in africa
Africa shares 12% of the Global Population yet produces less than 1% of total science output
The increase between was driven by health science research (4% annual growth) & represents 45% of all SSA research
Reference: Scopus Compound Annual Growth rate of Publications

5. Africa’s Burden of Disease

6. GLOBAL AIDS DEATHS
GLOBAL HIV/AIDS DEATHS

7. GLOBAL SCIENCE GROWTH

8. STRATEGIC GOALS OF THE SAMRC
Administer health research effectively and efficiently
Lead the generation of new knowledge
Support innovation and technology development to improve health
Build capacity for the long-term sustainability of the country’s health research

9. INTERNATIONal collaboration to improve health outcomes in RSA
Develop collaborative networks
Improve grant-writing capacity
Conduct world class research
World class Scientists

10. SAMRC NIH Collaboration
Joint MRC-NIH Summit on HIV/AIDS, TB and HIV related Malignancies & 18 June 2013 in Durban
ZAR investment

11. Research capacity enhancement and sustainability
Individual ↕
Departmental
Institutional
Sustainable research capacity
Build research capacity
Improve, refine and grow research expertise and portfolios
Form collaborative research networks and partnerships
Establish independent researchers, departments and institutions
Leverage research capacity for research translation contributing to the knowledge economy and GDP
Realise the
development of skilled researchers, globally competitive
departments and excellent
institutions
Identify and conduct research niches that fit into national burden of disease but it also globally relevant
Successful grantmanship from diverse sources to fund research and attract new partnerships
Reciprocal complementary and value added partnerships to leverage synergies

12. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT in RSA
Build capacity for the long-term sustainability of the country’s health research
Capacity development in health research
Succession and sustainability
Clinical scientists trained to respond to South Africa’s health needs
Highly skilled researchers for global competitiveness

13. GROWING OUR KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

14. INVESTING: NEXT GENERATION OF BLACK SCIENTISTS

15. RESEARCH CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FUNDING CATEGORIES, 2016/17
Funding mechanism
Target
Purpose 1
SAMRC Clinician Programme
Research training fellowships for Clinicians to pursue doctoral degrees
To build clinician health research teams 2
SAMRC Internship Scholarship Programme
Masters and doctoral research training internships for Black candidates
Directly supports transformation
In-house research skills transfer programme 3
SAMRC Career Development Award
Excellent postdoctoral researchers
Incentivise early investigators Leadership incubation programme 4
SAMRC Researcher Development Grant
Once-off, last year of doctoral funding for strategic candidates in the university or health sector
Fast tracks doctoral completion of senior employees at institutions and/or in strategic roles

16. National Health Scholarship Programme 5
National Health Scholarship Programme
Doctoral (and select Masters) research training internships
Public Private Partnership for PhD development in South Africa 6
SAMRC Research Capacity Development at Selected Universities
Targets selected universities
Project leaders in selected under resourced institutions
To develop institutional research capacity
To close the gap in rate of generation of knowledge between established research intensive universities and under resourced universities 7
Mid-career Scientist Award
Mid-career scientists
To retain the health/clinical research community by funding strategic research
To transition mid-career scientists to independent researchers
To strengthen SAMRC partnerships 8
International Masters in Vaccinology Programme
Health/clinical graduates
To offer an e-learning facilitated collaborative programme with the University of Lausanne, Switzerland (

17. Strengthening institutional research capacity
Objectives
To strengthen research capacity at selected universities
Leverage funding
For research projects and programmes (collaborative)
Essential infrastructure to conduct research
To create an enabling research environment
To gear the universities for self-sustainability
To initiate, maintain and grow a robust and sustainable research culture

18. LAUNCH (JUNE 2015)

19. Capacity development at Walter sisulu university: SAMRC/NIH/JHU collaboration
Research Capacity Development
Data on HIV prevalence and linkage to care in the Eastern Cape
Recapacitation of the HIV CRU in Mthatha to participate in HVTN 702 and other studies
Increase in number of researchers, especially clinicians, and research outputs
Increased research funding to WSU
Enhanced support for research, including grant management
Building Research Management Capacity
Building Research Capacity
Supporting Research – Focus on HIV
Spin-offs
Funding 2-3 research support staff
Training of research support staff
Training in grants management by WHC and support of a grants manager
Training of researchers –proposal writing, research methods etc.
Training of clinicians to do research (A&E study)
Facilitating collaborations (NIH, JHU)
Funding A&E HIV prevalence study
Funding pilot grants for proposals from grant writing workshops
Funding Mthatha HIV CRU site development
SAAVI Funds – hiv focus

20. Self-Initiated Grants, 2012-2015
The transformation framework demonstrates impact

21. HVTN investment in capacity development in SSA
HVTN investment via the NIAID & BMGF >
200 million dollars in next 5 years
South African HIV AIDS Prevention MD/PHD programme established in 2012: 2 MD/PHDs completed, under transition for maximum impact.
HIV early investigator Programme (HIP) established: 2013
Site Capacity Development for HVTN expansion
NHP early investigator programme

22. HVTN/HIP Goal
To support novel investigator-driven research proposals within the scope of the HVTN research agenda using HVTN procured clinical, laboratory, and/or behavioral data.

23. HIP 2016
Mark Pilkinton, "Molecular analysis of vaccine-induced T cell responses"
Anoma Nellore, "Up-regulation of T-bet in B cells as a Predictor for Long-Term Antibody Responses after HIV Vaccination"
Juilee Thakar, "Assessing Impact of Vaccine Regimen on Vaccine Induced Antibody Durability"
John Cullen. "Exploring the Use of an eScreen Tool to Meet the Needs of Potential HVTN Study Participants"
Magda Sobieszczyk, "A Pilot Study Evaluating the Use of Novel Self-administered Dried Blood Spot Device - HemaSpot™ - to Monitor PrEP Use among Men Who Have Sex with Men"
Kathy Mngadi, "A Pilot Study of Mobile Technology to Assess Reactogenicity."
11/15/2018

24. HIP 2017
In 2017, 8/11 of the HIP applications were from Africa

25. HVTN Activity 2017: 25 new sites
01 Oct Sept 2016
01 Oct June 2017
01 Oct Sept 2017 (Projected)
Percent change > 2017
Number of Vaccinations/ Infusions Administered
2,277
9,350
12,467
447.52%
Number of Resolved Clinical QCs (eg, queries)
1,234
3,045
4,060
229.01%

26. HVTN 705 Sites Ndola Lusaka -ZEHRP Lilongwe Lusaka -Matero Seke South
Legend:
Lusaka -ZEHRP
705, only (6)
Lilongwe
702 &705 (9)
Lusaka -Matero
703/081 & 705 (6)
Seke South
Soshanguve
Medunsa
702, 703/081, 705 (5)
Elansdoorn
Rustenburg
Mamelodi
Soweto – Kliptown
Tembisa
Soweto – Baragwanath
Maputo
Klerksdorp
Ladysmith
Isipingo
Verulam
Cape Town-Emavundleni
Cape Town-Khayelitsha
Bloemfontein
Chatsworth
Tongaat
Mthatha
eThekwini
Masiphumelele

27. TIME FOR REFLECTION
Currently the research opportunities and needs outstrips our ability to develop world class scientists in Southern Africa especially the MD/PHD scientist
This is the time we need Fogarty more than ever, to collaborate with African based institutions to support this scientific development
The scientist pipeline is not robust and needs support to ensure sustainability

28. “Building a healthy nation through research and innovation”
“Building a healthy nation through research and innovation”