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

www.mcdconsortium.org

Supported by

THE MALARIA RESEARCH CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM

INTRODUCTION

Brian Greenwood

LSHTM

APPMG

Nov 10th, 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

4 years

5 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.

2001 - 2010

2009 – 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 CAPACITYDEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM

THE MALARIA CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

1. PhD programme

Twenty 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

Acceptance 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.

2001 - 2010

2009 – 2014

DELTAS2015-2019

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.

www.mcdconsortium.org

Supported by

THE MALARIA RESEARCH CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MCDC Secretariat

David Schellenberg , Amit BhasinHazel McCullough, Helen Allwood Karen Slater, Lien Tran

African Partners

Oumar Gaye Moses Kamya Gibson Kibiki Wilson Mandala Victor Mwapasa Harry Tagbor

Northern Partners

Alister CraigPascal MagnussenAnja TerlouwThor Theander

LOIsubmitted

October 2ndProfessor 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