Sustainable Research Training and Capacity Building in Liberia for Emerging Viral Epidemics

项目总结/摘要 利比里亚是一个资源丰富但经济贫穷的国家， 长达14年的内战摧毁了基础设施。在最近的埃博拉病毒（EBOV）流行期间，利比里亚 只有不到100名医生，需要国际社会的帮助来控制。的 利比里亚得到的援助大大改善了物质资源（例如，实验室设备和防护 但人力资源并没有大幅增加。今天，医疗保健劳动力只有~25% 护士，助产士和药剂师，以及国家所需的9%的医生。利比里亚要发展 可持续的研究能力，以早期识别和控制新出现的病毒性疾病， 对于区域和全球流行病，利比里亚需要一个机制来吸引学生的兴趣，并持续 提供受过大学教育的毕业生，使他们掌握病毒、流行病学和如何 进行研究。利比里亚大学（UL）是利比里亚最大的政府支持的机构， 它的科学和技术学院授予科学学士学位的学生谁希望进入 卫生专业。此外，UL的医学院和塔布曼医学艺术研究所培训医生， 护士，分别。2015年，UL进行了需求评估，并制定了战略学术计划。在 为了响应这一计划，热带医学，医学微生物学和药理学系的教师， 夏威夷大学（UH）和雅温得第一大学（UY）提议与UL的教师合作， 建立一个创造性的培训计划，以获得兴趣和提高教学和学生的目标 在UL学习生物医学科学的经验，并提供研究方面的培训， 新出现的病毒性流行病规划过程包括12个步骤：1）制定教师职业发展规划; 2)确定如何加强病毒学、新出现的流行病和研究方面的课程; 3） 评估UL和UH之间远程学习的可行性; 4）评估引入 将题为“新出现的流行性病毒研究”的实验室课程纳入课程; 5）确定 学生参与国内指导研究项目的机会; 6）调查其他活动 7）探索在夏威夷培训利比里亚学生; 8）建立南南合作， 学术和研究合作; 9）确定选择学生参加培训的方法; 10）评估需求 利比里亚卫生保健工作者中的特定技术人员; 11）确定具有多学科知识的个人 背景服务于培训咨询小组;和12）写一个D43应用程序。十人计划 委员会由UL，UH和UY教师组成，他们是教师学者，他们的D 71规划工作是 由在病毒学、流行病学和全球卫生研究方面具有丰富经验的一大批教师提供支持。 加强UL的研究能力是保证可持续健康干部的唯一途径 该项目的目的是为利比里亚提供具有研究专长的专业人员，以确定和控制未来新出现的病毒流行病。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Liberia, a resource rich but economically poor country, continues to struggle with growth and recovery following its 14-year civil war that destroyed its infrastructure. During the recent Ebola virus (EBOV) epidemic, Liberia had fewer than 100 physicians and needed help from the international community for its control. The assistance Liberia received largely improved physical resources (e.g., laboratory equipment and containment facilities), but did not significantly increase human resources. Today, the healthcare workforce has only ~25% of the nurses, midwives, and pharmacists, and 9% of the physicians the country needs. For Liberia to develop sustainable research capacity for early identification and control of emerging viral diseases with the potential for regional and global pandemics, Liberia needs a mechanism to garner students’ interest, and a continuous supply of university-educated students graduating with current knowledge on viruses, epidemiology and how to conduct research. The University of Liberia (UL) is the largest government supported institution in Liberia, and its College of Science and Technology awards Bachelor of Science degrees to students who wish to enter the health professions. Also, UL’s College of Medicine and Tubman Institute of Medicinal Arts train physicians and nurses, respectively. In 2015, UL conducted a needs assessment and developed a strategic academic plan. In response to this plan, faculty in the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, University of Hawai’i (UH), and the University of Yaoundé 1 (UY) propose to partner with faculty at UL to establish a creative training program with the goal of garnering interest and improving teaching and student learning experience in biomedical sciences at UL, and providing training in the conduct of research on emerging viral epidemics. The planning process has 12 steps: 1) devise a career development plan for faculty; 2) determine how to strengthen the curriculum in virology, emerging epidemic diseases, and research; 3) assess feasibility of long-distance learning between UL and UH; 4) evaluate the possibility of introducing a laboratory-based course entitled “Research on Emerging Epidemic Viruses,” into the curriculum; 5) identify opportunities for students to participate in in-country mentored research projects; 6) investigate other activities for inclusion in a training grant; 7) explore training of Liberian students in Hawai’i; 8) establish south-south academic and research collaboration; 9) identify a method for selecting students for training; 10) assess needs for specific skilled personnel in the Liberian healthcare workforce; 11) identify individuals with multi-disciplinary backgrounds to serve on a Training Advisory Group; and 12) write a D43 application. The ten-person planning committee consists of UL, UH and UY faculty who are teacher-scholars, and their D71 planning efforts are supported by a larger group of faculty with experience in virology, epidemiology and global health research. Strengthening the research capacity at the UL is the only way to guarantee a sustainable cadre of health professionals with research expertise to identify and control future emerging viral epidemics in Liberia.