Strengthening Makerere University's Research Administration Capacity for efficient management of NIH grant awards (SMAC)

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ ABSTRACT Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) is the largest health training Institution in Uganda and East Africa. Majority of its biomedical research is supported by NIH funding, which for decades has been predominantly secured through sub awards from collaborating partner organizations. Over the last four years, MakCHS has registered a steady increase in its NIH direct grant awards from under USD 2.1M to USD 4.6M. This growth has increased her role and responsibility for the management of NIH grant awards, and calls for improved research administration capacity to match the need. Having been a sub recipient for many years, during which time grants oversight was largely under the stewardship of prime award recipients, most of MakCHS administrators have limited exposure to grants management processes required for rigorous management of NIH grants. They often rely on the collaborating prime recipients (who have the overall grant oversight) to interpret funding regulations for them. They struggle to comply with NIH grants policies, and this could compromise future grant funding. There is an urgent need to equip MakCHS research administrators with the right knowledge and skills for better management of NIH grants. To achieve this, we will provide two Senior Administrators with advanced training in management of NIH grants, and access to good business practices for managing NIH grant awards. This will be done through: 1) hands on training at George Washington University (GWU) in USA, 2) tailored training with the Grants Management Program (GMP) at NIAID-Rockville, and 3) the NIAID regional workshop on program funding and grants administration. After training, the senior administrators will cascade lessons learnt to MakCHS junior research administrators and other administrators in the region to improve their capacity for efficient management of NIH grant awards. The training will be delivered through low-cost seminars and webinar meetings, using an approved staff-training plan. We will also implement a Research Administrator Buddy Program and an online Learning Café to provide mentorship and enhance collaboration among research administrators in the region, by providing a mechanism for consultations and sharing of grants resources. In addition, we will implement the good business practices learnt from GWU to streamline MakCHS’ grants monitoring processes. A modern Grants System will be introduced to improve tracking of grant expenditures and provide real time access to grants data for informed decision-making. Existing grants management SOPs will be reviewed, updated and new ones developed where needed. By the end of the project, MakCHS grants management systems and resources will be improved for better management of NIH grants. Two MakCHS senior administrators will be transformed into proficient institutional Grants management leaders. 69 junior administrators and 56 scientists at MakCHS, plus 25 administrators in the region will have improved knowledge and skills for management of NIH grants. This will contribute to the pool of grants administration experts NIH can use as resource persons in the region.