The University of North Carolina-Kinshasa School of Public Health Research Partnership in the Democratic Republic of Congo; a Model for Improving Women'sand Children's Health Through Research

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Abstract The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is among the poorest nations in the world with correspondingly poor health outcomes. Innovative research is urgently needed to discover evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes in low and middle-income countries. The health care environment and outcomes in the DRC are emblematic of problems encountered in many low and middle-income countries making the DRC an ideal environment in which to develop and test strategies for improving the health of women and children in these countries. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH) in the DRC have had a longstanding partnership whose overall goal is to expand scientific knowledge relevant to improving health outcomes. The Partnership, led by Drs. Antoinette Tshefu (KSPH; SFI) and Carl Bose (UNC; PI), has been highly productive in a wide range of hospital and community-based research studies, and has the expertise and resources to address research questions in a variety of areas of maternal and child health. Therefore, the UNC-KSPH Partnership is an ideal candidate to continue membership in the NICHD Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research (GN). Our overall goal is to discover evidenced-based strategies to improve health outcomes in low and middle-income countries. To achieve this goal we will: 1) bring to the GN the unique, multi-disciplinary resources in population sciences and translational research of the UNC-KSPH Partnership; 2) strengthen the investigative capacity in the DRC by improving the research infrastructure; and 3) develop young physician-scientists in the DRC and the US by providing opportunities for post-graduate study and leadership of GN activities.