MALARIA RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAM IN ZIMBABWE

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The Malaria Research and Training Program in Zimbabwe (MRTPZ) will link the research and educational opportunities of the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI) Department of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health with the internationally known Blair Research Institute (BRI) and the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI) for the purpose of invigorating the existing malaria prevention and control infrastructure of Zimbabwe. The long-term objective will be to fortify and sustain a center of excellence in an African malaria endemic setting. The MRTPZ will knit comprehensive research training of two pre-doctoral and two masters level students at MMI with home country education training in immunologic aspects of malaria transmission control, characterization of drug resistance patterns, vector control strategies, community involvement in malaria control and research methods training. The BRI is the lead government agency charged with management of scientific research and training on Zimbabwe health problems. Malaria control is one of the three priority areas in the national health strategy. The Department of MMI conducts research and trains scientists in the basic mechanisms of infectious diseases and host responses with the underlying School of Public Health philosophy that employs state-of-the-art scientific approaches to public health problems of global significance. The malaria research projects, initiated at MMI but conducted in Zimbabwe will provide a structure for the application of theoretical knowledge gained from comprehensive courses in molecular biology, microbiology, immunology, ecology and-population genetics to the issues related to malaria epidemiology, vector biology, immunology and vaccines, anti malaria drugs, pathogenesis and health systems and operational methods. An essential aspect of the training program, includes a requirement to participate in seminars, research forums, journal clubs, national and international scientific meetings and to participate in the various training courses to be offered in Zimbabwe jointly by the faculty from Hopkins, BRI and BRTI. The training program will be structured to meet the program goals and closely supervised by the MRTPZ advisory committee.