Training

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Core 4: Training Successful creation, distribution, and adoption of POC diagnostic technologies in LRS requires an integrated understanding of clinical, technical (lab based), business development and intellectual property management, acceptability, usability and ergonomics, developing-world advocacy, and marketing and distribution issues. Rarely do researchers in any one field have the capacity to understand and act upon information from each of these critical disciplines. Creating growth opportunities for individuals already engaged in the development and uptake of POC technologies is critical to improving the development and eventual success of new technologies. PATH and the UW Departments of Global Health and of Laboratory Medicine will offer a four-tier progressive training program which will engage individuals with varied experience and backgrounds from the fields of assay and device development, clinical laboratories, and disease specialties. The Point-of-Care International Diagnostics Education Advancement (POC IDEA) training courses will create a networked group of researchers trained in state-of-the-art technology and challenges for global health in LRS. Individuals with this unique skill set will be more likely to develop technologies appropriate for use in LRS, thus expediting the transition from research to meaningful clinical use. We will leverage our long-standing and ongoing global health activities at multiple sites in LRS to strengthen the didactic, laboratory, and field-based components of the POC IDEA training program. Local, national,and international notices of the program will attract high-quality applicants. Successful applicants will be those currently working on POC device and/or technology development in academia or industry or training in a PhD graduate program in any area related to rapid test diagnostics. Training a diverse group of researchers can be difficult, but through the UW's similar International Training and Education for HIV (ITECH) training programs, we have shown repeatedly that interdisciplinary training does work. The POC IDEA training system will be implemented in four progressive courses (Figure 10). Curriculum content will be managed by key UW professors and staff with significant input from PATH'S Diagnostic Development Team. Courses will be taught by UW professors and staff, PATH researchers, and recognized leaders in the field of clinical and laboratory medicine. POC IDEA Course 1 will start with a select group of 30 researchers from diverse technology and clinical backgrounds from high- and LRS across the globe, including 10 participants from developing countries. Prior to arriving at the training site, participants will receive access to a web-based tutorial which will familiarize them with the basic principles of POC testing. Course 1 will be taught in Seattle and focus on clinical issues related to POC diagnostic tests, relevant diseases of importance, and the realities and circumstances of LRS. Based on the capabilities and interests of participants in Course 1,10 applicants will be selected to participate in Course 2 (5 technology developers and 5 from developing countries). Course 2 will be a 3-week course taught in Seattle the following year giving participants advanced experience with epidemiology and clinicalissues related to STIs and HIV through the UW's well-established 2-week annual course Principles of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV Research (http://depts.washinqton.edu/pshr/). The course has been offered since 1993 and is widely recognized as one of the best international STI/HIVtraining short courses, attracting over 100 pre- and post-doctoral and junior faculty participants per year from more than 30 countries. Although the work of the Center will go beyond tests for STIs and HIV, this course will provide information that is highly representative of the issues typical of diagnosis of other infectious diseases as well, and also provides modules dealing with management of opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, malaria, and viral hepatitis. In addition, Course 2 participants will spend an additional week with hands-on laboratory training on state-of-the-art diagnostic methods at teaching laboratory facilities at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory, Shoreline, WA. From the 20 technology developers participating in Courses 1 or 2, 4 to 6 applicants will be selected for participation in Course 3, a field-based clinical and user training. Course 3 offers the unique opportunity for technology developers to visit LRS to understand how new technologies can be integrated into the health system for a benefit to all. Participants will have opportunities to visit clinics, manufacturing facilities, policymakers, and patients. One or two laboratory scientists from Course 3 will be selected to participate in Course 4: the Assay Development Fellowship. Fellows will spend up to 6 months gaining advanced assay development skills both in the PATH labs and the UW labs, followed by a 3-month period of distance mentorship upon returning home. Courses 3 and 4 are designed to impart valuable skills to researchers which will enable them to accelerate the movement of POC diagnostics from research and development to clinical use. Courses will be repeated through the duration of the Center (Table 12). Over the 5-year period of the Center, 150 researchers will receive training on clinical aspects of POC testing. These skills are critical to the successful development and uptake of new technologies.