NYU/University of Ghana Cardiovascular Research Training eCapacity Initiative

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Africa, accounting for an estimated 80% of the mortality and morbidity. If this epidemic is left unabated, the scant medical resources in Ghana and other Sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries would be depleted by the disability from cardiovascular-related complications. To address this issue, the NIH Fogarty International Center (FIC) funded our NYU/University of Ghana Cardiovascular Research Training (CaRT) Institute to train local researchers in skills to conduct methodologically and scientifically rigorous research with the ultimate goal of improving cardiovascular health in Ghana and SSA. Our deliberate strategy of providing training in Ghana rather than the United States is to mitigate the risk of brain drain that is often inherent in sending African scholars abroad for training. Our long- term goal is to produce a sustainable network of individuals who are exceedingly well trained in various aspects of cardiovascular research and poised to assume leadership roles in academic cardiovascular medicine. Although the CaRT curriculum introduces scholars to the basics of information and communication technology (ICT) resources available to assist with research education and projects, it is not a focus of training. In response to the FIC request to establish health research ICT training for researchers in low and middle income countries, we propose to leverage the research capacity established by our CaRT program to develop an innovative curriculum for expanding the use of ICT and for building research eCapacity in Ghana. Our proposed CaRT ICT training and eCapacity initiative will complete these aims: 1) Establish a curriculum for increasing CaRT trainees knowledge and skills necessary for incorporating ICT tools into their cardiovascular research; 2) Provide continuous in person and online ICT support for CaRT trainees; 3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the CaRT ICT curriculum and eCapacity building. Our proposed enhanced curriculum includes didactic courses to introduce trainees to the ICT lexicon of terminology, educational communications and technology theory, and exemplars of freely available ICT resources for conducting health research. ICT tools will be selected in partnership with CaRT trainees and mentors based on ease of use and advanced features for conducting high fidelity research. Trainees will also learn through research apprenticeships, using ICT resources in their own research. We will provide iPad mini devices for research design and data collection, and trainees will have access to technical support from locally trained ICT experts and a NYU based call center accessible via distance learning technology. By further developing our curriculum to emphasize research ICT, we will establish three cohorts of ten adaptable users of research ICT, who share their skills with local collaborators, thereby increasing Ghana's research eCapacity for conducting cardiovascular health research.