2/2 - GEOHealth Hub for Research and Training in eastern Africa - U.S.

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application proposes a progressive and tiered training program that will develop researchers and research teams able to carry out the research agenda in the linked UO1 application (1/2 - GEOHealth Hub for Research and Training in eastern Africa - Ethiopia) and to facilitate the translation of the evidence into impactful actions. The training program will be implemented in collaboration with Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia, the Hub institution for the linked application; the Spoke institutions are in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. The training program will build the competencies needed to address the research themes identified as most critical in the Situational Analysis and Needs Assessments (SANA) carried out during the planning phase: indoor and outdoor air pollution as the leading theme; occupational health, particularly in regard to temperature and air pollution, and climate change and health as secondary themes. The team assembled for the U2R application includes experienced researchers and educators from the University of Southern California and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M), both groups having collaborated with AAU previously. The SANAs document a shared need across the Hub and Spokes for enhanced research capacity, along with skills in policy translation in the domestic and regional context. Our approach responds to these broad needs and involves a tiered training program that will create scientific leaders (Lead Scientists) at the national level who can function as principal investigators for research that provides evidence relevant to national and regional issues. They will also be expected to take leadership for locally developed training and to help to assure sustainability. Three cohorts of four will be identified and trained. Beyond these national leads, we anticipate a broad array of shorter-term training opportunities that will prepar the research teams to address the thematic areas of the Hub's research program. The national lead investigators will play a collaborative and progressive role in the design and implementation of the national and regional training initiatives. Given the feasibility restraints posed by financial resources, distance, and the need to integrate training into the ongoing responsibilities of trainees, we plan to use a flexible array of educational modalities that will include stays of limited length at USC and the UW-M; in-country workshops and short courses; distance-based approaches that are both asynchronous and synchronous; and use of selected local courses, e.g., in epidemiology or biostatistics. We will also use innovative approaches to facilitate translation that involve education and engagement of stakeholders. Evaluation will track the success of the participants in meeting their development goals on the short-term and, for the longer-term, successful completion of the proposed research, scientific presentations and papers, and successful funding applications. Through careful case-studies, we will examine the impact of the trainees on policy indicators, such as new air quality standards and guidelines, regulations, and changes in practices.