Interdisciplinary malaria research training in Malawi



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malaria continues to be one of the greatest threats to health and life in Malawi, and recent control efforts have yielded only moderate success. New insights into what determines risk and how to design more effective interventions are imperative to enhance control and ultimately eliminate malaria in the region. This Global Infectious Diseases Research Training Program is established on the basis of long-standing and productive collaborations between senior faculty members at the University of Malawi College of Medicine and a core team of international investigators who have been engaged in malaria research in Malawi for decades. The training program was crafted to train the experts required to develop independent research teams in Malawi capable of designing, leading and analyzing results of locally and internationally relevant studies, and to create a robust and sustainable graduate program in Malawian universities. Careful selection and training of a molecular epidemiologist, a vector biologist and two biostatisticians will prepare leaders in the health research agenda, focused on hypothesis-driven scientific questions. We will also provide formal short course training in specific research methods and tailor opportunities for laboratory rotations to provide succession planning to create a pipeline of future PhD candidates and the junior faculty members who support them. Through the direct supervision, guidance and mentorship of the training team members, these trainees will benefit from outstanding didactic educations and also from the hands-on mentoring provided by experienced colleagues and recent graduates who are now faculty members in Malawi. This interdisciplinary training program is designed achieve the following specific aims: (1) Train successful investigators in molecular epidemiology, vector biology and biostatistics, (2) Establish core faculty for a rigorous, independent PhD program in Malawi, and (3) Support succession planning for future PhD trainees and mentors within Malawi. The specific areas of training were identified as essential to on-going and future health research in Malawi, reflect strengths of the collaborating institutions (University of Maryland, Michigan State University and University of the Witwatersrand), and create synergies with emerging opportunities within the University of Malawi. Cross- cutting, innovative, well-executed and expertly analyzed studies will address specific challenges of malaria treatment, prevention, and transmission reduction. In addition, the skill sets developed by all the trainees in this proposed effort will be applicable to a wide range of infectious as well as non-communicable diseases.