Bridging the Gap in eCapacity for Global Health Research and Training In Eastern Africa

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Interaction between and among humans, animals, and the ecosystem has created an optimum condition for the emergence and dissemination of zoonotic, vector- and foodborne pathogens. These diseases impose a much higher disease burden on low- to middle-income countries because of several factors including malnutrition, poverty, and poor hygienic conditions. The lack of appropriate infrastructure, particularly skilled manpower to conduct regionally relevant and innovative investigations is a major limitation. In the proposed program, we hypothesize that by using electronic systems, the gaps in scientific knowledge, technology transfer, and scientific networking between partners in the U.S. and in East Africa can be narrowed significantly. We aim to address this by: 1) developing institutional eCapacity that will enable researchers to gain the expertise needed to implement innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) activities including on-line teaching/learning opportunities; 2) developing a tablet computer and mobile phone-based application for research data capture, crowd sourcing, and analyses, 3) providing mentored, targeted practicum ICT project support in the area of infectious diseases at the human, animal and ecosystem interface and 4) establishing regular webinars and e-workshops to facilitate scientific networking among East African partners and Ohio State. The proposed effort is built upon the foundation of two NIH Fogarty International Center funded programs: 1) D43 (TW008650)- Molecular Epidemiology of Foodborne Pathogens in eastern Africa (ongoing) and 2) R25 (TW008101) Framework Grant to Establish a Health Science Center on Global Health (previous). We propose to conduct four activities including: 1) Digitizing four professional and graduate courses using iTunesU and CARMEN systems building upon the successful launching of our consortium's first online course on Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in January, 2014; 2) Adopting and customizing a mobile application for five current research projects conducted by NIH Fogarty Global Infectious Disease (GID) fellows using the MAGPI platform for initial phase and implementation of the iOS-based OneH Application currently under prototype testing developed by our consortium; 3) Cross-train 15 Eastern African ICT and Health professionals with Ohio State counterparts using intensive "Boot Camps" on ICT technologies including but not limited to iTunesU, CARMEN, AdobeConnect, Mobile teaching, ICT protocols, network security and policy, etc. The ultimate outcome of this program will be to strengthen the ICT capacity of partner East African institutes; sustain the current and previous NIH FIC-funded framework, research, and training programs (D43 and R25); and foster and strengthen intra-regional scientific networking in East Africa and between Ohio State and East African partners.