Planning for a National Non-Communicable Disease Center of Research Excellence

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Project Summary Abstract This application is in response to RFA-CA15-007. It comprises a two-year planning period to develop a Malawi Center of Research Excellence for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), focused on cancer, injury, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). These three areas of concentration are of major public health importance with immense unmet need. They have been prioritized by our partner institutions in this application: the Malawi College of Medicine (COM) and Ministry of Health (MOH). Following the intent of the RFA the University of North Carolina (UNC) will serve as the high-income country partner institution for the application, based on its decades-long program in Malawi, long history of collaboration with COM and MOH, and deep involvement in cancer research activities specifically within Malawi. The planning grant will seek to engage US and International partners with significant NCD programs in Malawi, such as UCLA and Baylor College of Medicine, and others. This is a multiple principal investigators application with highly complementary expertise: Satish Gopal (UNC/COM; cancer; clinical investigation); Nyengo Mkandawire (COM; injury; clinical investigation); Mwapatsa Mipando (COM; cardiovascular disease; basic science); Dirk Dittmer (UNC; cancer; basic science). In addition, senior investigators and leadership from government and other supported research programs will participate as key personnel and consultants during the planning period, which leverages an impressive pool of faculty within and outside Malawi. The planning is to develop a center will include administrative, developmental, clinical, laboratory, biostatistics, and implementation cores and which may serve as a resource for the region, e.g. in pathology and surgery training. Partners will be invited during the planning period to contribute to a national plan for each of these, based on existing resources and activities across institutions, as well as new resources and activities that are collectively prioritized. Sustainability of the proposed center and its impact will be ensured by strong ownership from collaborating Malawian partners, including support by the highest levels of COM and MOH. We seek to establish active linkages of collaborating partners within Malawi to international institutions and research networks outside Malawi will allow the center to leverage these external relationships to achieve regional importance in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, by catalyzing a broad national movement to address a rapidly growing NCD burden, the center will deliver measurable benefits to the people of Malawi.