The UNC-UNZA-Wits Partnership for HIV and Women's Reproductive Health

UNC-UNZA-Wits 艾滋病毒和妇女生殖健康伙伴关系

• 批准号: 9977299
• 负责人: Benjamin H. Chi
• 金额: $ 30.13万
• 依托单位: UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-26 至 2022-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9977299
• 关键词: Africa South of the Sahara; Award; Clinical; Collaborations; Contraceptive methods; Development; Doctor of Philosophy; Environment; Epidemic; Epidemiology; Equipment; Face; Faculty; Funding; Goals; Grant; HIV; Health; Human Resources; Hybrids; Interdisciplinary Study; Investigation; Investments; Laboratories; Leadership; Malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri; Mentorship; Methodology; Morbidity - disease rate; North Carolina; Positioning Attribute; Postdoctoral Fellow; Pregnancy; Public Health Schools; Reproductive Health; Research; Research Personnel; Resources; Science; South Africa; South African; Structure; Students; Technical Expertise; Thinking; Time; Training; Training Programs; Universities; Woman; Women' s Health; Zambia; base; design; experience; faculty research; faculty support; innovation; low and middle-income countries; member; mortality; programs; training opportunity

PROJECT SUMMARY Women face an unacceptability high burden of morbidity and mortality in most low- and middle-income countries; in sub-Saharan Africa, this burden is further intensified by a generalized HIV epidemic. The intersection of HIV and women’s reproductive health (WRH) is an important field of investigation, one with pressing scientific questions and potential for broad impact. In this application, we propose the UNC-UNZA- Wits Partnership for HIV and Women’s Reproductive Health to help meet the urgent need for HIV research in pregnancy, contraception, and cervical cancer. We leverage ongoing connections between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), the University of Zambia (UNZA), and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) to strategically build research capacity in Zambia. Our key innovation is the structure of North-South and South-South collaborations upon which this program will be founded. We employ a forward-thinking approach to capacity building that considers the evolving academic landscape at UNZA, including the founding of a new School of Public Health and a new university-wide Centre for Women’s Health Research. Our overarching goal is to develop a cadre of UNZA faculty researchers who are independently funded to conduct collaborative, multidisciplinary research in HIV and WRH. We propose two specific aims. First, we will provide training opportunities for Zambian investigators at the doctoral and postdoctoral level. We will support doctoral training for five promising candidates, employing an interdisciplinary hybrid PhD program in which students complete coursework at Wits and dissertation research at UNZA. We will also support five postdoctoral fellows, based in Zambia, for 12 months at a time. All trainees will receive intensive and structured mentorship from an experienced team of US, South African, and Zambian faculty. They will be assigned to ongoing HIV and WRH studies in Lusaka, leveraging these independently funded research platforms to embed their own laboratory, clinical, epidemiologic, and/or implementation studies. Second, we will invest resources in the professional development of current UNZA faculty members. Every year, we will support two faculty to complete targeted methodological short courses at the Wits School of Public Health (10 in total). We will also support faculty research through capacity building grants. Competitively awarded, these small grants will be designed to provide strategic investment in methodological training, technical skills building, and/or equipment to enhance UNZA’s overall research capabilities. Our program leadership is deeply committed in research capacity building in Zambia and has a strong understanding of the training environment. We are uniquely positioned to oversee a project of this scope given our strong field presence: six of seven key personnel (including the contact PI) are based full-time in either South Africa or Zambia. Our training program is designed to meet the training needs of UNZA and the national priorities of the Zambian Ministry of Health. Through it, we will build the capacity and collaborations needed to advance the science of HIV and WRH.

项目摘要 在大多数低收入和中等收入国家， 在撒哈拉以南非洲，艾滋病毒的普遍流行进一步加重了这一负担。的 艾滋病毒和妇女生殖健康的交叉是一个重要的调查领域， 紧迫的科学问题和广泛影响的潜力。在本申请中，我们提出UNC-UNZA- 艾滋病毒和妇女生殖健康伙伴关系，以帮助满足艾滋病毒研究的迫切需要， 怀孕、避孕和宫颈癌。我们利用大学之间的持续联系， 位于查佩尔山的北卡罗来纳州、赞比亚大学和威特沃特斯兰德大学 （Wits）战略性地建设赞比亚的研究能力。我们的主要创新是南北结构， 南南合作，这将是该计划的基础。我们采用前瞻性思维方法 能力建设，考虑到UNZA不断变化的学术环境，包括建立一个新的 公共卫生学院和一个新的大学妇女健康研究中心。我们的总目标 是培养一支由UNZA学院研究人员组成的骨干队伍， 艾滋病毒和WRH的多学科研究。我们提出两个具体目标。首先，我们将提供培训 为赞比亚研究人员提供博士和博士后水平的机会。我们将支持博士培养 五个有前途的候选人，采用跨学科的混合博士课程，学生完成 Wits的课程作业和UNZA的论文研究。我们还将支持五名博士后研究员， 赞比亚，一次12个月。所有学员将获得一个密集和结构化的指导， 经验丰富的美国，南非和赞比亚教师团队。他们将被分配到正在进行的艾滋病毒和WRH 在卢萨卡进行研究，利用这些独立资助的研究平台嵌入自己的实验室， 临床、流行病学和/或实施研究。第二，我们会在专业上投入资源 目前UNZA教师的发展。每年，我们将支持两名教师完成有针对性的 在公共卫生学院举办的方法学短期课程（共10门）。我们还将支持教师 通过能力建设赠款进行研究。这些小额赠款将通过竞争获得， 在方法培训、技术技能建设和/或设备方面提供战略投资，以加强 UNZA的整体研究能力。我们的项目领导层致力于研究能力 在赞比亚的建筑，并有很强的了解培训环境。我们有独特的优势， 鉴于我们强大的现场存在，监督此范围的项目：七名关键人员中的六名（包括 联系PI）在南非或赞比亚全职工作。我们的培训计划旨在满足 赞比亚卫生部的国家优先事项。通过它，我们将建立 提高艾滋病毒和WRH科学所需的能力和合作。