Sustainable Research Training and Capacity Building in Liberia for Emerging Viral Epidemics

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Liberia, a resource rich but economically poor country, continues to struggle with growth and recovery following its 14-year civil war that destroyed its infrastructure. During the recent Ebola virus (EBOV) epidemic, Liberia had fewer than 100 physicians and needed help from the international community for its control. The assistance Liberia received largely improved physical resources (e.g., laboratory equipment and containment facilities), but did not significantly increase human resources. Today, the healthcare workforce has only ~25% of the nurses, midwives, and pharmacists, and 9% of the physicians the country needs. For Liberia to develop sustainable research capacity for early identification and control of emerging viral diseases with the potential for regional and global pandemics, Liberia needs a mechanism to garner students’ interest, and a continuous supply of university-educated students graduating with current knowledge on viruses, epidemiology and how to conduct research. The University of Liberia (UL) is the largest government supported institution in Liberia, and its College of Science and Technology awards Bachelor of Science degrees to students who wish to enter the health professions. Also, UL’s College of Medicine and Tubman Institute of Medicinal Arts train physicians and nurses, respectively. In 2015, UL conducted a needs assessment and developed a strategic academic plan. In response to this plan, faculty in the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, University of Hawai’i (UH), and the University of Yaoundé 1 (UY) propose to partner with faculty at UL to establish a creative training program with the goal of garnering interest and improving teaching and student learning experience in biomedical sciences at UL, and providing training in the conduct of research on emerging viral epidemics. The planning process has 12 steps: 1) devise a career development plan for faculty; 2) determine how to strengthen the curriculum in virology, emerging epidemic diseases, and research; 3) assess feasibility of long-distance learning between UL and UH; 4) evaluate the possibility of introducing a laboratory-based course entitled “Research on Emerging Epidemic Viruses,” into the curriculum; 5) identify opportunities for students to participate in in-country mentored research projects; 6) investigate other activities for inclusion in a training grant; 7) explore training of Liberian students in Hawai’i; 8) establish south-south academic and research collaboration; 9) identify a method for selecting students for training; 10) assess needs for specific skilled personnel in the Liberian healthcare workforce; 11) identify individuals with multi-disciplinary backgrounds to serve on a Training Advisory Group; and 12) write a D43 application. The ten-person planning committee consists of UL, UH and UY faculty who are teacher-scholars, and their D71 planning efforts are supported by a larger group of faculty with experience in virology, epidemiology and global health research. Strengthening the research capacity at the UL is the only way to guarantee a sustainable cadre of health professionals with research expertise to identify and control future emerging viral epidemics in Liberia.