Strengthening Research Administration Infrastructure for HIV Research in Nigeria

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Program Summary Nigeria has one of the largest HIV epidemics in the world with 1.8 million people living with HIV infection. The United States government has made huge investments in HIV care and research in Nigeria, through the Presidents Emergency Funds for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported programs and the National Institutes for Health (NIH) research training grants that have supported the training of researchers in Nigerian universities. Research on HIV in Nigeria has contributed significantly to the management, treatment, and prevention of HIV in the country as well to the development of international guidelines worldwide. The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) College of Medicine has implemented multiple HIV research projects mostly as a sub-awardee. Findings from our rapid needs assessment with 84 UNN researchers and research administrators indicated that 93% of researchers expressed interest in submitting grant applications, including for HIV research, but only 28% knew who to contact for proposal and submission support at UNN. For UNN to successfully submit and manage grant applications as a prime institution, there is need to strengthen its research administration and management infrastructure. The objectives of this proposal are to: 1) further identify needs and gaps in research administration and management at UNN; 2) improve the grants management and proposal development knowledge and skills of UNN research administrators and HIV implementation researchers; and 3) strengthen the ability of UNN research administrators and HIV implementation researchers to submit and manage successful HIV grant applications by providing mentorship, ongoing coaching and online courses from UCSD program instructors. UC San Diego experts in research administration and grant management will implement the objectives of the proposed infrastructure development training program. The proposed program will be led by Dr. Gregory Aarons, Professor and Director of UC San Diego Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute Dissemination and Implementation Science Center (DISC) as Program Director, and Dr. Echezona Ezeanolue, Professor and Director of UNN Centre for Translation and Implementation Research (CTAIR) as Co-Director. Drs. Aarons and Ezeanolue have an existing relationship and extensive experience building capacity in Nigerian institutions through the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance (NISA). A team of research administration and grant management experts from UC San Diego will train and provide ongoing mentoring to research administrators and grant management staff at UNN over a 3-year period. By the end of this infrastructure development training program, 12 UNN research administrators and grant managers will be able to successfully submit and manage NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other funded HIV grants.