Colombia-U.S. Fogarty training program on the impact of emerging zoonotic and vector-borne diseases in acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses

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Abstract Non-malarial acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses (AUFIs) are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in Latin America, and the incidence of dengue-like illness has increased dramatically in recent years. As in most low-and middle-income countries, only a handful of “dengue” cases are confirmed by laboratory testing and therefore many other pathogens remain hidden under the dengue “umbrella”. Lack of proper training among scientists and health care workers was recognized as one of the major obstacles in the diagnosis of AUFIs. To fill this gap, our D43 Global Infectious Disease Research Training Program was launched in 2016, with the goal of forming a strong team of scientists studying non-malarial acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses (AUFIs) in Colombia. Since then, the program has filled a major gap. Over the past five years, we completed advanced training of Colombian Faculty members, predoctoral and postdoctoral students, and conducted short-term training on grant writing and manuscript preparation. The program encompassed short, medium, and long-term research training, and it has exceeded expectations (see Progress Report). The past five years has allowed us to identify additional gaps, challenges, and opportunities. Our new proposed activities will build on our accomplishments and continue to build capacity and train a new group of Colombian Faculty members, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows studying the emerging zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. We will expand the focus of our D43 training program to address respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. We will incorporate training of master’s students enrolled in the Master’s in Basic Biomedical Sciences and implement training on novel molecular and bioinformatic methods, electron microscopy, novel diagnostic methods, grant writing, scientific writing, ethics in scientific research, and biosafety, and for Colombian Faculty, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, research leadership. Our carefully designed plan includes: 1) In Years 1 and 2, we will support medium-term training of six Colombian Faculty members under a “train the trainer” approach, 2) In Years 1 and 2, we will recruit and support in-country long-term training of master’s students interested in emerging zoonotic and vector-borne diseases working under the mentorship of the Colombian Program Faculty, 3) In Years 3 through 5, we will recruit and support long-term training of PhD, and postdoctoral fellows in the US in advanced research methodologies, scientific writing, biosafety, and bioethics, and, 4) we will conduct short-term in country training in Colombia to ensure appropriate implementation of methodologies, and also conduct specific workshops. We will continue to support training across institutions in the region through in- country visits of US Faculty members and funds will be available for pilot and reinsertion small grants after completion of training. An important planned outcome is the increased awareness of these diseases at the level of human and veterinary health professionals, as well as public health authorities.