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

项目总结 在大多数中低收入家庭中，妇女面临着不可接受的高发病率和高死亡率负担。 在撒哈拉以南非洲，普遍的艾滋病毒流行进一步加剧了这一负担。这个 艾滋病毒与妇女生殖健康(WRH)的交叉是一个重要的调查领域， 紧迫的科学问题和产生广泛影响的潜力。在本申请中，我们建议UNC-UNZA- WITS艾滋病毒和妇女生殖健康伙伴关系，以帮助满足#年艾滋病毒研究的迫切需求 怀孕、避孕和宫颈癌。我们利用伊利诺伊大学之间的持续联系 北卡罗来纳州教堂山大学(UNC)、赞比亚大学(UNZA)和威特沃特斯兰德大学 (WITS)从战略上建设赞比亚的研究能力。我们的关键创新是南北结构和 这一方案将建立在南南合作的基础上。我们采用前瞻性的方法。 考虑到UNZA不断变化的学术格局的能力建设，包括建立一个新的 公共卫生学院和一个新的全大学妇女健康研究中心。我们的首要目标 是培养一支由UNZA教职员工研究人员组成的干部队伍，他们由独立的资金进行合作， 艾滋病毒和WRH的多学科研究。我们提出了两个具体目标。首先，我们将提供培训 赞比亚研究人员在博士和博士后水平上的机会。我们将支持博士培养 对于五名有前途的候选人，采用跨学科混合博士项目，学生在该项目中完成 Wits的课程和UNZA的论文研究。我们还将支持五名博士后研究员，他们的总部设在 赞比亚，一次12个月。所有受训人员将接受来自 由美国、南非和赞比亚教师组成的经验丰富的团队。他们将被分配到持续的艾滋病毒和WRH 卢萨卡的研究，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，我们将在专业人士身上投入资源 发展现有的UNZA教职员工。每年，我们将支持两名教职员工完成有针对性的 威茨公共卫生学院的方法短期课程(共10门)。我们还将支持教职员工 通过能力建设赠款进行研究。这些小额赠款将以竞争性的方式授予，旨在 在方法培训、技术技能建设和/或设备方面进行战略投资，以提高 UNZA的整体研究能力。我们的项目领导层致力于研究能力 在赞比亚建设，并对培训环境有很强的了解。我们具有得天独厚的优势 鉴于我们强大的外地存在，监督这种规模的项目：七名关键人员中的六人(包括 Contact PI)的全职工作地点在南非或赞比亚。我们的培训计划旨在满足 联赞办事处的培训需求和赞比亚卫生部的国家优先事项。通过它，我们将建立 推进艾滋病毒和WRH科学所需的能力和合作。

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.