Capacity building in chronic non-communicable diseases at the American University

描述(由申请人提供)：贝鲁特美国大学(AUB)的学者健康研究计划(SHARP)将产生进行一般非传染性疾病相关研究所需的人力资本，特别是与黎巴嫩LMIC(黎巴嫩)及其地区的需求最相关的非传染性疾病研究。这些疾病包括肥胖、心血管疾病和维生素D缺乏症，作为两者的共同联系。夏普将与哈佛大学的同事一起，为来自医学、护理、健康科学、农业和营养四所合作学院的20名研究生实习生或教职员工提供卓越的教学和实践研究经验。该计划将在亚利桑那州大学建立和维持一支训练有素的研究人员队伍，从事以患者为导向和以人群为导向的不同学科的研究： 医生、护士、流行病学家、公共卫生官员、政策制定者和营养学家，对从事非传染性疾病研究感兴趣。该计划还将为学员提供领导力和管理技能，使他们能够成为研究小组、学术部门或其他医疗保健机构的变革推动者。从短期训练到中期训练再到长期训练的跨度很大。短期培训包括夏季强化课程，提供流行病学、生物统计学、研究伦理学、图书馆医学的基本知识，以及实习(共12学分)，让学员亲身体验所获得的技能，并导致 夏普证书。考生可以选择在NCD项目上继续工作3-6个月(中期培训)，或者继续完成额外的课程要求，从而获得可在一到两年内完成的科学硕士学位(长期培训)。夏普是一个独特的、多方面的、新颖的、多层次的协作项目：1)它面向来自不同教育和培训背景的从事健康研究的利益相关者；2)它结合了一个课程，以满足以人口为导向以及以患者为中心的研究需求；3)它结合了教学、互动的纵向研讨会系列，以及通过指导论文项目提供密集的实践研究经验；4)它汇集了亚利桑那州立大学不同合作学院的资源和学科；5)它架起了研究和学术、临床实践、管理和卫生政策的桥梁；6)它解决了黎巴嫩和该地区非传染性疾病的健康需求。 公共卫生相关性：慢性非传染性疾病占发展中国家健康和慢性残疾的50%以上，中东国家这些疾病的增加速度令人震惊。了解导致肥胖和心血管疾病“流行”的因素的复杂性，需要跨卫生学科的综合多学科方法，将临床试验与基于人群的流行病学研究联系起来，从而从制定政策到实施循证干预措施。拟议的学者健康研究计划(SHARP)包括一种新的合作方法，以填补黎巴嫩和该地区目前在解决非传染性疾病方面的主要空白。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Scholars in HeAlth Research Program (SHARP) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) will generate the human capital needed to conduct NCD-related research in general, and especially of NCDs most relevant to the needs of the LMIC (Lebanon) and its region. These include obesity, cardiovascular disorders, and hypovitaminosis D as a common link to both. SHARP will provide superior didactic teaching and hands on practical research experiences to 20 post graduate trainees or faculty members from four collaborating schools: Medicine, Nursing, Health sciences, Agriculture and Nutrition, with Harvard Colleagues. The Program will create and sustain at AUB a cadre of highly trained investigators in patient-oriented as well as population-oriented research from various disciplines: physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, public health officers, policy makers, and nutritionists, interested in pursuing careers in NCD research. The program will also provide trainees with leadership and management skills enabling them to become change-agents in research groups, academic departments, or other health care settings. SHARP spans from short to medium to long term training. The short term training consists of a summer intensive course that provides the essentials in epidemiology, biostatistics, research ethics, library medicine, and a practicum (total 12 credits) that allows the trainee a hands on experience using skills acquired and leads to the SHARP certificate. Candidates may elect to follow with work on an NCD project for 3-6 months (medium training), or proceed with completing the additional curricular requirements that lead to SHARP Master of Sciences degree (long-term training) that can be completed in one to two years. SHARP is a unique multifaceted, novel, and collaborative program at multiple levels: 1) it targets stakeholders engaged in health research from various educational and training backgrounds, 2) it combines a curriculum that addresses the needs of population-oriented as well as patient-oriented research, 3) it combines didactic teaching, with interactive longitudinal seminar series, and an intensive hands-on research experience through a mentored thesis project , 4) it pools resources and disciplines from the various collaborating Schools at AUB, 5) it bridges research and academia, clinical practice, management and health policy, 6) it addresses NCD health needs in Lebanon and the region. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) account for over 50% of health and chronic disabilities in developing countries, and the rate of increase in these disorders in Middle Eastern countries is alarming. Understanding the complexity of factors contributing to an "epidemic" of obesity, and cardiovascular disorders, requires an integrated multidisciplinary approach across health disciplines, linking clinical trials to population-based epidemiologic studies, and consequently from policy-making to implementation of evidence-based interventions. The proposed Scholars in HeAlth Research Program (SHARP) consists of a novel collaborative approach to fill the current major gap to address NCDs, in Lebanon and the region.