Vanderbilt-Zambia Network for Innovation in Global Health Technologies

描述（由申请人提供）：范德比尔特-赞比亚全球卫生技术创新网络（VZNIGHT）将在一个综合培训环境中确定并培养12名美国和赞比亚的研究学员（4组，每组3人），以开发和部署新的低资源诊断技术，使赞比亚能够推进其疟疾控制运动。每个培训小组将在一个多学科环境中开发和实施自己独特的疟疾检测创新解决方案，该环境包括范德比尔特大学的基础科学、工程科学、全球卫生和临床科学以及多个赞比亚伙伴机构，包括马查疟疾研究所、赞比亚大学、国家疟疾控制中心和热带病研究中心。每年由美国和赞比亚博士后组成的三方研究小组——分别来自基础科学、工程科学和临床或公共卫生科学的一名受训人员——将被整合到范德比尔特大学现有的资源匮乏的技术开发团队中，为期一年。在此期间，他们将作为项目团队的多学科核心发挥作用，每个人都做出贡献，并反思其他人的观点。为了将研究成果转化为可实现的产品，这些研究小组随后将在赞比亚进行为期6个月的实地试验，在那里他们将评估新技术在寄生虫流行的三个层次——高、中、低——的有效性。学员将有无数正式和非正式的学习机会，包括范德比尔特大学的全球健康基础技能课程、VZNIGHT特别系列研讨会、广泛选择的课程审核，以补充他们的正式培训或拓宽他们的多学科视角、每月期刊俱乐部和研究综述，以及VU工程管理项目的创新战略顶点课程。我们还将在赞比亚和美国开展短期培训，包括在赞比亚为众多科学家举办的项目前期和项目末期培训讲习班，内容涉及创新技术的实施和使用、研究伦理、拨款写作和手稿写作。我们还将选派一些赞比亚导师到范德比尔特大学参加为期2-4周的研讨会，主题包括创新技术、工程管理、生物医学信息学和知识产权。VZNIGHT将建立一个创新网络，开发持续的技术和产品管道，以提高诊断能力，并帮助赞比亚卫生系统实现其无疟疾赞比亚的目标。通过将项目校友整合到多个赞比亚机构（大学、农村卫生系统、卫生部），VZNIGHT开发的专业知识将在全国范围内推广，并与范德比尔特大学的科学家和未来的学员建立联系，继续开发和实施新技术。包括知识产权和许可证在内的资产将确保赞比亚的长期利益。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Vanderbilt-Zambia Network for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (VZNIGHT) will identify and nurture 12 American and Zambian research trainees (4 cohorts of 3) in an integrated training environment to develop and deploy new low-resource diagnostic technologies to enable Zambia to advance its malaria control campaign. Each trainee team will develop and implement its own unique innovative solution for malaria detection in a multidisciplinary environment that includes the basic sciences, engineering sciences, and global health and clinical sciences at Vanderbilt University and multiple Zambia partner institutions, including the Malaria Institute at Macha, the University of Zambia, the National Malaria Control Centre, and the Tropical Diseases Research Centre. Annual tripartite cohorts of US and Zambian postdoctoral researchers - one trainee each from the basic sciences, engineering sciences, and clinical or public health sciences - will be integrated into Vanderbilt's existing low-resource technology development team for a year, during which they will function as the multidisciplinary core of the project team, each contributin and reflecting on the others' perspectives. To effect the translation of research findings into realized products, the cohorts will then validate their technologies in field tests for six months n Zambia, where they will evaluate the effectiveness of the new technologies across the three strata of parasite prevalence - high, medium, and low. Trainees will have myriad formal and informal learning opportunities, including Vanderbilt's Foundational Skills in Global Health course, a special VZNIGHT seminar series, audits of a wide selection of courses to complement their formal training or broaden their multidisciplinary perspective, monthly journal club and research review, and the VU Engineering Management Program's Innovation Strategy Capstone course. We will also conduct short-term trainings in Zambia and the US, including early- and end-of-program training workshops in Zambia for a broad range of scientists on implementation and use of innovative technologies, ethics in research, grant writing, and manuscript writing. We will also bring selected Zambian mentors to Vanderbilt for workshops of 2-4-weeks' duration on topics such as innovative technologies, engineering management, biomedical informatics, and intellectual property. VZNIGHT will establish a network for innovation that develops an ongoing pipeline of technologies and products that improve diagnostic capabilities and assist the Zambian health system to realize its goal of a malaria-free Zambia. By integrating program alumni into multiple Zambia-based institutions (university, rural health systems, Ministry of Health), the expertise developed by VZNIGHT will have a nationwide scope, and linkages to Vanderbilt scientists and future trainees will continue to develop and implement new technologies. Assets including intellectual property rights and licenses will secure long-term benefits to Zambia.