The Challenge

Infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) continue to be a major problem and cause of increased morbidity and mortality. Many LMICs not only bear the burden of increasing non-communicable diseases (NCD) and HIV but are also the sites for emerging infectious diseases and neglected tropical diseases. Infectious diseases continue to have an impact on productivity and development and greater understanding is needed around pathogens and their transmission. There are not enough scientists and health professionals with relevant ID research expertise.

Project Goals

Aga Khan University (AKU) has multiple locations and campuses throughout the world with a specific emphasis on supporting research and training in LMICs including East Africa where campuses have been established in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. In 2016, an Infectious Diseases Fellowship was inaugurated at AKU in Nairobi, Kenya as the first of only two Infectious Diseases fellowships offered in the East African region. The two-year fellowship program admits individuals from East Africa who have completed their MMed degree in Internal Medicine and is a foundation for African medical doctors interested in pursuing research in infectious diseases.

This training grant is designed to strengthen the capacity of AKU to conduct infectious disease research by providing advanced degree training to AKU Infectious Diseases fellows at the University of Washington, build sustainable infectious disease research capacity at AKU that are directly relevant to the health priorities of the region by providing non-degree training to AKU faculty at the University of Washington, and build a critical mass of scientists and health research professionals at AKU to conduct independent, internationally-recognized infectious disease research by conducting workshops and online courses for AKU faculty, fellows, residents, and students.

Our Approach

This program proposes to train students in HPV research in three different tracks of varying duration. The first is a long-term track offered to ID fellows at AKU who wish to pursue an MPH at the University of Washington (UW). The medium-term track offers an opportunity for AKU faculty who wish to pursue research to attend classes at the UW over one quarter and return to East Africa to engage in a mentored research proposal. The short-term track is composed of one-week workshops to be conducted in Nairobi as well as online courses that target AKU faculty, fellows, residents, and student who are interested in research.