Research Training Programs

Nigeria has the second largest number of people with HIV, the fourth largest number of people with tuberculosis and the highest rate of malaria and communicable diseases, including stroke and epilepsy, in the world. The original MEPI has contributed greatly to improved faculty research capacity in Nigeria. This project will foster development of research capacity and careers of the next generation of researchers at the University of Ibadan to enhance their research output for improved human health.

Principal Investigator: Adesola Ogunniyi, MD

Partner Institution: University of Ibadan

Learn more about this training program on the NIH website.

This program is a renewal of the NeuroAIDS research training program at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. NeuroAIDS includes training of mental health, neurocognitive and neurologic disorders. Our team estimates that HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, alone, affect over a million Nigerians. The current proposal builds on the substantial success of the NeuroAIDS training program to date and addresses gaps in the three NeuroAIDS research cores that have emerged at the University of Ibadan.

Principal Investigator: Babafemi Taiwo, MBBS

Partner Institution: University of Ibadan

Learn more about this training program on the NIH website.

The HIV Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) training program is a collaboration between Northwestern University and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania. The program will build capacity among Tanzanian investigators to lead PCOR in HIV disease prevention, care and treatment, and HIV-related comorbidities. The program will foster timely and clinically relevant patient-centered research designed to measure and improve clinical and patient-centered outcomes, while strengthening established collaborations between researchers at MUHAS and Northwestern University.

Principal Investigators: Claudia Hawkins, MD, MPH; Lisa Hirschhorn, MD, MPH

Partner Institution: Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences

Learn more about this project on the NIH website.

The Partnership for Global Health Research Training is proposed by a consortium of institutions, including Harvard University, Boston University, Northwestern University and University of New Mexico, will contribute to global health research capacity building and the use of research to improve the health outcomes related to priority health areas including HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases (including cardiovascular disease and diabetes), maternal and child health and nutrition, and mental health in 13 low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) throughout Africa and Asia.

Principal Investigator: Wafaie Fawzi, MBBS

U.S. Partner Institutions: Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine (Site PI: Davidson Hamer, MD); Northwestern University (Site PI: Claudia Hawkins, MD, MPH); University of New Mexico (Site PI: Douglas Perkins, PhD)

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Learn more about the training program on the NIH website.

Antiretroviral therapy programs put into place by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund and others have resulted in a remarkable decrease in HIV-related morbidity and mortality; however, certain malignancies are rising significantly. This Nigerian-based research training program will build capacity in molecular cancer epidemiology, biostatistics and bioinformatics to train researchers to conduct population-based molecular epidemiology cancer research, leading to the development of preventative and therapeutic strategies to reduce incidence and decrease mortality of HIV-associated malignancies in Nigeria.

Principal Investigators: Lifang Hou, MD, PhD; Robert Murphy, MD

Partner Institutions: University of Lagos; University of Jos

Learn more about this project on the NIH website.

The overall goal of this program is to support the development of point of care (POC) technologies to promote high-priority topics of National Institutes for Health (NIH) HIV/AIDS research, including:

• Reducing HIV incidence by improving screening, detection and treatment monitoring related to HIV, HIV drug resistance and antiretroviral drug levels.
• Diagnosing HIV-associated comorbidities, which include tuberculosis (TB), non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV).
• Reducing health disparities by developing testing technology that can function in underserved community settings.
• Training the workforce to be able to translate POC technologies from research and development to implementation.

Principal Investigators: Robert Murphy, MD; Almoustapha Maiga, PhD; Mariam Sylla, PhD

Partner Institution: University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako

Learn more about this project on the NIH website.

Principal Investigators: Chad Achenbach, MD, MPH; Matthew Glucksberg, PhD, MS

This partnership supported and energized research training programs for junior faculty at the University of Jos and Ahmadu Bello University.

Principal Investigators: Melissa Simon, MD, MPH; William Gradishar, MD; Adam Murphy, MD; Claudia Hawkins, MD, MPH; Chad Achenbach, MD, MPH

Partner Institutions: University of Jos; Ahmadu Bello University