Annual Meeting of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI)

Science Academies as Partners for Improving the Impacts of Policies in Africa

Dr Pat Goodwin Head of Pathogens, Immunology and Population Health 4 November 2008

The Wellcome Trust

Mission:

“Foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health”

“We will continue to fund internationally and expect that this element of our funding will increase.”

Strategy

Global Health Research

• Support research programmes which have the potential to improve health of people and livestock • Support the research base in under-resourced environments • Support international networks and partnerships that focus on problems of resource-poor countries.

Mechanisms

• Projects • Fellowships at all career stages • Calls for proposals e.g. African Institutions Initiative  Science must be competitive  Funding should contribute to capacity building and training - with evidence of support from host institution

Obtaining scientific advice from Africans and African institutions

• Individual researchers • Local programmes • National networks • Continent-wide networks

1) Individual researchers

• We support over 3000 researchers in 50 countries • Fellowships for developing country scientists at all stages of their careers • Our Advisory Committees are comprised of experts from all over the world

2) Local Programmes

KEMRI, Nairobi, Kilifi. Childhood infections, malaria, bacteraemia, pneumonia, RSV Director: Kevin Marsh Africa Centre, KwaZulu-Natal.

HIV, population studies, STIs, maternal & child health Director: Marie-Louise Newell College of Medicine, Blantyre.

Severe malaria, pneumococcal disease, NT salmonella, viral CNS infection, severe anaemia Director: Rob Heyderman

3) National networks – Health Research Capacity Strengthening Initiative

NRCM

Aims:

• strengthen capacity for generation of health research knowledge • improve evidence-based decision making, policy formulation and implementation

Activities:

• support and train promising individual scientists • strengthen key academic research and policy-making institutions • facilitate collaborative engagement of national representatives • improve regulation and co-ordination of the national research environment

3) National networks – Health Research Capacity Strengthening Initiative

• Kenya and Malawi (£10 million each country) • National Task Forces developed programmes of work over a 6-month period • Implementation via • Consortium for National Health Research, Kenya • National Research Council of Malawi NRCM

4) African continent networks

Keys to Capacity Strengthening in African Institutions Meeting held Kilifi, Kenya, April 2007 Purpose:

an expert meeting to explore sustainable capacity building in African universities and research institutes in health research

Aim:

International health research funders to consult with leading African researchers engaged in health research to identify what would be required to build research capacity within their institutions

Menu of Options:

1.

‘Feeding the pipeline’ of health researchers 2.

Raising the profile of science and health research 3.

4.

Career pathways (critical mass, recruitment, retention) Supporting senior scientists as a priority 5.

6.

7.

Nationally accessible grant and fellowship schemes Funding mechanisms as drivers of change Networks and partnerships

Establishment of ISHReCA

Initiative to Strengthen Health Research Capacity in Africa (ISHReCA)

Mission:

• to promote self-sustaining pools of researchers, capable of initiating and carrying out high quality health research in Africa

Objectives:

• to provide a platform for African health researchers to discuss sustainable capacity building • to promote an African-led agenda for research capacity building • to advocate for increased commitment of national governments and civil society towards building local capacity and conduct and translate research into policy and practice • to reinforce at the regional and national level, the urgency in the need for networking and building capacity for research for health in Africa

www.mrc.ac.za/researchdevelopment/ISHReCAbrochure.pdf

Initiative to Strengthen Health Research Capacity in Africa (ISHReCA)

Secretariat: in Tropical Disease Research (TDR), WHO Geneva

• • • • • • • • • • •

ISHReCA Steering Committee members:

Nelson Sewankambo - Uganda (Chair) Sam Kinyanjui - Kenya (Secretary) Abraham Aseffa - Ethiopia Hassen Ghannem- Tunisia Abraham Hodgson - Ghana Edith Madela-Mntla - South Africa Wilfred Mbacham – Cameroon Francine Ntoumi - Congo Brazzaville Ambelia Rodrigues - Guinea Bissau Sodiomon Sirima - Burkina Faso Eusebio Macete – Mozambique

African Institutions Initiative

Strengthening African Higher Education and Research Institutes

• To create equitable and sustainable networks and partnerships between institutions through South-South and North-South linkages • To build a critical mass of local research capacity geared to national priorities • To support human resources and infrastructure necessary for the development of the administrative, governance, financial and management • To develop and build leadership at individual, institutional and national levels so countries can better initiate and lead research activities • To support research leaders to act as beacons and role models to enthuse young scientists to develop research careers • 15 full applications to be considered in December 2008

www.wellcome.ac.uk/globalhealth

Role for African Academies

• Overview of agreed national health research priorities • Authoritative source of current activities in health research • A robust link between researchers, policy makers, regulators and implementers.

• Interactions with funders • Membership should be representative with respect to age, sex and speciality

4) Funders Networks

Heads of International research organisations

funding medical research world-wide (HIROS)

International Forum for Research Donors

(IFORD) representatives of research organisations who discuss and defend the role of research in development cooperation

Enhancing Support for Effective National Capacity Efforts (

ESSENCE) established between international funders of health research to maintain contact and promote funder harmonisation and alignment with country priorities ( Secretariat to be established in Geneva at Tropical Disease Research, WHO)