HSPH Receives Grant to Help Train Researchers in HIV/AIDS and TB

Working together, HSPH and the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania have received grants from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health to help train researchers in the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

"Tanzania is one of the most affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa by HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis," said Wafaie Fawzi, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH. "The goal of this training program is to develop a critical mass of researchers in Tanzania in the area of HIV/TB disease implementation research. We propose to train future leaders in epidemiological, operations and health services, and clinical research related to these two major infectious diseases."

The training initiative will be led by MUHAS and HSPH, in partnership with the National Institute of Medical Research, Ifakara Health Institute, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Tanzania Commission for AIDS in Tanzania. In addition to Fawzi, the program will be directed by Professor Ferdinand Mugusi of the Department of Internal Medicine at MUHAS.

HSPH has received a five-year grant of approximately $1.3 million. MUHAS will receive a separate grant, according to the Fogarty International Center. The funding is part of $11.75 million in grants announced by the NIH and awarded to institutions to strengthen the fight against AIDS and tuberculosis in Haiti, Uganda, China and Tanzania. The five-year awards to train researchers from those countries are aimed at closing the gap between what is known about preventing and treating HIV/AIDS and TB among large populations in diverse settings and achieving results in countries where the two diseases often coexist, according to a press release from the agency.

The grants are made under the International Clinical, Operational, and Health Services Research and Training Awards for AIDS and Tuberculosis (ICOHRTA AIDS/TB) program.

Harvard, MUHAS and their partners have worked closely over the past 15 years to contribute to the development of a solid clinical, research, and laboratory infrastructure that allows for the implementation of research studies and research training initiatives, noted Fawzi.

MUHAS has a range of programs in basic, clinical and allied health sciences, according to the university's web site. These programs are taught in the five schools and one academic Institute of the University. The university describes its objectives as the advancement of knowledge, diffusion and extension of technology and learning, the provision of higher education and research and, so far as is consistent with those objects, the nurturing of the intellectual, aesthetic, social and moral growth of the students at the university.