BRIDGE NETWORK · Scaling Up Research in SSA Countries in Infectious Diseases: African-European Training Network in Integrated Health Informatics and Data Sciences

An African-European consortium of 6 SSA countries and 3 European countries, gathering 12 partners is proposing a unique and innovative scalable training program and network that will produce empowered infectious diseases experts to lead and drive research from and for sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), at levels of early-stage career (post-graduate certification and doctoral) and mid-stage career (post-doctoral) in an integrated program of health informatics and data sciences (BRIDGE PROGRAM). The program consortium will set up 5 Centre of Excellence (CoEs) in SSA countries (Benin, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa). The CoEs will serve as training setting, field research setting and a hub for harmonized infectious diseases data, and all will recruit candidates from their countries for certification program, doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships but only 3 CoEs will be the degree awarding institutions. The degree awarding CoEs have been selected based on the existing university capacity to offer a degree awarding program or built on the existing partnerships between selected SSA public health institutes and local universities with degree awarding programs capacity. The program leverages the established collaborations between European and SSA institutions, utilizing accumulated medical data, including Electronic Health Records, registries, and biobanks. At the end of 54 months, program will have strengthened the institutional research leading capacities with at least 20 trainees per CoE with post-graduate certification, a total of 10 graduates with PhDs and a total of 4 post-doctoral fellows, skilled for harmonizing and analysing fragmented large data to derive data-driven insights and guide health policies. The CoEs embedded within public health institutions, with continuous mentorship from an international scientific community and a ready to use large amount of data, ensure the sustainability of training and collaborative research beyond the program grant.