Sustainable One Health Research Training Capacity in Eastern Africa

Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), Nairobi

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Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY According to the Global Burden of Diseases data, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces the highest burden of zoonotic food-, water- and vector-borne diseases in the world. Through our renewal D43 application, the One Health Eastern Africa Research Training (OHEART) program, we focus on two countries: Kenya and Ethiopia, which collectively have more than 170 million people whose lives are intertwined with animals. Livestock and people constantly move across borders in search of pasture and better livelihoods, exacerbating zoonotic disease transmission. Recent epidemics and pandemics that originate from animals include Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (birds), Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (camels), Ebola Viral Disease (fruit bats), and COVID-19, among others. Therefore, building the health research and training workforce using the One Health approach has become increasingly crucial. In the last two cycles, our OHEART D43 trained a total of 18 PhD, five postdoc and 46 laboratory technologists that are making impactful contributions. In the upcoming cycle, we propose a research-training program using an integrated One Health approach to address priority zoonotic pathogens of public health significance in the region. We emphasize building and strengthening capacity at the interface of humans, animals, and the environment. We made transformative changes to ensure sustainability, which include transitioning program leadership to eastern Africa under the leadership of Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). The program will focus on four core institutional partners from Kenya (KEMRI and University of Nairobi) and Ethiopia (University of Gondar and Armauer Hansen Research Institute). These institutes represent the leading national global health research and training institutes with the mandate to train professionals in diverse areas including infectious diseases at PhD and postdoctoral levels. Our specific aims include: 1) Strengthen One Health research capacity in eastern Africa by expanding a sustainable pool of research leaders; 2) Foster research collaborations between Kenya and Ethiopia, and The Ohio State University, in major zoonotic transboundary infectious diseases; and 3) Facilitate and nurture an inter- disciplinary collaborative environment among disciplines including medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, public health, environmental health and data science. We propose to scale up and train future infectious diseases researchers and leaders in targeted priority endemic and emerging zoonotic infectious diseases using approaches that include omics, data analytics, implementation science and applied research leadership. Building on the success of the past two cycles, we will use two research-training tracks: Track 1.A. train six PhD level pre-doctoral PhD fellows (three per country) with two phases of mentored research in Kenya (6-mo) and OSU (9-mo) and remainder period at home institute; Track 1.B. two postdoctoral fellows for two years each with 3-mo visiting fellowship at OSU using a sandwich program approach and Track 2- we will train 16 laboratory technologists via a short-term certificate program in global one health using defined competencies.