About The Impact Training Program
In 2022, the Fogarty International Center at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year grant titled; ‘Reducing the Impact of Rheumatic Heart Disease Across the Life Span: The Impact Program’ to Makerere University’s College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) in a bid to scale up research on Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) in Uganda. This is because there has been little innovation globally in RHD prevention, early detection, and management since the mid-1900’s. Moreover, majority of evidence guiding current practice was generated in high-income countries and may not translate directly to the contemporary burden of disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Therefore, the Impact Training Program will leverage existing resources and ongoing RHD clinical trials from a decade-long RHD research and training collaboration between Makerere University, the Uganda Heart Institute (UHI), Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre (CCHMC) and Children’s National Hospital (CNH) to build capacity to tackle RHD where the burden is the highest. The Program will train multidisciplinary health professionals at MakCHS to conduct RHD-related research with a special emphasis on clinical trials capacity building. Additionally, the program will address the “double gender gap” in RHD research including (1) under-representation of women in research in Africa and (2) the dearth of sex- and gender-based analysis in RHD.
PROGRAM GOAL:
The program’s goal is to equip and nurture emerging research leaders and professional scholars in Uganda to generate high-quality contemporary evidence on RHD across the lifespan and to create an enduring research training centre on the African continent that will rapidly advance progress towards the elimination of the disease in a generation.
SERVICES OFFERED:
- Long-term degree training at Master’s, PhD and Career development fellowship levels
- e-learning seminar and in-person immersive experience in the US to strengthen clinical trials capacity
- Short-term trainings, seminars, webinars and workshops for degree and non-degree trainees
YEAR(S) AWARDED
2022–2027
PRINCIPAL INSTITUTION:
Makerere University
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S) (PI)
Prof. Emeritus Nelson Sewankambo
Dr. Beaton Andrea
Dr. Emmy Okello
Dr. James Kayima
Dr. Craig Sable
PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION
Email: sewankam@infocom.co.ug
