Mwanza-Tanzania Research Training program in HIV Clinical investigation

5-year project from 2021 to 2026

The current project we are doing is called Mwanza-Tanzania Research Training program in HIV Clinical investigation and is in collaboration with Weill-Cornell Medical College, Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU), Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Weill Bugando School of Medicine.This is a 5-year project from 2021 to 2026 and the grant for the project was awarded, supported and administered by the Fogarty International Center at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Project brief description
The objective of this training program is to increase the number of Tanzania physician scientists with rigorous training in patient-oriented HIV clinical investigation. Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU) and Weill Bugando will establish courses in clinical investigation, advanced biostatistics, and epidemiology to be offered in Mwanza and 15 long-term trainees will conduct mentored research in one of the following HIV research priority areas:

1. HIV prevention and vaccine research.
2. Implementation of HIV testing and treatment
3. Women’s health
4. Management of HIV related opportunistic infections and cardiovascular disease

The goal is to establish MITU/Weill Bugando as a training hub for HIV clinical investigation in East Africa.
Further details of the project are available here at NIH website RePORTER: READ MORE

Smart Discharges: A cohort study to develop and validate prognostic algorithms for post-discharge mortality among children under 16 years of age

Introduction

Smart Discharges is a digital health research program aiming to improve pediatric post-discharge health outcomes by identifying at-risk children using scientifically rigorous, data-driven prediction models and mitigating risk through health education and post-discharge follow-up referrals.

In many African countries, pediatric post-discharge mortality following in-hospital treatment for severe infectious illness is higher than in-hospital mortality (5-8%). Risk algorithms can be used to help health workers identify those most vulnerable to poor post-discharge outcomes. They can also assist health workers in providing personalized discharge counselling and recommending effective follow-up care. This can improve overall system efficiency. While this approach has shown promise among children under 5 years of age in Uganda, no research has addressed issues of post-discharge morbidity and mortality among children over 5 years of age. Moreover, existing algorithms to predict mortality among children under 5 years of age must be validated in the Tanzanian context.

Pediatric Acute Care Education (PACE)

Pediatric Acute Care Education (PACE) project is an ongoing implementation research project launched on May 2022, implemented by the Catholic University of Health and Allied Science (CUHAS-Bugando) in collaboration with the Pediatric Association of Tanzania(PAT), Stanford University and the London School of Health and Tropical Medicine. PACE is an innovative program utilizing adaptive e-learning environment to increase provider proficiency in newborn and pediatric acute care. The overall aim of the project is to investigate and address knowledge gaps among health care providers providing care to sick-ill children and improving quality of care and improve pediatric outcomes within Mwanza region. This project is implemented within two districts in Mwanza region, Nyamagana and Ilemela districts each represented by health facilities. Funded by the Center for Innovation in Global Health, Laerdal Foundation and the Maternal and Child Health Research Institute at the Stanford University. Read more

Pediatric Acute Care Education (PACE)

Background:
In Tanzania stroke ranks among the top ten leading causes of death, and is observed to affect younger individuals in their fourth to sixth decades of life associated with substantial morbidity and mortality (Matuja et al 2020,). The current in-hospital mortality from stroke at Bugando is 29% (Matuja et al 2023,). Therefore, stroke unit care consisting of a trained stroke multi-disciplinary team and dedicated beds, has a high potential to improve early and long-term outcomes of stroke in Tanzania. Dr. Sarah Matuja was awarded a grant by the World Stroke Organization (WSO) through the Future Stroke Leaders Program, (which aims to build up capacity, professional development and mentorship to drive global stroke prevention), to support the implementation of Stroke Units at the National and Zonal Referral Hospitals and the development of a National Stroke Registry in collaboration with the WSO experts, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and other Stakeholders to improve stroke care in this Region from 2023 to 2026 (More.