Congratulations to Dr Faith Osier who has taken over as the President of the International Union of Immunological Societies
As of October 2019, Dr Faith Osier (TMA2015SF1001) is the president of the International Union of Immunological Societies (https://iuis.org/about/who-we-are/executive-council/) for a three year term.
The International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) is an umbrella organization for many of the regional and national societies of immunology throughout the world. As articulated in its Constitution, the objectives of IUIS are:
Dr Osier was also recently appointed as a #TOGETHERBAND Amasssador for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health & Well Being.
This week Dr Osier gave a Spotlight talk at the Grand Challenges meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Congratulations on these great career acheivements!
Call for Experts − WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases Deadline: 16 July 2022
The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases. This “Call for Experts” notice provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) is the main advisory body to World Health Organization in this field.
NTDs are a diverse set of bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal and noncommunicable diseases and disease groups that disproportionately affect populations living in poverty, predominantly in tropical and subtropical areas. Twenty diseases and disease groups are currently included in the NTD portfolio, and currently more than one billion people are affected.
STAG-NTD advises and makes policy and strategic recommendations to WHO, based on independent reviews of progress made and challenges faced by programmes and partners, with the aim of facilitating the achievement of the targets and milestones set by the NTD road map 2021–2030.
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the STAG-NTD shall have the following functions:
The STAG-NTD will normally meet in person once a year at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, usually for 2-3 days. Depending on the issues at stake, additional interim meetings may be organized in the course of the year. The working language of the STAG-NTD will be English.
The STAG-NTD will be multidisciplinary, with members having a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to NTDs and of the challenges faced by programmes and partners within the context of health systems in NTD-endemic countries. Up to approximately 20 members may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from individuals with knowledge, skills and experience in:
To register your interest in being considered for the [name of the advisory group], please submit the following documents by 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time on 16 July 2022 to aimel@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the STAG-NTD”.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. Due to an expected high volume of interest, only selected individuals will be informed.
Members of WHO advisory groups (AGs) must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of an AG is, amongst other things, dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to WHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria).
All AG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for WHO Experts (https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest). AG members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the WHO Secretariat to enable WHO to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the relevant AG.
The selection of members of the AG will be made by WHO in its sole discretion, taking into account the following (non-exclusive) criteria: relevant technical expertise; experience in international and country policy work; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations .The selection of AG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by WHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of an AG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
WHO reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest, to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for WHO's action. WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the AG, disband an existing AG or modify the work of the AG.
WHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
AG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the AG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of AG members to participate in AG meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to aimel@who.int well before the applicable deadline.
Call to participate in an EDCTP workshop: how do we address the gender and regional disparities in EDCTP funded research?
Enhancing networking among African and European scientists to close regional and gender disparities experienced in EDCTP1 and EDCTP2 funded health research capacity activities in sub-Saharan Africa
Start date:19 November 2019, 09:00
End date:20 November 2019, 17:00
Location:Africa CDC, Africa Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Objective: To facilitate collaborations between African and European scientists geared towards closing regional and gender imbalances seen in previously and currently funded EDCTP1 and EDCTP2 projects.
Specific objectives:
1. To brainstorm on practical solutions to address the regional, sub-regional and gender research and research capacity imbalances;
2. Prioritise and discuss potential strategies and plans to address these gaps (categorized into short, medium and long term);
3. Identify potential synergies and complementarities with the efforts and plans of EDCTP strategic partners to address these gaps.
Expected outputs:
– A clearer understanding of the challenges in regional and gender imbalances that exist within health research in sub-Saharan Africa (with a focus on EDCTP funded projects)
– To identify suitable collaborative strategies that will improve both geographical and gender distribution in future funded projects (short, medium, and long term strategies)
– To align or synergise the EDCTP efforts in the intended objective with initiatives being implemented by its like-minded partners.
Eligible participants: Scientists/researchers (from sub-Saharan Africa and Europe) working in the scope of EDCTP intending to apply for future EDCTP2 grants will be eligible to attend the planned workshop including:
– Members of the EDCTP Alumni Network
– Members of the EDCTP Regional Networks of Excellence
– EDCTP grant holders (EDCTP 1 & EDCTP2)
– EDCTP public and private regional and global partners in R&D and health research capacity development
– Any other parties interested in fulfilling the EDCTP objective.
Participants in the workshop will be selected through an open, fair and transparent process. Selection of scientists to attend the workshop will be based on their ability to justify how their participation will meet the objectives mentioned above:
– Involvement in research within the scope of the EDCTP programme 40%
– Novel potential solutions to address gender and geographical gaps 60%.
Applicants from underrepresented countries in sub-Saharan Africa and females are encouraged to apply.
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa with disproportionately low uptake of EDCTP funded projects and/or low gender balance among project coordinators include but are not limited to Angola, Benin, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Central African Republic, DRC, eSwatini (Swaziland), Gabon, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia Mauritius, Madagascar, Namibia, Niger, Sierra Leonne, Rwanda, and Togo.
http://www.edctp.org/event/call-for-participants-to-attend-workshop/
Healthy Living With HIV - Impact of Mental Health on Quality of Life, 24-25 May 2021
Advances in the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy, coupled with improved access to an increasing variety of regimens, have positively affected longevity. People are now living longer with HIV than ever before. This increased life expectancy, alongside long-term adherence to antiretroviral prophylaxis, brings new factors to address. Clinical characteristics commonly observed in aging, such as an increased number of chronic conditions and the use of multiple medications, need to be taken into consideration. Concurrently, monitoring for potential toxicity for those on long-term antiretroviral medication remains significant. With this increase in treatment length, examination of the effects of long-term prophylaxis concerning quality of life and emotional status is vital.
Join our session on Healthy Living with HIV at the European HIV Clinical Forum 2021, where Dr. Carmina Fumez will share her insights surrounding the impact of mental health on the quality of life of people living with HIV.
To register visit https://academicmedicaleducation.com/hiv-clinical-forum/european-2021