Current Organisation

LSHTM-COMAHS Ebola Vaccine

Current Job Title

Biography

Project Title

Creating a gender sensitive platform for clinical research in WANETAM (TALENT)

EDCTP Project Call

Female PhD Fellowships

Host Organisation

Project Objectives

To support the training of at least 5 Africa-based female PhD candidates in clinical research, and in cross-cutting disciplines such as bioinformatics, biostatistics, health systems research, etc., to support trials in poverty related and neglected infectious diseases (PRNID) and emerging infectious pathogens Train at least 10 female MSc students in clinical research on TB, AIDS and malaria, and on COVID-19 To enhance the supervision and mentorship structure for PhD and researcher development within WANETAM to develop globally competitive female researchers in Lusophone and under-represented countries in current capacity and research initiatives (Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, Togo and Benin)

Study Design

The program structure will allow for brilliant, motivated, and enthusiastic female trainees with a diverse and excellent academic track record to groom their research skills and pursue their academic career while allowing for private life expectations, including childbearing. The program will register fellows in their home Universities or be accommodated by an appropriate regional University. We will leverage on the existing study programs within the WANETAM network to deliver mainly Ph.D. and MSc/MPhil training, the latter in less-resourced countries, to build capacity for clinical research.

Project Summary

A number of reports including that from UNESCO indicate unacceptable gender inequality in doctoral training and so research output. Factors playing against female career development are multi-faceted, including cultural expectations. This calls for a conscious effort to bridge the gender gap as gender equity will encourage new solutions and expand the scope of research. Challenging these gender inequities requires a gender-responsive doctoral program that caters for women’s gender roles that likely affect their enrollment in, and completion of, doctoral programs. The main objective of this proposal is to establish an effective program to enable women to overcome their challenges to support the training of at least 5 Africa-based female Ph.D. and 10 masters candidates in clinical research, and in cross-cutting disciplines such as bioinformatics, health systems research, etc., to support trials in poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases and emerging infectious pathogens and COVID-19 in line with the recommendations of EDCTP-Africa CDC workshop report. We aim to establish a common platform for shared skills across the network to support the growth and development of both individual scientists as well as institutions. We will advertise the program widely taking advantage of our large network, giving a fair and competitive advantage to all applicants. We will do this taking into consideration the language and development diversity in West-Africa. The program structure will allow for brilliant, motivated, and enthusiastic female trainees with a diverse and excellent academic track record to groom their research skills and pursue their academic career while allowing for private life expectations, including childbearing. The program will register fellows in their home Universities or be accommodated by an appropriate regional University. We will leverage on the existing study programs within the WANETAM network to deliver mainly Ph.D. and MSc/MPhil training, the latter in less-resourced countries, to build capacity for clinical research. We expect at the end we will have trained at least 5 and 10 females at PhDs and masters levels respectively. Our program will also enhance female role models, the supervision and mentorship structure for Ph.D. and researcher development within WANETAM to develop globally competitive female researchers in Lusophone and under-represented countries in current capacity and research initiatives.