Training in Clinical and Epidemiological Research for Liberia (TRACER) - Project Summary/Abstract Liberia has a high burden of infectious diseases and has suffered from both the short-term (e.g., Ebola, Lassa Fever, malaria, and tuberculosis) and long-term (e.g., post-acute sequelae of Ebola, Lassa Fever-related deafness, and HPV-related cervical cancer) manifestations of these infections. A protracted civil war left the country vulnerable to the Ebola epidemic, which further contributed to the collapse of Liberia’s educational institutions. As a result, there are very few highly-trained local investigators who can lead epidemiologic and clinical research in Liberia in order to respond to current and future infectious disease threats. To respond to this need, our program, “Training in Clinical and Epidemiologic Research for Liberia” (TRACER), coalesces a collaboration between Univ. of California, San Francisco (UCSF), University of Liberia College of Health Science (ULCHS), and Univ. of North Carolina (UNC), in partnership with PREVAIL (an intramural NIAID research platform). This renewal application builds on our first cycle, in which we a) identified three Liberian trainees and supported their completion of a rigorous Master’s Degree in Clinical and Epidemiologic Research at UCSF; b) buoyed two of the trainees into admission to the UCSF PhD Program in Epidemiology and helped the third to be selected as the new Director of PREVAIL; and c) worked to achieve approval from ULCHS to begin Liberia’s first PhD Program in Epidemiology. The overarching goal of our next cycle is to strengthen the ULCHS Epidemiology PhD program to enable it to produce world-class scientists who both perform research and teach others. Our objectives are: 1. Complete provision of foundational education and mentoring in applied research leading to a Ph.D. Degree in Epidemiology and Translational Research at UCSF to two Liberian scholars who began their training during the first cycle of our training program; 2. Assist in the development and maturation of the PhD program in Epidemiology at ULCHS, which is envisioned to be the primary future vehicle for obtaining the training needed in Liberia for independence and excellence in human participant-based research; and 3. Support 4 Liberian trainees who will enroll in the new ULCHS Epidemiology PhD Program. A two-year fundamental curriculum in epidemiology and biostatistics will underlie the PhD Program and be made available to other ULCHS students. Our current TRACER trainees will contribute to the core teaching faculty. Research platforms directed by mentors at UCSF, UNC and PREVAIL will provide numerous mentored research opportunities for trainees. By the end of the funding cycle, it is expected that Liberia will make substantial strides in training world-class epidemiologic and clinical researchers able to address the infectious disease-related conditions most relevant to Liberia.
