Addressing NCDs in Nigeria through Enhanced International Partnership and Interdisciplinary Research Training - ABSTRACT
The University of Chicago (UC) has supported active clinical and basic research programs as well as
community-based research into the epidemiology and socio-cultural factors that contribute to disparities in
outcomes of chronic non-communicable diseases in partnership with the University of Ibadan (UI) and the
University College Hospital (UCH) for nearly two decades. Our ongoing D43 “International Partnership for
Interdisciplinary Research Training in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and Disorders Across the
Lifespan” training program was designed to deepen research methods skills amongst trainees in clinical
research and introduce important research methods dimension consistent with the needs expressed by in
country collaborators. The program in NCDs has gained visibility across the entire continent of Africa through
our significant contribution to several networks engaged in interdisciplinary research including the African
Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), Sickle CHARTA (Consortium for Health,
Advocacy, Research and Training in Africa for Sickle Cell Disease) and the Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves. The program has established and strengthened training in clinical research through the UChicago
Global Clinical Research Network; specifically recruited participants who wish to conduct interdisciplinary
patient oriented research. In total the D43 training program has trained 10 scientists and physicians at pre- and
post-doctoral levels in long-term intensive programs, 11 junior faculty and pre-doctoral students in medium-
term trainings at the University of Chicago, and over 1,083 individuals have participated in short-term trainings
and workshops hosted at the University of Ibadan including over 100 physicians, 188 nurses, pharmacists,
psychologists, epidemiologists, and other health care providers. Four trainees have attained Professorial rank
and several trainees have developed high-quality research projects in collaboration with mentors in and
outside Nigeria. In-Country Program Directors are now confident that they can sustain the trajectory of this
highly successful research training program and implement their own program with support from UC and other
international partners. We now propose a one year planning grant to identify gaps and training needs for NCD
research, evaluate existing research capacity in the country and recruit potential trainees and training partner
Institutions in Nigeria. Planning activities will include three in-person meetings of all stakeholders in Nigeria,
multiple conference calls and one workshop including UC partners to develop a research training strategy for a
competitive new D43 application from Ibadan in the future. Through the proposed research-training program,
we hope to further deepen research method skills amongst trainees and faculty, consolidate and enhance
existing research capacity within UI and other institutions in Nigeria. Together with our International partners,
we will expand research projects to develop truly sustainable interdisciplinary teams of NCD researchers and
develop evidence-based interventions to reduce deaths from cancer, diabetes, sickle cell disease and asthma.
