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DS-I Africa - LAW

Award Number: U01MH127690
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/15/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2025

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DS-I Africa - LAW - Project Summary/Abstract The proposed project will have a strong focus on the legal dimensions of using data science for health discovery and innovation in Africa. Accordingly, the proposed project is intended to complement other ELSI projects that may focus more on the ethical and social implications. Without knowledge of the law, scientists risk starting a health research project only to later find the data that they have generated cannot be used as planned; without knowledge of the law, scientists risk wasting resources, legal liability, and even criminal sanctions. Accordingly, scientists need clarity regarding the `hard' law that governs the use of data in health research. The law can often be multi- layered, complex, and may differ between jurisdictions. Therefore, to facilitate health discovery and innovation that uses data science, legal clarity will be provided on a variety of critical legal themes, listed below. The expected output of the proposed project will be practical guides for scientists on how to be legally compliant with regard to each of these themes. The impact will be that scientists who plan projects using data science for health discovery and innovation in Africa (or with African collaborators) will be empowered to take the required actions to be legally compliant. The proposed project will have a broad jurisdictional scope, involving the law of twelve African nations. Five critical legal themes will be investigated over a three-year period: (1) modes of informed consent to the use of data; (2) the nature and content of individual and community rights in genomic data; (3) the use of persons' geospatial data for public health surveillance; (4) the cross-border sharing of data; and (5) the use of data as basis for Artificial Intelligence (AI). An important cross-cutting theme and goal of the proposed project is the decolonization and Africanization of extant law related to the use of data in health research. The proposed project will critically engage with the extant law of the twelve jurisdictions from the perspective of current trends in African legal philosophy. The expected outcomes are recommendations for legal innovation and inter- jurisdiction harmonization. The impact of these recommendations will be to empower policymakers in Africa to make the relevant law more attuned to the needs and expectations of the people of Africa. The project team consist of leading law academics from different regions in Africa – boasting with a collective publication record of 148 articles in peer-reviewed journals. The team's core expertise is the legal regulation of data, and African legal philosophy. Accordingly, the team is perfectly positioned to successfully execute the proposed project.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2023	UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL	UNIVERSITY ROAD	DURBAN				ZAF	Trans-NIH Research Support	000	3	12/22/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $388,639 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL	UNIVERSITY ROAD	DURBAN				ZAF	Trans-NIH Research Support	001	3	7/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$388,639
2023	2022	UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL	UNIVERSITY ROAD	DURBAN				ZAF	Trans-NIH Research Support	000	2	4/3/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $388,639

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $391,339 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL	UNIVERSITY ROAD	DURBAN				ZAF	Trans-NIH Research Support	001	2	8/8/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$391,339
2022	2021	UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL	UNIVERSITY ROAD, CHILTONHILL	DURBAN				ZAF	Trans-NIH Research Support	000	1	4/21/2022	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $391,339

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $398,940 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL	UNIVERSITY ROAD, CHILTONHILL	DURBAN				ZAF	Trans-NIH Research Support	000	1	9/15/2021	NEW	$398,940
														Subtotal = $398,940

Grand Total All Awards = $1,178,918

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DS-I Africa - LAW

Award Number: U01MH127690

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/15/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2025

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