Vanderbilt-Nigeria Research Ethics Training Program (V-NET)

Project Summary Abstract To address the increasing demand for research in precision medicine in Africa, the proposed Vanderbilt- Nigeria Research Ethics Training Program (V-NET) is an innovative research ethics training program that involves the creation of a Master of Science (MSc) in Research Ethics degree program. V-NET will integrate curricular development, didactic coursework, skills development, mentoring, and practicum experiences to build capacity for the ethical design, conduct, and oversight of genetic and genomic research in Nigeria. V-NET builds upon long-standing and successful collaborations between leading research institutions in Nigeria and the United States - Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital/Bayero University Kano (AKTH/BUK) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). The V-NET team includes experienced educators from the VUMC Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, AKTH/BUK, and the National Health Research Ethics Committee of Nigeria. We will create the first master’s degree program in research ethics in northern Nigeria at BUK and train 15 MSc students (in total) through didactic training and mentored research. We will integrate genomics-focused ethics into the annual 1-month long Vanderbilt Institute for Research Development and Ethics (VIRDE) faculty enrichment program at VUMC, benefiting 8 Nigerian researchers over a 5-year period. We will also host an annual 3-week practicum at VUMC’s Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society for 12 Nigerian Institutional Review Board (IRB) members to strengthen their skills in protocol review and administration. We will offer annual 5-day research ethics workshops for IRB and Community Advisory Board members at AKTH in Nigeria on protection of human subjects in research, ethics of genetic and genomic research, and review of genomic research protocols (~150 trainees in total). To sustain and expand the impact of the V-NET program, we will: 1) create, curate, and distribute a curricular toolkit in ethics of genetic and genomic research tailored to Nigerians and other African IRB members and research ethics educators, and 2) coordinate 16 quarterly online research ethics webinars presented by global ethics experts to African researchers. Through V-NET, a skilled cohort of Nigerian academics, researchers, and healthcare professionals will emerge, providing leadership in the ethical design and review of genetic and genomic studies in Nigeria's rapidly evolving research landscape.