Building the Next Generation of Researchers in HIV/TB Diagnostics in Mali" (B-NextGen)

The overarching goal of this five year research training program, “Building the Next Generation of Researchers in HIV/TB Diagnostics in Mali” (B-NextGen), is to strengthen the scientific capacity at the Université des Sciences, Téchniques et des Téchnologies de Bamako (USTTB; University of Bamako) to conduct HIV research on the evolving HIV epidemic in Mali. B-NextGen will address four NIH high priority HIV research topics, including: 1) Reducing HIV incidence by improving screening and detection, treatment monitoring assays, and HIV drug resistance assays; 2) Diagnosing HIV-associated TB and non- tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM); 3) Reducing health disparities by developing testing technology that can function in underserved community settings; and 4) Training the LMIC workforce to conduct high priority HIV/AIDS research. Mali is a low-income country in Sub-Saharan West Africa where the incidence of mycobacterial infections, primarily tuberculosis (TB), remains high driven in a large part by the persistence of the HIV epidemic with TB being the main cause of dealth in HIV-infected adults and children. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for managing HIV recommend rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and enhanced screening and diagnosis of TB, yet detection rates for HIV and TB, particularly in children, remain low in Mali as the current diagnostic and treatment monitoring tools are not adapted to the low- and middle-income (LMIC) environment. Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, and Stellenbosch University, have been successfully collaborating with USTTB for over a decade on several major projects focused on HIV and mycobacterial diseases including the predecessor to this renewal proposal “HIV and Mycobacterial Disease in Mali” (R Murphy, S Diallo, MPIs), which has been highly productive providing three “sandwich” PhD and ten MS degrees; > 200 short-term university diplomas; 25 peer-reviewed publications; and four major NIH grant awards. We will train the same number of researchers in this renewal proposal while we leverage this success to focus on outcome indicators of high public health importance. Our aims are: 1) Create a Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Mali National School of Engineering and establish a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering focused on the development of devices and assays critical for the diagnosis and/or monitoring of HIV and mycobacterial diseases; 2) Develop an interdisciplinary core of research scientists from virology, applied molecular biology, immunology and microbiology to enhance the capacity to diagnose, treat, and monitor HIV and mycobacterial diseases; 3) Train clinical researchers and basic scientists in research methodology, validation and implementation applied principles, and career development activities essential for developing independent faculty; and 4) Develop the next generation of academic leaders in diagnostics, virology and mycobacteriology. Through this program, we will achieve the overall goal of training the next generation of investigators and leaders in diagnostics of HIV and mycobacterial diseases for adults and children in Mali.