a) Training Committee (TC) and institution Translational Partnership Award (iTPA). We have an active strategy across the Theme of supporting trainees to apply for the TC and iTPA opportunities at pre-MSc, pre-PhD, and early post-PhD levels. By constructing bespoke training programmes at Research Group level, integrated with active research studies, and including close supervision, we have frequent success at TC and iTPA, with high translation of trainees to early Fellowship awards. The MARVELS team, for example, has supported trainees to win 3 MSc and 2 PhD awards in the last 3 years, and indeed the whole MARVELS team has been locally trained in their roles relating to CHIM. Further, the iTPA has allowed several trainee-led projects and trainee travel bursaries to form the basis for Douala Checklist compliant equitable research partnerships with international centres of excellence.
b) Clinical Academic Training (CAT). A major threat to the future of Clinical and Experimental Medicine research in Africa is the lack of integrated Clinical Academic Training and the lack of a Clinical PhD Fellowship offered by Wellcome to Malawian nationals. We have engaged with clinical trainees to pioneer the CAT Forum, and the Postgraduate Dean has linked KUHES with QECH, LSTM, the University of Liverpool, the University of Cambridge, and other partners to develop a partnership that will deliver CAT as an option in the specialist training programmes offered by ECSACOP, COSECSA and other postgraduate clinical training institutions. The first initiative proposed is to convert the MMed to an MD programme and offer Clinical PhD programmes following local specialist training. CEM Theme stands ready to support these trainees with facilities, projects, bespoke training and research funding.
c) CREATOR. CEM will leverage the Clinical Research Excellence and Training Open Resource (CREATOR) at MLW to offer CEM relevant training courses, both online and face to face, as well as bespoke library facilities (e.g. search strategies) and new research collaborations with all clinical departments in QECH and the community. We expect that the catalytic effect of CREATOR will rapidly expand the CEM Theme in future.
d) Dialogue with clinical research regulatory authorities. Malawi clinical research regulators (NHSRC, PMRA and NCST) are very willing to partner and collaborate with the CEM Theme to improve the research ecosystem. Past examples include publications on research participant remuneration, feasibility of CHIM studies and specific considerations in a TB CHIM. Future activities include supporting Research Ethics Committee training on early phase studies and CHIM.
