Africa Centers of Excell Development Impact
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Africa Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA Implementation Plan 2020 – 2024 (Draft January23,2019) [List of abbreviations and acronyms] ABU: Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria ACENTDFB: Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology WB: World Bank AAU: Association of African Universities NUC: National Universities Commission NPPRC: National Project Performance Review Committee ACE: Africa Centre of Excellence RSC: Regional Steering Committee RFU: Regional Facilitation Unit PSC: Project Steering Committee CFC: Country Focal Point CIRDES: Centre DLI: Disbursement Linked Indicators DLR: Disbursement Linked Results M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation EEP: Eligible Expenditure Program ESMP: Environmental and Safety Monitoring Plan IBD-CETT: Campaigne d’Eradication de la Mouche Tsetse de la Trypanosome au Burkina Faso IEC: Independent Evaluation Committee IFR: Independent Financial Reporting IRAD: Institute Recherché Agriculture Development, Yaounde, Cameroon PDO: Project Development Objective MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA MoU: Memorandum of Understanding NIMR: National Institute for Medical Research, Lagos NITR: National Institute for Trypanasomiasis and Onchocerciasis Research SDR: Special Drawing Rights TOR: Terms of Reference 2 1. NARRATIVE SUMMARY (max 2 pages) Africa bears a substantial proportion (24%) of the global burden of diseases while accounting for less than 3% of the global health force and less than 1% of world’s financial resources (Collias et al., 2010). Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), in particular, continue to adversely challenge development of Africa due to the persistence of several factors that mitigate their control and eradication, among which are lack of epidemiological status, appropriate diagnostic tools and effective therapeutic/prophylactic drugs, and high incidence of treatment failures. The Africa Centre of Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology (ACENTDFB) was established to address these issues with focus on the following objectives: produce a critical mass of skilled manpower in the diagnosis, management and prevention of neglected tropical diseases, general area of biotechnology techniques and forensic science; provide baseline data on the epidemiological status of neglected tropical diseases in the región; reduce their incidences and impacts through drug and vaccine development, and advocay. Another objective of the Centre is the provisión of facility and channel for resolving crime, secuirty, social and genealogical matters, to various agencies and the general public. In the ACE I, ACENTDFB focused mainly on three thematic areas of NTDS - Trypanosomiasis, Filariasis/Onchocerciasis, and Rabies. In the ACE Impact, ACENTDFB thematic disease areas have been expanded to include three additional NTDs namely, Dengue, Trachoma and Schistosomiaisis. ACENTDFB activities will be dedicated to conducting high impact research and training aimed at the establishment of critical mass of skilled manpower, provision of standard facilities including equipment and establish wide network to collectively produce impact-oriented interventions that would significantly reduce the morbidity, mortality and socio- economic burden of the six diseases on the continent, as well as create a pool of competent forensic scientists. Beside the current MSc and PhD Biotechnology programmes of the Centre, the MSc Biomedical Forensic Science will finally come on stream in 2020. This is a scale up of the Postgraduate Diploma in Forensic Biotechnology. The target is to enroll 15-20 MSc and 3-5 PhD students per annum in the postgraduate program of the Forensic Biotechnology. In addition, plans are under way to critical review the contents of the MSc and PhD Biotechnology programmes in line with the recommendations of the two international accreditation agencies that recently evaluated these two programmes. This is to improve the quality and relevance of the programme for a better achievement of the objectives of the Centre. The ACENTDFB education program will continue to be based on modular structured programs with vastly improved methods to educate heterogeneous groups of participants, promote independent interdisciplinary research, skilled scientific presentation and general communication, participation in competitive research grant pursuits, and collaboration with partners. ACENTDFB applied research activities will in addition seek to establish regional disease/pathogen/vector surveillance, advanced capacity for culturing organisms for infectivity, transmission, immunologic and drug sensitivity studies, bio-resource cryobank/preservation and storage for different microbial species, genes and related biological products, and characterization of products from natural and synthetic sources. In addition, more short course training programmes have being planned for 2020 and beyond, which are target specific in terms of participants, needs, demands and fund generation. Following an appraisal of its existing collaborations, some of the collaborating partners are being retained and strengthened while a few others are being established. Existing partnerships with the University of Bremen, Germany and Nagasaki University, Japan which provide for training and research on molecular techniques and vaccine development, are being strengthened. Further research will continue on the promising vaccine candidates, which are outcomes of some works partly carried out by its students in the research labs of these two institutions. With the donation of a Luminex Multi-analyser by Nagasaki University, research works on the epidemiological survey of NTDs distribution in the EWest and Central African sub-regions will be enhanced. With the impending visit of the President of Nagasaki University in November this year, the 3 terms of MoU between the institutions are being expanded to include student and staff exchange as well as joint research grant applications. In this line, a proposal for JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) intervention is on the pipeline. The partnership with University of Bremen under the DfG (Deutscher Forschung Gemeinshaft) enabled four students of the Centre to access research facilities in University of Bremen under the ERASMUS Mobility grant in 2019, is being extended to 2020 and hopefully, beyond. Five students of the Centre are scheduled to partake in the scheme in 2020. In addition, joint short training workshop with University of Bremen under the DfG platform and University of Ngaoundaere, Cameroon in the area of specie identification of NTD vectors is being planned for 2020 and is expected to draw participants from Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Collaboration with MIT, Cambridge, Boston, USA will continue to improve on faculty skills in the area of curriculum design and delivery across the entire university academic community through on site and online training programmes planned for 2020. Collaboration with the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis (and Onchocerciasis) Research (NITR) and the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) will continue in the area of human resource development particularly field and laboratory trypanosome and tsetse fly studies (trapping, characterization, etc) and surveillance for Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Collaboration with CIRDES, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso will be geared to build not only on the diagnostic skills in trypanosome and general area of biotechnology application, but also in providing internship for students and recruitment into the Centre’s PG programmes. Joint short course training programmes with University of Ngaoundare, Cameroon is being expanded to include faculty exchange and joint research works. The partnership with Sightsavers, a non-governmental agency that works with the Nigerian Government in NTD control across the country, will be strengthened and expanded also to offers field attachment sites for internship, joint research, problem identification and disease control activities in the field including monitoring of impact of Mass Drug Administration in the control of many of the NTDs in Nigeria. More revenue is expected to be generated from analysis of Sightsaver field samples. MoU with National Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Nigeria has already been signed - this will create additional platform for students of the Centre for Internship and training of students of the African Field Epidemiology Network starting from the later part of this year, 2019. A major development that recently took place is the establishment of the Centre for Anti-Snake Venom and Toxin Production in the University by the Federal Ministry of Health, and placing it under ACENTDFB for oversight supervision and mentoring. This has led to the creation of another thematic area, Anti-Snake Venom Research Unit in ACENTDFB with the New Centre Leader, Prof Mujtaba S. Abubakar being appointed as the Principal Investigator. Joint research activities is expected to be initiated and developed, and will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria. A major shift in the activities of the Centre for 2020 and beyond is sustainability. A business plan is being developed following engagement of a business consultant. It is envisaged that a business manager will eventually be engaged by