The University of Ghana in partnership with Brown University have been awarded a $1.45 million U.S. dollar grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Fogarty International Centre to build the capacity at the post-graduate level for Tuberculosis and HIV research in Ghana. The grant partnership was launched at a meeting which took place at the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID).
Prof. John Gyapong, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Office of Research Innovation and Development who chaired the event was keen on the nature of research to be conducted. He emphasized that research should be driven by the goal of impacting lives to solve real life situations and offer immediate solutions to problems. According to him, the grant is a timely opportunity for the University of Ghana in terms of contributing to knowledge to advance the management of HIV and TB. He maintained that, beyond advancing the frontiers of knowledge, research productivity is a critical factor to be carefully considered. Prof. Gyapong threw a challenge to researchers at the University of Ghana to demonstrate to the world that the quality of research conducted can measure up to international standards. He also emphasized that the success of the research programme would depend on working closely with the Ghana Health Service.
A wide range of issues were discussed with regards to finding lasting solutions to the control of TB and HIV in Ghana.
Dr. Awewura Kwara, Principal Investigator from the Brown University gave a comprehensive presentation about UG-Brown University Partnership and also touched on the essence of the award of the grant. He indicated that the long-term goal of the grant is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the University of Ghana for multidisciplinary research focused on addressing TB/ HIV research priorities. He pointed to the fact that graduates would be trained to delve into key research areas such as TB prevention, childhood and maternal TB, drug resistance in TB, programmes funding, integration of TB and HIV services, among others. Dr. Kwara noted that there are some areas that need a boost in capacity and these include; Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Clinical Behavioral and Social Sciences, Basic Sciences, and Implementation Science Research.
