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Molecular biology training in East Africa
6 February 2008
Links:
ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/infection-immunity/" target="_self">UCL Division of Infection & Immunity
A team from UCL Infection & Immunity has won funding to run a short course in molecular biology for scientists in East Africa.
The two-year programme, funded by the Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council and British Council, together with commercial support from Applied Biosystems and Corbett Research, which have loaned equipment, will train staff in molecular tools for respiratory microbiology for a number of new and ongoing projects across East Africa.
Dr Timothy McHugh, UCL Centre for Medical Microbiology, who is running the programme, said: "We first developed this course in 1997 for colleagues at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre. It provides an introduction or refresher to scientists and clinicians who, by virtue of their age or career path, have missed out on recent developments in the use of molecular tools in diagnosis and epidemiology of infections."
The need to build capacity for biomedical research in Africa is exemplified by initiatives from the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, and by the establishment of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. The UCL Institute for Global Health embodies this principle, and development of research in Africa is a major component of UCL's future research strategy.
To find out more, or to enrol on the course online, follow the links at the top of this item.
Image: teaching buildings at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre
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