Aims & Objectives

Specific Aims

The aims of this Global Infectious Diseases Research Program are tailored to address the needs of MUK and the priority developmental goals of its Faculty of Biomedical Sciences.

1) To provide rigorous post-doctoral training to promising medical school graduates/faculty candidates committed to a laboratory-based investigative career focusing on TB and other emerging infectious diseases, inflammation, immunology, pathogenesis, microbiology and bioinformatics. Post-doctoral training will occur in a well established, fully-accredited training program at BU and trainees will earn a Masters of Arts degree in Pathology.

2) To provide instruction in career development through a new curriculum at BU and one-on-one mentoring and to assure that there is continued support following formal training through coordinated interactions with a mentoring committee (the BUSM mentor, an on-site mentor-Ugandan or expatriate scientist, and on-site mentorship by Drs. Joloba, Ellner and Henderson).

3) To provide short-term training in Uganda in core areas related to the conduct of basic and translational research (laboratory safety, ethics, compliance, safety of human subjects, good clinical practice, good laboratory practice, development of grant proposals for funding and scientific writing) through a program in Uganda entitled “Tool-box for Basic Research and Human Experimentation”.

4) To provide short-term training through updates on “Current Issues in Emerging Infectious Diseases Research” and tutorials and practicums on research methodology and on the presentation of scientific data.

Objectives

The major objectives of the program are to recruit and enroll trainees of the highest quality who will earn skills in basic research, scientific writing, oral communication, career development, and ethical research behavior. Through rigorous coursework and laboratory training, trainees will be provided with a multidisciplinary background and encouraged to use critical thinking in asking new relevant and feasible research questions.

The program aims to foster collaborative interactions and mentoring relationships among trainees and faculty, with the ultimate goal of expanding and improving basic and translational research in Uganda.