The goals of the South African Research Ethics Training Initiative (SARETI) are to build African capacity for the ethical review of health research and to strengthen Africa's institutional training capacity to achieve and sustain this aim. SARETI is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, Africa-based degree program in health research ethics. To achieve these goals, SARETI offers training and support programs. The SARETI More students are expected to enrol for modules or degrees on a self-funded basis. The core of this intensive and advanced training program consists of i) modular coursework at the partner institutions, ii) practical work with ethics review committees, iii) attendance of an intensive US-based bioethics program through the Bioethics Institute, and iv) the completion of a dissertation / research paper on a topic of relevance to strengthening health research ethics at the trainee's home institution, leading to submission to a peer-reviewed journal. The SARETI Support Program will support continuous professional education of Africa-based faculty, and will support the top trainees of the training program to attend relevant health research ethics meetings. At the end of the 4th year of the program, SARETI will arrange the second Africa-wide Health Research Ethics Symposium (AHRES) to allow trainees to share their scholarly work and ethics review experiences with their peers, to increase the African impact and networking potentials of the SARETI training program, to facilitate African exchange in health research ethics and to strengthen Africa's voice in this field. The 14 SARETI Masters (Research Ethics) graduates and SARETI faculty will contribute to the ethical conduct of appropriate health research and development in Africa by building IRB capacity, by training IRB members and researchers, and by contributing to the global development and profile of African scholarship in research ethics. Non-core benefits include an Ethics Review Committee Training Program for distance learning, and a request for supplemental funding for oral health professionals in Africa should this proposal be funded.
