The overall goal of this project is to enhance research and training activities in enteric infectious disease at the Christian Medical College, Vellore through an application for a Global Infectious Disease Research and Training program from the Fogarty International Center.
We aim to establish training in enteric infectious diseases-related research, based on a longstanding and ongoing collaborative partnership between investigators at Tufts-New England Medical Center (T-NEMC)/Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and our institution, Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital, Vellore, India, which has a strong independent and collaborative medical research program. Enteric infectious diseases continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in India, and the goal of our collaborative research is to better understand, investigate, control and prevent diarrheal disease in south India. The project specifically aims to train scientists from southern India in a variety of disciplines necessary to identify and investigate gastrointestinal infections, to extend and reinforce research and training activities in enteric infectious disease at CMC, thereby developing and strengthening CMC as a regional center of excellence for enteric infectious disease research training.
These specific aims will be accomplished by implementation of a multidisciplinary, needs-based research and training program which will train junior and mid-level faculty from India for periods from 6 weeks to 6 months, and towards formal degrees. Research projects will be developed and conducted by the returning trainees, under the mentorship of program faculty. Centers of excellence will be developed in multiple disciplines to support and complement enteric infectious disease research in southern India, building on the knowledge and skills of returning trainees. Complementation of research will be promoted through the establishment of a trainee and faculty network and multi-disciplinary discussion group. In-country workshops will be conducted by program faculty and returning trainees, at which additional Indian researchers and public health care workers will be trained. The development of centers of excellence in enteric infectious diseases research will increase global infrastructure and capacity for dealing with endemic and emerging enteric infectious diseases. The faculty and trainees will translate into public health practice in India, the results of the research carried out as a result of this and other collaborative research projects.
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