Tuberculosis (TB) is now the leading cause of death due to a single infectious agent globally. TB remains a public health emergency in Ethiopia, the country with the highest number of TB-related deaths in Africa. Ethiopia is one of only 14 countries worldwide on all three World Health Organization (WHO) ?high burden countries? lists for TB, multidrug resistant (MDR)-TB, and TB/HIV. In order to meet the ambitious WHO End TB Strategy goals for 2035 and enhance TB control in Ethiopia and globally, new tools are urgently needed, including new drugs, improved diagnostics and an effective vaccine, as well as better implementation of existing tools. A major barrier to improved research, treatment and control of TB in Ethiopia is the scarcity of Ethiopian scientists and health professionals with the relevant research knowledge and expertise to carry out internationally recognized research. This renewal application for the ?Ethiopia-Emory TB Research Training Program (EETB-RTP)? builds upon the successes and lessons learned during the first 5-year cycle of funding. During that time, we have provided long-term research training to 19 Ethiopian trainees and 2 medium-term trainees. Collectively, these trainees have had 62 TB-related peer review publications, and 8 trainees received competitive externally funded grants as PI (totaling $815,801); in addition, 10 trainees received 14 competitive travel awards ($50,320). In the next cycle of the EETB-RTP, we propose to train an additional 17 long-term trainees who will significantly grow the number of well-trained Ethiopian TB investigators and contribute to developing and implementing new tools necessary for TB control. Our application benefits from a successful partnership between Emory University in Atlanta and three Ethiopian institutions in Addis Ababa including the Armauer-Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), an internationally recognized research institute; Addis Ababa University, the oldest and largest university in Ethiopia; and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, part of the Ministry of Health (MOH). The EETB-RTP is led by dual PIs, Dr. Henry Blumberg (Emory) and Dr. Abraham Aseffa (AHRI) and includes outstanding collaborating faculty at the partner institutions. We propose an innovative didactic and mentored TB research training program focused on intensive in-country training, which will provide our Ethiopian trainees and their institutions with the skills, expertise, and additional capacity necessary to carry out internationally relevant TB-related research.
The specific aims of our application include: 1) To continue to build human resource capacity and enhance the research infrastructure for robust TB-related research in Ethiopia; 2) To build relevant sustainable research capacity in Ethiopia by aligning EETB-RTP research training activities with the Ethiopian MOH priorities outlined in the ?National Plan for Tuberculosis Research in Ethiopia (2017-2022)?; 3) To build research capacity by providing mentorship, leadership, and team science training; and 4) To enhance the diversity of Ethiopian investigators, with a concerted focus of increasing the number of women trained in TB research.

Public Health Relevance

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death due to an infectious disease globally and a public health emergency in Ethiopia which is one of only 14 countries worldwide on all three WHO ?high burden countries? lists for TB, multidrug resistant (MDR)-TB, and TB/HIV. A major barrier to improved research, treatment and control of TB in Ethiopia is the scarcity of Ethiopian scientists and health professionals with the relevant research knowledge and expertise to carry out internationally recognized research. The goals of this renewal application for the ?Ethiopia-Emory TB Research Training Program (EETB-RTP)? include continuing to build human resource capacity and enhance the research infrastructure for robust TB-related research in Ethiopia; to build relevant sustainable research capacity in Ethiopia by aligning EETB-RTP research training activities with the Ethiopian MOH priorities outlined in the ?National Plan for Tuberculosis Research in Ethiopia (2017- 2022)?; to build research capacity by providing mentorship, leadership, and team science training; and to enhance the diversity of Ethiopian investigators, with a concerted focus of including women.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Type
International Research Training Grants (D43)
Project #
5D43TW009127-07
Application #
9901641
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Sina, Barbara J
Project Start
2013-07-02
Project End
2023-12-31
Budget Start
2020-01-01
Budget End
2020-12-31
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Emory University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
066469933
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30322
Habtamu, Meseret; Abebe, Markos; Aseffa, Abraham et al. (2018) In vitro analysis of antigen induced T cell-monocyte conjugates by imaging flow cytometry. J Immunol Methods 460:93-100
Jibril, Yasmin; Mamo, Gezahegne; Issa, Ahmed et al. (2018) Appraisal of interpretation criteria for the single intra-dermal comparative cervical tuberculin test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in dromedary camels in Ethiopia. Trop Anim Health Prod 50:1665-1670
Merid, Y; Woldeamanuel, Y; Abebe, M et al. (2018) High utility of active tuberculosis case finding in an Ethiopian prison. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 22:524-529
Mekonnen, A; Collins, J M; Aseffa, A et al. (2018) Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among students in three eastern Ethiopian universities. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 22:1210-1215
Mekonnen, Abiyu; Merker, Matthias; Collins, Jeffrey M et al. (2018) Molecular epidemiology and drug resistance patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates from university students and the local community in Eastern Ethiopia. PLoS One 13:e0198054
Adelman, Max W; McFarland, Deborah A; Tsegaye, Mulugeta et al. (2018) Cost-effectiveness of WHO-Recommended Algorithms for TB Case Finding at Ethiopian HIV Clinics. Open Forum Infect Dis 5:ofx269
Zewdie, O; Mihret, A; Abebe, T et al. (2018) Genotyping and molecular detection of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis among tuberculosis lymphadenitis cases in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. New Microbes New Infect 21:36-41
Gebreegziabiher, Dawit; Adane, Kelemework; Abebe, Markos (2017) A survey on undiagnosed active pulmonary tuberculosis among pregnant mothers in mekelle and surrounding Districts in Tigray, Ethiopia. Int J Mycobacteriol 6:43-46
Birhanu, Alemayehu Godana; Yimer, Solomon Abebe; Holm-Hansen, Carol et al. (2017) N?- and O-Acetylation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Lineage 7 and Lineage 4 Strains: Proteins Involved in Bioenergetics, Virulence, and Antimicrobial Resistance Are Acetylated. J Proteome Res 16:4045-4059
Birarra, Mequanent Kassa; Heye, Tigist Bacha; Shibeshi, Workineh (2017) Assessment of drug-related problems in pediatric ward of Zewditu Memorial Referral Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Int J Clin Pharm 39:1039-1046

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