This program will serve its mission to promote responsible research in DRC and in Francophone Africa by consolidating the Center Interdisciplinaire de Bio?thique pour l'Afrique Francophone (CIBAF) at the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH) and by leveraging CIBAF's resources to enhance ethics capacity locally, regionally and internationally. University of North Carolina (UNC) and KSPH will strengthen the foundation of CIBAF's ongoing research, educational, consultation and network-building activities by broadening its current repertoire of research ethics, clinical ethics and public health ethics curricula;integrating ethics modules into a new MPH at KSPH with concentration in public health and bioethics;creating required research ethics modules for all doctorate degrees at KSPH;strengthening CIBAF members skills in grant and manuscript writing, research design methodology and English. To expand ethics capacity regionally, workshops will be held in Brazzaville , Lubumbashi, and Antananarivo (Madagascar) on managing research ethics committees, research and medical ethics for clinicians, research ethics for students, public health ethics, teaching ethics and research integrity. Four fellowships for 6-months of mentored ethics research, social science methodology, IRB training and curriculum development at UNC will be offered to selected trainees. The program will also provide training and support for a new bioethics unit at the Institut Nationale de Sante Publique et Communautaire (INSPC) in Antananarivo.
With its high disease burden, Francophone Africa is increasingly a venue for biomedical and other research involving human participants, but local capacity in ethical conduct and regulation of research in the region is underdeveloped. This program will contribute to public health by enhancing responsible conduct of research and helping to maintain trust between research institutions, researchers and communities. Our program will also raise local awareness of the ethical issues commonly confronted by public health practitioners, and strengthen skills to help resolve them.
