Research and Training Programs

Status epilepticus (SE) is the most common serious neurological emergency among children worldwide. In the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of childhood SE-associated mortality and morbidity appears to be especially high. However, the phenotypes of childhood SE, clinical predictors of SE-associated mortality and of SE-associated neurodevelopmental morbidity, and genomic predictors of SE, SE-associated mortality and neurodevelopmental morbidity have not been well-characterized in this region.

Expanding on the decade-long Vanderbilt-AKTH partnership, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Bayero University Kano (BUK) in Kano, Nigeria, and the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) are partnering on a new infrastructure development training program supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project will strengthen Nigeria's research administration and ethics infrastructure capacity.