By Perfect Shankalala, UNZA Training Coordinator
In February 2024, the University of Zambia and the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) hosted the inaugural "Zambia Institute for Research Development and Ethics (ZIRDE) workshop" for eight fellows at Chaminuka Lodge in the Chongwe District of Lusaka.
The NIH-funded UNZA-Vanderbilt Partnership for HIV-NCD Research (UVP-2) Program and Vanderbilt-Zambia Cancer Research Training Program (VZCARE) supported the workshop. The workshop's primary objectives were to provide intensive training in research development and ethics, help investigators develop the skills necessary to conduct responsible human subjects research, and develop a grant proposal for submission.
This workshop affirms the enduring partnership between the University of Zambia School of Medicine/University Teaching Hospital (UNZA/UTH) and VIGH. This collaboration is modeled after the highly successful Vanderbilt Institute for Research Development and Ethics (VIRDE).
UVP-2/VZCARE co-principal investigators Dr. Wilbroad Mutale from UNZA and Dr. Douglas Heimburger from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) welcomed participants. The workshop incorporated various aspects of research proposal writing, including academic writing, hypothesis and specific aims, study designs and methods, key grant components, grants review and administration, and research regulation with particular reference to Zambian policies. Workshop attendees were also taught research ethics, specifically focusing on research misconduct. The workshop offered intense one-on-one mentorship with senior faculty members from the University of Zambia and VUMC. Grant submissions by two participants have been awarded, and the remaining participants are awaiting feedback, which is validation of the practical skills and knowledge gained during the workshop.
Opening ceremony attendees included Drs. Douglas Heimburger and Bill Wester from VUMC; Dr. Wilbroad Mutale from UNZA School of Public Health; Dr. Lloyd Mulenga the Director of Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health in Zambia; Dr. Violet Kayamba, Senior Lecturer at UNZA; and Mr. Perfect Shankalala, UNZA Training Coordinator.
The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health supports this activity under award numbers D43 TW009744 and D43CA270474.
