In collaboration, the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) in Mozambique and the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) have partnered to will establish the Vanderbilt-Mozambique Biomedical Informatics (VM-BMI) training and research program, the first of its kind in Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) African countries, with a specific focus on HIV. BMI uses computational and information sciences approaches primarily in biology and human health.
VM-BMI will also support development of a BMI track within an existing informatics master's program at UEM. The new BMI track will be implemented in the last three years of the project, with VM-BMI offering scholarships to 10 students enrolled into this track. VM-BMI will also conduct annual HIV-related BMI workshops and bootcamps at UEM to provide BMI research training and practical experience addressing HIV-relevant research questions in Mozambique, with the goal of training 200 individuals in five years. Mozambique is a Southern African country with the fourth-highest global HIV disease burden.
Despite considerable improvement in Mozambique's national HIV response, significant gaps persist, including numerous incident infections, large numbers of persons living with HIV (PLWH) unaware of their status, and challenges in achieving viral load suppression in certain groups. Building sustainable BMI training and research capacity to address these gaps will help the country leverage newer data-driven and genetics-based approaches for personalized HIV care and molecular epidemiology of the disease.
VM-BMI Faculty Fellows
VM-BMI will support three junior or mid-level faculty members per year in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 to complete a fellowship in HIV-related biomedical informatics research. Fellows will spend 6 months of the fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, Tennessee and 6 months at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) in Maputo, Mozambique.
VM-BMI Fellowship Includes:
- Biomedical informatics (BMI) and research coursework
- Immersive BMI dry-lab engagement
- Work on existing HIV-related BMI collaborative research project
- Training in responsible conduct of research Networking opportunities with fellows from other training programs
- Research proposal writing training Didactic methods instruction
- Collaborative mentorship from faculty at UEM and VUMC
- Fellow-led research project, with seed funding provided by VM-BMI
- Airfare and stipend (while fellows are in Nashville) provided by VM-BMI
Fellow Eligibility Requirements:
- Existing faculty member at UEM
- Information science or health science background
- Interest in an academic career in HIV-related biomedical informatics research in Mozambique
- Commitment to complete fellowship training requirements for one year, including:
- 6 months of hands-on training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- 6 months of hands-on training at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
- Completion of a research project in HIV-related biomedical informatics
Interested candidates should complete an application form here: VM-BMI. Please note the due date on the application form. Candidates with questions may contact Dr. Emilio Mosse, UEM Faculty of Sciences, at emiliomosse@yahoo.com.