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The Scientific Development and Leadership Programme is the flagship of INDEPTH’s capacity strengthening and training initiatives. It was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation with a US$ 551,821 grant, and another US$450,000 by the Rockefeller foundation.
This programme had the following components:
- in Population-based Field Epidemiology at Wits University, South Africa
- Developing the curriculum for an MSc. in Research Database Management at Wits University, South Africa
- MPH at the James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh; and Masters’ training that may be supported elsewhere if considered relevant to the programme, as well as partial support to PhD training at South-based universities or on sandwich programmes.
Master’s Training in Population-Based Field Epidemiology (PBFE)
Established in 2005 in partnership with the Wits School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in Johannesburg, South Africa, this programme was built around an 18-month Master’s training in Population-based Field Epidemiology. It had two main components: one year of coursework and six months of practical training on the conduct of a research project in a field setting at one of several INDEPTH-Wits accredited HDSS learning centres.
The programme ran for 10 years and supported a total of 48 MSc students. Some of the graduands proceeded to Phd. studies.
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| Four funded students for Wits MSc PBFE 2013: Ms. Irene Azindow (Kintampo, HDSS, Ghana), John Paul Kasule (Rakai HDSS, Uganda), Ms. Patricia Gweliwo (Navrongo HDSS
Ghana), and Millogo Tieba (Kaya HDSS Burkina Faso). |
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Master’s training in Epidemiology with Research Database Management (RDM) track
Since the inception of the PBFE programme, INDEPTH identified the pressing need to strengthen capacity in advanced database management for research to support the ever-increasing quantity of health research conducted in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). This recognition informed the development of a new track in Research Database Management (RDM) incorporated into the existing partnership with the Wits University, South Africa, as a specialist qualification with specific reference to HDSSs and embedded within the existing MSc in Population Field-based Epidemiology.
This track was designed to produce data scientists capable of understanding the research process, interacting and responding to the data needs of multiple researchers as well as carrying out research- specific responsibilities such as data collection and storage. The training also enhanced their ability to manage the design, implementation and operation of a system to extract, clean and produce analytical datasets from research databases for use by researchers, and by an international community of investigators under controlled access conditions. The graduates are expected to be able to lead data management teams, guide data management activities from data collection through to data processing and data analysis for publication, and also collaborate with scientists to develop data structures and apply data management software during various stages of research projects.
In view of the number of graduates supported through the PBFE track, once the RDM track was approved, INDEPTH gave priority to the promotion and funding of the pioneer batch of students. Hence, INDEPTH funded five into the pioneer RDM cohort, of whom four effectively joined: Adama Baguiya-Kaya HDSS, Burkina Faso; Tumaini Kilimba-Ifakara HDSS, Tanzania; Nelson Mbaya-Nairobi HDSS, Kenya, and Mieks Twumasi-Kintampo HDSS, Ghana.
