ANTENNA

The challenge

Infectious diseases are a moving target, with disease burdens constantly changing due to a wide range of social, environmental and other influences. Understanding current disease patterns and projecting how they might change in the future is critical to effective disease control and the optimal use of limited resources.

Unfortunately, many sub-Saharan African countries have limited capacity to track and respond to changing patterns of infectious disease and, consequently, public health concerns. This is particularly true of countries in Central and West Africa. However, several countries in East Africa have developed considerable expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics, providing an opportunity for South-South networking to contribute to wider capacity building.

The project

The ANTENNA project is establishing a training hub for epidemiologists and statisticians spanning English-, French-, and Portuguese-speaking countries in East, Central and West Africa. The project will establish and train a cohort of 10 epidemiology and biostatistics fellows, three from Cameroon, three from Senegal, and four from Guinea-Bissau. Within each country, cross-disciplinary hubs are being set up comprising academic institutions, clinical/research centres, and ministries of health/national public health institutes.

Using a mix of master's-level and short-term technical training, the project integrates theory with practical application by strengthening links between academic institutions, clinical sites, national public health research institutes and ministries of health. Trainees will work with real-world African data sets and focus on developing policy-relevant analyses to inform decision-making.

ANTENNA builds on prior work by Data Science Without Borders, which identified 42 research-ready datasets to support trainees' learning. It is also taking advantage of an existing mentorship scheme/framework developed by an EU partner and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as the African Population and Health Research Centre's (APHRC) Virtual Learning Academy, an online learning platform that supports training, mentorship, and knowledge exchange.

Trainees will benefit from field placements and internships at partner organisations. Students will develop a comprehensive learning plan and have regular progress meetings with supervisors. In addition to technical training, they will learn additional skills such as science writing for publications and grant applications, and developing outputs for policymakers. At annual datathons, fellows will work collaboratively on previously unseen or unshared datasets to address a practical challenge, with an award for the best team effort.

Drawing on existing course materials and integrating new content in areas such as AI, the project will create a standardised curriculum in epidemiology and biostatistics for universities in the three countries.

The ANTENNA project also aims to create a sustainable career ecosystem, helping fellows integrate and continue their professional development after their fellowship. They will be connected to an alumni network for peer support and to existing communities of practice, and will be supported in participating in formal professional networks. A career progression tracker will be created to monitor their professional journeys.

Impact

The ANTENNA project will have a significant impact on the skills base in East, Central and West Africa. It will:

• Create a cohort of new epidemiology and biostatistics specialists in countries with limited capacity in this area.
• Ensure fellows have a solid grounding in both theoretical methods and practical application to support policymaking in their home countries.
• Provide opportunities for fellows to become embedded within wider professional networks to support their continuing professional development.
• Fellows will have the capacity to analyse local datasets that speak to local health concerns and, consequently, inform health decision-making.

Ultimately, the project will strengthen the capacity of Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal to analyse health and other data to inform disease control and programme management, thereby improving the management of infectious diseases and population health.