SAHRI-Fellowship

The challenge

Sub-Saharan Africa has fewer health researchers than other regions. Multiple training programmes, including several supported by the Global Health EDCTP3 programme, are working to close this capacity gap.

The project

The SAHRI Fellowship project aims to address this gap by supporting researchers through a research-training programme that covers all aspects of biomedical innovation and entrepreneurship and includes hands-on experience in a biotech research environment. 

A partnership between institutions in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as two European centres, the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp and KU Leuven, the SAHRI Fellowship project will select 12 promising mid-career researchers from across Africa. Each fellow will complete a two-year Master of Science programme in Tropical Medicine as well as a module in systems thinking in biotech development, both at leading institutions in Europe.

Furthermore, each fellow will undertake a 6-month internship at BioNTech, gaining hands-on industry training in vaccine development and manufacturing under the mentorship and supervision of subject matter experts

Each fellow will complete a 12-month project in sub-Saharan Africa, applying what they have learned with seed funding for their research. They will be hosted during this period by a high-quality research centre, including institutions in the EDCTP regional Network of Excellence and the East African Consortium for Clinical Research (EACCR). 

Once selected, each fellow will develop a personalised development plan outlining their learning journey. They will also benefit from a structured mentorship programme, with input from multiple mentors across the consortium.

Impact

The SAHRI Fellowship project will strengthen research capacity in a key area of the health sciences. It will:

• Provide a highly structured and personalised training programme for 12 promising mid-career researchers from multiple sub-Saharan African countries.
• Enable fellows to gain experience in the day-to-day realities of a cutting-edge biotech company.
• Support application of new skills and knowledge in R&D in a practically focused project in an outstanding learning environment within sub-Saharan Africa.

The SAHRI Fellowship project will make an important contribution to strengthening capacity in new product development in sub-Saharan Africa, boosting the regional workforce's ability to translate scientific advances into new products to improve health.