Project Grant D71TW013085

ADVANCING CLINICAL TRIALS ON HIV (ACTONHIV) IN LIBERIA - ADVANCING CLINICAL TRIALS ON HIV (ACTONHIV) IN LIBERIA PROJECT SUMMARY/ ABSTRACT HIV/AIDS IS ONE OF LIBERIA'S FOREMOST PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES AND STILL CONTRIBUTES SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE COUNTRY'S MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY PROFILES. LIBERIA'S HIV RESPONSE INDICATORS FALL SIGNIFICANTLY SHORT OF THE UNAIDS 95-95- 95 TARGETS AND DATA FROM RECENT DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEYS SHOW FORMIDABLE CHALLENGES TO ACHIEVING THOSE TARGETS INCLUDING LOW LEVELS OF COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIV AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS, AS WELL AS HIV TESTING AMONG ITS POPULATION. FURTHERMORE, LIBERIA HAS YET TO ACHIEVE A SUFFICIENT WORKFORCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT OPTIMAL HIV SERVICE DELIVERY; AND FALLS SHORT OF THE MATURITY LEVEL, BASED ON THE WHO GLOBAL BENCHMARKING TOOL, TO INDEPENDENTLY SUPPORT HIGH-QUALITY HIV CLINICAL TRIALS AND THE REGULATORY SYSTEMS FOR DRUGS TO SUPPORT THEM AS WELL AS THE ABILITY TO CONDUCT RIGOROUS IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE TO IMPROVE ITS HIV RESPONSE. THESE ARE PRIORITY GAPS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED AS IT WILL HAVE PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS FOR HIV TREATMENT AND PREVENTION THAT ARE SUITABLE FOR THE LIBERIAN CONTEXT. WHILE THERE HAS BEEN PROGRESS WITH CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING IN THE COUNTRY TO DATE, CLINICAL RESEARCH IN LIBERIA STILL FACES MANY CHALLENGES, INCLUDING LIMITED FUNDING, A SHORTAGE OF TRAINED RESEARCHERS, AND A LACK OF ACCESS TO ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES. THE ADVANCING CLINICAL TRIALS ON HIV (ACTONHIV) IN LIBERIA COLLABORATION IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY OF LIBERIA COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES (ULCHS) AND YALE UNIVERSITY TO DEVELOP AN HIV CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM THAT CENTERS THE LIBERIAN CONTEXT AND NEEDS TO ENSURE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY AND ADVANCES ITS CAPACITY FOR LOCALLY LED CLINICAL TRIALS AND IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE RESEARCH. THE ACTONHIV PROGRAM WILL ENHANCE LIBERIA'S HIV CLINICAL TRIALS CAPACITY BY REFINING THE COUNTRY'S HIV RESEARCH TRAINING AGENDA AS INFORMED BY PRE-IDENTIFIED GAPS AND PRIORITIES AND ESTABLISHING A LONG-TERM FORMAL HIV-RESEARCH- TRAINING COLLABORATIVE NETWORK BETWEEN YALE UNIVERSITY AND ULCHS AND SUPPORTED BY A REGIONAL PARTNER, JOS UNIVERSITY IN NIGERIA, TO STRENGTHEN SOUTH-SOUTH COLLABORATION FOR TRAINING. IT WILL ALSO CREATE A STRUCTURED HIV RESEARCH TRAINING PLAN FOR AN HIV-D43-FUNDING MECHANISM THAT MATCHES EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS WITH MENTEES ALIGNED WITH THEIR HIV RESEARCH FOCUS AREA AND RESEARCH PHENOTYPE TO PRODUCE A DIVERSE, SKILLED, HIGHLY COMPETENT, MULTI-TIERED LIBERIAN HIV-RESEARCH TEAM. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING THAT WILL SUPPORT FELLOWS AND RESIDENT PHYSICIANS, AS WELL AS MID-CAREER FACULTY AT THE ULCHS, IN THEIR TRANSITION TO BECOMING (OR ADVANCEMENT AS) INVESTIGATORS. ADDITIONAL STRUCTURED TRAINING WILL AIM TO DEVELOP A CADRE OF SUPPORT STAFF INCLUDING RESEARCH NURSES AND REGULATORY SPECIALISTS TO FACILITATE ROBUST CLINICAL INVESTIGATION IN HIV PREVENTION AND CARE IN LIBERIA. TRAINING WILL BE INFORMED BY THE COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF THE D71 ACTIVITIES, AND ENVISIONED PLANS INCLUDE RELEVANT CLINICAL RESEARCH-RELATED SHORT-MEDIUM TERM COURSES FOR THE FULL SPECTRUM OF TRAINEES AND LONG-TERM ADVANCED DEGREE PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON HIV RESEARCH (MPH, MSC OR PHD DEGREES) FOR PHYSICIANS AND ULCHS FACULTY AT ULCHS, YALE OR JOS UNIVERSITY.