University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)
Discipline of Public Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, Howard College Campus, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
The forerunner of the Department of Community Health at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine was the Institute of Family and Community Health. Dr Sydney Kark and his team initiated this Institute in 1946. Public Health training is offered to a wide range of professionals from doctors to community workers. The Department of Public Health Medicine (DPHM) has a substantial body of skills and expertise in training doctors as public health specialists and offers a two year Masters in Public Health to other health professionals. There is an established PhD programme and (DPHM) works with the South African Department of Health in health policy formulation and planning of health services at district, provincial and national levels. The research focus includes researching priority health needs in communicable and non-communicable diseases with a focus on children and monitoring and evaluation programmes in rural and urban areas. The specialist consultants have expertise in the fields of epidemiology and bio-statistics, understanding the management and administration of all components of the health system – clinics, hospitals, community-based programmes etc.
Oslo University Hospital (OUH)
The Norwegian Centre for Imported and Tropical Diseases, Department of Infectious Diseases Ullevaal, Oslo, Norway
The Oslo University Hospital is the largest hospital in Scandinavia and was established January 1st 2009, by the merger of three university hospitals, of which OUH- Ullevaal was founded in 1887. It is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oslo. In 2012 almost 2300 medical students were taught in OUH. Furthermore the hospital has the largest paediatric department in the country and the hospital serves the entire South-Eastern Norwegian region as a referral institution for infectious diseases, cardiology, nephrology and traumatology.
OUH-Ullevaal has a number of national centres such as the Norwegian Centre for Imported and Tropical Diseases.
NCITD, under the direction of Dr Frank Olav Pettersen (MD, PhD), is a centre of excellence which provides advice on a national level, and supports research and education in tropical and imported diseases. In the last 11 years NCITD has been involved in projects on schistosomiasis, TB, African tick bite fever, Hepatitis C and HIV in the following few countries: Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and South Africa. Moreover, NCITD has made female genital schistosomiasis a research priority.
The Universiteit Antwerpen (UA)
This university was founded in 2003 after the merger of the three universities that were previously known as RUCA, UFSIA and UIA. UA is the third largest university in Flanders and has 3.500 staff members in 8 faculties and 3 autonomous institutes. University of Antwerpen (UA) already belongs to the top European universities in terms of relative scientific impact scores in the natural and biomedical sciences (science and technology indicators 2003). Research at the UA has been proven to meet high quality standards. Its researchers are members of top-quality international research teams and achieve excellent results in strictly competitive inter-university selections.
International cooperation is one of the spearheads of the UA, and for the years 2010 and 2011, South Africa has been chosen as a favoured partner.
The UA participates in BRIGHT through the Laboratory for Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology.
The Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC)
Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
LUMC is part of the Leiden University, which is the oldest university in the Netherlands, founded in 1575. Leiden University aims to have an internationally recognized position as a top-ranking research-intensive university and already has a top position in a great many fields, including medicine. The University consists of six faculties, including Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). The LUMC is one of the eight academic medical centres in the Netherlands and focuses on top clinical and highly specialized care.
The LUMC participates in BRIGHT through the Department of Parasitology where research focuses on parasite-host interactions of important parasitic diseases like malaria and schistosomiasis. The Department of Parasitology aims to make a contribution to the development of new medicines and vaccines and to improve diagnostic tools. Collaboration with low-income countries is central to the activities of the Department. Research training and technology transfer is provided in many of these projects. The expertise of the LUMC group, in combination with available laboratory equipment, provides excellent opportunities (i) to validate the use of real-time PCR for the diagnosis of FGS, (ii) to prove training at PhD level in molecular diagnostics and (iii) to transfer these new diagnostic technologies to South Africa.
The University of Agder (UIA)
Located in the southern-most part of Norway, UiA is the youngest and the fourth largest university in Norway. UiA’s primary tasks are research and education, with an emphasis on research-based instruction. UiA prioritizes regional, national and international cooperation. Internationally, UiA cooperates with over 175 partner institutions through student, faculty and staff exchange. UiA is the only Higher Education Institution in Norway to have been awarded both the ECTS and DS labels by the European Commission and was recently awarded coordination of at least one other IRSES scheme.
The Centre of Development Studies of UiA provides knowledge relating to global development processes and their inter-relationship from a multidisciplinary, social science perspective. The Centre has 12 scientific positions in disciplines such as anthropology, geography, business administration, economics, political science, sociology and medicine.
Sørlandet Hospital health enterprise (SSHF) is affiliated to UiA in collaboration, has 7,200 employees and provides specialist health care to a population of almost 300.000 inhabitants. The hospital has a rapidly increasing research activity and internationalisation.
The University of Copenhagen (UCPH)
The University of Copenhagen participates in the BRIGHT through the DBL – Centre for Health, Research and Development (former name: Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory), which has been involved in research, training and capacity building in relation to water related vector borne parasitic diseases, primarily in African countries, for more than 35 years. The Centre is now part of the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen and can provide training as well as strong logistic support for African PhD and MSc students. As a Centre under the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DBL participates in an ACP_EU Programme in Higher Education (EDULINK), entitled Promoting Excellence in PhD Research Programmes in East Africa (Prepare-PhD). This programme aims to develop competent high level human resources to address socio-economic development needs of societies in Eastern Africa. DBL is also a participant of the Wellcome Trust financed Malaria Capacity Development Consortium (MCDC) aiming at strengthening the ability of scientists from malaria endemic countries in Africa to undertake high quality research on malaria. DBL is highly experienced in planning and implementing training and research activities in especially Africa and the group of helminthologist at DBL has more than 20 years of experience in research related to immunity, immunopathology, diagnosis, morbidity assessment and treatment of helminth infections and in particular schistosomiasis. Furthermore, they have implemented training courses at many different levels, including technical staff at Ministry of Health institutions, District Medical Officers, District Nurses and PhD and MSc students.
Imperial College (ICL)
Imperial College London officially known as The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine as titled in its Royal Charter. It is a British university in London specialising in science, engineering, medicine and business. It is a member of the Russell Group of Universities, a part of the Golden Triangle, the IDEA League, the European University Association, AMBA, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
The Faculty of Medicine provides an ideal environment for postgraduate research training in basic and clinical sciences. Postgraduate students are members of their supervisor’s academic Division and are also fully integrated into the Graduate School of Life Science & Medicine. The Faculty of Medicine has a wide range of internationally recognised programmes of research in public and international health. Major studies of interventions against diseases associated with poverty, for example HIV, TB and helminth infections, cover a range of individual and community-level approaches to care and prevention.
Imperial College London participates in BRIGHT through their Clinical Research Unit. They work in partnership with associated National Health Service Trusts to help the College and the researchers to meet the requirements of research governance, ensuring that legal, ethical and scientific obligations to the healthcare research process are fulfilled.