UM and Yale to train implementation science researchers

UNIVERSITI Malaya (UM) and Yale University are establishing a research and training centre on HIV implementation science through the Fogarty International Programme at the National Institutes of Health – one of the world’s foremost medical research centres.

Building on 15 years of research collaboration in addressing critical issues at the interface of HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and addiction, these varsities will roll out the Malaysian Implementation Science Training (MIST) programme at the centre to train the next generation of implementation science researchers.

Under the grant, UM will receive RM1.5mil.

MIST will be co-directed by Yale medicine and public health professor Frederick L. Altice and UM Faculty of Medicine dean Datuk Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman (pic), both of whom have had a long and successful history of collaboration in Malaysia on prevention and treatment of HIV among various populations.

Prof Altice said MIST will create a new generation of implementation science researchers and practitioners in Malaysia to adequately scaleup prevention and treatment services in a setting where HIV-related mortality and new HIV infections continue to increase.

Hopeful that MIST will help to reduce stigma and discrimination towards key populations with or at risk for HIV, Dr Adeeba said MIST will serve as model for integrating human rights into real-world implementation for HIV prevention and treatment.

“Furthermore, the expertise generated from this programme will ultimately be applicable across all diseases,” she added.

Prof Altice has been a visiting Professor and Academic Icon at UM for many years, while Dr Adeeba is an adjunct associate professor at Yale University.

Their successful and productive collaboration has resulted in multiple joint research grants and more than 50 joint publications including high impact journals such as The Lancet and The Lancet Global Health.

MIST will be training four current UM faculty members in implementation science along with 10 doctoral students in public health over the next five years to create the local expertise to address HIV prevention and treatment.

Between 25 to 30 local public health practitioners will also be trained during a summer implementation science “boot camp” in Malaysia.

This practical training will incorporate implementation science skills embedded within a human rights framework because harsh criminalisation of drugs, sex work and homosexuality have undermined optimal implementation of HIV prevention and treatment services.

Doctoral training will be provided through a hybrid training model where Malaysian trainees will participate in a combination of distance-based and onsite learning at Yale.

They will complete one semester of coursework, attend seminars and receive mentorship with leading implementation science experts while at Yale.

UM and Yale are finalising the curriculum for the training and the selection process of faculty and PhD candidates who will start the programme in October.

Trainees will receive a research grant to complement their training.

Noting that UM has begun developing a programme in implementation science, UM Faculty of Medicine deputy dean for research Prof Dr Ng Chirk Jenn said MIST will establish a solid foundation and transform recognition for this emerging area of research for the university and in the region.