New fellowship program will support the next generation of African scientific leaders
NIH collaborates with African Academy of Sciences and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Ten African scientists have been selected for training at the National Institutes of Health as part of a new fellowship program to build research capacity in African countries and develop ongoing scientific partnerships. NIH, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are collaborating to establish the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI).
The inaugural cohort will assume their positions in NIH host labs in early 2019. NIH will provide two years of training under principal investigators who share the fellows’ research interests. The African scientists will then return to their home institutions and receive two years of support to continue the research and establish themselves as independent investigators. NIH and the Gates Foundation are together providing about $4 million for the program.
“Our goal is to equip these talented African fellows with the skills to become scientific leaders, prepared to help solve their country’s health challenges and train future generations of researchers,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., whose intramural research lab will host one of the fellows. “By designing the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative to begin at NIH and then continue at their home institution, we aim to prevent ‘brain drain,’ build sustainable research capacity, and establish long-term collaborations between U.S. scientists and African investigators and research institutions.”
Dr. Michael Otto of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is hosting APTI fellow Dr. Nana Amissah of Ghana, who is studying Staphylococcus aureus.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 21, 2022