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Malaria Research in Africa:

Malaria Research in Africa:. Building the Network and Connecting the Dots. By Julia Royall Chief, International Programs U.S. National Library of Medicine Presented to NSF IT for Africa Workshop Arlington, Virginia January 27, 2005. A Brief Overview of MIMCom.

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Malaria Research in Africa:

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  1. Malaria Research in Africa: Building the Network and Connecting the Dots By Julia Royall Chief, International Programs U.S. National Library of Medicine Presented to NSF IT for Africa WorkshopArlington, Virginia January 27, 2005

  2. A Brief Overview of MIMCom

  3. Mandate from Malaria Researchers at seminal meeting in Dakar, Senegal in 1997 • Full access to Internet • Access to medical literature

  4. Internet Access • 19 sites in 9 countries • VSAT shared bandwidth • Local ISPs • New broadband solutions

  5. Training Workshops: Technical TrainingSearching for Researchers Kilifi, Kenya: June 2002

  6. Document Delivery Service

  7. Websites Supporting Research Agendas

  8. MIMCom Partnerships

  9. MIMCom Web Site Advisory Committee • Abdoulaye Djimde Mali • Andrew Githeko Kenya • Louis Gouagna Kenya • Saadou si. Issifou Gabon • Moses Kamya Uganda • Fred Kironde Uganda • Kojo Koram Ghana • Martha Lemnge Tanzania • Wilfred Mbacham Cameroon • Michel Missinou Gabon • David Ofori-Adjei Ghana

  10. Internal & External Evaluations • Independent Panel charged by MIM Secretariat at NIH in September 2002 with conducting an independent review of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria. • MIM Secretariat Evaluation, survey of researchers working in Africa conducted in December 2002. • NLM Evaluation

  11. Evaluation Conclusions • MIMCom is making a significant difference in the professional performance of individual researchers • Collaborations with colleagues • Short courses • Proposals written and funded • Papers written and published • Clinical trials • E-mail access • Counteracting isolation & self-esteem issues • Africa-to-Africa connection needs strengthening

  12. The MIMCom Network Today

  13. Locations of MIMCom Sites

  14. Potential MIMCom Network

  15. Potential MIMCom Network • Technical • How to connect the sites? • Behavioral • Usage like a gas expanding to fill space • Appropriate use of a limited resource

  16. Refocusing MIMCom on Medical Informatics

  17. Dots on a Map Successful Outcomes

  18. “We have to connect the dots.” Professor Ayoade Oduola, Functional Coordinator: Basic and Strategic Research and Manager: Committee on Pathogenesis and Applied Genomics at WHO/TDR; former Director of the Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training at the College of Medicine. Professor Ayoade OduolaFunctional CoordinatorWHO/TDR

  19. “The most important part of these experiments is analysis of the data generated. And we cannot perform this analysis if we don’t have strong internet connectivity, because we definitely need access to the databases.” Dr. C.T. HappiMalaria Researcher

  20. Fundamental Considerations • Can IT intervention make a difference in the morbidity & mortality of malaria? • Is the goal more dots on a map or a change in health? • Is the network an internet café or a scientific tool? • How do we use the tool? • What actions need to be performed in order to reach the desired outcome (better health)?

  21. Information Technology • A challenge • A responsibility • Not an answer

  22. Scientific Aims • Antimalarial Drug Resistance Network: To share raw data • Severe Malaria in African Children Network: To get large samples

  23. Process Aims • To develop collaborations with other MIM PI’s • Vector Resistance Network: To coordinate 8 African institutes • Noguchi & Buea: regular consultation with collaborators

  24. Outcomes • Strong researchers • Strong research sites • Improvement in health & medicine • As a result of this, this happened • As a contribution to this, this happened

  25. Goals • Supporting research agendas • Africanizing MIMCom leadership • Identifying talented individuals • Providing means to increase relevant skills

  26. Better Health Research Agendas Antimalaria Drug Resistance Network Severe Malaria in African Children Training IT Workshops PI Workshops Searching/Information access Tools Websites FTP servers Agents Caching Evaluation Quantitative/Qualitative End to End Network Performance Enhanced Connectivitydirectly to the satellite or via ISP Information Resources Malaria Research Network

  27. DecisionMakers Communities Health Workers Researchers Schematic by Andrew Kitua Communication Links Between Partners in Research

  28. Network Snapshots

  29. “Now we have a system that uses scientific facts to predict the system. Before we were just guessing and we had no idea what was going to happen.” Dr. Andrew Githeko Senior Scientist & ClimatologistKenya

  30. “Then you ask yourself as a young person, ‘Well, people have made it in Navrongo, why don’t you stay there?’” Nathan Mensah Data managerGhana

  31. “We look at a project that is of interest and just use that to enlighten the scientific community about the benefits of using the IT to improve the project.” Tom Oluoch Systems OperatorKenya

  32. “We are talking of empowering our communities, empowering individuals in Africa with appropriate information so that they can take decisions about their own health. About their well-being.” Regina Shakakata Medical librarian

  33. “The internet is a reflection of our society and that mirror is going to be reflecting what we see. If we do not like what we see in that mirror the problem is not to fix the mirror, we have to fix society.” • —Internet pioneer Vint Cerf

  34. MIMCom

  35. MIMCom

  36. “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.” - Ethiopian adage Picture by: Gerry Killeen

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