Research Affiliates and Centres |

Research Affiliates and Centres

Africa Center in Public Health and Herbal Medicine (ACEPHEM)

The Africa Center in Public Health and Herbal Medicine (ACEPHEM) at the College of Medicine (CoM)- University of Malawi, was created to address the unmet needs of highly trained academics and researchers in Public Health and Herbal Medicine. We are providing a platform for high level training of graduates at MSc/MPH,MPhil/PhD and MMED levels. These will be complemented by short courses- for the people of Malawi and the global reach.

Blantyre Malaria Project

http://www.blantyremalaria.org

Centre for Reproductive Health (CRH)

The Centre for Reproductive Health (CRH) was established in October 2002 as a capacity building project. The CRH aims at providing leadership, training and research expertise in order to build the human capacity required to scale up the implementation of the national reproductive health program. To achieve this aim, the CRH has three main functions: conducting operations research in reproductive health; postgraduate students teaching and research supervision and training various stakeholders to build capacity for professional development, SRH leadership and awareness of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) among young people and the vulnerable in society. CRH also promotes networking and research collaboration among various research institutions both locally and internationally.

Helse Nord Tuberculosis Initiative (HNTI) Centre for Tuberculosis Research

The Helse Nord Tuberculosis Initiative (HNTI) was established in 2010 with core funding from the Helse Nord RHF, and is based in the Pathology Department of the University of Malawi, College of Medicine. The vision of the HNTI is to be a centre of excellence in tuberculosis research and other infections in sub-Saharan Africa. The mission of the HNTI is to conduct collaborative and multidisciplinary research in tuberculosis and other infections with the long term goal of building local scientific research capacity that is sustainable, internationally excellent, and that makes a direct contribution to local and international policies and practices.

The current research themes at HNTI include tuberculosis diagnostics, community & anthropology, tuberculosis drug trials, and microbiology and molecular biology. The research focus for the tuberculosis diagnostics team is to identify better (impact, accurate and efficient) algorithms for diagnosing tuberculosis in children and HIV individuals. Under the tuberculosis drug trials team, the aim is to identify better (short and efficient) tuberculosis drug regimens. The Community & Anthropology team aims to employ electronic system capture tools to improve tuberculosis surveillance in Malawi and understand gender dynamics that affect access to tuberculosis diagnostics and treatment.

There HNTI has an administration team responsible for overseeing the HNTI’s human resources and procurement needs, financial management, coordination of research activities and general administrative duties. The administration team is also responsible for managing postgraduate courses and research grants.

MAC Communicable Diseases Action Centre (MAC-CDAC)

The College of Medicine runs as an autonomous constituent of the University of Malawi with research responsibilities. To fulfill its research responsibility, the College has a number of research units of which MAC-CDAC is part thereof to support basic medical and operational research. MAC-CDAC through College of Medicine provides training in knowledge, skills and advocacy needed for malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB applied research and M&E programmes.

Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme

Malawi Epidemiological and Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU)

The Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU) is based in Lilongwe, and is supported by a Strategic Award to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Originally known as the Karonga Prevention Study, MEIRU is led by Professor Moffat Nyirenda, a Professsor of Clinical Research who holds a First Class honours degree from the College of Medicine. The Karonga Prevention Study was originally set up 30 years ago to tackle leprosy, and later expanded into tuberculosis, HIV and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). It is unique in conducting research to address the growing burden of NCDs in Malawi and examine the interaction with infectious diseases.