Abstract
IntroductionStrategies to transfer international health research training programs to sub-Saharan African institutions focus on developing cadres of local investigators who will lead such programs. Using a critical leadership theory framework, we conducted a qualitative study of one program to understand how collaborative training and research can support early career investigators in Kenya toward the program transfer goal.MethodsWe used purposive sampling methods and a semi-structured protocol to conduct in-depth interviews with US (N = 5) and Kenyan (N = 5) independent investigators. Transcripts were coded using a two-step process, and then compared with each other to identify major themes.ResultsA limited local research environment, funding needs and research career mentorship were identified as major influences on early career researchers. Institutional demands on Kenyan faculty to teach rather than complete research restricted investigators’ ability to develop research careers. This was coupled with lack of local funding to support research. Sustainable collaborations between Kenyan, US and other international investigators were perceived to mitigate these challenges and support early career investigators who would help build a robust local research environment for training.ConclusionMutually beneficial collaborations between Kenyan and US investigators developed during training mitigate these challenges and build a supportive research environment for training. In these collaborations, early career investigators learn how to navigate the complex international research environment to build local HIV research capacity. Shared and mutually beneficial resources within international research collaborations are required to support early career investigators and plans to transfer health research training to African institutions.
Highlights
Strategies to transfer international health research training programs to Africaninstitutions follow a 25-year history of capacity buildingin sub-Saharan Africa by international and local organizations[1-9]
This study focuses on the University of Washington (UW) AITRP that was primarily designed to provide HIV/AIDS research training to Kenyan medical doctors and to non-medical trainees interested in an epidemiology or basic science research career (Socio-Behavioral Research, Biostatistics and Biomedical Research) at the University of Nairobi
Kenyan investigators and US collaborators mitigated these factors by providing mentorship and transitional funding for research. This highlights the effectiveness of sharing international and local resources to develop international training programs that will eventually be transferred to sub-Saharan African institution while maintaining and enhancing international collaborations for education and research. Do these collaborations contribute to research capacity building, these collaborations are mutually beneficial by training cadres of US HIV/AIDS investigators through research opportunities internationally in countries like Kenya
Summary
Strategies to transfer international health research training programs to Africaninstitutions follow a 25-year history of capacity buildingin sub-Saharan Africa by international and local organizations[1-9]. This transfer involves transitioning from international to local leadership of training programs. Training program transfer is dependent on these career pathways because established local investigators teach and mentor future cadres of investigators as a measure of research capacity. One approach used by many programs harnesses both local and international resources to support early career investigators to develop future research leaders[3, 4, 10, 15, 16]. Despite the success of many of these programs, there have been few studies that identify and discuss these resources that support early career investigators
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