Sharing experiences of the Africa-Europe Health Partnership fellows

Earlier this year, we announced that these seven researchers had begun their placements as part of a fellowship programme under the Team Europe Initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa initiative. The programme is jointly led by The Guild, the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and Enabel, and has received technical support from Africa CDC and is funded by the Belgian government within the broader Team Europe approach.

The fellowship aims to build Africa's capacity in translational research and vaccine development, responding to the urgent need for African-led solutions to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

The first cohort took part in a mobility scheme consisting of multiple short research stays, ranging from a week to six weeks at host institutions across Europe and Africa. Each fellow went on a bespoke journey to different universities, including the University of Ghana, the University of Ibadan, Makerere University, University of Bern, Radboud University Medical Centre, University of Glasgow, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. At the University of Bern, a concluding training week brought the whole cohort together to participate in several workshops on the fundamentals of translational research in diagnostics, surveillance and vaccine development.

We sat down with each fellow to hear about their insights, challenges and benefits. Explore their journeys below:

• Nicholas Bbosa, Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Uganda
  • Research focus: Developing a therapeutic vaccine candidate for mpox
• Irene Owusu Donkor, University of Ghana
  • Research focus: Developing an early warning system for mpox outbreaks
• Mustapha Umar Imam, Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria
  • Research focus: Developing a preventative mRNA vaccine candidate for Lassa  fever
• Jupiter Marina Kabahita, Uganda National Health Laboratory Services
  • Research focus: Proteome conservation analysis to identify mpox specific vaccine targets
• Wakisa Kipandula, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi
  • Research focus: Rapid test suitable for precise diagnosis of mpox in remote settings
• Mirriam Ethel Nyenje, Public Health Institute of Malawi
  • Research focus: Developing new public health surveillance tools that can triage infections outside of Malawi’s centralised labs
• Mariam Kehinde Sulaiman, University of Ilorin, Nigeria
  • Research focus: Developing a locally producible diagnostic kit for Lassa fever

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Through this Fellowship Programme, our Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence are making an important contribution to the EU’s flagship MAV+ initiative, designed to reduce vaccine inequality between Europe and Africa. Our Clusters have unique capacities in helping to create a vibrant ecosystem around the development and production of vaccines in Africa. They have a unique capacity to bring together research, education, and knowledge valorisation across Africa at scale, across disciplines, to respond to the diversity of health challenges faced by Africa and Europe. I am delighted that through this initiative, the role of universities in the important ambitions of the MAV+ initiative are strengthened.

Secretary-General Jan Palmowski