# Research training in HIV-related transfusion medicine and hematology in South Africa

> **NIH NIH D43** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $72,999

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The proposed University of California San Francisco (UCSF)/Blood Systems Research Institute (BSRI),
University of Cape Town (UCT) and South Africa National Blood Service (SANBS) research training program in
HIV-related transfusion medicine and hematology research will train blood bankers and hematologists to
perform high-quality HIV research to address relevant research questions in South Africa. South Africa needs
research on its HIV epidemic's impact on the national blood supply and HIV-related hematology complications.
Since 2007, we have already accomplished a series of in-country short courses and identified a pool of 30-50
potential junior scientists for in-country HIV research in transfusion medicine and hematology among SANBS
staff and UCT junior faculty and medical postgraduates but their potential remains unfulfilled. This proposal
builds upon a 15-year history of HIV research collaboration between SANBS and UCSF/BSRI that yielded
research evidence to support a safe and adequate blood supply in South Africa. Under the NHLBI-funded
REDS-III International HIV research network, this collaboration will provide a funded research infrastructure for
trainees through 2019. Our needs assessment indicates that specific deficiencies in biostatistics, manuscript
preparation and research career mentoring need to be overcome to achieve our vision of a sustainable,
independent HIV-related transfusion medicine and hematology research enterprise in South Africa. We
propose Specific Aims of: 1) a research and development institute at SANBS; 2) an academic UCT
Hematology Division; and 3) broader human capital development to raise South Africa as a regional center of
excellence in this research. A three-tiered educational approach will be tailored to trainees at various levels of
their research careers: in-country short courses on clinical research methodology and protocol design will
reach a large number of trainees; for a smaller number lacking skills in study design, biostatistics and data
analysis we propose medium-term internships in Cape Town and San Francisco including course work and
research internships; finally, for a select few, Master's and PhD training in specific research disciplines will be
tailored to their needs at the UCT School of Health Sciences. Throughout, trainees will be mentored as they
accomplish their own research projects and compete for mini-grants funded by the program. The REDS-III HIV
research network will provide research opportunities in terms of access to human subjects, databases and
biological specimens. Research projects will address high-priority questions in HIV-related transfusion
medicine and hematology in South Africa, including: HIV prevalence and incidence as measured by novel
assays; risk factors for incident HIV infection to detect new trends in the epidemic; HIV-related anemia;
appropriate transfusion therapy for HIV patients; and HIV lymphomas. The result of this program will be a
su...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10248622
- **Project number:** 3D43TW010345-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** EDWARD L MURPHY
- **Activity code:** D43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $72,999
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10248622

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10248622, Research training in HIV-related transfusion medicine and hematology in South Africa (3D43TW010345-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10248622. Licensed CC0.

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