# International West Africa Symposium and Workshop on Infectious Diseases

> **NIH NIH R13** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2022 · $29,559

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
West African countries suffer enormous impacts due to infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis,
Lassa, Ebola and Dengue. Despite the high relevance of basic and clinical research studies and the abundant
availability of patient-derived samples and data, most of the sixteen West African nations lag behind developed
nations and many other African nations in combating these epidemics. As a result, it is increasingly recognized
that there is great value in increasing opportunities for West African scientists, particularly from countries such
as Sierra Leone, which have been slower to progress as compared to others like Ghana and Nigeria. One goal
is to have them participate more in basic and clinical research, both as independent researchers and as part of
international consortia and collaborations. Until now, however, there has been little opportunity to bring the entire
West African infectious disease research community together with leading researchers from other African nations
and beyond. For this reason, we propose to hold the first International West Africa Symposium and Workshop
on Infectious Diseases in Freetown, Sierra Leone. There are four specific objectives of this meeting. First, we
aim to bring together the international infectious disease community in Sierra Leone to facilitate infectious
disease research on a number of key pathogens highly relevant to the region. To accomplish this goal, we are
planning a series of keynote and plenary speakers from many leading experts in the field from within Africa and
around the world, along with a poster session, talks selected from poster abstracts and other activities including
a site visit. Since the challenges in this field are daunting and will require collaborative efforts to solve, a second
goal is to enhance interactions between diverse groups, such as academic basic science, epidemiological,
clinical and translational science, as well as non-governmental and governmental institutions. To this end, we
are specifically inviting participants representing these groups, with sessions to facilitate knowledge exchange
and collaborations. A third objective is to bring hands-on training and workshops that our team is uniquely
positioned to provide. To this end, there will be several days of workshops taught by experts and developed in
close collaboration with team members on the ground in Sierra Leone, who understand the local needs. A fourth
objective is to invest intellectually and financially in the future by supporting promising young trainees. The goal
is to encourage trainees to be successful and stay in the field by providing intellectual support through
discussions and mentorship with senior scientists, poster sessions, opportunities to speak, awards that recognize
their achievements, and by providing financial support with competitive travel awards. The expected outcomes
are increased collaborations between scientists working in different disciplines, retent...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10540552
- **Project number:** 1R13AI154985-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Nevan J Krogan
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $29,559
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-13 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10540552

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10540552, International West Africa Symposium and Workshop on Infectious Diseases (1R13AI154985-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10540552. Licensed CC0.

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