# United States-Mali Research Ethics Training Program (US-Mali RETP)

> **NIH NIH R25** · GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $244,580

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The past four decades, have witnessed a significant increase in public health and clinical research being
conducted in Mali, driven partly by increasing international research collaborations and the recent Ebola
epidemic. This increase in human research, creates an urgent need for improved bioethics leadership, training,
policy and research. It is, therefore, critical and timely to ensure that researchers and members of institutional
review board (IRB) in Mali have the requisite knowledge, and capacity to ensure the research meets ethical,
cultural, and regulatory expectations. To meet the ethics training needs of Mali, we propose a research ethics
capacity building program to strengthen research ethics education and research in Mali through an innovative
model of sustainable capacity development to prepare the next generation of ethics researchers. This program
will be based on close collaboration between two institutions – the George Washington University Milken Institute
School of Public Health (GWU), USA and University of Science, Techniques & Technologies of Bamako
(USTTB), Mali. The overall goal of the United States-Mali Research Ethics Training Program (US-Mali
RETP) is to strengthen research ethics education and research in Mali. Our model will focus on using US and
Africa-based expertise to strengthen USTTB’s capacity to develop and lead a new Master’s degree specialization
in research ethics and promote a sustainable bioethics enterprise at USTTB through the following specific aims;
Specific Aim 1: To enhance the pedagogical and curricular strengths of key USTTB faculty to deliver
research ethics courses and mentoring in Mali. We will implement a faculty development program for
selected Malian faculty aimed at enhancing analytical capacity in ethics research and training. The selected
Malian faculty will participate in intensive courses in US, work with GWSPH faculty in developing curricula and
co-delivery of ethics curriculum during year 2. Specific Aim 2: To develop a research ethics specialization
within the existing USTTB Masters of Public Health (MPH) program in order to train a core group of
professionals with expertise in research ethics in Mali. We will develop a new curriculum in research ethics
within the MPH program at USTTB. The Ethics modules will also be offered as part of a one year Diplome. We
will also offer short term training workshops and webinars at USTTB including both basic and advanced topics
each year. Specific Aim 3: To promote research around key priorities for research ethics in Mali. We will
through our trainees conduct relevant national research on ethics to inform public health, training priorities and
health care delivery including ethics of research on infectious and emerging diseases as well as genetics and
genomics. Specific Aim 4: To create a dedicated “Research Ethics Unit” within USTTB in Mali. We will
work to establish an academic Research Unit within USTTB which will coord...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10758951
- **Project number:** 5R25TW011505-05
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SEYDOU DOUMBIA
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $244,580
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-03-26 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10758951

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10758951, United States-Mali Research Ethics Training Program (US-Mali RETP) (5R25TW011505-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10758951. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*