# Strengthening Research Administration Infrastructure for HIV Research in Nigeria

> **NIH NIH G11** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $101,613

## Abstract

Program Summary
Nigeria has one of the largest HIV epidemics in the world with 1.8 million people living with HIV infection. The
United States government has made huge investments in HIV care and research in Nigeria, through the
Presidents Emergency Funds for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported programs and the National Institutes for
Health (NIH) research training grants that have supported the training of researchers in Nigerian universities.
Research on HIV in Nigeria has contributed significantly to the management, treatment, and prevention of HIV
in the country as well to the development of international guidelines worldwide. The University of Nigeria Nsukka
(UNN) College of Medicine has implemented multiple HIV research projects mostly as a sub-awardee. Findings
from our rapid needs assessment with 84 UNN researchers and research administrators indicated that 93% of
researchers expressed interest in submitting grant applications, including for HIV research, but only 28% knew
who to contact for proposal and submission support at UNN. For UNN to successfully submit and manage grant
applications as a prime institution, there is need to strengthen its research administration and management
infrastructure. The objectives of this proposal are to: 1) further identify needs and gaps in research administration
and management at UNN; 2) improve the grants management and proposal development knowledge and skills
of UNN research administrators and HIV implementation researchers; and 3) strengthen the ability of UNN
research administrators and HIV implementation researchers to submit and manage successful HIV grant
applications by providing mentorship, ongoing coaching and online courses from UCSD program instructors. UC
San Diego experts in research administration and grant management will implement the objectives of the
proposed infrastructure development training program. The proposed program will be led by Dr. Gregory Aarons,
Professor and Director of UC San Diego Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute Dissemination and
Implementation Science Center (DISC) as Program Director, and Dr. Echezona Ezeanolue, Professor and
Director of UNN Centre for Translation and Implementation Research (CTAIR) as Co-Director. Drs. Aarons and
Ezeanolue have an existing relationship and extensive experience building capacity in Nigerian institutions
through the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance (NISA). A team of research administration and grant
management experts from UC San Diego will train and provide ongoing mentoring to research administrators
and grant management staff at UNN over a 3-year period. By the end of this infrastructure development training
program, 12 UNN research administrators and grant managers will be able to successfully submit and manage
NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other funded HIV grants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10766841
- **Project number:** 5G11TW011841-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** GREGORY AARONS
- **Activity code:** G11 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $101,613
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10766841

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10766841, Strengthening Research Administration Infrastructure for HIV Research in Nigeria (5G11TW011841-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10766841. Licensed CC0.

---

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