# Emory-Nigeria HIV Research Training Program (EN-RTP)

> **NIH NIH D43** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $301,960

## Abstract

Women comprise about 50% of the 36.7 million people living with HIV worldwide and in many sub-Saharan
African countries including Nigeria, ~2 out of 3 HIV infected adults are women. Even more worrisome is the
observation that overwhelming number of new infections in Nigeria occur among young women of childbearing
age, and as such, one-third of all global cases of mother-to-child transmission of HIV occurs in the country. Not
only is the burden of HIV higher in women, the impact of its scourge is far more reaching. HIV is the leading
cause of morbidity and mortality among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. HIV complicates every aspect
of health across a woman’s lifespan, including reproductive health where it impacts partner sero-sorting and
sexual habits, fertility desires and contraceptive choices, pregnancy and delivery, menopause and aging.
Tackling the myriads of health challenges confronting women living with HIV is a necessary step to achieving
the WHO global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescent health. It will require nurturing a critical mass
of local health scientists and equipping them with the skills to conduct valid research that addresses the local
health needs of women living with HIV. To address these needs, we established the Emory-Nigeria HIV
Research Training Program (EN-RTP). The EN-RTP leverages the research education infrastructure at Emory
University and the partnering Nigerian institutions (Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR); University of
Lagos (UNILAG); and AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria (APIN)) to provide state-of-the-art in-country research
training with focus on methodologies, rigorous mentorship, and grant management capacity building.
The EN-RTP training is focused on three main domains of HIV/women’s health research: a) HIV prevention
and reproductive health; b) Challenges in HIV therapeutics unique to women living with HIV (WLWH); and c)
Complications of chronic HIV infection relevant to WLWH. Preceptors are selected based on their expertise in
these areas and their international research education and mentoring experience. We can report that the EN-
RTP is now an established program with a cohesive administrative structure and program plan that includes
both didactic and mentored research components implemented by a multidisciplinary team of in-country faculty
and US-based investigators who have a wide range of mentoring experiences. The short- and medium-term
accomplishments include high scholar productivity (over $3M in grant funding, including 3 NIH K 43 awards
and more than 150 peer-reviewed publications by trainees), fostering robust scientific networking opportunities,
developing emerging in-country scientific leaders, and nurturing the next generation of HIV research mentors.
The EN-RTP has demonstrated a potential to be truly transformative in promoting mentored research training
and the growth of the HIV biomedical research workforce. Committed to the primary goal of capacity ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10911675
- **Project number:** 2D43TW010934-06
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** OLIVER CHUKWUJEKWU EZECHI
- **Activity code:** D43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $301,960
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-04-15 → 2028-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10911675

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10911675, Emory-Nigeria HIV Research Training Program (EN-RTP) (2D43TW010934-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10911675. Licensed CC0.

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