Partners -> African Partners

African Partners

South African Medical Research Council (MRC), Cape Town, South Africa (www.mrc.ac.za)

Regional coordinator for sub-Saharan Africa

Qualifications and capacity
The MRC is one of Africa’s leading science research councils and has significant research programmes in infectious and chronic diseases, health policy and systems research, evidence-based health care, biostatistics and women’s health. It played a central role in the design and conduct of the INCO-funded project PRACTIHC and was the Scientific and African Co-ordinating Centre for AFROIMPLEMENT.

Experience and knowledge at the MRC
The MRC hosts the South African Cochrane Centre (SACC). As the only Cochrane Centre in Africa, the SACC provides technical assistance and guidance to individuals in 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The Centre engages widely with policy-makers, clinicians, researchers and consumers in defining priority topics for Cochrane reviews in sub-Saharan Africa. It has extensive experience in promoting and conducting systematic reviews in the fields of HIV and AIDS and tuberculosis. The MRC Health Systems Research Unit focuses upon bridging the gap between the known efficacy of health interventions and their actual effectiveness when implemented at scale through routine public health systems. The Unit is involved in both national and international collaborative research projects working mostly with Department of Health and community health organisations. It has also developed interactive capacity building tools and regularly hosts capacity building workshops. The MRC Biostatistics Unit collaborates on national and international projects that require statistical planning and analysis. Many of the studies supported relate to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, nutrition, chronic diseases and genetics and some of them involved randomised controlled trials.

Key personnel
Jimmy Volmink	Professor and Deputy Dean (Research) at the Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Director of the SACC. He serves on committees and advisory boards of several international and national organisations tasked with making key healthcare decisions. Jimmy is the partner manager and a member of the global Project Management Group. His responsibilities include scientific coordination, control on deliverables and communication with coordinating centre (i.e. Oslo); ensuring SUPPORT work is disseminated widely within the region; and maximising collaboration with SUPPORT partners. He contributes to all five work packages (WP), i.e. improve access to and use of research evidence (Work Package One, WP1), develop tools to conduct and manage pragmatic RCTs (WP2), review barriers and produce tools for improving access to funding (WP3), coordinate the transfer of knowledge to policymakers, researchers and clinicians (WP4), and project management (WP5)
Carl Lombard	Director of the Biostatistics Unit, will contribute statistical and trial expertise. He contributes to WP2 and WP4.
Chris Seebregts	Manager of the Research Information Systems Division. He brings expertise in the design of web-based tools. He contributes to WP2
Mickey Chopra	Director Health Systems Research Unit, has strong interests in the evaluation of health care and in knowledge translation. He contributes to WP1, WP3, and WP4
Charles Shey Wiysonge	Senior Scientist at the South African Cochrane Centre. Charles contributes to all five work packages and is responsible for coordination tasks delegated by the partner manager, to coordinate the interaction between work-packages and to ensure that partner and regional project objectives are met.
Taryn Young	Senior Specialist Scientist at the South African Cochrane Centre. Taryn contributed to all five work packages till July 2008
Simon Lewin	Specialist Scientist within the Health Systems Research Unit. Simon contributes to WP1, WP3, and WP4
Policy link
Mr Jimmy Ledwaba	Chief Director - Health Programmes, Department of Health, Provincial Government of the Western Cape.
Four external international experts will be attached to this Partner
Lelia Duley	Obstetric Epidemiologist with a particular interest in maternal health in LMICs. She has considerable experience in the design and conduct of perinatal trials in LMICs, of systematic reviews and of research training.
Metin Gulmezoglu	Has substantial experience in conducting multicentre clinical and implementation trials in maternal and child health. He is the coordinating editor of The WHO Reproductive Health Library, a specialty database of systematic reviews and commentaries focusing on LMIC reproductive health problems.
Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg	Health systems researcher with experience of antibiotic use and policies in ten countries, most LMICs. She is a member of “React–action on antibiotic resistance”, a global network that aims to ensure access to effective treatment of bacterial infections.
Merrick Zwarenstein	Health systems researcher working closely with managers in the health systems of Canada and South Africa. He has conducted several large training and research development activities, in southern Africa in recent years, some funded by the EU. He is a recognised expert on evidence based management and healthcare.

Department of Community Health, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique (www.uem.mz)

Qualifications and capacity
The Department is a national resource for the training of high-level and public health professionals. It is active in the area of health services delivery and health policy support to the Health Ministry. The Department has been involved in the INCO-funded PRACTIHC project.

Experience and knowledge in the Department
The Department’s research includes the evaluation of disease control programmes, policy research, policy transfer in infectious diseases, and evaluation of the Global Fund at country level.

Key personnel
Julie Cliff	Professor, has expertise in policy analysis, research design and linking research to policy. She has previously been Head of the Epidemiology Section in the Ministry of Health.
Esperanca Sevene	Researcher has a strong interest in the transfer of research into policy.
Policy link
Martinho Dgedge	Deputy National Director in the Ministry of Health.

Department of Community Medicine, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe (www.uz.ac.zw)

Qualifications and capacity
The Department is responsible for public health training and the training of other health personnel in Zimbabwe. It has close links with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, through the jointly run MSc in Public Health Programme.

Experience and knowledge in the Department
The Department conducts public health services research applied to the country’s major health problems and has been a partner in two EC projects, including PRACTIHC. The Department also has US NIH funded community randomised controlled trial research multicentre collaborations, and is the recipient of two CDC grants. It has previously also been the recipient of W K Kellogg Foundation funding for a joint UZ/Municipality project.

Key personnel
Godfrey Woelk	Associate Professor and Department Chair, is an epidemiologist and is involved in running a number of community based randomized controlled trials on HIV/AIDS prevention. He has served several times as a consultant to the WHO Health Systems Research Programme, as well as serving on the National Steering Committee that drafted the Zimbabwe AIDS Policy.
Policy link
Davis Dhlakama	Principal Medical Director in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.