The Trial of Excellence in Southern Africa – TESA is a Regional Network of Excellence, established in 2009 through collaborative effort of the Southern African research institutes and Universities involved in Clinical Trials. This consortium It´s made up of institutes that collaborate with different levels of development and expertise but complementary in clinical research landscape.

TESA brings together institutions from Sub-Saharan African countries, in partnerships with European ones and has a particular focus on building research capacities in participating countries that do not have strong clinical research traditions within the region.

TESA consortium aim to expand capacity for clinical research in poverty-related, neglected tropical and emerging infectious diseases, using stronger institutions and established facilities in the network. The Capacity building includes reference laboratories, reference data management and ongoing joint clinical trials as platforms for institutional transformation and human resource development in the Southern Region of Africa. The TESA project is in the third period of the grant implementation that runs from 1st July 2021 to 30th June 2024.

TESA was established with the objective to creating a framework for collaboration, capacity building and training among 15 institutions (12 different Southern African institutions and 3 European institutions) to strengthen and enhance the capacities for clinical research in Southern African countries built during TESA II, as well as to increase the collaboration and North-South and South-South networking activities among consortium members

The TESA project scope covers 3 main areas:

• Infrastructure Development – Laboratory accreditation and, equipment upgrades at LDS to enable them carry out high-quality on CTs
• Training and Mentorship – long and short-term training well as short-term training in cross-cutting disciplines
• Resource Sharing and Optimization – to enable optimal use of resources and infrastructures within the network

We are committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): SDG3: ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.