The Botswana Harvard Health Partnership (BHP)

The BHP has also been a major MOHW partner in implementing its prevention-of-MTCT (PMTCT), adult ART, and HIV surveillance programs; training health workers and researchers; and monitoring and evaluating clinical and laboratory procedures through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) (Table 2 below). The staff of BHP originally initiated the national Masa public ART program in 2001, which currently provides ART to more than 300,000 patients in Botswana. . A priority goal of BHP is to develop the careers of early-stage investigators from Botswana and the region, including through training and mentoring on grant writing and all aspects of project implementation.

Biomedical Research and Training Institute – BRTI

BRTI is a research and training institute that comprises core departments such as Human Resources, Finance, Quality Management, Information Communication and technology, Procurement and Administration. These units are well resourced with capable experts who have filled in necessary positions in the different units. Above all, BRTI is ISO 15189:2012 accredited, dating back to 2015 and has an independent institutional review board (IRB).

Fundação Manhiça/Centro de Investigação em Saúde da Manhiça (FM-CISM)

FM-CISM is a joint collaborative program between the governments of Mozambique and Spain. Currently, FMCISM is running two long-term surveillance systems: (1) an around the clock morbidity surveillance system, through which demographic data, signs, symptoms and diagnoses of all outpatients and inpatients under the age of 15 are routinely collected and linked to (2) a Demographic Surveillance System (DSS).
FM-CISM counts with an established Data Management and Statistical Analysis Center as well as with an ISO 15189-accredited laboratory. The laboratory is subdivided into the following areas: clinical analyses parasitology and hematology/biochemistry); microbiology; immunology; molecular biology, as well as a quality assurance & biosafety unit.

Stellenbosch University (SUN)

FMHS is widely recognized for its world-class research on high priority conditions in Africa, such as TB and HIV/AIDS. It hosts the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research; Desmond Tutu TB Centre; and South African Medical (SAMRC) Research Council Centre for Tuberculosis Research. The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) was established in 2006 by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the FMHS has 4 SARChI Chairs in the field of TB research. The Research Development and Support Division operates under the leadership of the Vice Dean for Research. During 2015 and 2016 the Division managed a total of $20.7 million and $26 million, respectively, in research support.
The division has 14 laboratories in a new state of the art biomedical research institute (BMRI). Within the BMRI there are several specialized laboratories, e.g. the SA TB Bioinformatics Initiative (SATBBI) as well as the Centre for Epidemic Research and Innovation (CERI) led by Prof Tulio de Oliveira, where the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus was identified co-concurrently with Botswana. Prof Tulio and Dr Sikhulile Moyo (Our co-applicant) were co-recognised by the German Africa Foundation and Times Magazine for the being the first to describe the Omicron varian.

University of Cape Town Lung Institute (Pty), Ltd – UCT LI

University of Cape Town Lung Institute (Pty), Ltd – UCT LI The University of Cape Town Lung Institute (UCT LI) established in 1999. It’s a private company wholly owned subsidiary of the UCT and registered as a public benefit organization (PBO). The Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity (CLII), is nested within the Division of Pulmonology in the Department of Medicine at UCT, whilst its Clinical Trials (CT) sub-division, known as the CT (CTU), is nested within the UCT Lung Institute. The UCT LI provides the CLII with the necessary laboratory and clinical profiling facilities and expertise to carry out its translational work. The CLII and its sister and parent groupings are outlined below.
The CLII laboratories are based within the Old Main Building at Groote Schuur Hospital and comprise approximately 500 sqm of laboratory space, which is fully equipped with all the necessary appliances and instruments including centrifuges, biosafety cabinets, real-time PCR systems, and other peripheral laboratory equipment (including several diagnostic platforms such as a BioFire System, 3 GeneXpert units).