African Biomedical Researchers: Problems, Potential, and Possibilities

Molecular biology and genomic science are central to biomedical research today.  They are key to expanding the knowledgebase on infectious diseases as well as to devising diagnostics, vaccines, drugs and other tools for control.  In spite of the pressing need for outcome-driven infectious disease research in most African countries, molecular and genomic sciences have lagged.  African scientists in many fields remain disproportionately disconnected from increasingly networked international pathogenomics research communities.  This presentation aims to examine the place of African biomedical scientists in infectious disease research today and to highlight issues related to principal investigator preparation and support.  It will also spotlight interventions that can yield hypothesis-driven and productive scientists as well as more equitable international partnerships.   Examples from existing research communities illustrate potential for mutually beneficial collaborative arrangements and the international value of independent African principal investigators.  These benefits extend beyond research participants to the field in general.  There is a pressing need to extend capacity-building objectives beyond the paradigm of outfitting laboratories for field-testing imported discoveries to promoting the goal of stimulating, supporting and advancing local innovation. This includes a focus on practical resource needs as well as the necessity for, and capability of, scientists in tropical Africa to initiate and drive their own research questions.