Member Highlight
GloPID-R members are active around the globe and bring their experience and capacities to combat outbreaks. Discover the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and how it is participating in Africa’s scientific growth.
AAS: A Leader in Investing in Africa’s Scientific Community
GloPID-R is a global network of major research funders and is happy to count African Academy of Sciences (AAS) as one of its members.
AAS is a Pan African organization headquartered in Kenya. It aims to drive sustainable development in Africa through science, technology, and innovation (STI). It achieves its goals through:
- Recognizing scholars and achievers
- Shaping strategies through advisory and think tank functions
- Developing programs specific to STI
The AAS representative for GloPID-R is Tom Kariuki Ph.D., Director, Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA). AESA is a funding platform to support the development of Africa’s research leadership and promote scientific excellence and innovation to overcome some of Africa’s developmental challenges.
Dr. Kariuki said: “By building the scientific capacity to create research facilities and environments, we are ensuring the continent retains its best talent and provides the necessary human resource to bring insight and innovation for addressing the infectious diseases issues facing humanity today.”
In 2015, the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency launched AESA with the support of GloPID-R members: the Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
AESA supports capacity and infrastructure building activities through its funding to eight programs such as the Grand Challenges (GC) Africa grant. GC Africa seeks to promote Africa-led scientific innovations to help countries better achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by awarding Innovation Seed Grants (ISG) of up to $100,000 and Innovation Transition Grants (ITG) of up to $500,000.
AESA also has a Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science (DELTAS) Africa program. DELTAS is a US$100 million program supporting the Africa-led development of world-class researchers and scientific leaders in Africa. In particular, the MUII Plus and THRIVE-2 programs are oriented toward training African research leaders in bioinformatics, immunity and infectious diseases, as well as other health issues.
Other AESA programs include: The Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa), AESA Postdoctoral Fellowship Programs (CIRCLE and AESA-RISE), STEM Education, Good Financial Grant Practice (GFGP), Policy and Advocacy, and Coalition for African Research and Innovation (CARI).
Through investing today in Africa’s scientific leaders of tomorrow through funding and innovative programming, AAS is playing an important role improving the health and lives of Africans.
