Towards a coordinated approach to funding pandemic preparedness research in Africa: GloPID-R roundtable at Grand Challenges 2022
GloPID-R’s African Regional Hub featured prominently in the roundtable event held on October 24 during the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2022 in Brussels, Belgium.
The discussions, organized by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Science for Africa Foundation, with support from the GloPID-R Secretariat, focused specifically on the GloPID-R African Regional Hub and its potential to impact pandemic preparedness in Africa. The aim was to present the hub and to gather ideas and field questions from interested stakeholders.
Around 40 participants from African research organizations and European institutions operating in Africa discussed how to shape the development of the African Regional Hub to strengthen the participation of African stakeholders in the coordination of research funding for pandemic preparedness in Africa. The roundtable also provided an opportunity to identify additional funders interested in joining this regional hub.
Following presentations by Hans-Eckhardt Hagen (GloPID-R), Michelle Mulder (SAMRC), Michael Makanga (EDCTP), Amadou Sall (Pasteur Institute, Dakar), and Moses Alobo (Science for Africa Foundation and Grand Challenges Africa), discussion was moderated by Zoleka Ngcete of SAMRC, who oversaw the organization of this event. The African Regional Hub at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) receives support from the EDCTP.
About Grand Challenges
Launched in 2003 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems for those most in need. It seeks to address global health and development problems for those most in need. Grand Challenges funders worldwide have awarded over 3,600 grants to investigators in over 110 countries.
