Training and Capacity Building

Trainees will have the opportunity for short-term training (1 week to several
months) in the laboratories and field sites of Indian and Western partner institutions. Trainees may also visit any of the laboratories in the U.S./U.K. institutions to receive advanced training as needed or to perform aspects of their independent research that can only be facilitated by key intellectual or infrastructure support that exists there. The combination of multidisciplinary training in Africa, India, and in the U.S./U.K. will provide the trainees with both on the ground training in malaria endemic countries where An. stephensi is native and invasive, with specialized training in state-of-the-art facilities, scientific approaches, and methodologies. To ensure that trainees have equivalent access to this opportunity, $5000 per year per trainee will be provided.

In the beginning of the training period, PD Vazquez-Prokopec and PI Murdock will offer curriculum on a Pre-training Orientation (1 day), Biostatistics and Data Management (2 days), Responsible Conduct of Research (2 days), and Scientific Writing (2 days). During the Pre-training Orientation, PD Vazquez-Prokopec and PI Murdock will introduce the training program, the mentors, and trainees, and will explain the training program requirements. They will also provide more advanced training in the Responsible Conduct of Research and Enhancing Reproducibility as outlined in the attached documents. For Biostatistics and Management, we will discuss data management issues such as accuracy, clarity, uniform data entry, data sharing policies, and data security when appropriate. Finally, for Scientific Writing, we will use the trainees’ manuscripts and trainees’ or mentors’ grants, and the revision process, to discuss how scientific writing can be improved for clarity, impact, and different audiences. Trainees will be provided reading materials ahead of this workshop on these topics, and PD Vazquez-Prokopec and PI Murdock will invite the core mentors to join the discussion.

All trainees will be expected to visit India during their 2-3 year training period for 1 month to receive fundamental training on An. stephensi ecology, entomological and epidemiological surveillance, vector and malaria control in urban environments, and phenotypic assays for insecticide resistance monitoring. The training will be coordinated by mentors at the National Institute of Malaria Research, and the format will consist of lectures, laboratory exercises, and field visits to Ahmedabad and Surat.

Trainees will have access to a 4-week long introduction to coursework that will offer advanced, multidisciplinary training in vector ecology, malaria epidemiology, molecular genetics, and modeling surveillance and control. Each week will consist of modules that represent four areas of emphasis for capacity building: 1) Vector Ecology and Control, 2) Malaria Epidemiology, 3) Molecular Genetics, and 4) Modeling to Support Surveillance and Control. The Summer Research Institute of Learning will occur in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and will be available to individuals outside the core trainees to enhance the reach of our training program to the wider community. 

Every week there will be a virtual weekly journal club conducted over zoom where trainees, interested mentors, and other members of the network can participate to read relevant scientific literature and to explore other professional development activities. Trainees and participating mentors will volunteer to present and lead discussion on 1-2 papers for the week that are important to the participants and relevant for their own research. For professional development, PD Vazquez-Prokopec and PI Murdock will organize short presentations on mentoring, research ethics, by mentors in the network to facilitate introductions and research exchanges, and career panels comprised of individuals of different, yet relevant professions (e.g., university faculty, industry, non-profit organizations, government agencies)

Once a month, there will be a virtual network lab meeting held over
zoom to allow trainees to receive feedback from the network on their proposed research ideas, aspects of their project as it develops (e.g., experimental / study design and data analysis), and presentation of their research in manuscript, oral, or poster formats. This will facilitate the exchange of knowledge across our multinational network to enhance trainees’ research, providing them with a multidisciplinary perspective by leading experts in the An. stephensi-malaria system. This will also facilitate the identification and development of short-term research exchanges at partnering institutions that can be used to provide additional training to support research projects, as well as building the professional network of our trainees.