documentation - The INCLEN Trust

Empowerment – fostering research leadershipToday, there is a need not only to support thedevelopment of technical research capacity butalso of research leadership in the countries wherethe diseases of poverty occur. Greater equity andsustainable progress will ensue if researchers indeveloping countries play enhanced leadershiproles at institutional, national and internationallevels. To undertake this effectively it is vital thatthe needs of individuals are matched to the needsof their institutions and countries. Quality and excellencein research is a core value that permeateseverything that we do. In 2008, we introducedchanges into our calls for applications, selection,monitoring and evaluation processes of all ourcapacity building programmes so that we couldassure that individual and institutional needs werebeing met. There is now much closer support andfollow up of all TDR grantees funded through theEmpowerment unit.“Empowerment’s goal: Todevelop and sustain leadershipin health research and decisionmakingso that high-qualityinstitutional and national systemscan identify and manageresearch priorities. ”Achievement detailsNetworksWe believe that helping networks to establish themselvesin an organized way is one of the surest ways ofempowering research communities from developingcountries. We have established diagnostics researchnetworks in over 40 countries. During 2007-2008 wealso helped establish several networks that focus onresearch for health, with three of the most importantdescribed below.African Network for Drugs andDiagnostics Innovation (ANDI) –developing country-led capacityTDR’s successful North-South drug discovery networksand fellowship training programmes provided theimpetus for the African Network for Drugs and DiagnosticsInnovation (ANDI) initiative, 16 which is now seenas a promising model for implementation of the GlobalStrategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovationand Intellectual Property. The goal is to developAfrican-led product R&D innovation to support thediscovery, development and delivery of new tools,including those based on traditional medicines, fordiseases that are predominant in Africa. ANDI held itsinaugural meeting in October 2008 in Abuja with thesupport of the Nigerian government and the EconomicCommunity of West African States (ECOWAS), wheremore than 200 delegates from 21 countries endorsedthe concept.Summary of research and developmentlandscape in Africa. For more information pleasesee: www.who.int/tdr/news-events/news/pdf/ANDI-rd-landscape-abstracts.pdfand Mboya-Okeyo et al., 2009. 1630