Cameroon

In this project, eight universities in 4 countries in Africa (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Mozambique) will benefit and collaborate with two universities in EU (Italy, Sweden) towards modernization of courses and programs in the energy sector, with emphasize upon the general perspectives of circular economy towards energy sustainability. The collaboration is inspired by two earlier successful Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education. It will re-use both the framework and learning material developed from these projects while developing and implementing specific new courses and programs adapted for the local conditions in the partner countries.The courses and programs to be developed will enhance the modernization process of the partner universities by introducing a student-centered flipped classroom approach in which innovation and entrepreneurship takes a predominant role. All material is developed in digital online format and can as such be read also in remote areas, both as part of a formal academic study program and as stand-alone modules for individual learning journeys. Learning resources and courses will be shared between the partners throughout the project and common implementation will be performed. Business cases and global challenges related to the UN Sustainability Goals, and specifically adapted towards global greenhouse gas mitigation, are introduced in the modernized curricula. A university-wide “Challenge” course will be installed in each partner HEI such that students from different disciplines can come together within, as well as between, university. At the end of the project the partner universities will have clearly demonstrated, in a measurable and scalable way, that it is possible to collaborate on educational material in the energy sector in a global perspective, to co-create and re-use material from other countries, improve the material, adapt it to local conditions and create an international collaboration.

We will establish for the first time in NTDs an adaptive clinical trial platform and improve clinical research infrastructure in four SSA countries. A drug acting safely on multiple helminths species would be a major leap to tackle NTDs and enable the WHO RoadMap (eWHORM). The cheap and freely-accessible pan-nematode drug oxfendazole (OXF) has such potential. Given the limited portfolio of anthelmintic drug candidates, eWHORM will assess its efficacy in an adaptive clinical trial for simultaneous evaluation against onchocerciasis, loiasis, mansonellosis and trichuriasis. Thus not only the largest group of NTDs, but also diseases that are not (yet) listed will be adressed. This design significantly reduces patient numbers, development time-frames and enables treatment of co-infections. Combined with our highly sensitive molecular tests, we provide a patient-centric approach providing tools for targeted treatment (test and treat) and precision mapping for elimination programs. Strengthening of early career scientists in SSA in all aspects of clinical trial conduct and research including data management, simulation and statistical analysis, will be fostered by introducing a master and PhD program, a mentorship program as well as several webinars. An open-source virtual training and assessment tool for diagnosis of NTDs will complement the knowledge transfer to remote areas in SSA. The consortium encompasses an interdisciplinary partnership from eight different countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Cameroon, Gabon, Tanzania, and DRC). Each group brings unique knowhow and recognized complementary experience to the project to ensure sustainable capacity building within SSA countries. Through joint development of – and training in – modern, regulatory clinical trial conduct, adaptive clinical trial design and state-of-the-art diagnostics, we will strengthen SSA researchers and clinicians to respond to persisting and future health challenges.