TDR, with support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is strengthening capacity to conduct implementation research using a One Health approach to investigate the impact of climate change on health.
One Health is a key component of the TDR Strategy 2024-2029, which recognizes the importance of understanding the complex interactions between humans, animals and their shared environment in driving human diseases of poverty and seeking solutions through multidisciplinary collaboration. However, limited implementation research capacity using a One Health approach is a key hurdle to generating evidence and increasing its use in decision-making, especially in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
To help overcome this hurdle, TDR, with support from IDRC, is strengthening research and health leadership in One Health. IDRC’s funding will directly support four students enrolled in the Master's of Public Health programme at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal. Each student will focus on a One Health implementation project as part of the master’s training. IDRC’s support will last for 24 months, starting in January 2024.
The four selected students are: Aya Sévérine N'da Epse Amichia of Côte d’Ivoire, Mahamane Maiga of Mali, Mama Sagna of Senegal and Pagnandé Didier Tiendrebeogo of Burkina Faso.
Current Master’s of Public Health students at Senegal’s Université Cheikh Anta Diop, supported by TDR, at an implementation research workshop earlier this year. Credit: Université Cheikh Anta Diop
This new programme also builds on TDR’s leadership in implementation research training by providing a module on implementation research and One Health. The module will be available to students as part of a portfolio of trainings on implementation research, including those on gender and intersectionality. The course will be available online in French, contextualized to the West African sub-region, with the aim of being widely disseminated as a massive open online course for French-speaking health professionals and academics.
The centrality of gender and equity considerations in fostering inclusive and equitable solutions to pressing global health concerns is a priority for IDRC-funded research. Expected outcomes of this collaboration include strengthened individual and institutional capacities in French-speaking Central and West African countries, especially in the design, conduct and translation of gender-transformative and equity-oriented One Health implementation research.
Dr Mahnaz Vahedi (left), a scientist with TDR; Professor Adama Faye, Dean, School of Medicine, Université Cheikh Anta Diop; and Dr Marie-Gloriose Ingabire, IDRC’s Regional Director for Central and West Africa. Credit: Université Cheikh Anta Diop
For more information, please contact Dr Anna Thorson.