Mark A. Brockman (Simon Fraser University, Canada )

1. The Canada-Sub Saharan Africa (CANSSA) HIV/AIDS Network:Building African capacity for HIV prevention research through collaborative multi-site pilot projects Mark A. Brockman (Simon Fraser University, Canada) ThumbiNdung’u (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) mark_brockman@sfu.ca www.canssa.org

2. Needs, Gaps, and Ways Forward • Strong clinical and research teams exist at numerous African sites • Asuccessful strategy to end HIV/AIDS requires better utilization of this knowledge/skill and better coordination among African sites • Current funding strategies often support North-South collaborations that are typically not African-led • Better mechanisms to fund and maintain South-South collaborations are necessary, particularly in the area of training and career development of young researchers • Future HIV vaccine and prevention trials will be more complex • Research teams/cohorts and administrators with combined clinical, biomedical, and social-behavioral expertise will be critical

3. What is CANSSA? • Multi-disciplinary, multi-national network of HIVvaccine and prevention researchers • PIs: ThumbiNdung’u (South Africa) and Mark Brockman (Canada) • Site Investigators: • South Africa (Soweto): Glenda Gray • South Africa (Durban):ThumbiNdung’u • Lesotho: MpolaiMoteetee • Zambia: William Kilembe • Rwanda: Etienne Karita • Uganda: Conrad Muzoora • Canada: ZabrinaBrumme, Cari Miller, Richard Harrigan • USA: Susan Allen, Eric Hunter, David Bangsberg, Todd Allen, Peter Hunt • Well-established African research sites with expertise in social/behavioral, clinical, and biomedical research

4. Where is CANSSA? Canada/USA: • Vancouver • San Francisco • Boston • Atlanta New collaboration: • Chicago Africa: • Mbarara, Uganda • Kigali, Rwanda • Lusaka and Ndola, Zambia • Maseru, Lesotho • Durbanand Soweto, South Africa New collaborations: • Nairobi, Kenya • Johannesburg and CapeTown, South Africa

5. Goal and Priorities Goal: To build a sustainable, multi-disciplinary “Network of Excellence” that supports African-led HIV/AIDS initiatives • Enhance student/staff training and knowledge transfer programs through African ‘sites of excellence’ within the network • Develop infrastructure at all sites and link them to African ‘core’ facilities for more complex/expensive research needs • Establish complimentary laboratory protocols, behavioral surveys, community engagement strategies, and data management/analysis approaches at network sites • Partner with other groups to facilitate sustainability

6. CANSSA Network Pilot Grants • Program to support short-term collaborative projects that can extend HIV/AIDS research or training capacity at Network sites • Takes advantage of existing African expertise and skills • Builds research collaboration among African investigators (particularly young researchers) • Provides data for presentation, publication, and new grants • To date, we have funded ten pilot projects • Typical award is for 1-year; up to CAD$50,000 • Led by researchersat two Network sites • Established new collaborations within (and beyond) the Network • MatCH/Durban, UCT/Cape Town, NICD/Johannesburg, KAVI/Nairobi

7. Pilot Grants (work in progress) • Strengthening the laboratory capacity at Project San Francisco to support the follow-up of a cohort of HIV-1 infected women with long-term survival. Project Leader: Etienne Karita • Rwanda and South Africa (Durban) • Cross-clade comparison of HIV-1  Nef sequence and function. Project Leaders: Jaclyn Mann and Helen Byakwaga • South Africa (Durban) and Uganda • Virology and immunology of Gag-mediated control of HIV-1. Project Leaders: Denis Chopera, ZazaNdhluvo, LyciasZembe, and Marion Kigouya • South Africa (Durban, Cape Town) and Kenya • Can antibodies block the initial steps in mucosal HIV transmission? Leaders: Lynn Morris, Tom Hope, and Glenda Gray • South Africa (Soweto, Johannesburg) and USA • Investigating the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in older adolescents. Leaders: Caroline Tiemessenand Glenda Gray • South Africa (Soweto, Johannesburg), USA, and Canada

8. Pilot Grants (work in progress) • Knowledge and technology transfer in host/viral genotyping and bioinformatics. Leaders: Luke Swenson and Michelle Gordon • South Africa (Durban, Cape Town), USA, and Canada • Prevalence of anaemiaand its association with food security in pregnant girls attending antenatal and postnatal clinic in Durban, South Africa. Leader: MammekwaMokgoro • South Africa (Durban) • Performance characteristics of three point-of-care hemoglobin meters. Leaders: HuubGelderblom and ManjeethaJaggarnath • South Africa (Durban) • Healthcare workers’ reproductive counseling knowledge, views, and practices for people living with HIV. Leaders: Jennifer Smit and Francis Bajunirwe • South Africa (Durban) and Uganda • Safer conception for HIV-infected men with at-risk partners. Leaders: Jennifer Smitand Francis Bajunirwe • South Africa (Durban) and Uganda

9. Other Activities •Annual Investigator’s Meetings • Durban 2011, 2012 • Networking Events • Keystone (Vancouver, BC); AIDS2012 (Washington, DC) • Complimentary Research Grant (from GHRI): “Implementation of Couples’ Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing services in Durban, South Africa, for HIV prevention and intervention.” Leaders: William Kilembe and MammekwaMokgoro • Zambia and South Africa • CHVI Large Team Grant - Vaccine Discovery and Social Research: “Barriers to enrolling young people in HIV vaccine trials in a priority setting.” Leaders: Mark Brockman, Angela Kaida, Jeremy Snyder (Canada) Glenda Gray, ThumbiNdung’u (South Africa)

10. Highlights: • Engaging Young Investigators in Research: • All pilot projects involve training and supervision of young researchers • A postdoctoral fellow or PhD student serves as co-PI on four projects • New Collaborations: • Maternal, Adolescent, and Child Health (MatCH), South Africa • Social/behavioral research (HIV, family planning) • National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa • Biomedical research (mucosal immunology, neut Abs) • Northwestern University, USA • Biomedical research (mucosal biology) • Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI), Kenya • Biomedical research (viral fitness, cross-clade analyses)

11. Challenges and Future Opportunities • Challenges • Administration: Sub-contracts require independent Ethics and Financial/Legal agreements (via UKZN) • Top-down vs. Bottom-up approaches to “collaboration” • Research “language” differs between biomedical and social sciences • Time and Distance between sites (local projects often easier) • Opportunities • More collaboration! • Shared research ideas among sites within the Network (and beyond) • Laboratory or data “hubs” • Joint infrastructure for data collection/analysis • Training workshops • Data analysis, Manuscript and Grant writing • Possible partnerships with OCTAVE and others

12. Thanks! Durban, 2012 www.canssa.org