Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) has welcomed the renewal of Wellcome funding for the CREATE doctoral fellowship programme, a major international initiative supporting healthcare professionals to undertake PhD training in global health research across Africa and Asia.
The programme is one of 14 new doctoral training programmes recently funded by Wellcome and forms part of the approximately £14 million CREATE initiative, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
CREATE brings together five UK universities and six research institutions and universities across Africa and Asia to develop the next generation of global health researchers. Fellows will undertake systems-based discovery research that goes beyond disease-specific approaches and traditional biomedical models of health.
Healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists, veterinarians, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, will be eligible to apply regardless of the number of years since completing their primary degree.
Over the next five years, the programme will recruit 25 UK-registered healthcare professionals to undertake PhD study focused on global health challenges in Africa and Asia. A further 25 matched fellowships will be awarded to researchers working across partner institutions in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana and Pakistan, creating a unique cohort of 50 doctoral fellows.
The renewed programme builds on the success of the first five-year CREATE initiative and aims to establish a model for global health research training that promotes innovative scientific approaches, interdisciplinary collaboration, diversity and inclusion, supportive mentorship, and equitable international partnerships.
Professor Gail Davey, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at BSMS and CREATE Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead, said:
“It’s a tribute to the exceptional students and innovative approaches of the first CREATE programme that Wellcome has renewed funding for a further five years. It has been a privilege to act as BSMS Lead for this programme and to support EDI across all institutions.
“I look forward to supporting the next generation of discovery scientists from a wide range of professional backgrounds through their doctoral training.”
Professor Richard McManus, Dean of BSMS, said: “We are delighted that Wellcome has renewed funding for CREATE, ensuring that talented healthcare professionals can continue to access world-class doctoral training in global health research. Securing this funding through a highly competitive process is a remarkable achievement, and I would like to congratulate Professor Gail Davey and all our partners on this success. This renewal reflects the strength of the programme and its importance in supporting future global health research leaders across the UK, Africa and Asia.”
BSMS has been a partner in CREATE since its launch and will continue to play a key role in supporting fellows and strengthening equitable global health research partnerships.
UK partners in the renewed programme are the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the University of Sheffield, the University of Southampton and the University of Bristol.
Partner institutions in Africa and Asia include the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, the MRC Unit The Gambia, the Biomedical Research and Training Institute in Zimbabwe, the Centre of Excellence in Human Development at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens at the University of Ghana, and Aga Khan University in Pakistan.