Center for International Health (CIHLMU)
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  2. Center for International Health (CIHLMU)
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  4. Competence Centers

Competence Centers

Three guest lectureships are being established at the partner universities USFX in Bolivia, UCC in Ghana and PAHS in Nepal. These are eligible for alumni from the global South and serve to integrate graduates and alumni into the local labour market in a way that is appropriate for their training and to establish OH TARGET Competence Centers.


The tasks of the OH-TARGET Competence Centers are:

  • Decentralized control of the network;
  • Advice, recruitment and support of suitable candidates for the OH-TARGET training programmes;
  • Local multiplier function (in particular to inform local stakeholders and politicians, e.g. through regular roundtable discussions);
  • Advice for applicants for OH-TARGET projects;
  • Establishment of One Health as research focus at the partner university;
  • Implementation of One Health courses at the partner university;
  • Advising partners and alumni on scientific publications and applications for third-party funding;
  • Organization of workshops at the partner universities.


The action is effective to establish the Agenda 2030 relevant to the One Health focus at the partner universities and to integrate particularly committed and qualified alumni into the labour market in a way that is appropriate for training. It contributes to strengthening the network with the involvement of non-university partners and promotes the development of context- oriented approaches to solve health problems within local structures.

OH-TARGET Competence Center at USFX, Bolivia

Para información en español por favor véase texto abajo

San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca University (USFX), founded in 1624, is the oldest public university in Bolivia, and offers training in the urban and rural areas of the department of Chuquisaca. It currently has 15 faculties, 86 careers, and more than 50,000 students in training in four areas of knowledge: Social and Human Sciences, Economic and Financial Sciences, Health Sciences, and Technological and Agricultural Sciences. The University also provides services to the community through its institutes of Pathology, Cancer, Nuclear, Food Technologies (ITA) and the Blood Bank.

Between the USFX and the LMU, several collaborative research projects have been developed since 2015 in different areas of knowledge including occupational and environmental health as the influence of the use of pesticides on the health of the Agricultural population and the connection between environmental factors and the presence of asthma and allergies in urban and rural areas of Bolivia.

Currently, a Memorandum of Understanding exist between the USFX and the LMU, as well as a specific agreement with the USFX Faculty of Science and Technology and the environmental engineering career, which supports the activities proposed in the OH-TARGET project.

In order to strengthen this cooperation, since June 1, 2021, the OH TARGET Competence Center at the USFX was established with the aim to establish the One Health focus of the Agenda 2030 at the USFX, Bolivia. As Guest Lecturer for the area of One Health at USFX and responsible for the center is María Teresa Solis Soto, Alumna of the PhD Medical Research-International Health program, and official member of the CIHLMU network, who has been working actively and collaboratively in the development of different research and training projects.


The following strategic objectives are proposed to be developed within USFX as part of the OH-TARGET project:


  • Promote the "One Health" approach in research and training processes at the undergraduate, graduate and continuing education levels.
  • Strengthen competencies for the formulation, implementation and evaluation of research projects with a "One Health" approach.
  • Strengthen competencies related to the application to external funds for research and training projects.
  • Coordinate intersectoral and transdisciplinary work to address problems identified in the local context.


The guest lectureship will contribute to strengthening the network with the involvement of non-university partners and will promote the development of context- oriented approaches to solve health problems within local structures.

La Universidad San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca (USFX), fundada en 1624, es la universidad pública más antigua de Bolivia, y ofrece formación en el área urbana y rural del departamento de Chuquisaca. Actualmente cuenta con 15 facultades, 86 carreras y más de 50.000 estudiantes en formación en cuatro áreas del conocimiento: Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Ciencias Económicas y Financieras, Ciencias de la Salud y Ciencias tecnológicas y Agropecuarias. Así también cuenta con los institutos de Patología, Cancerología, Nuclear, Tecnologías de la Alimentación (ITA) y el Banco de Sangre, que brindan servicios a la comunidad.

Entre el Universidad San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca en Sucre, Bolivia y la LMU, se han desarrollado varios proyectos de investigación colaborativos desde el año 2015 en distintas áreas del conocimiento incluyendo salud ocupacional y ambiental como la influencia del uso de plaguicidas en la salud de la población agrícola y la conexión entre el "estilo de vida occidental", el microbioma y la aparición de asma y las alergias en las zonas urbanas y rurales de Bolivia.

Actualmente existe vigente un convenio Marco entre la USFX y la LMU, así como un convenio específico con la facultad de Ciencias y tecnología de la USFX y la carrera de ingeniería ambiental, que respalda las actividades propuestas en el proyecto OH-TARGET.

Con la finalidad de fortalecer la cooperación, a partir del 1 de junio de 2021, comenzó a trabajar el Centro de Competencia OH TARGET dentro de la USFX, con la finalidad de establecer el foco de UNA SALUD en la agenda 2030 de la USFX, Bolivia. Como responsable del centro en la posición de Profesora Invitada para el área de UNA SALUD en la USFX se encuentra María Teresa Solis Soto, Ex-Alumna del programa PhD. Medical Research-International Health, y miembro oficial de la red del CIHLMU , quien ha estado trabajando de forma activa y colaborativa en el desarrollo de distintos proyectos de investigación y formación.


Se propone desarrollar los siguientes objetivos estratégicos dentro de USFX como parte del proyecto OH-TARGET:


  • Promover el enfoque "Una Salud" en los procesos de investigación y formación en los niveles de grado, posgrado y educación continua.
  • Fortalecer las competencias para la formulación, implementación y evaluación de proyectos de investigación con enfoque "Una Salud".
  • Fortalecer las competencias relacionadas con la postulación de solicitud de fondos externos para proyectos de investigación y formación
  • Coordinar el trabajo intersectorial y transdisciplinario para abordar los problemas identificados en el contexto local.


Esta instancia contribuirá a fortalecer la red con la participación de socios no universitarios y promoverá el desarrollo de enfoques orientados al contexto para resolver problemas de salud dentro de las estructuras locales.

Team Members of OH-TARGET Competence Center USFX, Bolivia
Dr. María Teresa Solis Soto, Ph.D.
 Local Coordinator OH-TARGET/CIH Competence Center USFX, Sucre, Bolivia
Susy Mariana Braschi Alurralde
Local Coordinator OH-TARGET Competence Center USFX, Bolivia
 Alfredo José Salinas Arcienega
 Local Coordinator OH-TARGET Competence Center USFX, Bolivia
Rosbeli Méndez
Local Coordinator OH-TARGET Competence Center USFX, Bolivia

Contact

For any questions about the OH TARGET Competence Center at USFX, please contact María Teresa Solis Soto at solis.teresa@usfx.bo.

Visit our website: www.ohtarget.usfx.bo follow us on Facebook: OH Target USFX.

Since 2017, the CIHLMU has built a partnership with the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Department of Conservation Biology and Entomology, through a firm collaboration with PhD Dr. Andreas Kudom, one of the CIHLMU PhD Program Alumni, who has completed his thesis on vector biology and control. Together, the UCC and the CIHLMU have identified a training gap and established, in 2018, an 8-day short course. The Advanced Module Vector Biology and Control focuses on vectors, habitats, and their role in disease transmission. Subsequently, the cooperation nucleus was built around this One Health topic and produced several PhD candidates. Finally, the UCC became a CIHLMU One Health Competence Center, with research projects such as the investigation of insect protein for human nutrition and behavioral psychoanalysis towards new mosquito control tools in African countries.

The UCC Ghana and its projects form a cooperation nucleus with other CIHLMU partners in Africa, such as the Mbeya Medical Research Centre in Tanzania, the Catholic University of Beira, in Mozambique, and Jimma University, in Ethiopia. A longitudinal investigation on vectors, habitats, and their role in disease transmission will be scaled up to other CIHLMU African partners during the 2025-2029 project phase to attract more PhD candidates in this subject area. In 2023, an alumni meeting conceived the Advanced Module Pandemic Preparedness, with contributors from Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Bolivia, and located in Jimma Ethiopia. The network is envisaging to pilot the resulting course soon. In the last years, the UCC One Health Competence Center has been reaching achievements through support by a local coordinator and guest lectureships.

Team members of OH-TARGET Competence Centre, Ghana
Dr. Andreas Kudom
CIH Board Member and  Local Coordinator OH-TARGET/CIH Competence Center UCC, Cape Coast, Ghana
Patience Afriyie
Local Communication & Dissemination Coordinator OH-TARGET/CIH Competence Center University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Emmanuel Birikorang
 Guest Lecturer
Stanley Osafo Okiere
Local Coordinator
Graduate Students
Aikins Ablode
PhD Student in International Health at CIHLMU, Project topic: Does household use of mosquito coil influence insecticide resistance in vector mosquitoes? A laboratory investigation with Aedes aegypti population
Dorothy Obuobi
 PhD (International Health) Student at CIHLMU, Germany, Project topic: Impact of ivermectin-based attractive toxic sugar bait on mosquito survivorship and Plasmodium falciparum development in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in Ghana.
Joana Ayettey
MPhil (Entomology) student at DCBE, UCC, Ghana, Project topic: A study of larval predator- prey interactions among container-dwelling mosquitoes.

Research Projects

  • Psycho Afro-mosquitoes: Investigating psychographic determinants of students and entomological factors on the use of genetically modified mosquitoes for control (One Health Network Funds 2021/2022) Objective: to investigate psychographic determinants of students on the use genetically modified mosquitoes in vector control in Africa
  • Domestic Herbicides (Pesticide) Use: Implications for Health, Environment and Biodiversity (HHEB Project) (UCC/DRIC/PP/2019 - ongoing) Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of herbicide use in domestic settings and its effect on non-target flora and fauna.

Service Delivery

Laboratory and field testing of insecticides and vector control tools (WHO Phase I and II trials)