Capacity

Over the past few years ISARIC has responded to MERS, Ebola, Zika, Monkeypox, Lassa fever, and to COVID-19. This has included preparing standardised data collection tools, a clinical trial of plague treatment regimens, an expanded access programme for a novel therapeutic for Monkeypox and writing & disseminating an observational protocol for emerging pathogens (CCP), which recently recruited for COVID-19, MERS, Acute Severe Hepatitis in Young Children and Monkeypox cases.

There is a critical need to empower clinical researchers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to lead the research response to epidemic infections.  We have been building a portfolio of research capacity building initiatives, to support emerging clinical researchers in exchanging knowledge, gaining confidence in their research and leadership skills, developing local and regional research agendas, and ultimately increasing the international footprint of their institution both within ISARIC and further afield.

Collaboration is at the core of everything we do and our research capacity strengthening programmes focus on reaching out to, and working with a number of regional and international initiatives such as the ISARIC Career Development Fellowship Scheme, localised training initiatives e.g. Preparedness research/clinical research resources, Clinical REsearch During Outbreaks (CREDO) training curriculum, and our work in LMIC regional capacity building for the roll out and follow-up of COVID-19 patients using the Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP).