Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences Hosts Visiting University Faculty from Zimbabwe

UB-UZ Leadership.

UB-UZ Leadership  

John Wood, Mike Chirenje, Gene Morse, James Hakim, Chiedza Maponga (Left to Right)

Published August 31, 2016 This content is archived.

UB’s Center for Integrated Biomedical Sciences hosted scientific leadership groups from the University of Zimbabwe and the University of the West Indies in June. These events marked the official launch of the Center and each visit included an opening session to provide an overview of the Center and highlight the ongoing activities with each of these global partners. The morning sessions were followed by tours of UB’s growing research centers on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Key Events

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University of Zimbabwe team visits UB: The University of Zimbabwe visiting team included Professor James Hakim, Professor Z. Michael Chirenjie and Professor Charles Chiedza Maponga. Professors Hakim and Chirenjie represented the Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, as well as the Dean of the College of Health Sciences. Professor Hakim has extensive clinical research experience, having led key HIV trials in Africa and he directs the Clinical Research Center. Professor Chirenjie is Principal Investigator of UZ’s NIH-funded, HIV Clinical Trials Center. Professor Maponga is director of the School of Pharmacy and Co-Principal Investigator on the UB-UZ HIV Research Training Program funded by the NIH Fogarty International Center.

In Zimbabwe, Center for Integrated Biomedical Sciences Launches the UB-UZ HIV Research Training Program recently announced by the NIH Fogarty International Center: During an evening program in the University of Zimbabwe Research Support Center, the HIV Research Training Program was officially launched. The program included remarks by the Vice Chancellor, Levi Nyagura that were conveyed by Professor Pedzisai Mashiri, the Pro Vice Chancellor and Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe. Additional words of praise were provide by Dean Midion Chidzonga of the College of Health Sciences. An overview of the new HIV Research Training Program award as well as the new UB Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences was provided by Professor Gene Morse. The new program will include the recruitment of PhD and postdoctoral fellows, both of these are anticipated to have a significant impact on peer reviewed research at the University of Zimbabwe. The fellowship program will be the first at UZ in the College of Health Sciences and will develop new models for young faculty research training. The evening concluded with Words of Thanks from Professor Charles Chiedza Maponga, UZ’s Co-PI on the award. Professor Maponga thanked many individuals at the University of Zimbabwe for their support and he pleased the audience with the announcement of plans to finalize a Center of Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences that would begin the foundation for a Cancer and Virology Research Institute at the University of Zimbabwe. These presentations highlighted the outstanding influence the prior AITRP had within the university and the college, with growth in faculty research, publications, new grants and recruitment efforts that filled vacant faculty lines within the College.