Capacity Building

Capacity building is one of ICHAD’s primary objectives as we continue to implement new programs to strengthen our communities. ICHAD provides capacity building opportunities and fellowships to students, team members, and scholars across the globe. By leveraging our global studies and University affiliations, ICHAD is able to promote bi-directional learning between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. We encourage capacity building through trainings and workshops, our annual Junior Scholar Travel Award program, and training programs.

Please see each of our individual training programs webpages (listed below) as well as our capacity building reports for more information.  

For scholars in Uganda and Ghana, please review our Joint Informational Session video with Washington University in St. Louis’ McDonnell International Scholars Academy, Brown School Admissions, and ICHAD Training Programs. 

ICHAD is currently leading four programs that promote capacity building:

ACHIEVE Research Training Program

Addressing the Research Capacity Gap in Global Child, Adolescent, and Family Health Disparities Utilizing Implementation and Data Sciences Among Vulnerable Populations in Resource-Limited Settings

Funded by the National Institute for Health’s Fogarty International Center, ACHIEVE  is designed to support the next generation of medical doctors, pre- and post-doctoral trainees from underrepresented groups in the US and early career post-doctoral trainees from Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Uganda. ACHIEVE is designed to increase the dissemination and implementation (D&I) and data research capacity of the participants in global health disparities affecting children, adolescents, and their adult caregivers.

Trainees participate in a one-year cycle starting June 1, 2022. Over the course of the five year program, ACHIEVE will serve 50 trainees from the US and Sub-Saharan Africa. Trainees must commit to working in an approved research site and dedicate 40 hours per week to research at a site in a low-and-middle-income country (LMIC). SSA trainees will also spend 2-3 months working with mentors at US partner sites, while US trainees will commit to 10-11 months in the approved site.

Child Global Research Fellowship (CHILD-GRF)

Child Mental Health in HIV-impacted Low-Resource Settings in Developing Countries: Global Research Fellowship

Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) and Fogarty International Center (FIC), CHILD-GRF is designed to address the need to “increase research capacity at low- and middle-income (LMIC) institutions or network sites.” CHILD-GRF will provide state-of-the-art methods training, mentoring, and “hands-on” research experience to promising early career research scholars (advanced PhD students, recent PhD graduates and Medical Doctors) in Uganda committed to research careers focused on addressing the serious burden of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) in the context of HIV/AIDS.

Throughout Year 1, fellows will participate in online seminars and training which will prepare them to serve as a Principal Investigators (PIs) on extramurally funded intervention studies focused on combination HIV prevention addressing persistent poverty, community violence, co-occurring child and adolescent mental health problems, and HIV care and prevention in HIV-impacted communities.

In Years 2 and 3, the fellows will continue their training with 6 weeks of summer training at Washington University in St. Louis.

LEAD Training Program

Training LEADers to Accelerate Global Mental Health Disparities Research Program

Funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, LEAD is a 2-Phase Training Program designed for advanced predoctoral students and postdoctoral trainees from diverse backgrounds in the US, including groups underrepresented in biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences research, interested in global mental health disparities research.

Phase 1 will consist of up to 4 weeks at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (WU) for targeted skills and knowledge-building didactic seminars plus field-based research experiences within the St. Louis community.

Phase 2 will consist of up to 8 weeks in a selected global site in one of the eight sub-Saharan (SSA) countries with NIH funded research that meets a trainee’s research interest.

LEAD will capitalize on the rich resources for local and global health disparities available at Washington University, to provide trainees with the skills and experiences needed to lead multi-disciplinary, collaborative research teams focused on health disparities research in low-resource communities.

Research Resilience Training (RRT)

Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Researcher Resilience Training program is designed to provide advanced doctoral students and early career investigators of African descent interested in child and adolescent behavioral health, with the necessary research skills to address the significant challenges that exist within resource-poor settings. These include obstacles related to:

  • Recruitment and retention of poverty-impacted, highly mobile youth and families
  • Collaboration with youth, families and providers experiencing high levels of stress and nested within overburdened communities and systems
  • Building and maintaining community, provider, academic partnerships