Research
Governance
The Faculty of Health Sciences in East Africa consists of the Medical College and School of Nursing & Midwifery based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Faculty also includes a Department of Family Medicine in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and schools of nursing in Kampala, Uganda and Dar es Salaam.
Colleges of Medicine and Nursing & Midwifery are headed by substantive deans who are accountable to the Provost based at Aga Khan University in Karachi. A Faculty of Health Sciences Executive Planning Committee which is co-chaired by the two deans serves at the top advisory body on administrative matters. It brings together representation from Postgraduate Medical Education, Nursing & Midwifery, Library, Research and the Aga Khan University Hospital.
Goal
Aga Khan University seeks to demonstrate excellence in research, service and scholarship through Centres of Excellence (CoE) in the health subject areas of:
Diabetes, cardiovascular and cancer disorders
Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Infections, immunity and inflammation (III)
Molecular genetics
Nerosciences
Women, Neonatal and Child Health (WNCH)
We aim to inculcate a rich scientific research culture which impacts on delivery of clinical and population health services in the East Africa region. Our broad overarching research theme of “socio-economic determinants of health” accommodates diverse interests and sustainable collaborations across academic and service disciplines for superior impact.
Faculty of Health Sciences in East Africa is developing a strong and sustainable health research capacity through dedicated research track faculty as the champions of multidisciplinary research. This will enable production and use of relevant high quality knowledge in medical education and health services provision at health facility and community levels. We continue to reexamine our strategy and to enhance our infrastructure as we work towards delivering on our mission to be a research-led university.
Research Support Unit
Our Research Support Unit (RSU) is central to achieving our medical research goals as we nurture the research potential of our faculty and trainees within the College and School of Nursing. The unit is working to develop a strong research resource base to support residents’ dissertations and faculty research. It also coordinates research grants, ethical and scientific reviews, identification of research funding and collaboration opportunities, and maintenance of research inventory. The RSU strives to create Continuing Medical Education opportunities for the faculty community.
AKU Ethics Committee was given National Council of Science and Technology (Kenya) recognition in 2009. Our Scientific Research and Ethics Committees are chaired by faculty members from the two colleges. Our Faculty benefit from research methodology training and students are supported in proposal development and analysis.
One way in which we have enhanced our research competency is by acquiring a Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) license. The CITI Program is an international subscription service that provides research ethics education to over 1,000 institutions and organisations worldwide. With this affiliation, the Research Support Unit at the Faculty of Health Sciences will have ongoing access to current best practice, research and education resources, which will in turn enable us to constantly improve our methodologies and ensure that the work we do is of the highest international standard.
