Researchers and public health professionals from Cameroon, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa gathered at the South African Medial Research Council (SAMRC) Conference Centre in Cape Town for the first STEAM-3D workshop. Several delegates also joined virtually.
The workshop, Foundations in Infectious Disease Modelling, Data Analysis and Policy Impact, equipped participants with practical skills to turn health data into evidence that can guide policy and improve public health decisions.
Addressing conference attendees, SAMRC Vice President Prof. Liesl Zühlke emphasised the importance of building these critical skills to strengthen African research capacity, foster self-reliant African leadership and enable the continent to develop evidence-based solutions to its public health challenges.
The workshop was facilitated by Prof. Tarylee Reddy (SAMRC), Prof. Ziv Shkedy (Hasselt University, Belgium), Rashider Aloni (Hasselt University, Belgium), Prof. Mark Engel (SAMRC), Dr. Ameer Hohlfeld (SAMRC) and Prof. Tamara Kredo (SAMRC), all of whom supported the delivery of training and knowledge exchange across the workshop’s key focus areas. The participants’ learning began before the workshop, with pre-workshop training in R programming, led by Dr Isaac Singini, Nada Abdelatif, Qondeni Ndlangamandla and Siyabonga Mavundla.
STEAM-3D is led by Prof. Tarylee Reddy of the SAMRC’s Biostatistics Research Unit, in collaboration with Cochrane South Africa, the Health Systems Research Unit, the Burden of Disease Research Unit, and the HIV and Other Infectious Diseases Research Unit.
International consortium partners include Douala General Hospital (Cameroon), Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique), University of Malawi and Hasselt University (Belgium). Together, the partners support the development and delivery of training materials and platforms across Francophone, Lusophone and Anglophone contexts.
Through practical training and regional collaboration, STEAM-3D aims to strengthen African expertise and leadership in infectious disease modelling, enabling researchers and public health professionals to generate locally relevant evidence and translate it into policies that improve health outcomes.
STEAM-3D is supported by Global Health EDCTP3, with co-funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
Author
Zimasa Jam Jam
Science Writer & Editor
Corporate & Marketing Communications
E-mail: Zimasa.Jamjam@mrc.ac.za