“The diseases are in Africa, we should not wait for Europeans to bring us money before we tackle these diseases, especially Lassa fever,”

Dr. Irene Owusu Donkor, Senior Research Fellow at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Ghana and epidemiologist, reflected on the power of building scientific networks during the closing week of the AU-EU Health Partnership – a programme designed to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever.

Visiting laboratories and engaging with peers at Makerere University reminded Irene of a persistent challenge: African researchers often work in isolation, even within the same institution. She emphasised that this siloed approach limits the continent’s scientific impact. To change this, she believes African researchers must “build networks amongst ourselves” so that research is no longer a “one-man show”. Stronger connections would not only help address shared scientific challenges but also increase the visibility and influence of African-led research. “We could build an East-West Africa partnership to study the different Mpox strains circulating across the region and understand what is driving the disease in different populations.” 

Irene emphasised how Lassa fever and mpox have been prevalent in Africa for decades yet only gained global urgency once they appeared in Europe. Africa, she argued, must strengthen its own collaborative systems to respond swiftly to outbreaks and prevent them from spreading beyond the continent demonstrating to the Western world that African institutions and researchers can lead their own epidemic responses. But this requires support from politicians and policymakers who must be ready to act decisively when the next outbreak emerges.

For early-career researchers, she stressed the importance of exchanging observations, sharing preliminary findings, and forming cross-country partnerships. Such a collaboration would help generate the early data needed to secure funding from African governments since funding is often inaccessible without initial evidence, forcing researchers to rely on Western partners.

Yet, South-South collaboration faces practical barriers. High shipping costs, limited data-sharing, unreliable internet access and inconsistent electricity supply could hinder joint research efforts. These challenges, she noted, could be mitigated through joint grant applications and coordinated investment in research infrastructure.

During her research stay at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Irene deepened her practical skills in bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing. She also encountered innovative in-house Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods used to diagnose Mpox, techniques that were significantly cheaper than commercial kits. These locally developed methods, she suggested, could be refined into a new diagnostic kit and manufactured on the continent. Currently, many African laboratories import expensive kits from abroad, even though the core reagents could be readily available. “So, we need to make sure the infrastructure required to do the work is in place,” she said. “Only then can we truly build something together and strengthen South-South collaboration.“

“I also like the fact that now I have collaborations in different African countries.“

Ms. Jupiter Marina Kabahita, Bioinformatician at the Uganda National Health Laboratory Services, Uganda, reflected on the network she has built throughout the fellowship during the closing week of the AU-EU Health Partnership – a programme designed to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever.

After visiting all the hosting institutions, Marina concluded that the programme offered a rare opportunity to form strong bonds with African colleagues. The fellows spent extensive time together, learning about each other’s work, sharing challenges, and exploring how they could support one another’s research regardless of their individual project concepts. Through this network, she has learned techniques she can apply to other diseases in Uganda beyond mpox, and she is already working with African colleagues on the idea of developing a joint grant application.

Marina also reflected on the gaps in infrastructure and leadership that continue to shape how knowledge gained is applied at home. In Europe, she observed, project conceptualisation is deeply tied to societal impact. Researchers are not only conducting research, publishing articles but are thinking about how their research can have a tangible impact on peoples’ lives. “I think back home we need to start asking those same questions,” she said.

For her, this shift is fundamentally about mindset. African researchers, she argued, must begin to approach their work with translational intent. She imagined a scenario in which a research student is encouraged by their professor to pursue innovative ideas and translate their findings into something tangible that benefits society, a spark that could inspire others to do the same.

When asked what she would choose if she had a choice between publishing articles or protecting the intellectual property of her findings and translating it into something palpable, Marina paused. At this stage of her career, she explained, publishing remains essential for establishing herself within her research field and progressing toward a professorship. Although the fellowship has motivated her to explore translational research more intentionally and to consider how her work could eventually reach the market.

Discussing her work on Mpox and Uganda’s response to the outbreak, Marina underscored the importance of collective action. “You cannot fight an outbreak alone or as an institution. It’s a collaborative effort.” She proudly shared how Uganda’s investment in building its capacity during the mpox epidemic has transformed the country’s approach to investigating and understanding outbreaks. With support from Africa CDC and the Ugandan government, genomic sequencing for mpox is now being conducted at the Uganda National Health Laboratory Services (UNHLS) — a public health laboratory — rather than a research institution or university. “That really changes how we fight outbreaks and how we actually understand them,” she said.

“I think the most important thing what I’ve learned is that coordination and collaboration is important [..] it has really opened up our mind to say, okay, so this is what translational science is all about.”

Dr. Mirriam Ethel Nyenje, Senior Public Health Microbiologist and Head of the National Genomics Reference Laboratory at the Public Health Institute of Malawi, reflects on the power of collaboration during the closing week of the AU-EU Health Partnership – a programme designed to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever.

During her stay at Makerere University, Mirriam was really encouraged to see the research being conducted by her peers in the Translational Lab. What really caught her eye was the development of the gene extraction kit, which can be used to break down and reduce the genetic makeup of bacteria. “If other institutions are doing the same in Africa, why not us?” she said. Looking back on the Covid-19 pandemic where a lack of supplies and chemicals was a huge issue in Africa, Mirriam hopes that when these gene kits are produced locally, they would not have to rely on Europe or other parts of the world to manufacture reagents to support testing and diagnosis of diseases like mpox.

Mirriam reflects on how the fellowship has really opened her eyes to the importance of good collaboration and coordination in translational research. Within the African context, however, there are still some barriers that hinder researchers in countries like Malawi to exchange samples and work with colleagues in other African countries. She argues that Africa CDC can be a good platform for strengthening collaboration between member states and to bypass some of the trust issues that are hindering collaboration today.

One of the issues when it comes to outbreak response, Mirriam says, is that researchers are being left out of the rapid response teams. She argues that if researchers are included from the beginning, they would be able to help by deploying diagnostic kits and point-of-care (POCT) platforms to test facilities in rural areas and detect the outbreak at a much earlier stage. They would be able to isolate infected people and break the transmission cycle, reducing both the mortality and the cost.

When talking about vaccines, she notes that although a vaccine is deemed safe in Europe, the vaccine might not work as well in Africa because of the different genetic makeup. “I’ve learned that indeed, if we have those locally produced vaccines tested on our own people, the efficacy and even how that vaccine works will have a greater impact than the ones that are procured outside”. She argues that if African countries had better capacity to produce more vaccines themselves, they would not have to wait for and rely on partners to provide vaccines when there is an outbreak. “We know in Malawi when it’s cholera season and where the hotspots are in different districts. Why can’t we give our people these vaccines before the rainy season comes?” Instead, she would like African countries to be able to decide when to administer vaccines and focus more on prevention rather than reaction, which again would lessen the burden on the health sector.

“What I’ve realised from this fellowship is that there’s no strong collaboration between African researchers and universities for Lassa fever and mpox“

Dr. Mariam Kehinde Sulaiman, Medical microbiologist and virologist at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, reflected on the realities of intra-Africa research collaboration during the closing week of the AU-EU Health Partnership – a programme designed to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever.

During the European leg of the fellowship, Mariam spent time reviewing existing literature and noticed a pattern: West-African countries such as Sierra Leone have long collaborated with European partners such as Germany on Lassa fever, a disease predominantly found in West-Africa. East African fellows are studying mpox and collaborating with their own European partners. Even though they are working on different pathogens African researchers would benefit greatly from collaborating with each other and sharing research findings. “Everybody is doing different things in their own little corners”, she said.

A vivid contrast emerged when she witnessed how colleagues from Radboud University responded to the recent Hantavirus outbreak. They immediately mobilised their international network, reaching out to experts from Brazil and Italy to exchange knowledge and experience. “That is not very common in this part of the world [Africa],” she noted.

When asked how the fellowship has changed her views on translational research in health sciences in Africa, Mariam was candid: her institution simply does not have the infrastructure needed to support the full pathway from discovery to application.  “People do science, but they don’t think outside of the box in terms of translational research because we don’t have the infrastructure.” Changing this, she stressed, requires intentional dialogue with university leaders and policymakers. Researchers must be equipped and encouraged to collaborate with partners from outside of Nigeria if they are to develop innovations such as diagnostic kits. “I thought it was just getting to the lab, putting it together, and then it’s just out there. But I realised that I need so much more. If I don’t collaborate with people outside of Nigeria, it’s not going to be possible.”

Beyond practical skills, building a research network became one of the most valuable aspects of her fellowship. She has already begun discussions with colleagues at the University of Ibadan to establish a collaboration. Fellows were also encouraged by the supervisors at Radboud University (Prof. Benjamin Mordmüller, Prof. Marien De Jonge & Prof. Quirijn de Mast) to start drafting new proposals that could spark future joint projects. “It’s not just talk, it is action, encouragement and the willingness to work together” she noted.

Mariam also highlighted the financial constraints that shape research training in Nigeria. Without grant funding, both students and supervisors must pay for research expenses themselves. As a result, she must design student projects carefully, ensuring they remain “meaningful but inexpensive.”

Her visit to the University of Ibadan offered a glimpse of what is possible. There, she learned about innovative, low-cost in-house Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) kits used to diagnose mpox, a practical alternative to expensive commercial kits imported from abroad. But cost is only part of the challenge. Procurement delays for reagents can stretch for weeks or months, jeopardising project timelines. “The procurement process is long and cumbersome,” she said. “But with these simple reagents, we can get them locally in Ghana and the work can be done without any delays.”