Buchanan travels to South Africa, October 6 – 14, 2006

Dr. David Buchanan was invited to participate in an independent, external review of the Health Promotion Unit of the Medical Research Council in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 9-10.  There were three international participants and seven South Africans on the review panel.  The Health Promotion Unit is now directed by Dr. Priscilla Reddy, an UMass alumna, MPH, 1992. 

While in South Africa, in addition to completing the review at the MRC, Buchanan was also able to visit the University of Pretoria and to initiate discussions with the MRC about engaging in new collaborative research projects. 

He spent two days with Dean Kuku Voyi and her faculty at the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria.  Vice Rector Andy Mogotlone also joined the group briefly for part of the discussions.  They reviewed the current draft of the proposal, “Building leadership and institutional capacity on emerging trans-species infectious disease control in Global Health: A collaborative project between the University of Pretoria & University of Massachusetts Amherst.”  The discussions were highly productive; the opportunity to meet directly was invaluable.  Based on these discussions, Buchanan volunteered to produce a revised draft of the proposal by mid-November.  After reviewing the revised draft then, we will decide whether we need to meet any further to finalize the proposal for submission to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in South Africa.  The two major goals of this project are to build the teaching and research capacity of UP faculty and to assist them in initiating a public health leadership training institute.  The process itself will involve faculty exchanges, pre- and post-doctoral fellowships for South Africans to come to UMass, short courses taught by our faculty there, and on-line distance learning courses.  We envision the leadership institute as a year-long process, book-ended by week-long intensive trainings at the beginning and end of each year for each cohort of 15-20. 

At the MRC, Buchanan was invited to collaborate with them in designing and implementing an empirical study of the ethical issues raised by community leaders and community members about participation in the South Africa AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI).  The goal of this project is to develop model standards for the participation of villages and communities in AIDS vaccine trials, in particular, and international health research, in general.  As part of this project, Buchanan plans to return to Cape Town in late January.

Buchanan reports that he was deeply inspired by the commitment of everyone that he met to building a new South Africa.