groups » Fellow's Matters » Next CDF Alumni meeting

Dear Colleagues I had sent you an email on this issue.
first there will be a TC with TDR and some of the TDR fellows will represent our secretariat during this TC.
Topics to be discussed during the TC are:
(1) Identify the location for the next meeting, which will probabaly hold at the same time (November)

According to TDR we need to identify a location in one of the country of the previous CDF grantees - all placed in GSK Belgium.

a) Prof Thera: Bamako Mali
b) Dr Alfred: Burkina Faso
c) Dr Alex and Dr Sunny: AccraGhana
d) Dr Ally and Dr Roma: Nairobi Kenya
e) Dr Brenda and Dr Dawit: Dar es Salam Tanzania
[NB: I have identified the GSK placement according to their present place or institution: please correct if wrong]

Other preference by TDR:
i. It should be cost effective
ii. Low issues on organization
iii. Straight air link
iv. Organization preferable in English

*The last solution could be to organize this meeting again in Geneva.

(2) Agenda for the 2nd TDR/CDF Alumni
for this we have to be proactive in deciding what we would want for the agenda,
I would suggest we look back at the summary of the last alumni meeting particularly about what we suggested, secondly we include discussions on what next we would do as a network (in concrete terms e.g multicenter projects) where CDF coming out of training can identify with a CDF network project. these are my suggestion however I need yours so I summarise them for the TC and we see how it goes.

NB: for those who could not be at the last Alumni meeting in Geneva our concensus at that time was Kenya (and Dr Ally had already bidded his welcome to us[°°°°I'm laughing°°°°], however lets review according to these propositions of TDR

please I need your suggestions (and reasons if possible) on location and Agenda before the end soonest (sunday would okay so we conclude on monday before the TC)

NB: we need a consensus that would allow all CDFellows to be in attendance, So please we solicit for the minor inconveniences from all colleagues

warm regards and waiting for your comments
sunny

Reply

  • Quoc Quoc 17 Jun 2011

    Hi all,
    Please keep updated of the selected date for the meeting.It is useful for me to organize my calendar. Thanks.

  • gbenga Glory Oluwagbenga Ogunfowokan - Regional Faculty Lead 13 Jun 2011

    I sugest the followings be considered in the agenda for the conference:-
    1) How to maximally involve the home institutions throughout the stages of the fellowship training and ensure their active role in using the experience of fellows after the fellowship training.
    2) Involvement of home pharmaceutical companies to recognize the capacity of the fellows and engage them in local clinical trials.
    3) Involvement of fellows in WHO/TDR research projects going on in developing countries.
    4) Training of other young researchers in home institutions by fellows after the training.
    5) Fellows collaborative high priority research projects

  • gbenga Glory Oluwagbenga Ogunfowokan - Regional Faculty Lead 13 Jun 2011

    Thank you for the update. I will prefer 21 - 24 Nov because I have another conference between 1st and 2nd week of Nov 2011

  • Qingyan Qingyan Bo 13 Jun 2011

    Hi, all, I am OK with either dates. Looking forward to my first trip to African!

  • Quoc Quoc 11 Jun 2011

    Hi, I would like to select the period of 21st-24th, November.

  • Leo Leo Njok Ayuk 10 Jun 2011

    Thanks very much Sunny, personally i will prefer the dates after the 20th of November. For the venue, i really want to say cost effectiveness should be the criterion, but as i got from the summary of the TC, if Yaounde is chosen, it will not be a bad thing. Julius and myself will be very pleased to welcome you all in Cameroon.

  • Mahmoud Mahmoud Y. Ma'aruf 10 Jun 2011

    Hi to All. I have no preference between the 2 dates. Anyone chosen is okay with me.

  • Ally Ally Olotu 10 Jun 2011

    fine with either date. My preference is Kilifi but i will accept the majority decision or one based on cost.

  • tcmarukutira tcmarukutira 10 Jun 2011

    Thank you for the update. The 14th sounds like immediately after thanks giving. I dont know if that is correct. Would that impact travelling? I may have travelled until just before thanks giving. So personaly i will prefer the later date of 21 november.

  • atashili Julius Atashili 10 Jun 2011

    Thanks Sunny for the summary.
    I have no preference in terms of dates.

  • sunnyoyakhirome Sunny Oyakhirome 9 Jun 2011

    Dear Colleagues, we had a TC with TDR concerning the next Alumni meeting and other issues:
    The CDFs present at the meeting where Edward, Julius and myself. (Ally was suppose to be with us but he could not be joined on telephone)

    Summary of the TC 8th June 2011
    1) Next Alumni CDF meeting
    - Location. Two options were discussed: Kilifi and Yaounde.
    TDR would prefer Yaounde for reasons:
    - TDR is moving the ISHReCA secretariat to Cameroon and it would be appropriate to showcase this TDR initiative along with TDR CDF initiative.
    It will will be a great opportunity to strengthen the ISHReCA initiative.
    - Cameroun is central in Africa
    - The country is bilingual (benefits both English and Francophone CDFs)
    (Amongs other reasons)

    However Najoua is in charge of the costing and she would look critically on costing of the Kilifi's option and Cameroun option. She will contact Ally to evaluate the cost of the two options

    - The proposed dates for the meeting that is convenient for TDR [and in view of other international meetings like the ASTMH in December etc.] were 14th – 17th or 21st – 24th of November 2011.
    It is expected that the CDF grantees indicate their prefered dates of these two dates (please make your choice which of this two periods is suitable for you on our GHT platform
    [http://tdrf.globalhealthehub.org/community/group/fellows_matters/]

    Once the dates and location are identified(Najoua and Pascal)approval will be obtained from WHO-TDR

    Other issues discussed:
    1) Ways of involving home institutions and local pharma, Clinical R&D career,and role of the TDR research unit (these would be discussed) further during the Alumni meeting.

    However suggestions were:
    - inviting home institutions to CDF Alumni meetings
    (cons: TDR seems not kin on that and no funding for that)

    - The parent institution involved with R&D where CDFs are attached should liaise with sister companies on behalf the CDF and prepare the way and opportunity for the CDFs to be integrated(cons: the sister companies in Africa are mainly marketing and Business) but R & D is a growing interest in Pharma business in Africa or developing world

    2) we discussed about the GHT CDF website
    We all agree that the website is not user friendly and has to be improved.
    The CPD is under development but should be ready for the End of 2011 and launching is planned by GHT during the EDCTP meeting in Addis in October 2011.

    3) Monitoring training is needed and we explore the possibility to merge one of the CDF meeting with some training in this domain.
    This would be a good idea as it would increase the recognition of skills (monitoring) which CDFs must have acquired.

    A short TC would be organized early July, between 10th and 12th to evaluate progress

    The next steps on the side of the CDF grantees is that we provide a draft agenda (bullets)

    Thanks for all your contribution and the next steps

    The

  • atashili Julius Atashili 6 Jun 2011

    My thoughts,
    1. On the venue, I will give a lot of weight to the host fellows' preference, as long as the suggested location meets the 4 criteria outlined by Sunny. Based on these criteria, Nairobi and Dar es Salam seem to make the cut. Given that our Kenyan colleagues have expressed interest in hosting and we have not heard from our colleagues in Tanzania, I am leaning towards Kenya. Where exactly in Kenya? I would leave it up to them to choose which location they think is most cost effective.
    2)On the agenda, I would use last meetings agenda as a starting point to which I will suggest to add the following:
    a. Opportunities for fellows to engage in ongoing TDR research
    b. Strategies for establishing an effective network.

  • aoofori Alex Owusu-Ofori 1 Jun 2011

    Hi,

    Greetings. Here is my thoughts.

    Venue, I agree Kenya being the host. I suppose its kilifi not Nairobi. But if we are to go to Kilifi (I havent been there so Ally has to come with the facts on the ground)then that is extra cost for all of us travelling from Nairobi to Kilifi. That still remains the most viable option since there is no one really based in Accra as I am in the UK till the end of the year; unless Sunny moves base to Accra.
    Why should it be hosted by grantees that were based in GSK Biologicals?

    I do

  • Mahmoud Mahmoud Y. Ma'aruf 1 Jun 2011

    Hello to all
    Hope your all doing fine.
    Venue:
    Personally I think holding the meeting in Kenya (Ally's centre) would be good as it is an established setting that we can learn from. However, that depends on that satisfying the TDR preferences highlighted by Sunny and the Fellows.

    Agenda:
    I agree with the suggestions of Oluwagbenga, Vu and Marukutira. Lets build on that.
    However, I think core in the agenda should be discussion on tacklings Post Fellowship Challenges.

  • tcmarukutira tcmarukutira 1 Jun 2011

    Here is my input
    Venue: I guess to be decided from a logistical point of view otherwise would be ok with venues suggested so far
    Agenda:
    -I think as a new Fellow i would like to know about the past meetings and what has been agreed upon and the next steps
    -How to make the website more user friendly
    -Experience sharing from past fellows: How to get started, home institution, and what next after training
    -Detailed training curriculum for the fellowship training

  • Quoc Quoc 1 Jun 2011

    I agree with your and Ogunfowokan's suggestions.

    Also, I think that all last meeting presentations in Genever should be posted in the website (I'm sorry if they are availabe now). These presentations will be helpful, especially for people who were absent from last meeting, new fellows, and we all could review these before the next meeting.

    In my opinion, we should continue to discuss about CDF website for making this website more friendly, more convenient and more popular.

    All people should be encouraged to give their own opinions about various issues related to TDR fellowship and the network. If we have too much matters to shared, the most interested presentations will be showed in the meeting and the remainers could be posted in the website or written in CD-rom.

  • gbenga Glory Oluwagbenga Ogunfowokan - Regional Faculty Lead 1 Jun 2011

    Thank you Sunny for bringing the topic to the platform. I suggest that the conference should hold in Kenya but advise that Ally should inform the group on the cost-effectiveness of the logistics involved ( transportation, accommodation, venue of conference, etc).

    I also suggest the following issues be considered in the agenda:
    1) How to maximally involve the home institutions throughout the stages of the fellowship training and ensure their active role in using the experience of fellows after the fellowship training.
    2) Involvement of home pharmaceutical companies to recognize the capacity of the fellows and engage them in local clinical trials.
    3) Involvement of fellows in WHO/TDR research projects going on in developing countries.
    4) Training of other young researchers in home institutions by fellows after the training.
    5) Fellows collaborative high priority research projects

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