KENYA—A team from Aga Khan University (AKU) and the University of Michigan (U-M) will meet in Ann Arbor on Monday to discuss the start of a new phase in the ongoing collaboration between the two institutions.
AKU will be represented by President Sulaiman Shahabuddin and Provost Carl Amhrein, while U-M President Santa Ono, Joseph Kolars of the Center for Global Health Equity, and other distinguished U-M faculty and staff will also participate.
This visit follows the initial meeting in 2019, which culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2021.
The primary objective of this meeting is to foster a collaborative effort in applying data science to enhance health outcomes in under-resourced settings in Sub-Saharan Africa.
To date, the meeting of the two presidents has already resulted in securing over $7 million in funding from the US National Institutes of Health for research endeavors related to predicting health and various sectors in East Africa.
In the upcoming phase, these two leaders aspire to establish the AKUM Collaborative Platform for Improving Health, a comprehensive project aimed at enhancing health outcomes across Africa and Asia.
Through this platform, U-M and AKU academics and staff will engage in mentoring early-career AKU faculty, aiding in their development as researchers. Michigan will also collaborate closely with AKU to assist in the training and development of AKU research administrators and project management professionals.
The second phase will contribute to addressing the urgent scarcity of specialists and technologies required to treat Sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth-most common malignancy.
Since the inception of UZIMA, the AKU/U-M partnership has expanded to encompass the Longitudinal Study of Health and Aging in Kenya (LOSHAK) and a recently announced initiative to advance colorectal cancer detection across the African continent, leveraging AI and machine learning technology.
In the initial stages of this collaboration, AKU and U-M secured a $6.5 million NIH grant to establish the UZIMA-DS data center.
This Kenyan-led program aims to employ unique data assimilation and advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning-based techniques to address poor maternal and child health outcomes, as well as depression and suicidal thoughts among adolescents and young adults in Africa.
The first phase aimed at providing critical data on aging in a region where the population over 60 is predicted to more than triple by 2050.
The initial phase of the AKU-U-M collaboration has yielded numerous significant joint research projects, with the aim of further exploring applications of data science for maternity and child health, cancer, mental well-being, aging, and the intersection of climate change and health.
These large-scale studies are also sponsored by NIH funds, a noteworthy accomplishment given the institution’s highly competitive and demanding selection process.
Considering U-M’s prestigious status as the top public research university by volume in the US, with a staggering $1.45 billion in research funds for fiscal year 2022, it serves as an excellent collaborator in promoting research proficiency at AKU.
On the other hand, AKU’s capacity to conduct influential health science research cannot be overstated. It is one of the few institutions from low-income countries ranked in the top 300 global universities in medical research by NTU Rankings.
Furthermore, AKU’s medical facilities in Kenya and Pakistan, which serve an incredible 2 million patients each year, hold accreditation from the US-based Joint Commission International and the College of American Pathologists.
The development of this platform will mutually benefit both institutions by facilitating the fulfilment of their respective missions.
To attain its goal of enhancing the quality of life in cooperation with leading public and private institutions at home and abroad, AKU will strengthen its capacity to secure funding for studies that have the potential to benefit not only its patients but also patients in other health facilities in the countries it serves.
Through this close collaboration with AKU, U-M will significantly enhance its ability to conduct innovative studies in Africa and Asia, assisting it in achieving its objective of “advancing interdisciplinary solutions to health challenges in low- and middle-income countries through equitable research and education.”
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