From March 13-14, 2025, Dr. Emmanuel Peprah led a comprehensive two-day training program on Implementing and Sustaining Evidence-Based Interventions in Global Health: Frameworks and Applications. This training was conducted as part of an NIH-funded D43 Fogarty International Research Training Award called Sickle Pan Africa Research Consortium TRAINing (SPARC-TRAIN) in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease Training, University of Abuja (CESRTA). As a key component of the training, Dr. John Pateña shared insights from his research on sickle cell disease (SCD) and mental health, showcasing his work as a prime example of implementation science research in hemoglobinopathies. The training brought together 12 healthcare providers and scholars from across Nigeria, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to apply implementation science frameworks for the sustainable integration of evidence-based interventions within their respective context. By the conclusion of the D43 Training program, each participant developed and presented an implementation project tailored to their hospital/healthcare facility or center, demonstrating the practical applications of the concepts learned.
The D43 Fogarty International Research Training Award is a multi-institutional collaboration among University of Abuja (Nigeria), University of Ibadan (Nigeria), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), and with participating institutions including the University of Chicago and the NYU School of Global Public Health. SPARC-TRAIN is dedicated to advancing training in implementation science with a focus on hemoglobinopathies, strengthening capacity for impactful and sustainable healthcare interventions.
