Swiss laboratories offer research opportunities for local students

"There is a need for more postgraduate students and more skills in clinical research and the basic drug discovery sciences in Africa," explains Novartis clinical pharmacologist and head of scientific capability development, Colin Pillai. "It's clear that independent efforts by academic institutions, the pharmaceutical industry and governments can't develop research capability in Africa at a rapid enough pace to match the critical need - they have to work together."

Among African countries, SA has the largest number of publications in international scientific journals but the output is still very low in comparison with countries from the developed world. In collaboration with several universities, Novartis is helping to kick-start the careers of young scientists in developing and emerging countries. This year, 15 students from Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine and Zimbabwe spent a three month internship working on individual research projects in state-of-the art laboratories at the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland under the expert mentorship of Novartis scientists.

Students get exposed to latest technology

The Novartis programme seeks to enrich the students' professional development goals while providing exposure to typical drug discovery and clinical research activities in a research-based pharmaceutical company. Over the long term, the company aims to develop sustainable relationships with African institutions to address African healthcare needs.

Scientists in the fields of genetics, molecular biology, discovery chemistry and analytics, medical imaging sciences as well as mathematical modelling and simulation were chosen to attend the programme. "It's a two-way process, with prospective scientists not only exposed to the latest technology and experts in their fields, but also sharing their insights into the healthcare needs of their home country," says Pillai.

Khulekani Mncube, a student from the University of Pretoria, has been investigating the proteins involved in wound healing as part of her MSc in Pharmacology. "South Africa has a higher rate of chronic wounds than other countries, especially because of our high number of diabetic and HIV/Aids patients," she says. "But there is very little understanding of the complex wound healing process at the molecular level and how this can be accelerated."

Pillai wants the collaboration between Novartis and African universities to lead to the development of new drugs and knowledge about treating conditions that affect under-served patient groups. With Africa facing double epidemics in both infectious as well as non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, the need for local research capability has become critical.