MARCAD Secretariat hosts the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)’s delegation

A delegation from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) paid a two-day visit (9th – 10th March 2020) to MARCAD’ Secretaria.

Three main objectives were on the menu for this visit:

• Exchange with MARCAD Fellows regarding their research activities
• Lay the groundwork for future workshops for MARCAD Fellows and Staffs
• Reflect beyond MARCAD, current and future collaborations between LSHTM and UCAD, including MARCAD.

The LSHTM delegation was composed of Profs Sian Clarke, Prof Colin Sutherland, both Co-Directors of the Malaria Centre at the LSHTM and Hannah Gladstone the Malaria Centre Coordinator.

The delegation met with MARCAD team currently present in Senegal and the new Head of Parasitology-Mycology Department, Prof Babacar Faye. MARCAD programme Director, Prof

Oumar Gaye, appreciated and highlighted the exemplary of the partnership between the two institutions.

Discussions on future workshops for Fellows and collaborations between the two institutions were fruitful.

Update of key-achievements presented by MARCAD Fellows and UCAD’ Scientists helped the LSHTM delegation about the king of supports they can provide for successful endpoint of their fellowship.

 ‘’ We had a fantastic visit to the MARCAD team here in Dakar and we participated in workshop discussions and planning the best way to support the MARCAD Fellows in the final line of the program. Many of the fellows are close to the end of their projects and we want to ensure that we have provided them with the support they needed to move on in their scientific career research’’ said Prof Colin Sutherland.

 The meeting with the fellows also provided an opportunity for interactions on important points of their present and future scientific career plans.

 ‘’We discussed some of theirs plans for their work after their MARCAD fellowship and we discussed also on how the LSHTM and the Malaria Center, the supervisors, the mentors, the senior academic faculties that are part of the program can support the fellows in moving on to the next step of their careers in term of monitoring of the manuscripts from the work they have submitted for publication…’’ reported Prof Sian Clarke

 To cap off the visit, MARCAD and LSHTM members took part in a scientific session on the current state of malaria research in the region followed by discussions on the potential threats and opportunities.