Jefferson Consortium for African Partnerships
At Jefferson, we believe that in order to truly improve health outcomes on a global scale, it is imperative that we have a presence in Africa. It is in this spirit that we launched the Jefferson Consortium for African Partnerships (JCAP), focused on developing strong clinical, academic, and research collaborations with hospitals and universities in countries like Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda, and South Africa. It’s no secret that practicing medicine in Africa comes with many unique challenges, but we are poised to leverage our unique infrastructure, distinguished faculty, and strategic global partnerships to bring revolutionary care to the continent. Philanthropy is central to our global mission, helping us launch high-impact initiatives in key areas like emergency medicine, maternal-child health, and care access for informal settlements, motor vehicle accident research, new advances in imaging, and much more.
JCAP’s mission is to organize, support and collaborate with African coursework, research, and practice. The collaborative is deeply rooted in the belief that health equity is a human right, and because of this, Jefferson has a compelling interest in partnering with African counterparts in mutual academic and intellectual pursuits.
Together, partners in the collaborative target policy structures, disrupt systems and, ultimately, save lives. Current ambitions are centered in the four primary sites of Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda, and South Africa.
Chris Harnish
- Associate Professor, Architecture Program
- Director, Health and Design Collaborative
- Director, Jefferson Consortium of African Partnerships
Partners
- The Kamuzu Central Hospital
- Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital
- The Malamulo Mission Hospital
- University of Malawi College of Medicine and College of the Built Environment
- Government of Malawi Department of Buildings and Department of Health
- University of Malawi, The Polytechnic
- The University of Rwanda
- The Rwanda Village Community Promoters (RVCP)
In addition to these, JCAP has organizational partnerships in the countries of Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Highlights
Collaborative projects have included:
- Support of PPE and tech equipment to Kamuzu Central Hospital’s surgery department COVID response
- Assessing architectural design factors of delivery suites influencing quality of healthcare & patient outcomes at Queen Elizabeth Central maternity ward
- Tele-ultrasound mentorship program for Rwanda emergency medicine (EM) residency
- Tele-ultrasound mentorship program for Uganda emergency medicine residency program in Mbarara
- Research study evaluating the use of ultrasound as first-line screening for pulmonary tuberculosis, funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in conjunction with African Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa & the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Project PREVENT, a CDC funded vaccine effectiveness study.
- Understanding prolonged COVID-19 symptoms in the Rwandan Community, a Pfizer’s sponsored collaborative project.
- Road safety to reduce traumatic brain injuries through motorcycle helmet initiative
- Safe surgery
- Cancer prevention and treatment
- Infection disease prevention and treatment
Malawi Health & Design Collaborative (MHDC)
Malawi Health and Design Collaborative (MHDC) brings expert doctors and design professionals from the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, the College of Population Health, and the College of Architecture and the Built Environment together to form a transdisciplinary center of excellence. The MHDC targets specific international development goals that shape healthy human development, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (among others).
Bidirectional Student Exchange & Jefferson-Rwanda Research Collaboration
Dr. Regine Nshimiyimana-Maniraho
Thomas Jefferson University offers a two-month clinical observership opportunity to students enrolled at the University of Rwanda. In exchange, Jefferson students spend a month in Rwanda for public health education and experience alongside their counterparts involved in Rwanda Village Community Promoters (RVCP), formerly known as Rwanda Village Concept Project.
Since the program was pioneered by Dr. James Plumb and his daughter Dr. Ellen Plumb in 2007, more than 100 Jefferson students and faculty members spent time in Rwanda. Between 2007 and 2018, there were 36 Rwandan medical students who spent time at Jefferson. However, a range of external factors stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn created years of gap in the bidirectional student exchange. To step up efforts, in 2023, Dr. Regine Nshimiyimana Maniraho (Regine.Nshimiyimana-Maniraho@jefferson.edu), as the lead liaison for the program, and Jefferson put forward a formal Memorandum of Understanding between Jefferson and Rwanda to continue to offer students the opportunity for clinical observership and public service-learning in both countries.
Click the link to learn more about the Bilateral Exchange program between Jefferson and Rwanda.