The UWI signs MOU with international NGO for Health Research and Innovation
07 March 2025
The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has partnered with Health Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean (HeDPAC), an international non-profit organisation, which aims to address pressing health challenges through South-South partnership prioritizing human health workforce development, local manufacturing of health products, and the building of resilient health systems.
The UWI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in February with HeDPAC.
Under the agreement both parties will undertake a number of initiatives including joint advocacy to regional governments and non-governmental organisations to create and identify resources and scientific interests to address critical challenges and issues across the region.
The partnership also aims to establish a sustainable regional Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) to coordinate research across The UWI campuses and assist in pharmaceutical regulatory matters at the local and regional levels as required. The CTU will be a high-quality research environment in line with international standards, through which regional and international research projects will be coordinated.
The transfer of knowledge and capacity building will be another key area of focus, under which HeDPAC and The UWI will conduct joint training programmes, workshops and seminars for researchers, healthcare professionals and students to facilitate the exchange of expertise.
Additionally, the two institutions will undertake joint research projects to address critical health issues, as well as promote other research collaborations.
Dr. Damian Cohall, Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cave Hill which partnered with HeDPAC to host the meeting stated: “This partnership will leverage regional and ‘south to south’ clinical research expertise and resources to address pressing health care challenges in the Caribbean.
“The CTU will fundamentally increase capacity to undertake the research and development to support the development of a pharmaceutical sector as well as provide regulatory support for CARICOM territories in pharmaceutical regulation. Opportunities to collaborate with similar units in Africa are possible through HeDPAC’s ‘south to south’ remit.”
Professor Simon Anderson, a Director in the Caribbean Institute of Health Research welcomed the agreement, saying that a regional university-supported CTU is long overdue.
“Academics within the various clinical and research centres and institutes across the UWI have great experience in clinical trials. Now is an opportunity to meld our efforts. The HeDPAC-UWI CTU can help transform opportunities for international collaborative efforts within CARICOM across the spectrum of healthcare research.
“The syndemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), infectious diseases and the interplay of these with climate change requires the regional research community to consider the gaps and challenges and to work within south-south solutions-driven partnerships to address the issues that impact our citizens successfully,” Professor Anderson said.
The agreement will remain in effect for five years.
HeDPAC is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, and Bridgetown, Barbados.
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