Next Course: June 15-20, 2025

The University of Cheikh Anta Diop at Dakar (UCAD) is a premier academic institution. UCAD is recognized and accredited institution of higher education by the Conseil Africain et Malgache de l'Enseignement Superieur (CAMES).   

UCAD's Department of Parasitology offers instructional and mentoring experience in the university's degree-granting programs, short-courses, and sponsored international workshops. It is also recognized and accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Center of Training and Accreditation on Malaria Diagnostic for medical staff from African Francophone countries and Madagascar. UCAD’s laboratory also serves as a Center of Excellence on Genomic Infectious Diseases through the World Bank Program (ACEGID: African Center of Excellence on Genomic for Infectious Diseases primarily hosted at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria). Furthermore, after serving as a collaborative field site of the US National Institute of Health-sponsored International Center for Excellence for Malaria Research in West Africa (ICEMR-WAF) from 2010 to 2014, UCAD/Le Dantec was named a Regional Training Center for the ICEMR-WAF with responsibility for training scientists from Senegal, Mali, and The Gambia. Currently, the UCAD malaria research laboratory maintains a strong linkage with the ICEMRs by providing young investigators and scientists with valuable knowledge and skills to translate data for decision-making.  

UCAD's International Center for Research and Training in Applied Genomics and Health Surveillance (CIGASS)

UCAD's faculty and scientific community have been at the forefront of applying advanced research methods and technologies in the lab and translating new knowledge into practice (working with the National Malaria Control Program, local malaria partners, and communities) to improve decision-making at the national/district levels. The UCAD's CIGASS, centrally located on the campus of the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Odonto-Stomatology, offers valuable insights and practical applications for malaria-endemic countries around the world. The Center

serves as a reference laboratory for the country and a global research and training center with robust technical platforms and analysis capabilities to support genomic surveillance, sequencing, and houses a significant biomedical diagnostic complex capable of completing over 1,000 microbiological diagnostic tests (including COVID-19). 

Since the establishment of the innovative leadership development course—"Science of Eradication: Malaria"—by partners at ISGlobal, Harvard University, and Swiss TPH (the "three B's"), significant changes have occurred in the field of malaria. 

This flagship leadership course was first proposed in 2012 by long-time colleagues and malariologists: Professors Pedro L. Alonso (then founding director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health or ISGlobal and immediate past Director, WHO's Global Malaria Programme), Marcel Tanner (then Director of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute or Swiss TPH and now President of the Swiss Academy of Sciences), and Dyann F. Wirth of Harvard University.

The idea for the leadership course emerged during a pivotal time in the global malaria community (2011), as the dust of the renewed call for eradication had settled and funding was high ($8.3 billion, or 85%, was provided between FY2001–FY2011). The previous decade had marked the creation of PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative, and and saw global leaders like President Barack Obama pledge support to end malaria. In the scientific realm, powerful new tools stemming from the whole genome sequencing of the malaria parasite and mosquito were shedding light on potential counterattacks, and the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (known as 'malERA') was offering a comprehensive analysis of the science needed to eliminate malaria. Meanwhile, malaria-endemic countries continued to battle against the disease and other public health challenges, weak health systems, economic and societal inequalities, limited human resource capacities, and uneven political leadership. 

A decade later, the "Three B's" commitment to malaria has intensified and expanded. In 2018, for example, the Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance (MESA) at ISGlobal put forth an updated Research Agenda for Malaria Elimination and Eradication (or malERA 'refresh'), which remains a valuable resource to the global malaria community. Partners continue to invest deeply in malaria leadership development, supporting efforts to embed this work with partner institutions around the globe.

Today, a new generation of malaria leaders is leveraging the legacy of the "Science of Eradication: Malaria" course—including robust networks of alumni and faculty teaching experts, know-how in developing global public goods, and connections to the greater international health/malaria community—to carry forward the leadership course under a revitalized name: "Science of Defeating Malaria."

The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) was established by an Act of Parliament (Act 828) in December 2011, with the vision of becoming a pre-eminent research and practically oriented health educational institution dedicated to community service. The main campus, including the central administration, is in Ho, with a second campus located in Hohoe. The university began operation in September 2012 with 154 students.

UHAS is the first public university established in the Volta Region of Ghana and remains the only state university in Ghana wholly dedicated to training healthcare professionals. 

The university currently offers 21 undergraduate and several postgraduate programmes across eight schools: School of Allied Health Sciences; School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences; School of Dentistry; School of Medicine; School of Nursing and Midwifery; School of Pharmacy; Fred N. Binka School of Public Health; and School of Sports and Exercise Medicine. UHAS also houses two institutes: the Institute of Health Research and the Institute of Traditional and Alternative Medicine. A third institute, the Institute of Medical Education, is planned for the future.

UHAS sets high standards of behaviour, promoting traditional values that underpin life-long learning and achievement. The university believes that academic success flourishes within an ethos of clear expectations. Its aim is to foster the desire to learn and a love for learning which will continue into adult life. UHAS prepares students as global citizens of a changing world, equipping them with the resources to interpret and deal with change. 

The institution conducts itself as a pre-eminent health institution dedicated to research and community service.

UHAS's approach is traditional in many ways, offering a proven, quality education with a vision for the future. It is a university of opportunity, diversity and success, enabling students to achieve high standards within a caring community. The university aims for students to develop socially as well as academically, to be confident about themselves, motivated by a strong sense of personal worth, and to show consideration for others.

The Centre for Malaria Research  at UHAS aims to provide the best evidence for policy and practice in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and elimination of malaria in Ghana and other parts of the world, as well as to provide teaching and training opportunities for graduate students on malaria in UHAS, other Universities and Health Training Institutions. The Centre carries out its mandate by fostering collaboration between malaria researchers with a variety of expertise within and outside the University. Additionally, the Center collaborates with the National Malaria Programme in various ways, including the establishment of a Postgraduate Malaria Course in UHAS and the publication of an Annual Newsletter named UHAS Malaria News.