Скачать или смотреть African Stars Fellowship Programme Video by Prof Tulio de Oliveira

The African STARS Fellowship Programme to capacitate African scientists on epidemic and pandemic response be launched with an award of US$ 9 million, ZAR 170 million, from the Mastercard Foundation. First phase of the programme will fund 131 fellows over three years, 2025 to 2027. In this introductory video, Prof Tulio de Oliveira, present the African STARS Fellowship program.

The Africa STARS is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at transforming the landscape of healthcare innovation in Africa, the Mastercard Foundation, the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) at Stellenbosch University and the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD).

This programme has been designed with the core aim of nurturing the continent's new healthcare research leaders and creating a skilled workforce in genomics, diagnostics, and vaccine design and production in Africa.

Africa is home to the fastest-growing young population globally, projected to comprise nearly half of the world s youth by 2100. However, the continent is grappling with the challenge of training sufficient scientists while also facing a disproportionate burden of health crises due to frequent outbreaks of infectious diseases such as HIV, Ebola, Marburg, Mpox and Turberculosis. In 2023 alone, over 150 disease outbreaks were reported across Africa, escalating the need for knowledgeable leaders who can engage effectively in public health efforts and can create companies and research institutes that advance discovery and manufacturing of medical countermeasures in Africa.

The African STARS fellowship will now take training in Africa to the next level by creating structured programmes and providing up to 2 years training and fostering partnership with big industry and biotechnology innovation hubs with the ultimate objective to create jobs that will retain and attract talented scientists to the African continent.