Stories from SGP

Even though Africa represents more than half of the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), African institutions have played a limited role in research and advocacy to eliminate NTDs, in part due to the lack of opportunities for young scientists to lead research.

Building capacity in young researchers represents a promising solution to increasing their involvement in the fight against NTDs and to ensure impactful results for NTD control programs.

The African Researchers’ Small Grants Program implemented by the African Research Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, and funded by the United States Agency for International Development and The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office from the U.K. government through Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases was designed to fulfil this aim.

Launched in 2017, the African Researchers’ Small Grants Program provides research funding to individual researchers based on the African continent. With this funding, they can develop solutions to the problems posed by NTDs in their home countries. Since its launch, the Program has provided more than $1.5 million in research funds to 66 researchers from 16 countries.

This initiative demonstrates the enormous benefit in collaboration and funding support in efforts to eliminate and control NTDs. The success story of the Small Grant Program over the years have been told in a narrative board that can be explored. Are you ready to hear about the researchers and their research and more about the program?