Capacity Building

During the 4-year project, Stool4TB supported the training of 2 PhD-level scientists who participated in the data collection and analysis phase of the project. Academic training occurs between the Universities of Amsterdam and Barcelona, with the involvement of university institutions linked to the African sites. These triangulations offer state-of-the-art postgraduate training to integrate academic expertise and fieldwork relevant to the project.

Stool4TB organized training sessions at the annual consortium meetings. They occurred at each of the annual project meetings (which were held in Africa), in addition to the annual steering board meeting. A survey was conducted at the beginning of the study period in order to better refine the needs and the topics for these short courses. Potentially relevant topics identified by partners included (i) research methods for diagnostic trials, (ii) analytic tools for diagnostic trial evaluation and diagnostic impact assessment (iii) general study design methods.

Previous Short Training Courses:

* Diagnosis of TB in people living with HIV

* Current Challenges for Pediatric TB Diagnosis

The study promoted these collaborations with the already existing networks of excellence in the Eastern African and Southern African regions (TESA and EACCR). A mentorship program for PhD students with scientists from the consortium was established to provide an interdisciplinary and multinational environment for PhD programmes.