Johnson & Johnson and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), with
the support of the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, are committed to
address this gap, by building drug development capacity and networks in
Africa to enable countries to address diseases with high medical needs,
locally. Through the establishment of a Research and Development
(R&D) training fellowship programme for highly talented, suitably
qualified and experienced African physicians, pharmacists,
epidemiologists and/or MSc’s in public health to help close the R&D
knowledge and experience gap that exists in many African countries.
This fellowship programme is managed by the Alliance for Accelerating
Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) is an Africa-led,
Africa-centred, and Africa-specific funding and agenda setting platform
created to accelerate scientific excellence, leadership and innovation.
AESA is an initiative of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency. For more
information about AESA, visit https://www.aasciences.africa/aesa.
Within this fellowship programme, Johnson & Johnson, through its
dedicated Global Public Health organization, together with the selected
Fellows, consider the specific needs of the countries of origin and
build upon the valuable knowledge which the fellows bring to the
programme to optimize the course curriculum. The majority of the 2-year
training will be ‘on the job’ when fellows are being assigned to a
late-stage development programme at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen
Pharmaceutical Companies, primarily in areas of infectious diseases,
neglected tropical diseases, and vaccines. In addition, the training
shall comprise of:
- Training modules on all aspects of drug development with focus on clinical development;
- Training modules in leadership, communication, project management, etc. to strengthen leadership skills;
- Selective modules of the master programmes of Public Health or Tropical Medicine at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp;
- Other opportunities as identified during the programme (conferences, other trainings).
The entire Programme package maximally strives to strengthen the
fellow’s skills and capacities and, upon return of the fellow,
contribute to the creation of qualitative clinical development centres
of excellence at sites across sub-Saharan Africa, and on the long run
contribute to prosperity and welfare of the continent.
Fellowship Details
Purpose
The Johnson & Johnson-AESA R&D fellowship programme is
committed to building drug development capacity and networks in Africa
to enable countries to address diseases with high medical needs,
locally. In that spirit, Johnson & Johnson has established an
R&D Training Fellowship Programme for highly talented, suitably
qualified and experienced African doctors and scientists, to help close
the R&D knowledge and experience gap that exists in many countries
in Africa to be hosted by the AAS.
Programme Design
Year 1-2 | Training at the Janssen R&D campus in Belgium
The Fellowship Programme entails extensive on-the-job training in
drug development at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen R&D Campus in
Belgium, with major focus on clinical development. Additional
theoretical training covers all essential drug development core
activities such as label-driven drug development, regulatory &
quality, discovery activities, chemical pharmaceutical development,
preclinical development, clinical development & clinical trial
execution, biomarkers & diagnostics, vaccines, and commercialization
& access. In addition, the fellows can participate in courses in
epidemiology, public health, or tropical medicine at the Antwerp
Institute of Tropical Medicine. Finally, courses in leadership,
communication, and project management are also provided. These trainings
focus on strengthening the fellow’s skills to interact successfully in
an international and very often still male-driven environment.
On a whole, the courses are modularly built which allows to adapt the
curriculum based on the fellow’s background and expertise, and the
needs of the institute. The final curriculum is discussed with the
fellow and home institute together.
During the on-the-job training,n fellows either shadow a Medical
Leader, Study Responsible Physician, or Compound Development Leader,
three key functions in R&D, and connect and closely collaborate with
many other core functions at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen R&D
Campus in Belgium and international R&D development sites.
Year 2-3 | Return to home country in Africa
The AAS and Johnson & Johnson will support the fellows for a
1-year period on their return to their home country. Elements of this
support may include:
- Training materials for academic teaching, capacity building and networks.
- Clinical trial expertise to support initiation of local clinical research.
- Evaluate opportunities and feasibility of institution to participate in international development programmes and networks
Monitoring
A Steering Committee is established for every fellow to monitor
progress through the Programme. The committee includes the
representatives of the AAS, Johnson & Johnson and of the institutes
in the fellow’s home country and will:
- Discuss Fellow’s practical arrangements in the hosting country and find solutions for any existing or potential future anticipated issues;
- Discuss Fellow’s integration into Johnson & Johnson teams and find solutions for any existing or potential future anticipated issues;
- Consider any adjustments to the course curriculum which may be deemed appropriate by the steering committee;
- Review current thinking on the proposed position in which the Fellow will be deployed upon repatriation, and post-training completion support.
With the objective of repatriating the knowledge and expertise which
the Fellows will gain during the course of the programme and aligned
with the Committee’s proposed position of the Fellow when returning to
sub-Saharan Africa, the AAS and Johnson & Johnson will evaluate how
to best support sustainable capabilities across sub-Saharan Africa,
contributing to the creation of clinical development centres of
excellence at sites across sub-Saharan Africa.
Desired results
As such, the entire Programme package maximally strives to strengthen
the fellow’s skills and capacities and, upon return of the fellow,
contribute to the creation of qualitative clinical development centres
of excellence at sites across sub-Saharan Africa, and on the long run
contribute to prosperity and welfare of the continent.
Individual
Institution
- A citizen of any of the sub-Saharan African countries listed here: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Swaziland, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe;
- Employed in public, not-for-profit, or academic institutions, or industry;
- Holding of a scientific University degree (PhD, MD, physicians, pharmacists, epidemiologists, relevant master’s qualifications) with high interest to expand knowledge and experience in drug development and clinical development;
- Holding a degree and / or demonstrated experience in Public Health and/or local healthcare;
- Aged between 30 and 45 years at the time of application.
Institution
- Is a legal entity;
- Is based in a sub-Saharan African country listed here: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Swaziland, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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