PASE Program

D-SINE Africa Structure (Cores)

Administrative Core

D-SINE Africa’s Administrative Core implements the vision and mission of the strategic plan for D-SINE Africa by coordinating the Center’s scientific agenda and fostering multidisciplinary collaboration among D-SINE Africa members, affiliates and stakeholders, as well as the constituents of the broader DS-I Africa Consortium. The Core’s multidisciplinary governance structure includes members from all D-SINE Africa’s partner institutions who are all experts in data science, clinical and/or public health. This Core supports the efforts of D-SINE Africa scientists to promote the design, conduction, and evaluation of innovative data science research designed to reduce the burden of injuries and other surgical diseases.

The Administrative Core’s activities include:

i. Guiding research activities conducted by the D-SINE Africa Research Hub through administrative support, financial oversight and scientific direction, ensuring scientific accountability using a process of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and central management of center resources

ii. Building new partnerships from academic, public and private sectors; and convene meetings to promote collaboration within the Hub’s multidisciplinary group and between D-SINE Africa and other DS-I Africa collaborators

iii. Providing financial management and administration of Seed Grant funds and overseeing the pre-award process of D-SINE’s Seed Grant Program, including application requirements and grantee selection process

Leadership: The Administrative core is led by Director Alain Chichom-Mefire, MD, Professor of General Surgery, University of Buea, Co-Directors Catherine Juillard, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Surgery at University of California, Los Angeles, and Salome Maswime, MD, Professor and Head of Global Surgery at the University of Cape Town and Hub Executive Director Fanny Dissak-Delon, MD, PhD, MPH, Public Health Officer for the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health Littoral Regional Delegation. Representatives from each of our partner institutions are woven throughout each aspect of the D-SINE Africa structure and are embedded in the Administrative Core to promote partnership, enhance communication and maximize stakeholder engagement.

Capacity Building Core (CBC)

D-SINE Africa’s Capacity Building Core (CBC) addresses recognized barriers to the development and success of investigators in Sub-Sharan Africa (SSA), catalyzing the conduct of high-quality, applied data science research to improve the health of communities in Africa, including addressing the pervasive problem of injury.

The CBC leverage the strengths of our institutions, years of experience mentoring students and junior researchers, existing training tools and programs, and access to large datasets to ensure that D-SINE Africa benefits from an administrative and scientific environment to successfully achieve the Center’s goals, seamlessly integrating with DS-I Africa, and fostering the next generation of African researchers leveraging data science methodology to benefit the health and well-being of their communities.

This will be achieved through CBC activities including:

i. Curation of a data science “methods toolkit”, leveraging existing and new resources from D-SINE partner institutions and the broader DS-I Africa initiative

ii. Structured, multiyear mentorship opportunities for D-SINE Fellows assigned to each of the two research projects

iii. Implementation of a pilot research program awarding Seed Grants [link] annually to junior researchers to conduct pilot projects related to D-SINE’s core themes and leverage data generated through D-SINE or DS-I Africa collaborations

Leadership: The Capacity Building Core is co-led by Mama Foupouagnigni, PhD, Chief Academic Officer of the AIMS Global Network and President of AIMS Cameroon, Associate Professor in Residence in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley. The CBC also benefits from additional core faculty who have decades of experience mentoring scholars in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods Toolkit

D-SINE Africa’s Capacity Building Core (CBC) is responsible for the Curation of a data science “methods toolkit” by leveraging existing and new resources from D-SINE partner institutions as well as future resources developed in the broader DS-I Africa initiative. The “methods toolkit” is available to D-SINE Fellows and Seed Grant recipients. Resources in the “toolkit” include:

  • Curricula for AIMS African Master’s in Machine Intelligence
  • Curricula for AIMS-Cameroon Master’s program in Mathematical Sciences
  • UC Berkeley’s Foundations of Data Science Certificate through EdX, a 3-course series appropriate for those without a strong quantitative background.
  • UC Berkeley Extension Certificate in Data Science, a 4+ course series with programming prerequisites; suitable for trainees in D-SINE with strong quantitative backgrounds
  • UC Berkeley open access course, “Data 8: Foundations of Data Science.”
  • UC Berkeley course in Data Science through Berkeley ExecEd, a course for midlevel to senior managers from private or public sectors seeking a rigorous, hands-on experience.
  • UC Berkeley Online course, “PHW290: R for Public Health,” intended for beginners.
  • Foundational statistical coursework through Berkeley’s Online MPH program, including “PH142: Introduction to Probability and Statistics” and “PH241: Analysis of Categorical Data.”
  • UCLA online course “Writing for Peer Review and Publication,” facilitated by JAMA Deputy Editor Livingston, who will also provide critical reviews of trainee manuscripts.
  • Prerecorded lectures on theory and application of targeted learning by UC Berkeley faculty
  • Monthly journal club hosted by the University of Buea featuring a rotating series of topics centered on D-SINE Africa’s core themes

The Training Coordinator, Daniel Tcheutia, PhD from AIMS Cameroon, facilitates training workshops to match trainees with learning opportunities, and to conduct post-training follow-up.

Data Management and Analysis Core (DMAC)

D-SINE Africa’s Data Management and Analysis Core (DMAC) facilitates and supports effective data collection, management and analysis across D-SINE Africa for both existing data and the development of new datasets. The DMAC will also help to foster good data collection, data management, and reproducible and transparent research practices among junior investigators within D-SINE Africa.

The DMAC activities include:

i. Working closely with Hub researchers to develop standardized, data quality protocols to ensure collection of high-quality data and to ensure timely identification and resolution of problems

ii. Overseeing the implementation of a Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system that creates secure data inputting from our two major projects (Project 1 – Health Equity Surveillance and Project 2 – Trauma Follow Up Prediction), creating de-identified analysis-ready data and metadata for the Hub network, and making data available through appropriate credentials

iii. Providing expert support for complex machine learning methodology for both prediction and causal inferences, research focus areas for junior investigators who may apply for seed grants

Leadership: The Data Management and Analysis Core is co-led by Georges Nguefack-Tsague, PhD, Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon, with affiliate faculty positions at AIMS-Cameroon and at the University of Buea, and Alan Hubbard, PhD, Professor of Biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley.