UB CIGBS to host Zimbabwe faculty development program

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo has been selected to be the United States host this summer for the Zimbabwe Emerging Faculty Development Program (ZEFDP).

Through a grant from the U.S. Department of State to the Institute of International Education, a global nonprofit organization facilitating international exchange, the program will bring nine faculty members from Zimbabwe universities to UB for six weeks beginning in June. Attendees will learn about biomedical research, pharmacy, university administration, public health and sustainable development.

ZEFDP faculty trainees include:

• Annabel Banda of Gwanda State University (tropical entomology, ectoparasite and endoparasite, zoonotic diseases, rodents, insect ecology)
• Winnet Enerita Chipato of Harare Institute of Technology (biomedical sciences, microbiology and molecular biology)
• Prosper Denhere of Manicaland State University of Applied Science (health information systems)
• Gregory Dowo of Midlands State University (botanical sciences)
• Rutendo Gutsire of University of Zimbabwe (diagnostic and investigative sciences)
• Leah Kashiri of University of Zimbabwe (clinical science, medical microbiology, molecular biology and ecology)
• Celia Moffat Joel Matyanga of University of Zimbabwe (pharmacy)
• Nyasha Mukonowenzou of National University of Science and Tech (physiology)
• Tawanda Tinago of Chinhoyi University of Technology (molecular ecology, conservation genetics) 

UB’s Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS) is providing administrative oversight and will develop the curriculum, oversee mentored training, develop micro-credentials and organize a post-training projects that each faculty trainee will complete when they return to Zimbabwe. CIGBS is part of the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“This is a great opportunity to build on our 25-year capacity building collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe, funded primarily by the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health,” said Gene Morse, PharmD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and CIGBS director.

Along with Charles Maponga, PharmD, director of the University of Zimbabwe Center of Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and research assistant professor in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Morse is working to develop a new national university network in Zimbabwe.

“This program will enable the initial group of emerging faculty, representing seven Zimbabwean universities, to contribute to the initiative and hit the ground running upon return to Zimbabwe,” said Maponga, co-investigator of the Zimbabwe Emerging Faculty Development Program.

Additional project contributors include:

• Gina Prescott, PharmD, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice and director of global and community outreach in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Dorothy Siaw-Asamoah, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor
  Organization and Human Resources and director of global programs in the UB School of Management
• Mara Huber, PhD, UB Director of Experiential Learning Network and collaborator with the International Institute of Buffalo refugee program.

“We value our longstanding partnership with the Institute of International Education (IIE) and welcome the opportunity to collaborate with IIE and our colleagues in Zimbabwe on this important initiative, providing mutual benefit to Zimbabwean universities and the UB projects with which they are involved,” said Nojin Kwak, PhD, UB vice provost for international education.