Closing the barrier between disease and health outcomes in Africa through research and capacity development

Background: While the burden of disease in Africa is high, health research emanating from the continent is low. Building human capacity and research infrastructure to close the gap between research and disease is thus of great imporatance. Objective: In order to improve research outputs and postgraduate training in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, the Health Sciences Research Office put in place a series of strategic initiatives over time. Methods: A range of strategic activities, for both postgraduate students and academic staff, were developed in parallel and sequentially over a period of approximately nine years (2008–2016). The latter years were a time of consolidation of the programmes. Outcomes of these activities were ‘measured’ by increases in publications, decreases in time to graduation and enrichment of the research environment. Results: A doubling of research publications and an increase in citations occurred over the period under review. In addition, there was a decrease in the time postgraduate students took to graduate. Conclusions: A varied, but structured research management plan may be of value in African and other developing health sciences institutions to enable the increase in research outputs and capacity development, desperately needed to close the barrier between disease and health.