The University at Buffalo’s Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS) has formed a strategic partnership with Intellectus Campus to expand research and healthcare education initiatives in Harare, Zimbabwe. This collaboration aims to strengthen biomedical research and training within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Intellectus Campus, a Pan-African provider of affordable and effective training solutions in health care, business, information technology, and education, operates across several SADC countries, including South Africa, Namibia, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. With over 30 years of experience, it is affiliated with Healthy Galaxy Park, a healthcare innovation and biomedical research hub established by the Zimbabwean government in Harare.
“I am very excited about the role of Intellectus Campus in implementing a core laboratory facility with bioanalytical instrumentation that will provide an innovative research environment and hands-on training for SADC,” said Gene Morse, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and director of CIGBS. “I look forward to working with CIGBS and Health Galaxy Park to bring an expanded biomedical research and development capacity to Zimbabwe.”
The partnership will support the mission of Healthy Galaxy Park, which is designed to foster innovation in Zimbabwe’s healthcare systems through a network of universities, creating a meta-university structure within the country. Morse, recently appointed to the Health Galaxy Park board of management, will serve as the global biomedical sciences partnerships liaison.
CIGBS, established in 2015, has a longstanding history of collaborating with international partners to bridge gaps in drug development, therapeutics research, and capacity-building programs. It has played a significant role in building research capacity at the University of Zimbabwe through National Institutes of Health grants from the Fogarty International Center, mentoring young faculty and developing future research leaders.
The core research laboratory in Harare will be funded by Intellectus Campus, with industry support from companies participating in the Health Galaxy Park project. “CIGBS has been interested in participating in the Health Galaxy Park project as it represents a natural extension of two decades of biomedical research capacity-building with the University of Zimbabwe,” Morse added. “Zimbabwe universities need foundational infrastructure to drive biomedical and economic initiatives, leading to sustainable development. This collaborative project will foster new UB faculty participation and create opportunities for graduate students to engage in global sustainable development research projects.”
Charles Maponga, a seasoned academic, UB collaborator, and co-principal investigator of the UB-University of Zimbabwe HIV Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Training Program, serves as CEO and chairman of the Health Galaxy Park board of management. “Linking Intellectus Campus to CIGBS has been a milestone for the Health Galaxy Park initiative over the past year,” Maponga stated.
Healthy Galaxy Park will provide a setting for Zimbabwean faculty and students to conduct new biomedical and pharmaceutical research in collaboration with startup companies, following an incubator model similar to the START-UP NY projects at various SUNY campuses. CIGBS has been identified as the lead international university partner in the development of Health Galaxy Park and was nominated in 2023 for the Prix Galien USA award for Incubators, Accelerators, and Equity.
Source: UBNow