Sepsis patients in sub-Saharan Africa will receive faster, more effective care as researchers in Malawi, Uganda, and Gabon build a coordinated network to tackle the region’s leading cause of death from infection. Sepsis—the body’s overwhelming response to infection—kills millions globally, with the highest burden in low- and middle-income countries. Yet most sepsis research and treatment guidelines come from high-income settings, where resources and patient populations differ sharply. This group addresses that gap by centering African priorities, training local researchers in clinical skills and implementation science, and embedding findings directly into national health policy through partners like ministries of health and the African Institute for Development Policy. If successful, the work could transform sepsis survival rates across the continent. Instead of importing protocols that don’t fit, African health systems will have evidence-based, context-appropriate care pathways—from emergency triage to hospital discharge. The group’s explicit policy links mean results are designed to change how clinics, hospitals, and ministries actually operate, not just produce academic papers. By concentrating resources in three countries while building South-South collaboration, the project creates a replicable model for other low-resource settings.
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Our aim is to improve the survival and quality of life of sepsis patients through multidisciplinary applied health research at the individual and health system level. The Group provides the framework to transform sepsis research, guided by the priorities of African stakeholders. We will develop capacity across the spectrum of translational research from training in research methods, through clinical skills and systems-level implementation science, and into policy. We will be multi-disciplinary and collaborative; within Africa, we have named partners representing African research units, Ministries of Health, non-governmental organisations, and medical societies. For each, we have counterparts in the UK and high-income countries (HICs), notably the NHS, who bring expertise in specific knowledge areas including patient safety and health economics (see “Partners”). With the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), the Group has explicit plans for ensuring results are incorporated into national and international policy. Our Centres for Sepsis Research Excellence are chosen for several reasons, including: representation of both low- (Malawi, Uganda) and middle-income (Gabon) countries; potential for South-South collaboration; existing laboratory and clinical infrastructure which will support the Group’s research; and long-standing research links with the investigators (Rylance in Malawi; Jacob in Uganda; Gorbusch in Gabon). Concentration of resources in 3 countries will allow for greater research impact. Baseline assessment of similarities and differences will describe the likely external validity of the work. Our ASA link will ensure that questions are relevant in other countries and studies can be expanded into new settings where appropriate. LEADERSHIP We have high-level commitment from LSTM, and our aim closely reflects the LSTM vision. The Dean of LSTM has allocated protected time to provide senior support and guidance to the two mid-career co-directors (Rylance, and Jacob, a recent strategic appointment as Senior Lecturer in Sepsis). This team have broad-ranging expertise in infection and sepsis research in Africa and have an existing portfolio of relevant research funding upon which this NIHR group builds. If funded, 60% of the costs of the directors and senior investigator time will be core funded by LSTM, allowing 70% of the NIHR funding to be spent in Africa. SUPPORT FROM LSTM LSTM is a centre of excellence in Tropical Medicine, housing a critical mass of multidisciplinary researchers with extensive experience of undertaking clinical and health systems research in LMIC and developing successful partnerships. LSTM provides extensive infrastructural support and expertise, including a tropical Clinical Trials Unit (tCTU), the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit, communications, and shared working space with NHS colleagues (Co-I Nsutebu) in the Liverpool Life Sciences Accelerator at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Integrated social science research will ensure context appropriateness and acceptability of interventions (Tolhurst, Gooding). INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS LSTM has a long history of successful partnerships with LMIC organisations through bilateral collaborations within LSTM-supported networks. Collaboration for Applied Health Research and Delivery (CAHRD), for example, led from LSTM, is a global network of individuals and organisations which implements research-driven effective, innovative, and affordable health practices. Building on this health systems experience, we will develop further collaborations: • South-South: The Group will foster new international multidisciplinary partnerships through the Centres of Sepsis Research Excellence in Uganda, Malawi, and Gabon. Each country has a strong sepsis research track record with complementary areas of expertise to be cross-pollinated through the grant activities (e.g., Malawi – epidemiology and severity scores[1,
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