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  • Pauline Byakika-Kibwika, winner of the HIVRT alumni scholarship to attend the HIV Drug Therapy Congress, Glasgow, 2018.



    HIV Research Trust alumni were asked to complete a survey describing how their HIVRT scholarship had impacted their professional and academic lives allowing Trustees to better understand how it affected patient outcomes in the scholar’s home setting. The Trustees assessed all survey responses and selected Pauline to receive the above award. Her story is summarised below.

    In 2010 Pauline attended a placement at Mahidol University, Thailand to obtain clinical pharmacology analytical skills to assist her in completing her PhD. Pauline’s PhD work contributed to the current knowledge on treatment of malaria in HIV-infected patients who are also receiving antiretroviral treatment. This work has been utilised and referenced by the World Health Organization in the current policy on treatment of malaria in HIV-infected individuals.

    After completion of her PhD, she was promoted to Associate Professor and currently heads the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Department of Medicine of Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda where they care for those who are affected with HIV and opportunistic infections - more than 200 HIV-infected inpatients and over 300 outpatients are seen each month.

    Pauline is also the Director of the Research Directorate at Makerere where her responsibilities include reviewing and guiding the research framework at the Department of Medicine and supervising Masters and PhD students’ research projects.

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    The HIV Research Trust awards short-term scholarships to health care professionals in developing countries to help recipients learn skills and techniques which will add to their local department’s capacity in HIV treatment and prevention. More than 260 awards have been made to date.

    In partnership with the International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection

    Scholarships for early/mid-career health care professionals
    Open to researchers in all specialties concerned with HIV infection
    Scholarships of variable duration awarded annually


    The HIV Research Trust is a charitable foundation that provides financial support to physicians, nurses, scientists and other health care professionals in early/mid-career who are located in resource-limited settings from low-income and lower-middle-income countries working in the field of HIV infection. All aspects of research related to HIV infection and its consequences are eligible including clinical care, basic and applied biology, epidemiology, psychological, ethical, economic, educational and societal aspects. The support is in the form of scholarships which are of variable duration and cover course fees, travel, living expenses and consumables.

    Scholarships are awarded annually following a competitive peer-review process and are designed to enable the candidate to travel to another research unit to learn skills and techniques which should develop the candidate’s career and, on return to the home institution, add to the capacity of the department to carry out research related to treatment and prevention. Examples of skills and techniques that may be acquired are; clinical management, clinical trial experience and practice, data and trial management, statistical expertise, acquisition of laboratory techniques and analysis, cell and molecular biology.

    COVID-19 Update:

    APPLICATIONS FOR 2021 SCHOLARSHIPS ARE NOW OPEN

    In early 2020, the Trustees of the HIV Research Trust took the decision to postpone the 2021 Scholarships in response to the COIVD-19 pandemic. The Trustees have now decided to go ahead with the 2021 scholarships, on a revised schedule:

    • Monday 11th Jan 2021: Applications Open
    • Sun 7th March 2021: Applications Close
    • April 2021: Awards announced

    Scholarships may be applied for with start dates no earlier than 1st April 2021 and no later than 31st March 2022.

    In light of the ongoing travel restrictions, and the uncertainty of when these may be lifted or reinstated, the Trustees are particularly interested in receiving applications for on-line or remote courses. Scholarships that involve travel within the scholar’s home country will also be prioritised.

    Whilst the Trust will consider funding international travel, applicants should be aware of the inherent problems associated with such travel during the ongoing COVID-19 global crisis. Applicants wishing to apply for funding for international travel should consider the following:

    • Budgets for travel, accommodation, and insurance should reflect the high costs currently seen around the world. Applications with disproportionately high travel costs will need to demonstrate exceptional value-for-money for the course or tenure applied for.
    • Flights may be cancelled and/or international travel restrictions introduced/re-introduced at short notice. In such instances, additional funding to cover extra costs incurred will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but is in no way guaranteed. The Trust reserves the right to withdraw any scholarship deemed unsafe or impractical for these reasons.
    • Adequate travel and health insurance must be budgeted for in the application and must be in place before scholars travel.
    • Successful applicants accept responsibility for their ability to return to their home country under travel restrictions, and agree to fulfil any quarantine requirements in their home or host countries at their own expense.
    • Applicants should at all times consider their personal safety the highest priority throughout the planning and application stages of their proposed scholarship.

    CLICK HERE TO APPLY

    TIMELINE FOR 2021 SCHOLARSHIPS

    • 11th Jan 2021: Applications Open
    • 7th March 2021: Applications Close
    • April 2021: Scholarships announced

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    HOW TO APPLY

    If you are interested in applying for a scholarship find out more below:

    HOW TO APPLY

    AM I ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

    The scholarships are for health care professionals in early/mid-career who are located in resource-limited settings from low-income and lower-middle-income countries working in the field of HIV infection. Read more to see if you are eligible.