Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis in the Republic of South Africa: RePORT South Africa Phase III

The Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) International platform continues to serve as an important global resource for the TB research community which enables TB/HIV researchers to address critical research questions across a range of topics. The research priorities addressed by the consortia countries (India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines) are aligned with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) priorities, as well as those of the participating host countries. 

According to the 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB report, an estimated global total of 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2021, equivalent to 134 cases per 100,000 population. Among all TB cases, 6.7% were among people living with HIV and Africa had 23% of the TB cases. South Africa is among WHO’s list of 30 high-burden tuberculosis countries and has one of the highest incidence rates of notified tuberculosis with an estimated TB incidence of 513/100,000 and an estimated TB/HIV co-infection rate was 59%. Among these 30 high burden TB countries, South Africa is among the 14 countries with the highest burden of TB, TB/HIV and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR- TB). TB remains the leading cause of death among people with HIV in South Africa. This problem is further compounded by the emergence of drug resistant strains of TB which are more difficult and very costly to treat.  

CRDF Global is accepting proposals on behalf of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) to fund a single network of multiple clinical and laboratory research sites addressing an array of TB biomedical and clinical research of importance to South Africa and abroad. 

This announcement invites application(s) from South African investigators working in partnership with one or more U.S. based investigators to submit research proposals for the establishment of the RePORT South Africa network as outlined in this announcement. The aim of this RFP is to create a single network consisting of multiple clinical and laboratory research sites and a multidisciplinary team of investigators that addresses an array of TB research questions of importance to South Africa in the global context.  

This announcement will fund one (1) award for the duration of three (3) years that consists of the following components: 

1. A multidisciplinary research team with appropriate leadership structure that will coordinate and oversee the science of the RePORT South Africa Network and administer the logistical needs of the network and its affiliated clinical research sites. 
2. Clinical research sites that will implement a network wide prospective observational cohort(s) based on the framework of the RePORT Common Protocol and associated standards.
3. An array of research studies based on the above cohort(s) and/or clinical data and specimens collected (or previously collected) in the cohort(s). 

A competitive application must include all or a subset of the current active South African TB research network sites. New clinical research sites and/or new investigators may be proposed to extend the geographic or demographic diversity of the current enrolled participants and/or the scientific expertise of the current group of investigators. The inclusion of previously disadvantaged sites/institutions is highly encouraged. 

Proposal application materials submitted to CRDF Global must be prepared in English and compiled in the following document files for submission. Acceptable file formats are Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). All proposals must be submitted electronically by the Principal Investigator (PI) on behalf of the entire collaborative team via email to the CRDF Global point of contact (POC): Ms. Aisha Eiger, aeiger@crdfglobal.org.

Proposals should be submitted only once. After the email submission process, the lead Principal Investigator will receive a confirmation of receipt message from CRDF Global’s POC, Aisha Eiger.