Training Advisory Committee

The Pitt HRTP Training Advisory Committee (TAC) was established to provide oversight, guidance, and scientific leadership to the Pitt HRTP. The function of the TAC will be to:

Ensure that the Pitt HRTP progresses along the lines of its mission statement
Ensure that the Pitt HRTP is resulting in increased research capacity at Universidade Católica de Moçambique (UCM) that will allow it to participate in HIV clinical trials
Provide peer review of trainee research proposals
Review and select degree and other long-term training applicants from UCM
Review the progress of trainees and the program in general

The TAC is composed of senior investigators who are not directly involved in our program as training faculty, two from the University of Pittsburgh, three from institutions in Mozambique (including UCM, the focus of our training program), and one from another LMIC with substantial experience in HIV research training. The members of our TAC are:

Donald S. Burke, MD, Dean of the Pitt Graduate School of Public Health, Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health, and Director of the Pitt Center for Vaccine Research, has expertise in a variety of infectious diseases. He is a former Director of the US Military HIV/AIDS Research Program. Dr. Burke is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Academy of Microbiology, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American College of Physicians, and the Infectious Disease Society of America. Dr. Burke is the Chairman of our TAC.

John W. Mellors, MD, is Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Director of HIV/AIDS Programs at the University of Pittsburgh, including the NIH Division of AIDS-sponsored Pitt Clinical Trials Unit. He is also Director of Virology Core for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the Microbicide Trials Network. His basic science laboratory, funded by NIAID and NCI, focuses on discovery of new antiretrovirals and mechanisms of HIV drug resistance. He has trained many doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in HIV research. In addition to being a member of our TAC, Dr. Mellors will provide guidance in training in laboratory aspects of drug-resistant HIV.

Jean W. Pape, MD, is Professor of Medicine in the Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Cornell University. He is also founder and Director of the GHESKIO (Groupe Haitien d’Etudes du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infections Opportunistes) Centers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Dr. Pape has made major contributions to the HIV/AIDS literature for over 25 years. In 2000, Dr. Pape was honored by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his contributions in HIV/AIDS. He is a member of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and Director of the Cornell AIDS International AIDS Training and Research Program (AITRP). Dr. Pape is also a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Josefo J. Ferro, MD, has been the Dean of the UCM Faculty of Health Sciences since 2008. Since 2009, Dr. Ferro and Dr. Harrison have worked closely during the start-up phase of Pitt AITRP training activities in Mozambique. Dr. Ferro’s has close links with the Ministry of Health at the local and national levels, which are of great benefit to the Twinning Partnership and UCM. Trained as only one of three pathologists in Mozambique, he is well-positioned to oversee the expansion of research capacity at UCM. As Dean of UCM Faculty of Health Sciences, he plays a key role in student and faculty development. As he did with the Pitt AITRP, Dr. Ferro will work closely with Dr. Harrison to coordinate training activities at UCM.

As Director of the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM), one of our training sites, Dr. Eusébio Macete, has both a direct stake in success of the program and the expertise to provide scientific input. Dr. Ilesh Jani is the General Director of the Mozambican National Institute of Health (MNIH) and an established HIV researcher.