University of Otago backing new Communicable Diseases Research Centre at FNU

The University of Otago’s Global Health Institute and Dunedin’s Mercy Hospital are supporting the establishment of a new Communicable Diseases Research Centre at the Fiji National University.

The University of Otago signed a Memorandum of Understanding with FNU in 2017.

Otago Global Health Institute Co-Director Associate, Professor Patrick Vakaoti says supporting FNU’s desire to build truly Pacific-led and internationally competitive research centres is very much in line with their vision of a “world where health problems are solved by those who are most affected by them”.

Professor Vakaoti says they are excited to partner with FNU on this initiative and hope that together they can help build something that Fiji and all of the Pacific can be proud of.

He says they hope that this initiative will lead to outstanding Pacific-led collaborative research that impacts infectious diseases across the Pacific.

Mercy Hospital has committed $97,500 over three years towards the employment of a coordinator for the new Centre.

The CDRC is the brainchild of Doctor Donald Wilson who is Associate Dean of Research at FNU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Dr Wilson says CDRC is also establishing foundational partnerships with researchers and institutions across the world.

He says the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical need to build capacity in infectious and communicable disease research and they are grateful to Otago and Mercy Hospital.

Shanil Source: Otago.ac.nz