MRIGlobal Awarded Grant To Fund COVID-19 Laboratory Training On The African Continent

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MRIGlobal has received a $250,000 grant to increase expertise for diagnostics, epidemiology and COVID-19 disease surveillance on the African continent from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

MRIGlobal will establish virtual training modules for laboratory and data analytics work related to COVID-19 epidemiology for use by labs partnered with Africa's national public health network.

An important outcome of the program will be achieved when each laboratory has customized procedures in place and highly trained staff to add the COVID-19 sequencing assay to their laboratory testing capability.

MRIGlobal's global health team members have been training diagnostic laboratory scientists, technicians, and healthcare professionals around the world for close to three decades to develop or supplement health surveillance capabilities. This team will conduct the remote training to laboratory staff by leveraging existing online communities of practice, live streaming sessions, and other routes to learning as appropriate to the needs and resources of each partner laboratory.

MRIGlobal's approach to virtual training maximizes the sustainability of transferred knowledge by tailoring blended learning experiences to match the trainees' preferred modes of learning, followed by leave-behind resources and continued access to the existing communities of practice they have joined.

"This is the first time MRIGlobal has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," said Thomas Sack, Ph.D., president and CEO, MRIGlobal. "We're delighted to apply our vast expertise in global health engagement as one solution to ensure that the world's pandemic response is effective and equitable."

SOURCE MRIGlobal