Academic Programs

Mailman School of Public Health’s International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP), through funding and collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has launched a distance-learning program for public health surveillance professionals in Tanzania.

The program is being piloted in two twelve-week courses. It is designed to build and reinforce surveillance skills for HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV risk behaviors.

Twice weekly, a total of 20 Tanzanian public health professionals from the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Zanzibar Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, CDC-Tanzania, ICAP Tanzania, and other non-governmental organizations, log into a virtual classroom and participate in 90-minute interactive lectures and discussion sessions.

Students complete weekly readings, written homework assignments, and a final project that requires students to utilize skills and knowledge gained throughout the course.

The courses are taught by Victoria Nankabirwa, a Mailman School doctoral student in epidemiology , with guidance from Denis Nash, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology, and director, Monitoring and Evaluation, ICAP; Marita Murrman, EdD, associate clinical professor of Sociomedical Sciences; Mari Millery, PhD, associate research scientist in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences; and Ian Lapp, PhD, associate dean of Academic Affairs & Education and assistant professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences.

“Strengthening in-country surveillance capacity is key to understanding and addressing the HIV epidemic in Africa,” said Jessica Justman, MD, associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Mailman School, ICAP senior technical director, and principal investigator for the program. "We are excited about the possibility of offering a greater variety of public health courses for different types of audiences through distance learning.”