University of Cape Town - South Africa
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is the most comprehensive
higher education institution in South Africa. The Faculty of Medicine is internationally know for ground breaking research in
cardiology, internal medicine, pathology and radiology and psychiatry. The first heart
transplant in the world was done in the early 1960 in the school of medicine.
The department of psychiatry is the largest department of its kind in
Southern Africa. The adolescent health research team, led by Dr. Alan Flisher, is
nationally know for ground breaking work in adolescent risk taking behaviors, smoking,
drinking, etc.
The most recent and comprehensive work of it kind in Southern Africa, the
South Africa Community Epidemiology Research Network on Drug Use-School Study is lead by
Dr. Alan Flisher. This multi-site, multidisciplinary research study is funded by the SA
Medical Research Council, the United Nations Development Program, and UCT. It seeks to
estimate the prevalence of various risk taking behavior as the basis for developing
innovative interventions. Research training of both undergraduate and post graduate
students is a major component of this project.
This component of the PSU-MIRT program will build on the 1998 pilot project
that was developed in collaboration between Penn State and the University of the Western
Cape to develop an effective intervention to promote HIV preventive health behavior among
youths in South Africa. The PSU-MIRT trainees will be involved in developing, piloting,
and finalizing the questionnaire. The transcript from the focus group study will be used
to develop the questionnaire. Upon arrival in South Africa, the trainees will be involved
in piloting the questionnaire, preparing the final revision and using the questionnaire
for data collection. The trainees will be trained in data analysis and will be involved in
writing abstracts for presentation and papers for publication.