Four PhD students of the Faculty of Medicine at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) have already completed a four-month semester of academic activities at the Albany University School of Public Health (USA) and are currently undergoing a practical internship at the AIDS Institute of the New York State Department of Health (USA). Within the framework of the project “Strategic Partnership in Training to Fight HIV/AIDS in Georgia” funded by the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the process of selecting six more PhD students is underway at TSU, who will be first trained at TSU and then undergo an eight-month training course in the United States.  
 

In order to monitor the ongoing joint research and plan new research activities in the course of the project, as well as to participate in the PhD student selection process, Jack Dehovitz, head of the New York State International Training and Research Program (New York State University) visited Tbilisi State University and met with TSU Rector George Sharvashidze, Dean of the TSU Faculty of Medicine, Dimitri Kordzaia, Director of the partner NGO “Partnership for Research and Action for Health”, one of the project managers Mamuka Djibuti, and Deputy Director of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, TSU Professor Paata Imnadze.  
 

TSU Rector George Sharvashidze said that the project will further develop in various directions. “The project, which is being implemented successfully for three years, covers several components, including the training of 10 PhD students from Tbilisi State University in the United States. As a result of this project, Georgia will have more professionals with high-level qualifications received in the United States,” Rector Sharvashidze noted. 
 

Jack Dehovitz, head of the New York State International Training and Research Program, said that the participants discussed the prospects of future cooperation. He hailed the project as very important, expressing hope that it would prove successful in Georgia.  
 

The project “Strategic Partnership in Training to Fight HIV/AIDS in Georgia” is jointly implemented by Tbilisi State University and Partnership for Research and Action for Health. “Currently, the selection process of the second cohort of doctoral students is underway. Six more PhD students will be selected, who will first be trained at TSU, and then undergo training in the United States. After that, they will return to Georgia, complete their doctoral studies at TSU and defend their doctoral thesis here,” Mamuka Djibuti, head of Partnership for Research and Action for Health, said. 
 

The key goal of the project is to eliminate shortcomings in HIV/AIDS detection and care that will be done through the training of next generations of Georgian scientists in public health and implementation science. “The project implies bringing scientific evidence into practice; therefore, we hope that our doctoral students will deepen their knowledge in public health. This will be a great achievement not only for scientists, but also in terms of introducing new methods into the teaching program,” TSU Professor Paata Imnadze noted. 
 

The five-year plan of the project “Strategic Partnership in Training to Fight HIV/AIDS in Georgia” covers three main components: 1. Long-term training in frames of which 10 PhD students will be trained at TSU. All ten students will be trained for eight months in the United States, the first four months at the Albany University School of Public Health, and the next four months - an internship at the AIDS Institute of the New York State Department of Health. 2. Short-term training in frames of which 30 post-doctoral students / active researchers will be trained in implementation research issues and 3. Institutional capacity building of TSU doctoral program and research partners.