The ZENITH Initiative -  Empowering Zambia  

The Zambia Education Network for Implementation Science Training in Health (ZENITH), a research training collaboration between the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka and the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), is an educational program designed to provide short-, medium-, and long-term implementation science capacity in Zambia. The aim of ZENITH is to prepare Zambian professionals with research skills and knowledge to develop HIV service delivery innovations for key and vulnerable populations to help Zambia achieve sustained HIV epidemic control. 

ZENITH's approach comprises three interlinked aims: 

Aim 1: Immediate Research Capacity Building: ISI 

ZENITH will begin its efforts with the creation of the Implementation Science Institute (ISI) in Lusaka. The ISI is an intensive one-month research training seminar for 10 students per year. The ISI faculty includes leading HIV implementation scientists from UMB and UTH who teach core competencies for implementation science research, such as research methods, quantitative and qualitative methods, and writing grants and manuscripts. The ISI aims to create a cohort of trained public health professionals that can begin applying implementation science principles to their HIV-related work.

Aim 2: Medium-Term Research Capacity Development: MHS 

ZENITH will fund and support two cohorts of ten students each to enroll in its students to receive a two-year Master’s in Health Sciences in Implementation Dissemination Science at UMB. Utilizing virtual classrooms, the coursework will match training needs with implementation science skills, providing academic rigor to ongoing real-world implementation in the field.  

Aim 3: Long-Term Independent Research Capacity Enhancement: PhD 

To build long-term sustainability, ZENITH will fund several Zambian PhD candidates who are completing degrees in implementation science fields such as epidemiology and qualitative social science. These scholars will become the next generation of Zambian implementation scientists creating new research and informing HIV policy agendas to create locally owned and sustained epidemic control.

At the heart of ZENITH lies a commitment to mentorship and collaboration. Through a twinned mentor model, wherein senior and junior mentors co-supervise trainees, participants will receive personalized career guidance and support. This approach not only cultivates individual talent but also fosters mentorship capacity among local professionals, ensuring sustainability beyond the project's duration. 

ZENITH's success hinges on the expertise and dedication of its collaborators across UTH and UMB, with collaborators from international health institutions. Their collective efforts ensure seamless administration and alignment with national priorities, bolstering the program's impact. 

By training a cadre of Zambian implementation scientists to address the unique challenges of the HIV epidemic, ZENITH paves the way for Zambian-driven research and sustainable HIV epidemic control and showcases the impact of research, education, and international collaboration.