Robert Einterz, M.D. Associate Dean

The IU Kenya partnership continues to grow and evolve. Led by Bob Einterz, M.D., Associate Dean for International Programs, the Division has coordinated the relationship between various IU departments and schools and the Moi University School of Medicine in Eldoret, Kenya, to develop the largest HIV treatment program in Kenya which has grown to one of the largest public-sector programs in sub-Saharan Africa. This program, called AMPATH (Academic Model for the Prevention And Treatment of HIV/AIDS) is the most rapidly growing HIV/AIDS care program in Kenya and perhaps all of sub-Saharan Africa. As of this writing, more than 50,000 HIV-positive individuals (87% adults) have been enrolled in AMPATH and have made more than 300,000 visits to 19 sites in western Kenya, enrolling more than 2000 new HIV-infected patients per month.

To date, the IU Kenya Program has received 34 extramural grants for clinical care and research totaling more than $55 million, not including the cost of antiretroviral drugs. The Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Director of the United Nation's World Food Program have called AMPATH the best HIV/AIDS treatment program in all of Africa. To do this invokes all aspects of the tripartite academic mission: establishing facilities and delivering care; training physicians, clinical officers, nurses, nutritionists, pharmacists, counselors, outreach workers, and others; and using the HIV/AIDS clinics as a laboratory for multidisciplinary clinical research. Numerous research projects are underway funded by NIH; the World Health Organization; the Bill and Melinda Gates, Rockefeller, and Doris Duke Foundations; and other sources.

Collaborative links have been established with a growing number of other medical schools including Brown University, Columbia University, University of California, San Francisco, Yale University, Duke University, University of Utah, University of Toronto, and University of Washington. In addition to its focus on the problem of HIV, the IU-Moi partnership has continued to promote exchange of medical students, residents, and faculty between the two institutions as a means to foster development and to enhance medical education and training.

Visit the IU-Kenya Partnership website to learn more about the program.