Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

Operations Research

Purpose

The Doris Duke Operations Research on AIDS Care and Treatment in Africa (ORACTA) program seeks to improve the care and treatment of AIDS patients in resource-limited settings, inform antiretroviral therapy (ART) policy and practice, and improve outcomes of the roll-out and scale-up of ART in Africa.

Rationale & Program History

In sub-Saharan Africa, more than a million people are now on antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS, a 10-fold increase since December 2003; 23 percent of the estimated 4.6 million people in immediate need of ART in sub-Saharan Africa are now receiving treatment. There is, however, only limited knowledge and experience of how best to deliver ART in resource-constrained contexts. The ORACTA program was designed to help support health operations research that can address this knowledge gap.

Since 2005, 30 teams of researchers working in Africa have received ORACTA grants totaling approximately $6 million.

Grant Details

ORACTA grants provide two-year grants of up to $100,000 per year to teams of investigators conducting health operations research on AIDS care and treatment in Africa. Indirect costs are not supported by this award.

New grants are not being offered at this time.
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Definition of Operations Research

The program supports a spectrum of health services research, including operations and implementation research, related to AIDS care and treatment in Africa:

• Operations research is being defined broadly and includes the use of analytical techniques to achieve better health outcomes, define optimal processes of service delivery, and develop more cost-effective systems. It encompasses a wide range of studies, including observational and outcomes studies, epidemiological modeling, and cost-effectiveness studies.
  
  
• Implementation research addresses the “how” of translating current research knowledge into practice within health and social systems.

Eligibility

Grantees must be investigators who are working with healthcare teams that provide care and treatment to AIDS patients in Africa. The team of investigators must include at least one Co-Investigator who is African and working at an African institution. The Principal Investigator must be affiliated with a U.S. accredited, degree-granting institution; a U.S. academic research institution; or a U.S. charitable institution that is tax-exempt and publicly supported as defined by the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

Selection Process

The Medical Research Program issues a Request for Proposals for this award competition. An expert panel reviews the proposals based on the criteria listed in the RFP, and recommends to the DDCF the strongest proposals for funding.