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3. Training The Malian staff is continuously undergoing training in cutting edge technologies to transfer the newest research tools to the Center Since the beginning of the program in Mali, the NIH has been cooperating in the training of Malian students, in Mali, in the US and at various Canadian and European research centers. Three students, all with Malian doctorates, have received Ph.Ds. from Tulane. Two Malians, while Research Fellows under Dr, Wellems at the NIH have completed training at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine. One was awarded a PhD in molecular biology, the second an MSc in vaccinology. Two MRTC staff completed PhDs at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in molecular entomology. One Malian doctorate while a Research Fellow (VP) in the LMVR was the first student participant in the NIAID / London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Doctoral Training Program in Tropical Medicine. He completed his academic course work in London and his research at the NIH and in Mali and was awarded a PhD in 2007. A number of Malian graduate students at the MRTC are working with mentors from US universities including the University of California (Davis), the University of Minnesota, and UCLA. For the past several summers, Malian students have been enrolled in the Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at The Johns Hopkins University. Many of these are playing crucial roles in the vaccine testing effort. Several have completed bioethics training courses in the US. The Mali ICER has also provided a unique venue for training scientists from the US and other countries. For example, in 1998, the NIH launched a training program which provided training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and medical students with emphasis on students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds. This program was supported by the NIH Office of Minority and Woman's Health through the Fogarty International Center with administration by the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine. From 1999 to 2003, a total of 74 students spent from 2 to 12 months in Mali. 4, NIAID/NIH Mali Office Development NIAID's Research Support Office was developed in 2005 after NIAID decided to unilaterally approach the Mali site having both extramural and intramural involved. The idea of the NIAID/NIH Mali Office was to develop an organized office structure which would unify all of DIR's scientific management and administrative functions into one office. This office would be headed by a Director which would serve as the official NIAID-NIH Senior Resident Representative in Mali. The first Director of the office and Senior Res Rep was Dr. Y'Drissa Sow who formerly worked with the NIAID HIV/TB program in Mali. In 2012 Dr. Sow was succeeded by Dr. Mame Khouredia Niang. Dr.