Advancing biostatistics to solve Africa’s most urgent health challenges

The Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) is a multi-institutional network that develops cutting-edge statistical and data science methods, trains the next generation of African biostatisticians, and strengthens evidence-based health policy across the continent.

WHO WE ARE

The Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) is a pan-African initiative led by the Wits School of Public Health and supported through the DELTAS Africa programme of the Science for Africa Foundation.

The consortium brings together African and international universities, research institutes, and public-health organisations to build advanced biostatistical capacity across the region. Through postgraduate training, collaborative research, and policy engagement, SSACAB develops innovative methods to address major health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.

THE HEALTH CHALLENGES WE ADDRESS

OUR SEVEN CORE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

SSACAB’s research is organised around seven priority questions, each led by a partner institution and its research team.

• How can machine learning and artificial intelligence improve prevention and personalised treatment for communicable and non-communicable diseases in Africa?
• How can spatial and temporal methods help us understand the health impacts of climate variability and change?
• Can we identify links between personal, environmental, and social factors and disease using causal and structural equation modelling?
• How can observational data be used to assess interventions where clinical trials are not feasible or ethical?
• What advanced statistical methods can account for missing or incomplete health data
• How can African laboratories analyse their own genomic and other -omics datasets using local biostatistical expertise?
• What statistical methods can combine multiple data sources to generate stronger evidence for policy and practice?

Research themes by partner

Wits School of Public Health (South Africa)

• AI and machine learning for disease prevention
• Climate variability and health modelling

University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin)

• Causal modelling and structural equation modelling

University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)

• Missing-data methods in complex longitudinal studies

Moi University (Kenya)

• Observational data for intervention evaluation

KEMRI Wellcome Trust (Kenya)

• Bioinformatics and -omics data analysis

University of Pretoria (South Africa)

• Data triangulation and evidence synthesis

Northern partners

• Methodological support
• Co-supervision
• Short courses and curriculum development
• Training resources

SSACAB, under the Wits MsC Epidemiology Programme, was accredited by the prestigious Royal Statistical Society.

HOW SSACAB WORKS

Each research theme is led and supported by:

• The Lead Project Investigator (PI)
• Postdoctoral fellows
• Senior national and international biostatisticians
• Research Institutes that share data
• PhD fellows
• MSc fellows embedded in research projects
• Partner institutions providing real-world datasets

This structure builds sustainable, internationally competitive research teams across Africa.

TRAINING AND IMPACT

SSACAB supports a full career pathway in biostatistics:

• MSc fellows
• PhD fellows
• Postdoctoral researchers

Fellows are placed across partner and collaborators institutions and participate in:

• Regional short courses
• International conferences
• Collaborative publications
• Policy engagement initiatives
• Community and public engagement initiatives

PARTNER LIST

SSACAB brings together institutions across Africa and the global north.

Southern Africa

• University of the Witwatersrand (consortium lead)
• University of KwaZulu-Natal
• South African Medical Research Council
• Stellenbosch University
• University of Malawi
• University of Zambia
• University of Namibia
• Kinshasa Institute of Medical Science
• CAPRISA
• HSRC

East Africa

• Moi University
• KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme
• Makerere University
• University of Nairobi
• Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College
• University of Gondar
• UVRI/MRC Uganda
• National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania

West Africa

• University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin)
• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
• MRC Gambia

Northern partners

• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Utrecht University
• University of Warwick
• Lancaster University
• Hasselt University