Funded by Fogarty International Center, Grant/Award Number: D43 TW-012492
The Georgian Biostatistics in Implementation Science Fogarty Training Program (GIFT) is an interdisciplinary training initiative designed to strengthen research capacity in HIV implementation science and biostatistics in Georgia (country). The program is a collaboration between Ilia State University in Georgia and the Yale School of Public Health, supported by the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health.
The GIFT Fellowship is designed to accelerate scientific innovation, enhance public health research capacity, and strengthen the implementation of evidence-based interventions in Georgia. With a focus on HIV and opioid use disorder implementation science methods and analysis, GIFT aims to train the first generation of biostatisticians in the region and to establish a cohort of academics dedicated to advancing the field of biostatistics.
Through a hybrid program between Yale University and Ilia State University, the project aims to train four existing public health faculty members and six doctoral students. Funding will also be provided to support the execution of their own implementation science and biostatistics research projects. In addition, GIFT will offer summer short courses through Biostatistics and Methods Implementation Science Boot Camps.
The projects principal investigators are: Prof. Frederick L. Altice, Prof. Denise Esserman, and Prof. Irma Kirtadze.
Prof. Frederick L. Altice, MD, MA
Frederick Altice is a Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), and Public Health at Yale University. He is a clinician, clinical epidemiologist, and a researcher in intervention and implementation science at both Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health. He serves as a Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI) of the GIFT project and is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Malaya.
Prof. Altice’s research has a strong global health focus, with funded projects in Malaysia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Peru, and Indonesia. He currently directs two international implementation science research and training centers in collaboration with Yale, the University of Malaya, and Sichuan University. During the GIFT Bootcamps, Prof. Altice will lead workshops on implementation science.
Prof. Denise Esserman, PhD
Denise Esserman is a Professor of Biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health and a member of the Yale Center for Analytical Sciences. She collaborates across departments within the Yale School of Medicine, including the Clinical and Translational Science Award Program, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Yale Cancer Center.
During the GIFT Bootcamps, Prof. Esserman will introduce key methodological and statistical considerations in implementation research and lead the biostatistics workshops.
Prof. Irma Kirtadze, MD, PhD
🔗 Ilia State University profile
Irma Kirtadze is an Associate Professor in the Addiction Studies and Public Health program at Ilia State University. She has over 20 years of experience in researching drug use disorders and their linkage to blood-borne infections such as HIV, hepatitis B/C, and STIs. Prof. Kirtadze is a Principal Investigator with expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including recruitment, interviewing, and the implementation of HIV prevention interventions for key populations.
Her research focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention programs, primary healthcare reform evaluation, and implementation science. During the GIFT Bootcamps, she hosts and leads workshops at Ilia State University.