The Data Science Center for the Study of Surgery and Injury in Africa (D-SINE-Africa)

About This Grant

Trauma is a leading cause of mortality and disability in the United States, particularly among civilians and military members aged 5–45 years. Although injuries are largely preventable and treatable, access to timely, high quality trauma care remains limited in austere settings such as rural “trauma deserts” and disaster response environments in the US. These challenges mirror conditions in sub Saharan Africa (SSA), where injuries and surgically treated diseases represent a substantial disease burden, yet research infrastructure and funding opportunities are limited. Settings such as Cameroon, therefore, provide scientifically informative and cost efficient environments to study trauma and surgical care questions directly relevant to U.S. civilian and military populations facing low resource conditions. The Data Science Center for the Study of Surgery and Injury in Africa (D SINE Africa) is an NIH funded research hub based at the University of Buea in Cameroon. It is a strategic partnership between the University of Buea, the University of California (Los Angeles and Berkeley), the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health, and the University of Cape Town. This collaboration enables trauma research that is often infeasible in the U.S. due to prohibitive cost or lack of clinical equipoise. Similar to how U.S. military experience has advanced civilian trauma care, research conducted in austere African settings can generate evidence benefiting U.S. populations. D SINE Africa leverages data science to reduce the burden of trauma, surgical disease, and health disparities in Cameroon and SSA through three Center Cores (Administrative, Capacity Building, and Data Management and Analysis) and two Research Projects. Project 1 develops socioeconomic status surveillance tools, and Project 2 applies machine learning to enhance post discharge trauma follow up. Both projects rely on the Cameroon Trauma Registry (CTR), a centralised nine hospital database that has enrolled over 18,000 patients and includes longitudinal mHealth follow up at 2 weeks, 1, 3, and 6 months post discharge, capturing rare data on disability and economic impact. This administrative supplement addresses two critical needs centred on CTR sustainability and institutionalization to achieve D-SINE Africa’s overall mission and complete the integration of Project 2’s Aim 1 to “scale-up an mHealth, phone-based screening tool to identify trauma patients in Cameroon who would benefit from further formal medical care”. Specifically, it aims to 1) Streamline the CTR and mHealth program through “de-implementation” and data harmonisation to improve efficiency and sustainability, and 2) Engage Cameroon’s National Health Information System to incorporate priorities for CTR data collection and explore integration of core CTR elements into the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) platform. This supplement will ensure completion of these critical projects, sustain high impact trauma research, and continue to provide U.S. trainees with valuable opportunities for secondary data analysis and hypothesis driven research with direct relevance to U.S. trauma care.