The Centre serves as a regional hub for developing and evaluating models of chronic disease care and the prevention of their risk factors.
Since the launch in November 2009, the CDIA network has expanded to include members from Malawi, Kenya and Botswana and locally from the University of Pretoria and the University of Witwatersrand. The Centre is part of an 11 centre Global Health Initiative (GRAND South) focussing on non-communicable disease research in the developing world that was initially funded by the United Health Chronic Disease Initiative and the National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI).
CDIA is involved in the postgraduate training of 7 local and 6 international students, registered at 5 national and international universities.
CDIA is unique in Africa in that it strives to connect scientists in an expanding collaborative network in order to optimize the contribution of the limited number of researchers on chronic diseases in the region. Our vision is the reductions of the burden of chronic diseases and their risk factors in Africa.