Center for Implementation Science Malaysian Implementation Science Training (MIST) Program

Implementation science is the scientific study of methods and strategies that facilitate the uptake of evidence-based practice and research into regular use by practitioners and policymakers. It seeks to systematically close the gap between what we know and what we do by identifying and addressing the barriers that slow or halt the uptake of proven health interventions and evidence-based practices.

Despite an array of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to address HIV, the HIV epidemic in Malaysia remains volatile. With over 100,000 cumulative HIV cases, Malaysia's rapidly expanding HIV epidemic is the fifth largest in the Asia-Pacific region and concentrated within the most at-risk populations, including people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men (MSM), and female sex workers (FSW). This is attributed to an inadequate scale-up of EBIs, to meet HIV prevention and treatment efforts. Therefore, given the need to expand EBIs into the continuum of HIV care in Malaysia, it is critical that we invest in implementation science and the next generation of researchers to curtail the burden of HIV disease. Designing, developing, and institutionalizing the MIST at the Universiti Malaya (UM), is an offspring of Yale’s deep commitment to international training to improve population outcomes.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Malaysian Implementation Science Training Program (MIST), the first training program on HIV and implementation science in Malaysia that incorporates a human rights approach. Building on over 15 years of successful collaborations in medical and public health research for key populations, with or at risk for HIV, we are thrilled to team up again bringing forth the MIST program to invite UM faculty and Malaysian scholars to engage in a cutting edge learning experience on implementation science. CERiA, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM), and Yale University are poised to focus implementation science to overcome health disparities for People Who Inject Drugs (PWID), Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM), Female Sex Worker (FSW), transgender populations and prisoners. Our program commits to provide advanced training on HIV implementation science to produce a phased transfer of knowledge, skills, and expertise from Yale to UM over a course of five years. We envisage this program to serve as a model curriculum for training at UM that will eventually be led and sustained by local faculty with strong community, government, and international partnerships.

We are delighted to open the doors to the next generation of Implementation Scientists in Malaysia through our customized training program. Malaysian scholars are the training core of this hybrid program. Specifically, MIST adheres to three core aims, including 1) training 10 Implementation Research Scholars and 4 Implementation Research Faculty by integrating advanced training in HIV implementation science from Yale School of Medicine; 2) transferring knowledge and building capacity for the UM Certification in HIV Implementation Science, and 3) develop the Implementation Science Resource Hub to consolidate resources and build a partnership for better population outcomes.

It gives us real pleasure to let all of you know that to date, we have trained 4 UM Faculty Members, enrolled 4 doctoral students, organized 2 Summer Bootcamps, and developed an e-library with resources on Implementation Research. The UM-Yale team launched MIST in a time of global isolation when the Covid-19 pandemic threatened the world, yet, the program was able to train 4 dedicated UM scholars at Yale, and successfully organized ‘MIST Summer Bootcamp-2021’ on a virtual platform when the pandemic was at its peak. It takes tenacity to organize and attend a 3-day Bootcamp in the midst of uncertainties associated with a pandemic. We are thankful to all of you!! We all felt inspired and energized when ‘MIST Summer Bootcamp-2022’ brought 10 Yale experts on Implementation Science to Malaysia to train future leaders in HIV Implementation Science. Our annual summer “boot camp” includes participation by all leading health systems, public health agencies, and non-profit organizations, and serves as a platform for widespread dissemination of knowledge. Individually and collectively, these high-impact efforts breathe life into the UM mission to “push the boundaries of knowledge and nurture aspiring leaders.”

As we enter year 3 of the training we welcome your participation and engagement as we remain focused with a razor-sharp commitment to the goals of the program which will not be fulfilled until the next generation of researchers and public health professionals in Malaysia have the full skill-set necessary to address health disparities and to improve the HIV care continuum among key populations.