The past weeks have been very hectic for me. Coming back from an exciting holiday in Zimbabwe, I was immediately caught up in work, as there were two (draft) reports to be finished in the two weeks that followed: the annual State of HIV/AIDS services response in the City of Tshwane, and the health baseline for the off-shore oilfield development in Angola. After that I enjoyed a nice weekend in the Kruger National Park, before I travelled to the University of Pretoria to teach Master students on epidemiological research designs. The weekend I spend at home, but I left already on Sunday to go and teach PhD students on quantitative research proposal writing at the University of Limpopo, Medunsa campus. I am happy that I found some time in between to finalize this new issue of the Epi Update in which I keep you all updated about my activities, and share news, knowledge and ideas.

Best wishes,
Annette

In the past months there were two important AIDS conferences: the 5th South African AIDS conference which was held from 7-10 June 2011 in Durban and the 6th IAS conference on HIV pathogenesis, treatment & prevention which was held from 17-20 July 2011 in Rome. Here I highlight some of the most important study findings that were presented at these conferences: early treatment as a prevention strategy and pre-exposure prophylaxis.
Read more about: Highlights from the AIDS conferences

Already since the end of 2007 – first from my position as senior lecturer at the University of Venda, later as private consultant (Epi Result) – I have been assisting the School of Health Systems and Public Health of the University of Pretoria. The services that I provide relate to both teaching (a 2-day workshop on epidemiological study designs), as well as being an external examinator for exams, proposals and dissertations.
Read more about: Assisting a School of Public Health

At Univen, but now also at the University of Limpopo, Medunsa campus, I have been teaching quantitative research proposal writing to public health students. By using lectures, a case study and discussion of presentations of the students own research proposals, I try to familiarize them with the contents of a research proposal for a quantitative study (cross-sectional study, case-control study, cohort study, intervention study). In 2007 I developed a first draft of a format and I have been adapting that ever since. By publishing it here I hope that others (students, researchers) also can take advantage of it when writing their proposals.
Read more about: Format for a quantitative research proposal

• HIA kick off meeting in Luanda, Angola
• Teaching epidemiological study designs at UP
• Teaching quantitative research proposal writing at Medunsa