SUMMARY STATEMENT

PROGRAM CONTACT: ( Privileged Communication ) Release Date: 11/09/2020

Revised Date:

Application Number: 1 G11 AI160669-01

Principal Investigator 

KAKEETO, STELLA

Applicant Organization: MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

Review Group: ZAI1 EC-D (J2)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Special Emphasis Panel 

Global Infectious Disease Research Administration Development Award for Lowand Middle-Income Country Institutions (G11-Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Meeting Date: 10/30/2020 RFA/PA: PAR18-335

Council: JAN 2021 PCC: X84

Requested Start: 05/01/2021

Project Title: Strengthening Makerere University's Research Administration Capacity for efficient 

management of NIH grant awards (SMAC)

SRG Action: Impact Score:

Next Steps: Visit https://grants.nih.gov/grants/next_steps.htm 

Human Subjects: 10-No human subjects involved

Animal Subjects: 10-No live vertebrate animals involved for competing appl.

Project 

Year

1 

2 

TOTAL

Direct Costs 

Requested

Estimated 

Total Cost

ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET NOTE: The budget shown is the requested budget and has not been adjusted 

to reflect any recommendations made by reviewers. If an award is planned, the costs will be calculated by 

Institute grants management staff based on the recommendations outlined below in the COMMITTEE 

BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS section.

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grant application and summary statement for educational purposes. The awardee allows you to use the

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provided the material remains unchanged and the principal investigators, awardee organizations, and NIH 

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Contact Information. Email NIAID's Office of Knowledge and Educational Resources at deaweb@niaid.nih.gov.
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KAKEETO, S

1G11AI160669-01 Kakeeto, S 

FOREIGN INSTITUTION

COMMITTEE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS

RESUME AND SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION: This exceptional new Extramural Associate Research 

Development Award application entitled “ Strengthening Makerere University's Research 

Administration Capacity for efficient management of NIH grant awards (SMAC)” was submitted in 

response to PAR18-335: Global Infectious Disease Research Administration Development Award For 

Low-and Middle-income Country Institutions (G11-Clinical Trial Not Allowed) by the Makarere 

University, Kampala, Uganda with Stella Kakeeto as Principal Investigator (PI). The main goal of this 

application is to develop and implement a staff training plan for Makarere University grants 

administrators and research investigators to improve their understanding of NIH funding policies and 

regulations. This will be achieved through 1) hands on training at George Washington University (GWU) 

in USA, 2) tailored training with the Grants Management Program (GMP) at NIAID-Rockville, and 3) the 

NIAID regional workshop on program funding and grants administration.

The application has many strengths. There is a significant need at the Makerere University College of 

Health Sciences (MakCHS) to solidify the knowledge base of its grant administrators and those in East 

African region in order to respond to a growing research enterprise. The scope and breadth of this 

training program is vast given Makherere’s collaboration with about 300 institutions globally and the 

plan to train 25 regional research administrators in Uganda and East Africa. The training plan proposed 

in research administration is extremely well delineated and organized with clear goals and objectives to 

attain the required skills consistent with administrative best/current practices. There are three specific 

aims that comprehensively address the institutional needs at MakCHS. The PI, Stella Kakeeto, has an 

excellent track record in grants management and research administration as well as substantial specific 

experience in grants management training within and outside her own institution. Her team of 

collaborators has the expertise and experience in all the relevant areas. The George Washington 

University (GWU) has also demonstrated expertise to provide additional training and resources to the 

applicant institution. Coursework is very well laid out and delineated. The creation of a) A buddy 

program (senior administrators being paired with junior administrators) and b) online learning Café 

(place to share in real-time best practices, lessons learned, etc. are innovative approaches to form a 

peer support network. The establishment of both a Project Implementation Team (PIT) with guidance 

from a Project Advisory Committee (PAC incorporate leaders/experts from a variety of sectors including 

IT, HR, finance, etc. are real strengths that will ensure proper oversight and implementation of this 

training program. The environment at the Makerere University combined with resources at George 

Washington University (GWU), are excellent to carry out the proposed research administration training 

program.

Very minor weaknesses were noted after discussion. There are few details about the plan to install a 

new Grants Tracking system and integrating it with their financial system. It is unclear whether they 

have enough senior administrators available to serve as buddys for the junior administrators but overtime this should not be an issue as more administrators are capacitated.

Overall, this is an exceptional strong application that will likely have an important impact for enhancing 

training capacity in grants administration in Uganda and the East Africa region. Based upon the 

evaluation of scientific and technical merit, this application received an Impact/Priority score of .

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) 

is the largest health training Institution in Uganda and East Africa. Majority of its biomedical research is
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KAKEETO, S

supported by NIH funding, which for decades has been predominantly secured through sub awards 

from collaborating partner organizations. Over the last four years, MakCHS has registered a steady 

increase in its NIH direct grant awards from under USD 2.1M to USD 4.6M. This growth has increased 

her role and responsibility for the management of NIH grant awards and calls for improved research 

administration capacity to match the need. Having been a sub recipient for many years, during which 

time grants oversight was largely under the stewardship of prime award recipients, most of MakCHS 

administrators have limited exposure to grants management processes required for rigorous 

management of NIH grants. They often rely on the collaborating prime recipients (who have the overall 

grant oversight) to interpret funding regulations for them. They struggle to comply with NIH grants 

policies, and this could compromise future grant funding. There is an urgent need to equip MakCHS 

research administrators with the right knowledge and skills for better management of NIH grants. To 

achieve this, we will provide two Senior Administrators with advanced training in management of NIH 

grants, and access to good business practices for managing NIH grant awards. This will be done 

through: 1) hands on training at George Washington University (GWU) in USA, 2) tailored training with 

the Grants Management Program (GMP) at NIAID-Rockville, and 3) the NIAID regional workshop on 

program funding and grants administration. After training, the senior administrators will cascade 

lessons learnt to MakCHS junior research administrators and other administrators in the region to 

improve their capacity for efficient management of NIH grant awards. The training will be delivered 

through low-cost seminars and webinar meetings, using an approved staff-training plan. We will also 

implement a Research Administrator Buddy Program and an online Learning Cafe to provide 

mentorship and enhance collaboration among research administrators in the region, by providing a 

mechanism for consultations and sharing of grants resources. In addition, we will implement the good 

business practices learnt from GWU to streamline MakCHS grants monitoring processes. A modern 

Grants System will be introduced to improve tracking of grant expenditures and provide real time 

access to grants data for informed decision-making. Existing grants management SOPs will be 

reviewed, updated and new ones developed where needed. By the end of the project, MakCHS grants 

management systems and resources will be improved for better management of NIH grants. Two 

MakCHS senior administrators will be transformed into proficient institutional Grants management 

leaders. 69 junior administrators and 56 scientists at MakCHS, plus 25 administrators in the region will 

have improved knowledge and skills for management of NIH grants. This will contribute to the pool of 

grants administration experts NIH can use as resource persons in the region.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Most of Uganda leading infectious diseases research is funded by 

International organizations such as the National Institutes of Health. Strengthening the grant acquisition 

and management capacity of recipient Institutions is critical for the success of current and future NIH 

supported research and optimizes NIHs investment in research.

CRITIQUE: The comments in the CRITIQUE section were prepared by the reviewers assigned to this 

application and are provided without significant modification or editing by staff.

CRITIQUE 1 

Significance: 2

Investigator(s): 1

Innovation: 2

Approach: 1

Environment: 1
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KAKEETO, S

Overall Impact: A new G11 application, submitted by Makerere University College of Health Sciences 

(MakCHS) in Kampala, Uganda, collaboration with U.S.-based George Washington University (GWU) 

with an overarching aim of strengthening the grant acquisition and management capacity of research 

administrators within the MakCHS and the region as a whole. In short, the plan the team lays out for 

this proposed training program in research administration is extremely well delineated, clearly 

identifying an important gap (Significance), putting forth ideal staff to lead such a program (the PI and 

assembled team of Co-Investigators, with extensive research portfolio management experience 

including G11’s)(Investigators), and an ideal Environment (MakCHS and U.S. partner George 

Washington University (GWU)), a sound Approach that includes highly innovative tools and tracking 

modalities (Innovation), namely a Research Administration Buddy Program (allowing junior 

administrators to be paired with and build relationships with senior administrators) and Online Learning 

Café to keep administrators connected, engaged and interacting in their work (that will become a 

community of practice), that is well-poised to adapt and improve over time given the project 

performance monitoring and evaluation framework it plans to put into place that will be guided and 

overseen by a Project Advisory Committee (PAC) and Project Implementation Team (PIT).

Based on this, the overall impact of this training program would be very high.

1. Significance:

Strengths

• The application addresses an important problem, as the grant portfolio continues to expand in 

terms of total USD funding (more than doubling over the past four years) at the parent 

institution, Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) in Uganda, there is a 

significant need for grants administration staff to attain the requisite skills consistent with 

best/current practices, allowing their team to train others within their parent research institution 

but also other grants admin staff within the region.

• The proposed project is well delineated in terms of clearly outlining the gaps it will address, 

while having a feasible plan to provide staff with the necessary skills to manage more complex, 

larger, and diverse research grant portfolios as the prime grant recipient, including an increasing 

proportion of NIH-funded research initiatives. As outlined, the proposed project appears to be 

well designed to address the deficiencies and/or gaps identified in research administration that 

exist at the parent institution.

• Detailed processes and work tools are identified that will be developed and expanded upon to 

address current gaps in the research admin infrastructure.

• The staff training program does an exceptional job facilitating the strengthening of grants 

administration at both the grantee institution as well as other relevant in-country and regional 

institutions.

Weaknesses

• None identified.

2. Investigators:

Strengths

• The PI is incredibly well-suited for this project given her experience (8+ years) as a senior 

Grants Administrator and her active involvement and membership with numerous international 

and domestic research and innovations management associations.
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KAKEETO, S

• In addition, she possesses a proven track record successfully mentoring and training large 

numbers of research administrators on preparing proposal budgets and tracking grant 

compliance at MakCHS and regionally (e.g. Bishop Stewart University in western Uganda, etc.).

• The PI also possesses relevant experience in finding suitable research grant opportunities, 

developing proposal budgets, grant contract negotiations and modifications, grant reporting and 

close-out.

• The U.S. consultant, George Washington University, has the appropriate skills and experience 

in managing NIH awards to effectively train the assembled foreign team.

• The PI, given her recognized and established senior administrative role within the parent 

institution, does have the requisite authority to implement the proposed institutional grants 

administration/management training plan.

Weaknesses

• None identified.

3. Innovation:

Strengths

• Novel pedagogy recommended as part of this proposed training program in the form of a) 

Research Administration Buddy Program (allowing junior administrators to be paired with and 

build relationships with senior administrators) and b) the implementation of an Online Learning 

Café to keep administrators connected, engaged and interacting in their work (that will become 

a community of practice over time).

• The proposed training leverages an existing lunchtime Seminar Series program to deliver 

targeted quarterly sessions to administrators and scientists on NIH grants management, during 

and after the duration of the project.

Weaknesses

• None identified.

4. Approach:

Strengths

• Overall strategy and methodology are appropriate to accomplish the specified goals and 

objectives.

• The plans for training are sound, both in-country (internally at MakCHS) as well as in the U.S., 

at both their partner institution George Washington University and NIAID (Rockville, MD) for the 

5-day training.

• The U.S., Washington D.C.-based training program is well delineated and appears to cover all 

essential core grants admin and management topics.

• The 3 specific aims are appropriate and appear to comprehensively cover/address the needs 

identified within research oversight/grants admin capacity at MakCHS.

Weaknesses

• None identified.

5. Environment:
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KAKEETO, S 

Strengths

• The environment at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS), coupled 

with collaborative resources available from their established U.S. partner institution, namely 

George Washington University (GWU), is ideal to carry out this specific research administration 

training program.

• The proposed administrative environment, with the proposed structure, is well poised to 

contribute to the success of this training program.

• The institutional commitment from MakCHS is excellent. Appropriate level and scope of staff, 

facilities, training and resources have been allocated.

• The requested resources are appropriate based on the expressed goals of MakCHS’s 

sustainability initiative.

Weaknesses

• None identified.

CRITIQUE 2 

Significance: 1 

Investigator(s): 1 

Innovation: 3 

Approach: 1 

Environment: 1 

1. Significance:

Strengths

• This is an outstanding application that clearly documents why, even though Makerere is a 

growing research enterprise, it still needs this award to help solidify the knowledge base of its 

administrators and those in the region.

• The staff training programs described are logical, well thought out, and generally progress well – 

both staff and investigators receive training specific to their needs. The numbers are realistic (2 

leaders, 69 junior administrators, 56 scientists) and indicate they have thought about who needs 

to be trained.

• Excellent the idea of a Buddy program and an Online Learning Café.

• The plan to train 25 regional research administrators in Uganda and East Africa and costeffective (6 webinars over 3 months, recorded for re-use and to aid future enhancements). 

Institutions have already been identified and a plan for identifying additional participants through 

the PI’s professional network involvement was impressive.

• The idea of a post-award period in-house grants management career track with modest 

registration fees to sustain the initiative is a good idea.

Weaknesses

• Given that Makerere collaborates with more than 350 institutions in Africa, America and Europe 

may result in the need for their program to outstrip demand. That would be a nice problem to 

have.

2. Investigators:
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KAKEETO, S 

Strengths

• The investigator team is a strong one on both the Makerere side and the GWU side. The 

involved investigators are a blend of pre-award, post-award, and training experience that should 

complement each other and are at various levels of seniority within the organization. This 

should facilitate implementation.

• The PI has specific training experience (75 administrators, 92 investigators) and has trained 

outside her own institution. Her experience is life cycle based which will help her see the big 

picture.

• The Quarterly PAC meetings contain well-chosen knowledgeable leaders at the organization 

that can help advance the project (and as cited elsewhere, includes the Principal.) One of the 

members of the PAC (Rhod Wanyenze) has specific experience in capacity building and 

program management and is experienced in policy development.

• The PIT (Project Implementation Team) is well designed to facilitate change management and 

bring the goals of the project to fruition with its senior administrative leaders (Grants 

Management, Finance, HR, Administration, Training).

Weaknesses

• None were noted.

3. Innovation:

Strengths

• The Buddy System and the Online Learning Cafe are innovative ideas as they create a peer 

support network.

• The ability to “re-use” the regional webinars will expand the impact the project can achieve for 

their participating regional institutions.

• The training aspects of this are solid, well-thought out and organized – but not unusually 

innovative.

Weaknesses

• It is unclear whether they have enough senior administrators available to serve as buddys for 

the junior administrators. The application indicates that 70-75% of administrators have limited 

knowledge and skills; it may be necessary to either “tag team” or put significant burdens on the 

more seasoned staff to achieve this objective.

4. Approach:

Strengths

• Their approach to their plan is logical, well thought out and articulated. Table 5 of the project 

tasks is a strong indicator that they have worked to “meld” their tasks into a cohesive whole.

• Their concept to have their Project Advisory Committee (PAC) lead change management both 

locally (and the fact that it includes the Principal) speaks to the larger commitment to success. 

Weaknesses

• The specific number of SOPs developed or updated as shown in Table 6 may be premature 

without understanding the degree to which such are needed – however, it does make it clear
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KAKEETO, S 

that significant review activity will be expected. It is unclear whether this rate of change is 

realistic – but the goal of attempting it is admirable.

• There is a great deal of activity expected for 20% effort for the PI and ~8% of the other 

individuals.

5. Environment:

Strengths

• Their physical infrastructure seems well aligned to the ability to produce the outcomes they 

stipulate.

• As noted in the approach, their governance structure is well positioned and articulated to 

achieve change management.

Weaknesses

• It is unclear whether they have adequately assessed the implementation demands of installing a 

new Grants Tracking system and integrating it with their financial system, though their process 

of going about selecting a product and how they might proceed with its use seems reasonable.

CRITIQUE 3 

Significance: 2 

Investigator(s): 1 

Innovation: 2 

Approach: 2 

Environment: 1 

Overall Impact: This is a very strong application which demonstrates how the Institution can benefit 

from learning grants management under the auspices of this NIAID funding mechanism and partnering 

with a U.S host Institution. The key strengths are in the well-organized and defined leadership, and 

linkages with key partners.

1. Significance:

Strengths

• The applicant organization has a goal to improve the infrastructure of an already established 

Grants Administration Office. Additional training will enable the staff to better manage all pre 

and post award activities their organization and its researchers.

• Excellent proposed training plan to improve the research administration infrastructure.

• Clear examples and a table are provided as to how the applicant plans to create and develop a 

training program.

Weaknesses

• Over 70% of the MakCHS Administrative staff lack enough training in NIH NIAID grants 

management.

2. Investigators:

Strengths
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KAKEETO, S 

• The PI, Stella Kakeeto has a long and impressive proven track records in grants management 

and research administration.

• Overall, there is a very qualified group of investigators with expertise and experience in all the 

relevant areas.

• US Host Institution is well established whose own research portfolio has significantly grown in 

the past decade. It has demonstrated it has the expertise to serve as a Consultant to provide 

additional training and resources to the applicant institution.

Weaknesses

• No weakness noted.

3. Innovation:

Strengths

• Novel approach to increasing training by implementing a buddy program, online learning café 

and improved systems.

• Demonstrated sustainability plan after the project period has ended to continue to improving 

training.

• Very good Project performance monitoring and Evaluation framework.

Weaknesses

• No weakness noted.

4. Approach:

Strengths

• The MakCHS Senior Administrators have demonstrated the ability to effectively manage 

NIH/NIAID grants. However, they are seeking advanced training via this Award

• Has a plan to develop a staff training and mentorship plan.

• Improve MakCHS’ Standard Operating Procedures and guidelines and strengthen its grants

• Tracking and monitoring system, for efficient management of NIH grant awards.

Weaknesses

• Over the past four years NIH funding has significantly increased. Previously, funding has been 

mostly as a Sub-Recipient and Sub-Awards. This award will prepare the applicant institution to 

seek additional training to manage more NIH funding as a Prime Recipient.

5. Environment:

Strengths

• Strong environment with adequate training facilities to support the continued development of 

grants management and best practices.

• US Host Institution has committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure Applicant 

Organization is successful.

Weaknesses

• No weakness noted.
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KAKEETO, S 

PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS: NOT APPLICABLE (CODE 10) 

VERTEBRATE ANIMAL: NOT APPLICABLE (CODE 10)

AUTHENTICATION OF KEY BIOLOGICAL AND/OR CHEMICAL RESOURCES: NOT APPLICABLE 

FOREIGN INSTITUTION: JUSTIFIED. Uganda

AUTHENTICATION OF KEY BIOLOGICAL AND/OR CHEMICAL RESOURCES: NOT APPLICABLE 

BUDGETARY OVERLAP: NOT APPLICABLE

COMMITTEE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS: The following budget modifications were 

recommended for all years.

The differences between the budget base salaries requested in page 53 and in page 56 for Year 1 and 

Year 2 need to be clarified.

Footnotes for 1 G11 AI160669-01; PI Name: Kakeeto, Stella

NIH has modified its policy regarding the receipt of resubmissions (amended applications).See 

Guide Notice NOT-OD-18-197 at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18- 

197.html. The impact/priority score is calculated after discussion of an application by 

averaging the overall scores (1-9) given by all voting reviewers on the committee and 

multiplying by 10. The criterion scores are submitted prior to the meeting by the individual 

reviewers assigned to an application, and are not discussed specifically at the review meeting 

or calculated into the overall impact score. Some applications also receive a percentile 

ranking. For details on the review process, see 

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/peer_review_process.htm#scoring.

THE FOLLOWING RESUME SECTIONS WERE PREPARED BY THE SCIENTIFIC REVIEW 

OFFICER BASED ON INDIVIDUAL REVIEWER COMMENTS OR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BY 

NIH STAFF: