The International Health Research Group will start with a core staff working on the three biggest health threats in the region: malaria, TB and HIV. This core will be used to develop, through targeted recruitment and training, collaborative linkages, a research program that will contribute to improved health across a broad spectrum; ranging from research that helps us better understand the priority diseases and their transmission and ecology, to discovery science with potential for longer term benefits such as therapeutics and vaccines, to health-systems orientated research which will directly influence health policy.