A collection of papers, focused on work conducted at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda, challenges the notion that Africa’s universities are ‘ivory towers’ that do not make a contribution to solving the health problems of the region.

Published as a supplement in the journal BMC International Health & Human Rights, the collection is based on work funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Collaborative Learning Initiative, which has provided two-year learning grants designed to demonstrate and incentivize the accountability of health professions schools to the problems of society. The grants brought together leading health science schools in sub-Saharan Africa with partner schools in the US to explore the value proposition that academia could bring to the pressing health problems in the region.

Beginning with an introductory article from Professor Joseph Kolars - Senior Associate Dean of Education and Global Initiatives, University of Michigan Medical School - the supplement comprises nine research articles as listed below. The open-access supplement may be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/11?issue=S1