Thaissa Takamoto and Nina Fernandez, professionals from the Fiotec Projects team, participated, in May this year, in a videoconference with the person in charge of institutional relations at the Office of Latin America and the Caribbean of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID – NIH), Lucy Ruderman, for a knowledge exchange. The initial idea was to propose clarifications in order to understand the positive percentage of activities executed  in the institution in relation to others that operate in the same region.

The NIH was able to understand a little bit more about the shared management with Fiocruz, from the beginning of the preparation of the Basic Project and negotiation with the partner, through the execution of the research with the support of the relevant areas, and reaching the final stage. In this case, it was explained that the institution is responsible for the administrative and financial part, and not for the technical.

With regard to funding, the analysts explained that private and external resources cannot be directed to the Federal Government's account, and that one of Fiotec's functions is precisely to absorb them, ensuring that these amounts are used in a unique and exclusive way by the project.

During the conversation, the complexity of the state sector in Brazil and the bureaucratic difficulties that directly affect the duration and activities of research were mentioned, and that, therefore, support foundations were created. Fiotec's creation timeline and its maturity were also presented, reinforcing the reason why the Fiotec-Fiocruz partnership is a successful case in terms of submissions and management with international partners.

When asked about the possibility of adding a post-hoc foundation during the granting process, the representatives said that in the stages prior to the construction of the project, ideally, the supporting foundation should be included in the project before the submission document, especially for budgetary issues that can be better addressed with the support of the administrative team. In the post-submission phase, after the grant approval, it would be necessary to create an amendment to include Fiotec in the contract as responsible and for the transfer of resources.

According to Nina, the conversation clarified Fiotec's performance and processes to NIH partners, in addition to demonstrating the institution's maturity, which has a robust team prepared to fulfill the agenda with Fiocruz.