Cold-chain for Global Health

Introduction

Over 30% of food is lost, around 25% of vaccines are wasted, and pandemic surveillance systems still face significant challenges, due to inadequate management strategies such as broken cold-chain systems. 

The cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply system essential for preserving food, vaccines, reagents, and biological samples, playing a critical role in health outcomes and food security. It also intersects with climate change due to its reliance on energy and refrigerants. 

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), cold-chains encounter difficulties like outdated infrastructure, insufficient training, and unreliable power. However, documented successes demonstrate that progress is possible through integrated business approaches that embed innovations like solar refrigeration and smart monitoring. As global health evolves, cold chain systems must be redesigned to support emerging needs, including vaccine development, biomanufacturing, and biobanking, and this needs to be looked at through a One Health lens.

• Course Description
• Syllabus
• Selection Criteria
• How To Apply

Programme Dates

Course Description

This course explores the critical role of cold chain systems in global health, uniting disciplines such as supply chain management, cryobiology, immunisation research, biobanking, pandemic surveillance, regulatory science, and contextualised business model development. It is tailored for professionals, researchers, students, and regulators working to ensure the integrity of temperature-sensitive products like vaccines, reagents, and biospecimens.

Participants will gain both theoretical knowledge and hands-on skills to design, manage, and troubleshoot cold chain systems across health, research, and outbreak response settings. Topics include temperature effects on biological materials, infrastructure challenges, monitoring technologies, and regulatory standards.

Using case studies such as COVID-19 and Ebola vaccine distribution, the course underscores the life-saving importance of reliable cold chain systems and addresses how cold chain failures contribute to vaccine hesitancy. It discusses new generations of vaccines, such as mRNA vaccines requiring optimal temperatures below 0 degrees, and how to design innovative cold-chain systems for them. Additionally, it examines issues related to cryogenic storage, biospecimen transportation mechanisms, and biobanking systems needed for improved pandemic surveillance systems. 

The course supports international compliance (ISO, WHO, HACCP, etc.), enhances professional expertise, and aims to establish a community of practice (CoP) in Rwanda and across Africa to foster innovation and improve cold chain management for immunisation, nutrition, and health security.

Who Should Apply

This course is open to a wide range of professionals, students, experts and policy makers working at the intersection of health, engineering, and biological sciences. 

If you're committed to strengthening the integrity of temperature-sensitive products in healthcare, research, and global public health systems, this course is for you.

You are strongly encouraged to apply if you are:

• A vaccine program manager, immunisation officer, or public health practitioner
• A laboratory technician, diagnostic specialist, or biobank coordinator
• A cold chain engineer, refrigeration technician, or systems maintenance specialist
• A biomedical or electrical engineer involved in health-related infrastructure
• A logistics professional managing medical supply chains
• A student or early-career professional in biology, biotechnology, veterinary medicine, bioinformatics, engineering, or public health
• A researcher in vaccine development, disease surveillance, diagnostic innovation, or biospecimen management
• A policymaker, health system planner, or regulatory officer overseeing temperature-controlled health systems
• An executive in the health system with a drive to develop efficient business model to develop innovative solution in the public health supply chain. 

Whether you work in human or animal health, laboratory systems, or supply chain logistics, this training provides the interdisciplinary foundation needed to build sustainable and compliant cold chain solutions.

Why This Course Matters

The increasing complexity of global health, the rise of emerging diseases, and the expansion of biomanufacturing all demand stronger cold chain systems. 

In low- and middle-income countries, outdated infrastructure, unreliable power, and lack of skilled personnel put millions of lives at risk.

This course responds to those challenges by:

• Offering real-world training rooted in the needs of LMICs
• Bridging the gap between biological sciences and refrigeration engineering
• Showcasing solutions like solar-powered cooling, smart monitoring, and regional innovations such as Rwanda’s VaccAir and biobanking programs
• Laying the groundwork for a Community of Practice (CoP) to strengthen cold chain management in Global Health 

What You Will Learn

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Explain how temperature affects the integrity of vaccines, reagents, and biospecimens at the molecular level
• Describe the full architecture of cold chain systems, including storage, transport, monitoring, and validation
• Evaluate different designs and needs for implemention of reliable cold chain systems tailored to specific products and local contexts
• Identify risk factors and troubleshoot failures in real-time, using digital tools and emerging technologies
• Understand the needed level pf compliancy with international regulatory frameworks (e.g., WHO, ISO, GxP) to support quality assurance systems
• Apply best practices from global case studies, including COVID-19, Ebola, and malaria vaccine delivery, and utilise innovative cold-chain systems in biomanufacturing as well as outbreak preparedness and response in your own work.
• Learn different collaborative strategies that link health, engineering, logistics, and research through a One Health approach.