# Topological Networks

In network science applied to clinical research, does the collaboration topology of African trials reveal dependency on external partners rather than sovereign local networks? This graph-theory analysis modelled collaborator relationships for 23,873 African trials using ClinicalTrials.gov sponsor and collaborator metadata to construct directed partnership networks. Investigators reported the ratio of South-North to South-South collaboration edges as the primary estimand for research sovereignty. An estimated sixty-five percent of African multi-partner trials involved Northern institutions compared to twelve percent that were exclusively intra-African collaborations. The average African node degree of 0.9 was the highest of any region, but this high connectivity reflected dependency rather than sovereignty since most edges connected to foreign hubs. China (degree 0.35) and India (degree 0.42) showed lower but more sovereign collaboration patterns. These results reveal that Africa's apparent integration into global networks masks a structural dependency. Interpretation is limited by the heuristic identification of collaborator origins from institutional names.

## References

1. Alemayehu C, et al. "Behind the mask of the African clinical trials landscape." Trials. 2018;19:519.
2. Drain PK, et al. "Global migration of clinical trials." Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2018;17:765-766.

## Note Block

- Type: research
- App: https://mahmood726-cyber.github.io/africa-e156-students/geographic-equity/dashboards/topological-networks.html
- Code: https://github.com/mahmood726-cyber/africa-e156-students/blob/master/geographic-equity/code/topological-networks.py
- Data: ClinicalTrials.gov API v2
- Date: 2026-04-05