ABU don, 4 other African researchers tackle infectious diseases


Dr Ajoke Ehimiyein of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and four other African scientists have received funding to conduct research that would contribute to global efforts to reduce the burden and threat of locally relevant infectious diseases in Africa. 


The five fellows including two Kenyans, an Egyptian and a South African, according to African Academy of Science, Kenya, will be funded through the TIBA-AAS Out of Africa Postdoctoral Fellowship programme for a year as visiting fellows of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.  


“The five fellows will conduct basic and implementation research ranging from the impact of mass drug administration as a means of controlling parasitic diseases of public health concern to the ethics of clinical trials conducted in Africa. Their research addresses knowledge gaps and will generate new knowledge, which will advance efforts to tackle infectious diseases.  “The fellowship programme is a groundbreaking, new collaboration between the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the UK National Institutes of Health Research Global Health Unit Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) at the University of Edinburgh. 


“TIBA is an Africa-led, wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary partnership which brings together world-class researchers from nine African countries, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe plus colleagues from the University of Edinburgh to generate new knowledge and inform comparative analyses of health systems. Funding for the Fellowships has been provided by the University of Edinburgh.   “The five scientists, from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, the first cohort to be funded through the TIBA-AAS Out of Africa Postdoctoral Fellowship programme are: Dr Ehimiyein of Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria who will work on the use of laboratory models and a range of immunological and microscopic techniques to investigate immune-related pathology in the intestine during plasmodium chabaudi infection in mice.      “Dr Mohamed Elhadidy, University of Science and Technology, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Egypt, who will investigate the ecology, epidemiology, and evolution of clinical Staphylococcus aureus (a zoonotic bacterial pathogens) using different comparative genome analysis and population genetics approaches. 


“His project will use various genomics tools for molecular characterization of different genetic markers that play a role in virulence potential, antimicrobial resistance and transmission of this pathogen.   
“Dr Jesse Gitaka, Mount Kenya University, Kenya, whose work will enhance the understanding and use of genetic tools for malaria surveillance. It will explore the impact of mass drug administration, mass screening and treatment and how the travel of infected individuals across different geographical regions has impacted the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum that causes malaria in humans, in Kenya’s Lake Victoria Islands.


Dr Miriam Njoki Karinja, University of Nairobi Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Kenya aims to determine spatial-temporal patterns and hotpots for infectious diseases in Kenya using data from the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) for the period 2012 -2019. 
“She also intends to study the functionality and efficiency of community health units in collecting data and to determine how these data affect quality and availability at the national level for decision-making.  
“Dr Blessing Silaigwana, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa will explore clinical trial designs and ethical considerations governing emergency research during epidemics in Africa. His project will contribute to developing an African framework for research ethics during outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.”

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