Annual Early-Career Health Researchers’ Symposium
Recent Trends and Innovations in Human Health Research;
A critical component of the One Health Agenda
Friday, November 24, 8am - 5pm
The Annual AKU Early-Career Health Researchers' Symposium invites you to the annual symposium; which aims to provide early career researchers with a platform to showcase their work, receive feedback, network with their peers and senior researchers from other academic and research institutions.
Presenters whose abstracts have been accepted shall have a chance to share their research work by way of Oral or Poster presentations.
Prizes will be awarded to the items adjudged as the best during the symposium.
One Health
One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach that recognizes the interconnections between human health, animal health, and the environment. Experts from the fields of human health, veterinary medicine, and environmental science can work together to significantly improve infectious disease prevention, surveillance, control, and responses in Africa, where the burden of infectious diseases is high and resources are often limited.
For example, if there is an outbreak of zoonotic disease (i.e., a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans) in a particular region, a One Health approach would involve not only investigating the human cases but also examining the health of animals in the area and studying the local environment to identify potential sources of the outbreak.
Our Keynote Speakers
Dr Philip Mwachaka
University of Nairobi
Dr Philip Mwachaka is a consultant neurosurgeon and lecturer at Kenyatta National Hospital and the University of Nairobi's Faculty of Health Sciences. With a passion for promoting learning, research, teaching, and clinical practise, as well as skills and experience performing clinical and basic science research, Dr Mwachaka’s research focuses on neuro-oncology, basic neurosciences, neuro-trauma, hydrocephalus, surgical anatomy and medical education.
As a doctoral student, he conducted an experimental study in rats on the effects of maternal folic acid use during pregnancy and lactation on the development of the offspring's cerebellar cortex, with the goal of explaining clinical manifestations observed in children whose mothers consumed low-folate diets during pregnancy. In this study, he used light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, molecular, and stereologic techniques to investigate the morphology and morphometry of the developing cerebellum.
During his neurosurgery residency, he designed and carried out a prospective study on serum electrolyte dysfunctions in severe head injury and their relationship with clinico-radiologic parameters and patient outcome, for which three publications were published. In addition, he undertook clinical studies on intramedullary spinal cord tumours, surgical anatomy, complications of venticuloperitoneal shunts in patients with hydrocephalus, and the use of neuromonitoring as an adjuvant to the surgical removal of neurological tumours at Kenyatta National Hospital.
He has also been a part of both local and international collaborative projects that have led to publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr Mwachaka is interested in paediatric brain tumours and run the paediatric neurosurgery service at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). KNH is East Africa's largest referral hospital and has the busiest neurosurgical unit, where he collaborates with colleagues in pathology, paediatrics, oncology, and other allied fields in the management of children with central nervous system tumours.
Prof Peter Waiswa
Makere University, Kampala
Prof Waiswa is a medical doctor and public health specialist in Uganda, with an inclination towards health systems research. He holds a Master of Public Health and PhD from the joint program between Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and Makerere University in Kampala.
With experience working in governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as academia, his research focuses on neonatal health systems and policy, including policy analysis, implementation, and operational research, and how these are linked to programming. He has published widely in maternal, newborn, child health. Immunization, measurement, and their relationship to health policy and systems. His work experiences span across NGOs, the private sector, government, and academia in low- and middle-income countries but also globally; and has actively been part of many local, national, Africa and global initiatives to advance health systems and policy in Uganda, Africa, and the world.
For the last 7 years Prof Waiswa has been co-leading the multicounty prospective country evaluation (PCE) of national immunization systems with support from GAVI during which I was the technical lead, which has informed national policies and programs, and the operations of GAVI.
He was also a member of the Uganda national Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (UNITAG) for six years and still a member of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition that advises the Director General.
Judges
Dr. Elizabeth Kimani-Murage
Dr. Elizabeth Kimani-Murage is a Senior Research Scientist and Lead, Nutrition and Food Systems Unit and oversees the Health and Wellbeing Theme at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). She also leads the Zero Hunger Initiative at APHRC, whose mission is to promote freedom from hunger and the right to adequate food in Kenya and Africa, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal on Zero Hunger.
She is a Public Health nutrition Specialist with a longstanding research, public and policy engagement and advocacy experience on food and nutrition security issues in Kenya and Africa, particularly in urban poor settings. She is also a human rights defender and advocate, with a focus on the right to food. Her vision is to transform food systems in Kenya and Africa to be more nourishing, human-centered, resilient and sustainable, to promote human and ecological health.
She was among Rockefeller Foundation's Top 10 visionaries under its 2050 Food Systems Vision Prize, with vision to transform Nairobi (and other African Cities) to be food secure, working with women and youth groups.
Elizabeth holds a PhD in Public Health; a Masters of Public Health; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in law, with a special interest in promotion of social justice and the right to food.
Prof. Francis Ndungu
Associate Professor
Prof. Francis Ndungu is an Associate Professor specializing in immunology at the University of Oxford. He is affiliated with the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) located in Kilifi, Kenya. His primary research interests encompass the exploration of the underlying mechanisms governing naturally acquired and vaccine-induced immunities to both malaria and COVID-19. He is committed to translating this knowledge into the development of innovative vaccines and enhancing the utilization of existing ones for disease control.
In the context of malaria, Prof. Ndungu's research focuses on several key areas. First, he investigates immunological memory of malaria parasites, specifically Plasmodium falciparum, in individuals who were historically infected but are no longer exposed to the disease. Secondly, he explores host factors that contribute to an increased susceptibility to malaria in a subset of children who experience a higher incidence of the disease than would be expected by chance. Lastly, he employs experimental medicine to gain insights into how immune adults effectively control parasite growth and associated symptoms. His ultimate goal is to shed light on the induction of protective immune responses through vaccination, considering the immune-regulatory state induced by natural exposure in malaria-endemic regions. Prof. Ndungu's malaria immunology studies rely on long-term longitudinal cohorts of children living with P. falciparum malaria and semi-immune adults who are experimentally infected with the same species of malaria parasites in Kilifi.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Ndungu initiated a longitudinal cohort study in collaboration with Aga Khan University. This study aims to investigate the role of the immune response, along with associated residual memory, to SARS-CoV-2 among Kenyan patients. Additionally, his research group is actively exploring the biological underpinnings that contribute to the lower rates of severe COVID-19 and related fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa compared to developed countries. Furthermore, they are engaged in clinical studies conducted in Kenya and Tanzania, with a specific focus on introducing and optimizing the utilization of the recently updated mRNA Pfizer vaccines tailored to the Omicron variant for effective COVID-19 control within the region.
John Kinuthia, MBChB, MMed, MPH
Affiliate Associate Professor, Global Health
Dr. John Kinuthia, MBChB, MMed, MPH, is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Kenyatta National Hospital and University of Nairobi. He has been conducting HIV research focusing on PMTCT since 2004 when he took a position as the study physician for a randomized clinical trial that was evaluating viral and immune responses in mother-infant pairs who received either short course zidovudine or maternal HAART. Later in 2006, he was a co-Investigator for a study to determine contraceptive use among HIV-infected women attending comprehensive care centre at Kenyatta National Hospital.
He has gained invaluable experience in the conduct of randomized trials in his position as study physician and later as deputy study coordinator of the Nairobi site for the multisite randomized clinical trial evaluating the role of acyclovir to prevent HIV transmission from individuals co-infected with HIV and herpes simplex type 2. In 2007, he enrolled in the MPH program at University of Washington and conducted a study to evaluate barriers (personal, social and institutional) to access and utilization of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV interventions. The study enrolled 2,700 mothers with infants for weekly immunization at six maternal and child health clinics in Nairobi and Western Kenya. In 2010, he was one of the regional directors for the study evaluating the impact of national PMTCT program in Kenya. The study enrolled 13,344 mothers from 304 facilities.
Currently, he is the site Principal Investigator for a cohort study that will follow 2,000 women from pregnancy to 9 months postpartum to evaluate factors contributing to HIV acquisition during and after pregnancy. In addition, he is coordinating trainings in implementation science for the Partnership for Innovative Medical Education (Prime K) linked award that is focusing on strengthening maternal, newborn, and child health. He has also been very involved in mentoring and other training activities since 2009 when he was appointed the Site Director for the University of Washington International AIDS Research and Training Program’s activities in Kenya, including the FIC Research Scholars and Fellows Programs. In 2011 he was appointed Deputy Chair of the Department of Research at KNH which also has a large research training component.
