June & July 2022  |  ICHAD & SMART Africa Monthly Monitor

Summer Greetings from the ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams!

In June, ICHAD hosted the ten-day Forum on Child and Adolescent Global Health Research and Capacity Building in Uganda. The Forum brought together ICHAD team members, community leaders, trainees, mentors, partners, research experts, honored keynote speakers, and guests from the US, Uganda, and across Sub-Saharan Africa, to gain skills, network, and look to the future of child and adolescent global health and mental health research. We officially launched the ACHIEVE NIH-funded research training program, as well as four new NIH-funded research studies. We are also celebrating new faculty appointments of two of our team members, Dr. Proscovia Nabunya and Dr. Rachel Brathwaite, and we bid farewell to Dr. William Byansi, a long-time ICHAD team member, who moved to Boston to start a new position.

Wishing you a restful final few weeks of summertime,

The ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams

ICHAD Holds In-Person Forum on Child and Adolescent Global Health Research and Capacity Building in Uganda

In June, ICHAD held the Forum on Child and Adolescent Global Health Research and Capacity Building in Kampala and Masaka, Uganda. The Forum was ICHAD’s first in-person training event and conference since 2019. The objectives of the Forum were to bring together trainees for global health research training programs and highlight their work and accomplishments, and to launch the new NIH-Funded training program, ACHIEVE. Led by ICHAD Director, Dr. Fred Ssewamala and program directors Dr. Noeline Nakasujja, Dr. Mary McKay, as well as co-Principal Investigators Dr. Vincent Sezibera, Dr. Muthoni Mathai, and Dr. Yesim Tozan, the Forum hosted 30 trainees from our four NIH-funded research training programs—ACHIEVE, CHILD-GRF, LEAD, and RRT—as well as guests, presenters, and reserach experts from the US and across Sub-Saharan Africa. The ten-day event featured esteemed keynote speakers, research training workshops, scientific panel discussions, field site visits, mentorship meetings, and a weekend excursion to the source of the Nile River, and many opportunities to network with global health research experts, trainees and partners.

Keynote Speakers
The first half of the Forum was held at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. We were honored to host keynote speakers Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor, Makerere University; Hon. Jane Ruth Aceng, Uganda Minister of Health; and Richard Nelson, USAID Mission Director, Uganda. We also featured remarks provided virtually by Kurt Dirks, Global Vice Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis, and UnJa Hayes, Program Official, NIH Fogarty International Center. Speakers welcomed trainees and Forum participants and shared the health focus areas and objectives of their respective institutions in Uganda, highlighting the intersections of their strategic priories with the work of ICHAD and our trainees.

Research Training Workshops
The research training sessions provided methodological and thematic workshops on topics designed to enhance trainees’ research skills and professional development. Select workshop topics included Methods, Metrics and Measures for Dissemination and Implementation; Introduction to Big Datasets; Research Tools and Measurements for Cognitive Functioning; Research Budget Development and Justification, and Cost Effectiveness in Research. Trainees found especially useful the practical examples provided and the candid discussions in the workshops.

Scientific Panels and Trainee Presentations 
The Forum also featured scientific panels with trainees discussing aspects of their research work including personal accomplishments, challenges to implementation and community-based research, and stories about navigating and overcoming challenges in their work. Forum participants appreciated the open and frank discussions and lessons learned shared by the panelists. In addition, trainees from the first cohort of the CHILD-GRF program are completing their three-year training program at the end of this year. Each of the seven trainees presented the reserach they conducted during the course of the program and preliminary results from their pilot projects. CHILD-GRF Cohort 1 trainees were also awarded a certificate of completion by the Hon. Jane Ruth Aceng. These sessions and presentations featuring the work and experiences of our trainees were a highlight of the Forum.

Launch of new NIH-funded Studies, Field Site Visits and Research Dissemination
The second half of the Forum was held in Masaka and was kicked off at Kimaanya Church Grounds with keynote addresses from the Rt. Rev. Bishop Serverus Jjumba, Masaka Diocese and the honorable Florence Namayanja, Mayor of Masaka City. The Bishop launched four research studies, including M-Suubi, Obuvumu, Bridges-R2 and Suubi4Stronger Families that were awarded in 2021 and 2022. The subsequent days in Masaka featured stakeholder meetings, where the ICHAD team presented research findings for both school-based and clinic-based studies, as well as site visits to several locations where ICHAD conducts intervention research. Trainees visited schools, health clinics, community sites and attended a community collaborative board meeting. Visiting study sites and interacting with collaborators and implementing partners was an important conclusion to the rigorous program of training, discussions, presentations, and networking. Trainees found the site visits to be enlightening and highly informative as they were able to observe field research in action and to engage directly with individuals from the target beneficiary groups.

The Forum brought together trainees, directors, mentors, partners, leaders and colleagues to ignite new research approaches, resources, and partnerships with the ultimate goal of improving the health and well-being of children, adolescents, and families in Uganda, Sub-Saharan Africa, the US, and beyond. Stay tuned for a full Forum report that will become available in the coming months on the ICHAD website, here.  

RESEARCH STUDIES

ANZANSI Family Program 
Bridges-R2

Kyaterekera Project

mHealth Pilot

M-Suubi

Obuvumu

Say No to Stigma

Suubi+Adherence-R2

Suubi4Cancer

Suubi4Her

Suubi4STEM

Suubi4Stigma

Suubi4StrongerFamilies

SMART Africa Studies

TRAINING PROGRAMS

ACHIEVE

CHILD Global Research Fellowship

LEAD Global Training Program

Researcher Resilience Training

OTHER EVENTS, FUNDING & TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Applications

ACHIEVE - One-Year Global Research Training Program Applications Open

-Letters of Intent due September 1

-Eligibility:

  - U.S. candidates: Medical doctors (MDs) and pre-doctoral (post-qualifying exams; medical school) and post-doctoral (PhD, ScD, etc.) trainees from diverse backgrounds in the U.S.

  - Candidates from Sub-Saharan Africa: Post-professional degree graduates with six years of completing terminal degree (MBChB, MD, PhD, etc.) from 6 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, (Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda).

- For full program and application information, click here.

LEAD Global Training Program One-Year Postdoctoral Research Associate Position

- Postdocs or early career researchers with a commitment to global or domestic (US) health disparities research—especially mental health within resource constrained settings 

- For full program and application information, click here.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Global Social Welfare
 
Global Social Welfare Special Issue: Financial Capability and Assets for Socioeconomic Development

QUICK LINKS

Our Team

ICHAD News

SMART Africa News

SMART Africa/ICHAD  Conference Videos

2021 Annual Report

2021 Capacity Building Report

Capacity Buildng Connection

Publications

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NOTABLES

Congratulations to the following trainees and alumni for their recent accomplishments!

Dr. Leslie Adams (RRT 2020), received an NIH Research Training and Career Development grant for her study, Uncovering proximal antecedents to Black male suicide using real-time approaches.

Dr. Julia López (LEAD 2022) was promoted to Assistant Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. 

Dr. Sonyia Richardson (RRT 2021), received an NIH Clinical Trial Planning grant for her project, CA-LINC: A Culturally Adapted Care Coordination Suicide Detection and Intervention Model for Black Youth.

We want to celebrate you!

We invite all trainees and alumni of ICHAD training programs (ACHIEVE, CHILD-GRF, LEAD, & RRT) to submit their accomplishments. Email Laura at Lpeer@wustl.edu.

Trainees Gather for a St. Louis Community Research Immersion Experience

For research program trainees who were unable to travel to the Forum in Uganda or preferred a US-focused site visit experience, program directors Drs. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg and Sean Joe led a three-day training event based at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Trainees engaged in the Community Science and Capacity to Serve Workshop with an Anti-Racism Framework, and community research site visits to the Boys and Girls Club and two healthcare facilities. Trainees appreciated learning about the importance of understanding the mechanisms that are driving outcomes, as well as the opportunity to discuss and witness ethical and effective research in the community.

ICHAD Staff Members Receive New Faculty Appointments at WashU

The ICHAD team is celebrating two team members who received new faculty appointments in July. ICHAD co-director, Dr. Proscovia Nabunya, was appointed as an Assistant Professor on tenure track and ICHAD Senior Research Fellow and Data Analyst, Dr. Rachel Brathwaite, was appointed as a Research Assistant Professor at the Brown School.

Dr. Nabunya started as a project coordinator with ICHAD in 2004 in Rakai, Uganda. Originally from Uganda, she earned her MSW at St. Louis University in 2010 and her PhD in Social Work at University of Chicago in 2016, where she held research and teaching positions. She has been a Research Assistant Professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis since 2018 and co-director of ICHAD since 2019. She participated as a fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Researcher Resilience Training (RRT) Program. With a global research agenda focused on HIV-stigma reduction interventions; mental health, family and community-based support systems as protective factors for the development and wellbeing of children and youth in low resource settings, she has authored or co-authored over 50 published manuscripts, and is an investigator on multiple NIH research studies and research training grants. “I am very excited to ‘rejoin’ the Brown School as an Assistant Professor on tenure track,” Dr. Nabunya said. “The past four years have been full of growth in terms of my scholarship, teaching and service. I look forward to building upon and extending this work, and most importantly, expanding my teaching and engaging with our students within the classroom and beyond.”

Dr. Rachel Brathwaite is originally from Trinidad and Tobago. She earned her master of science in 2011 in Applied Epidemiology at University of Nottingham, UK. She earned her PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health in 2017 at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, where she has held research assistant position. She has held postdoctoral positions at King’s College London and the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She is an alum of ICHAD’s RRT training program. Her academic research experience to date has involved significant scientific contributions to improving the health of vulnerable populations including developing models to predict future depression among adolescents in low and middle income countries including Nepal and Nigeria and on predicting depression and hopelessness among adolescents living with HIV in Uganda. Dr. Brathwaite said, “As a faculty member on the research track, I have the opportunity to develop and lead new research projects in my area of interest and use existing datasets to investigate and answer important research questions. I am grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with exceptional scientists at WashU and to play a small role in advancing research that can contribute to improving mental and physical health among vulnerable youth in low-resource settings.”

Dr. William Byansi Starts New Position at Boston College

ICHAD bids farewell to Dr. William Byansi, Postdoctoral Research Associate and longtime team member, who started a new position as Assistant Professor at Boston College in July. Dr. William joined ICHAD in Uganda in 2012 as a Research Assistant. He completed his MSW at New York University Silver School of Social Work in 2017, and his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis in 2021. During his time with ICHAD and SMART Africa Center, Dr. William has supported multiple research studies aimed at developing, adapting, and testing interventions focused on child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. He is an RRT alum, and has contributed to over 30 published manuscripts and a book chapter. We will miss having Dr. William on our team, but look forward to a future together of continued partnership and collaboration. We wish him all the best in his new job and home!

Recent Publications

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders among U.S. Born Children of South Sudanese Parents Resettled as Refugees. Global Social Welfare.  Tutlam, N.T., Flick, L. H., Xian, H.,  Matsuo, H.,  Tutdeal, N. & Glowinski, A.
 

War-Affected South Sudanese in Settings of Preflight, Flight and Resettlement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Trauma-Associated Mental Disorders. Global Social Welfare. Tutlam, N. T., Chang, J., Byansi, W., Flick, L. H., Ssewamala, F. M. & Betancourt, T. S.

HIV‑Related Shame, Stigma and the Mental Health Functioning of Adolescents Living with HIV: Findings from a Pilot Study in Uganda. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. Nabunya, P. and Namuwonge, F.

Family-level correlates of disruptive behavior challenges among children in Southwestern Uganda. Children and Youth Services Review. Byansi, W., Namatovu, P., Sensoy Bahar, O., Kiyingi, J., Nabayinda, J., Mwebembezi, A., Kivumbi, A., Damulira, C., Nattabi, J., Namuwonge, F., McKay, M. M., Hoagwood, K.  & Ssewamala, F. M.

Recent and Upcoming Presentations

Hazardous drinking, readiness to change, and alcohol-related self-efficacy among people with HIV receiving HIV care in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oral presentation at the Adherence Conference in Washington, DC. (July 2022). Parcesepe, A.M., Filiatreau, L.M., Lelo, P., Mbonze, N., Lumande, F., Alisho, A., Yotebieng, M., Remch, M., Anastos, K., Nash, D., & Lancaster, K.

Enduring the “slow burn” in rural America: estimating pandemic dynamics by rurality. Presented at Society for Epidemiologic Research Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL (June 2022). Filiatreau, L.M., Fox, B., Mody, A., & Geng, E.H.

Prevalence of potentially traumatic events and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety among people with HIV initiating HIV care in Cameroon. Electronic poster presentation at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, Canada (August 2022). Filiatreau, L.M., Ebasone, P.V., Dzudie, A., Ajeh, R., Nash, D., Yotebieng, M., Pence, B.W., Wainberg, M., Anastos, K., & Parcesepe, A.M.

Social Corner

ICHAD trainees, staff, and partners took time to explore parts of Uganda and enjoyed the joyful talent of a children's  Ugandan dance performance troop