April 2023  |  ICHAD & SMART Africa Monthly Monitor

Ten Years of Impact

As we celebrate our 10^th anniversary this year, we have had many opportunities to reflect on our Center’s growth into a team working in both the Global North and Global South. Although we’re celebrating our 10^th anniversary as a center, the people and the research behind ICHAD have been active for almost two decades. The team’s dedication has brought transformative community empowerment in Uganda and is expanding across Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, ICHAD’s reach has grown exponentially over the years to a Center whose heartbeat is sustained by the partnership of numerous scholars and staff that live out this mission daily. Please keep reading to see how we’ve been celebrating our milestone.

Looking ahead, we hope you can join us on May 9 at 12:30-1:30 pm CDT for a presentation by three ACHIEVE visiting research scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa who will share their innovative global health work and engage in a discussion about successfully navigating the complex global health research field. See Upcoming Events for more details. In June, we look forward to meeting again in Uganda for the 2023 Forum on Child and Adolescent Global Health Research and Capacity Building. We are thrilled to be back in person for a second year in a row and can’t wait to learn, collaborate, and enjoy the beauty of Uganda together.

The Monthly Monitor will be taking on a new look in the coming months. We look forward to staying in touch in an updated and improved format!

In partnership,

The ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams

ICHAD's 10th Anniversary Celebration Brings Together Global Partners for a Day of Discussion, Reflection and Celebration

On April 11^th ICHAD celebrated 10 years of an unrelenting commitment to disrupt the cycle of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. The celebration was held virtually and in person at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, where the ICHAD USA office is housed. The ICHAD team was deeply humbled by the attendance of many esteemed guests from across the nation, Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the globe at large. There were many happy and tearful moments shared throughout the day and we continue to be in awe of how much ICHAD has flourished with the partnership of so many individuals and groups committed to the health and wellbeing of children and families.
 

Among our esteemed guests in attendance were Andrew Martin, Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, Beverly Wendland, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Mary McKay, Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Initiatives. We also welcomedthe Honorable Commissioner for the Department of Youth and Children Affairs at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Uganda, Mondo Kyateka; Senior Public Health Specialist at Uganda Ministry of Health, Ms. Agnes Ssebowa; Child Protection Specialist, Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour, & Social Development, Ms. Lydia Najjemba Wasula; Director, Pathfinding Countries, Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children – Hosted by UNICEF, Ms. Stella Ayo-Odongo; and Mr. Simba Machingaidze, Country Director, ChildFund Zambia. In addition to various distinguished guests, we extend our deepest gratitude to each and every guest who honored us with their presence. All have contributed to the ICHAD village and have molded us into who we are today.
 

Mr. Timothy Opobo, Executive Director of AfriChild Center at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and longtime ICHAD partner, served as the Master of Ceremonies, ushering us through speaker presentations accompanied by vibrant panel discussions. Kicking off the day was the Story of ICHAD. This was represented by panelists who were at the forefront of pioneering this vision and shared compelling stories of how working and collaborating with ICHAD has impacted their career and lives. As part of the ICHAD Speaker series, Dr. April Thames, Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, presented her talk "The Importance of Cognitive Screening and Psychosocial Assessment in Medically Compromised Populations". The afternoon was filled with an engaging exchange on the role that intentional collaboration has played in our success and how the evidence-based outcomes of ICHAD have impacted Uganda’s policies on health, education, and economic empowerment.

The afternoon featured a screening of the documentary Offering Hope, which tells the story of Dr. Fred Ssewamala’s journey behind the impactful work we undertake at ICHAD, followed by insightful conversation with the WashU Marketing and Communictions documentary production team. The day was concluded with closing remarks by Vice Provost for Graduate Education and International Affairs, Vijay Ramani with closing remarks. Participants in person and on Zoom were engaged throughout the day. One participant shared, “Congratulations to Dr. Fred and to all those who have worked so hard on this program. You have all touched the lives of the future and made an amazing positive impact on so many! What an incredible accomplishment! Thank you for all you do!”

View the 10th Anniversary Celebration full program.

Learn more about ICHAD’s 10th Anniversary in this Brown School feature article.

ICHAD Publishes Journal Supplement to Strengthen Child and Adolescent Mental Health Collaboration

ACTIVE ICHAD RESEARCH STUDIES (2022)

Anzansi Family Program

Bridges to the Future - R2

Kyaterekera Project

M-Suubi

Obuvumu

Preventing Substance Use among Adolescents

Say No to Stigma - Round 2

Suubi+Adherence4Youth

Suubi+Adherence-R2

Suubi-Mhealth

Suubi4Her

Suubi4Stigma

Suubi4StrongerFamilies

SMART Africa Studies

ACTIVE TRAINING PROGRAMS (2022)

ACHIEVE

CHILD Global Research Fellowship

LEAD Global Training Program

Researcher Resilience Training

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 9 | 12:30 pm CST

ICHAD Speaker Series Special Edition: Visiting Global Health Scholar Presentations

Three visiting global health scholars present their research and discuss their experiences as emerging experts in their global health fields, including HIV/AIDS, child and adolescent mental health, and infant nutrition. The scholars, Dr. Mamadu Baldeh of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ronald Olum of Uganda and Dr. Joyce Nankumbi of Uganda, are part of the ACHIEVE global training program. Regsiter here. 

June 19-27

2023 Forum on Child and Adolescent Global Health Research and Capacity Building

Research training fellows, mentors and partners meet in Kampala and Masaka, Uganda. For more information, click here.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Global Social Welfare
 
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

QUICK LINKS

Our Team

ICHAD News

SMART Africa News

SMART Africa/ICHAD  Conference Videos

2022 ICHAD Annual Report

2022 Capacity Building Report

Capacity Building Connection

Publications

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Training Program NOTABLES

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

Dr Mamadu Baldeh (ACHIEVVE 2022) presented on the panel Training the Next Generation of Global Health Researchers: the NIH-Fogarty Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health Annual Conference, Global Health at a Crossroads: Equity, Climate Change and Microbial Threats, on April 15. 

Dr. Julia Lopez (LEAD 2022) and Institute for Public Health Scholar has been awarded funding through the Community Partnership Support for her community-academic projects.

Enoch Azasu (RRT 2020) defended his dissertation at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Nhial Tutlam (ACHIEVE 2022) contributed to the publication and launch of UNHCR’s report on Culture, Context and Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-Being of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons from South Sudan. The report features three of Dr. Tutlam's papers.

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 Chelsea at c.hand-sheridan@wustl.edu.

ICHAD and SMART Africa Centers at the Brown School recently published a supplemental issue titled, “South to South Collaboration to Strengthen Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Sub-Saharan Africa” in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the official publication of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. The supplement showcases results from years of research conducted in partnership with researchers from the global north and south. This body of work cuts across social work, medicine, public health, community mental health for children and adolescents, and family development. Read more here.

Recent Publications

1. Kiyingi, J., Witte, S. S., Nabunya, P., Nsubuga, E., Sensoy Bahar, O., Mayo-Wilson, L. J., Kizito, S., Nattabi, J., Nabayinda, J., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). Predictors of mobility among women engaged in commercial sex work in Uganda using generalized estimating equations model. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 095646242311679. https://doi.org/10.1177/09564624231167910
2. Byansi, W., Ssewamala, F. M., Neilands, T. B., Mwebembezi, A., & Nakigozi, G. (2022). Patterns of and Factors Associated With Mental Health Service Utilization Among School-Going Adolescent Girls in Southwestern Uganda: A Latent Class Analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.09.037
3. Filiatreau, L. M., Tutlam, N., Brathwaite, R., Byansi, W., Namuwonge, F., Mwebembezi, A., Sensoy-Bahar, O., Nabunya, P., Neilands, T. B., Cavazos-Rehg, P., McKay, M., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). Effects of a Combination Economic Empowerment and Family Strengthening Intervention on Psychosocial Well-being Among Ugandan Adolescent Girls and Young Women: Analysis of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (Suubi4Her). Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), S33–S40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.11.250
4. Kizito, S., Nabayinda, J., Neilands, T. B., Kiyingi, J., Namuwonge, F., Damulira, C., Nabunya, P., Nattabi, J., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). A Structural Equation Model of the Impact of a Family-Based Economic Intervention on Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Uganda. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), S41–S50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.012
5. Nabayinda, J., Kizito, S., Ssentumbwe, V., Namatovu, P., Sensoy Bahar, O., Damulira, C., Nabunya, P., Kiyingi, J., Namuwonge, F., Mwebembezi, A., McKay, M. M., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). The Relationship Between Family Cohesion and Depression Among School-Going Children With Elevated Symptoms of Behavioral Challenges in Southern Uganda. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), S11–S17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.016
6. Nabunya, P., Namuwonge, F., Sensoy Bahar, O., Ssentumbwe, V., Migadde, H., Mugisha, J., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). Stigma by Association, Parenting Stress, and the Mental Health of Caregivers of Adolescents Living With HIV in Uganda. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), S18–S23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.08.017
7. Ssewamala, F. M., Brathwaite, R., Sensoy Bahar, O., Namatovu, P., Neilands, T. B., Kiyingi, J., Huang, K. Y., & McKay, M. M. (2023). The Post-intervention Impact of Amaka Amasanyufu on Behavioral and Mental Health Functioning of Children and Adolescents in Low-Resource Communities in Uganda: Analysis of a Cluster-Randomized Trial from the SMART Africa-Uganda Study (2016–2022). Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), S3–S10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.09.035
8. Tutlam, N. T., Filiatreau, L. M., Byansi, W., Brathwaite, R., Nabunya, P., Sensoy Bahar, O., Namuwonge, F., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). The Impact of Family Economic Empowerment Intervention on Psychological Difficulties and Prosocial Behavior Among AIDS-Orphaned Children in Southern Uganda. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), S51–S58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.002
9. Ssewamala, F. M., Sauceda, J. A., Brathwaite, R., Neilands, T. B., Nabunya, P., Brown, D., Sensoy Bahar, O., Namuwonge, F., Nakasujja, N., Mugarura, A., Mwebembezi, A., Nartey, P., Mukasa, B., & Gwadz, M. (2023). Suubi + Adherence4Youth: a study protocol to optimize the Suubi Intervention for Adherence to HIV treatment for youth living with HIV in Uganda. BMC public health, 23(1), 717. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15564-4
10. Jennings Mayo-Wilson, L.; Peterson, S.K.; Kiyingi, J.; Nabunya, P.; Sensoy Bahar, O.; Yang, L.S.; Witte, S.S.; Ssewamala, F.M. (2023). Examining Cash Expenditures and Associated HIV-Related Behaviors Using Financial Diaries in Women Employed by Sex Work in Rural Uganda: Findings from the Kyaterekera Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 20, 5612. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20095612
11. Brathwaite, R., Sensoy Bahar, O., Mutumba, M., Byansi, W., Namatovu, P., Namuwonge, F., Neilands, T. B., McKay, M. M., Hoagwood, K. E., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). Short-Term Impact of "Amaka Amasanyufu" Multiple Family Group Intervention on Mental Health Functioning of Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Uganda. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, S0890-8567(23)00118-1. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2022.12.028
12. Kizito, S., Namuwonge, F., Nabayinda, J., Nabunya, P., Nattabi, J., Sensoy Bahar, O., Kiyingi, J., Magorokosho, N., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2023). Using Hierarchical Regression to Examine the Predictors of Sexual Risk-Taking Attitudes among Adolescents Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Uganda. The Journal of adolescent health: official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, S1054-139X(23)00144-1. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.02.034
13. Nabayinda, J., Kizito, S., Namirembe, R., Nsubuga, E., Nabunya, P., Sensoy Bahar, O., Kiyingi, j., Nattabi, J., Namuwonge, F., Mayo-Wilson, L.J., Witte, S., and Ssewamala, F.M. (in press). Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence Among Young Women Engaged in Sex Work in Southern Uganda. Journal of Interpersonal Violence

Recent Presentations

Dr. Samuel Kizito presented on the panel Early-Stage Investigators during the session “Danforth-Medical Campuses Global Health Collaborations at the Global Health at Washington University: Here and Next”, on March 30, 2023.

Dr. Ozge Sensoy Bahar along with Dr. Patricia Cavazos presented on Research and Training to Improve Mental Health during the session “Danforth-Medical Campuses Global Health Collaborations" at the Global Health at Washington University: Here and Next, on March 30, 2023. 

Trainee Snapshot

ACHIEVE Global Research Fellows Dr. Nhial Tutlam, Dr. Ronald Olum, Dr. Joyce Nankumbi, and Dr. Mamadu Baldeh explored Washington, DC, while attending the Consortium of Universities for Global Health Annual Conference, Global Health at a Crossroads: Equity, Climate Change and Microbial Threats