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August 2021 | ICHAD & SMART Africa Monthly Monitor
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Greetings from the ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams!
Good news on the funding front, as the ICHAD team and our affiliates have secured two additional grants to address the mental health needs of Ugandan youth living with HIV as well as one to improve quality of cancer care. You can find more details about these pilot projects below, as well as the latest updates about the ANZANSI Family Program.
We are also happy to announce that five members of the ICHAD-Uganda team have finally arrived in St. Louis after many delays and setbacks to continue their education at the Brown School and School of Engineering. We are ecstatic that they finally made it here (see more below). Please join us in welcoming them to St. Louis!
The ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams
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William Byansi Receives Funding to Examine the Effects of COVID-19 Restrictions on Ugandan Youth Living with HIV
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Postdoctoral fellow William Byansi, a Ugandan national with ties to both Makerere University and Washington University, has received a one-year supplemental grant from NIH’s Fogarty International Center. For this supplement, Dr. Byansi will work with his mentors, Dr. Noeline Nakasujja at Makerere University and Fred Ssewamala at Washington University, to leverage the established CHILD-GRF training program and ICHAD’s Suubi+Adherence study to examine the impact of the epidemic response and social distancing measures on adolescents’ mental health, including COVID-19-related depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. The team will conduct interviews with 500 youth living with HIV (YLHIV) across 39 health facilities accredited to provide antiretroviral therapy (ART). The study will also examine the multilevel COVID-related facilitators and barriers to ART access and uptake among YLHIV. Findings may inform the development of interventions to address mental health challenges associated with future epidemics for YLHIV in low-resource settings. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Byansi on this accomplishment!
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ICHAD and Partners Receive two Global Incubator Seed Grants funded by the McDonnell International Scholars Academy
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We are pleased to announce that two ICHAD-affiliated Global Incubator Seed grants were selected for funding. The first, led by ICHAD Co-Director Proscovia Nabunya and Professor of Psychiatry Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, will conduct focus groups with youth living with HIV (YLHIV) and healthcare providers to inform the development of a feasible, acceptable and cost-effective mHealth intervention protocol for YLHIV experiencing depressive symptoms in the Masaka region. The team will be supported by LEAD Postdoctoral Associate, Lindsey Filiatreau and ICHAD Global Affiliate James Mugisha at Makerere University in Uganda. The second grant was submitted in partnership with Boazhou Sun, an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Medical School, who will work with partners at the Uganda Cancer Institute to adapt a highly-efficient and cost-effective approach for linear accelerator deployment and quality assurance processes to support safe and efficient use of radiation therapy technologies in Uganda. Congratulations to both teams!
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Research Study Spotlight
ANZANSI Family Program
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ANZANSI participants (adolescent girls and their caregivers) receiving their certificates of completion of multiple family group and financial literacy training sessions.
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The ANZANSI Family Program seeks to test the feasibility of an innovative combination intervention–Family Economic Empowerment and Multiple Family Group (MFG)–amongst adolescent girls (10-14 years of age) at risk of dropping out of school and migrating for work in Northern Ghana. The BasicNeeds and BIBIR teams (implementation partners) completed the delivery the Dang-Malgu Multiple Family Group (meaning family togetherness in Dagbani, the local dialect of study setting) and Financial Literacy Training (FLT) sessions between November 2020 and March 2021 with the families in the treatment group (n=47). Overall, 99% attended all 16 MFG sessions and 98% attended all six FLT sessions. Drs. Abdallah Ibrahim and Alice Boateng, the in-country PIs for ANZANSI, arrived in Tamale in April 2021 to present certificates of completion to the families. All families in the treatment group opened child development accounts and 80% of the families have been saving every month since January 2021. Families’ savings have been matched monthly since January 2021 by a ratio of 1:2. The BIBIR team continues to provide follow-up visits to families in the treatment group to offer support about their Income Generating Activities (IGAs) and banking transactions. The matching period will end in October 2021 and the team will start collecting the post-intervention data starting in November 2021.
You can learn more about this study here.
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After Lockdowns, Embassy Closings and Many Late Night Virtual Classes, ICHAD-Uganda Team Members Finally Arrive in St. Louis!
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From left to right: Robert Kasumba poses in front of the Engineering School, Joshua Kiyingi enjoys his first baseball game, and Josephine Nabayinda experiences WashU’s beautiful campus. Below: ICHAD students enjoy some St. Louis favorites.
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This month, we welcomed five colleagues from Uganda who will be attending school at Washington University: Joshua Kiyingi (PhD in Public Health), Josephine Nabayinda (PhD in Social Work), Jennifer Nattabi (PhD in Social Work), Christopher Damulira (Masters in Public Health) and Robert Kasumba (Master’s in Computer Science). Last year Joshua, Jennifer, Christopher and Robert started their first year of school remotely – an experience they describe as a challenging one. They couldn’t wait to finally make it to St. Louis. After Uganda's second lockdown in July, they were seemingly headed for yet another year online, but amazingly their Visas came through, just in time! Here are their thoughts on finally making it to St. Louis:
“Dr. Ssewamala gave me a tour of the campus when I arrived - I was impressed by how beautiful and organized it is! I’ve had the chance to enjoy a baseball game and developed an immediate interest. I would like to extend my special gratitude to Dr. Fred and the Uganda community in St. Louis for the welcome and support they have given us. I can’t wait to start in-person classes after a year of frustration due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”- Robert Kasumba
“I have had a great experience for the few weeks I have been in St. Louis. I have visited many beautiful places and restaurants and love the variety of food. There are surprises as well, like the weather (high humidity), the sunrise at 5:45 AM and sunset at 8:30 PM. I was introduced to baseball by Dr. Fred and I have already attended two games at Busch Stadium. I look forward to attending in-person classes and forgetting about the hustles of remote classes - with the 8 hours’ time difference.” – Joshua Kiyingi
“My online class experience was not so good. I had to attend classes very late at night due to the time difference. However, due to a supportive family and Dr. Fred's support spanning from internet resources, place to stay for late night classes and reading space, I was able to thrive in class during my first year of the MPH program.” – Christopher Damulira
“When I arrived in St. Louis, I was welcomed by Dr. Fred and our colleagues who were already here - who have provided much support. I got a chance to watch a baseball game and have also visited Purina Farms as part of the McDonnell Scholars retreat. So far so good, and looking forward to classes commencing.” – Josephine Nabayinda
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Upcoming Poster Presentations
“Engaging vulnerable women engaged in commercial sex in the implementation of an HIV risk reduction intervention in Southern Uganda” The 16th International Conference on HIV Treatment and Prevention Adherence, November 7-9, 2021, Orlando, Florida
“Self-reported adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among women engaged in commercial sex work in Southern Uganda” The 16th International Conference on HIV Treatment and Prevention Adherence, November 7-9, 2021, Orlando, Florida
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Research Studies
ANZANSI Family Program
Diabetes-Associated Risk Factors
SMART Africa Studies
Kyaterekera Project
Say No to Stigma
Suubi+Adherence-R2
Suubi4Cancer
Suubi4Her
Suubi4STEM
Suubi4Stigma
Training Programs
CHILD Global Research Fellowship
LEAD Global Training Program
Researcher Resilience Training
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Upcoming Events
September 15, 2021 | 12:30 CST
ICHAD/SMART Africa Speaker Series
Carolyn Lesorogol, PhD
Conversation and Community in Kenya: Costs, Benefits and the Prospects for Change
Register here
October 13, 2021 | 12:30 CST
ICHAD/SMART Africa Speaker Series
Leyla Ismayilova, PhD
Register here
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Other Events, Funding & Training Opportunities
Month Capacity Building Connection
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Call for Papers
Global Social Welfare
IJERPH Special Issue
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Quick Links
Our Team
ICHAD News
SMART Africa News
SMART Africa/ICHAD Conference Videos
2020 Annual Report
Publications
Donate
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NOTABLES
Congratulations to the following trainees for their recent accomplishments!
LEAD 2021 Alum Dr. Philip Baiden’s work, A Bright Light at the End of the Tunnel: Factors Associated with Complete Mental Health after a Suicide Attempt, published in Archives of Suicide Research, was featured in EurekAlert!
Washington University in St. Louis’s Center for Social Development welcomed RRT 2020 Alum Dr. Moses Okumu as faculty director and co-leader of the new Financial Capability & Asset Building in Africa initiative.
The words and work of RRT co-director, Dr. Sean Joe, as well as RRT fellows Dr. Leslie Adams (2020) and Dr. Sonyia Richardson (2021) were featured in the story Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of Color on the website/radio show/podcast, Science Friday.
RRT Fellow Joshua Kiyingi (2021) was selected to be the Brown School’s Graduate Council representative at Washington University. The Graduate Council is the main discussion forum on matters pertaining to and the legislative body of the Graduate School. In addition, Joshua also assumed the prestigious title of “father” as he and his wife Irene were blessed with a baby girl, Luella Grace Kiyingi on August 4, 2021.
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A Word from
the ANZANSI Team
“I strongly believe that BasicNeeds-Ghana through the ANZANSI study, has opened a new era of hope for families as they are now able to own and operate bank accounts which will support them to cater for their families.”
- Kingsley Kumbelim, ANZANSI Study Coordinator (Ghana)
"The ANZANSI study has the potential to transform how educators and caregivers in Northern Ghana can utilize best practice tools to empower adolescent girls to transform their lives and chart the path for a successful future rather than embarking on risky journeys for child labor."
- Abdallah Ibrahim, ANZANSI Study MPI - Ghana
"As a student who is interested in international development work, working on ANZANSI has given me a first-hand experience of the implementation of participatory intervention projects in international settings. ANZANSI participants' feedback about the study, as shared by our Ghana team, always comes with great fulfillment to me and I am excited about the impact of ANZANSI on participating adolescents and families in the near future."
- Portia Nartey, ANZANSI Study Coordinator (U.S.)
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