Greetings from the ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams!
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ICHAD’s research studies are in full swing, with our team in Uganda implementing research interventions at multiple sites in the Masaka region. See the Study Highlight to learn more about one of our studies, M-Suubi, and its interventions to support adolescents living with HIV and their caregivers. Our team and our trainees and alumni have been busy this fall with manuscript publications and conference presentations. We are thrilled to welcome a new baby to the ICHAD family. We are also delighted to have Dr. Leyla Karimli with us as a visiting fellow. Finally, our team in Uganda took some time for a friendly soccer match. Thank you for sharing in our accomplishments.
In partnership,
The ICHAD and SMART Africa Teams
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Study Highlight: M-Suubi
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Families attending an MFG-HIVSR session at TASO in Masaka, Uganda
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Families affected by HIV in low-resource settings can face a wide range of challenges, including access to treatment, strain on financial resources, stigma, conflict within the family, and mental health difficulties. ICHAD’s M-Suubi study addresses these challenges through a multi-level intervention to reduce the impact of HIV stigma on HIV treatment outcomes among adolescents living with HIV. M-Suubi focuses on adolescents enrolled in boarding schools and their caregivers in the Masaka region of Uganda. One of the study treatment groups receives the Multiple Family Group-HIV Stigma Reduction (MFG-HIVSR) intervention together with the economic empowerment component that includes the financial literacy training (FLT). The MFG-HIVSR sessions provide a safe setting for parents and their children to address HIV stigma, foster family communication, facilitate optimism and morale by normalizing shared experiences with other families, and enhance interpersonal and coping skills. The FLT addresses economic barriers associated with treatment outcomes and engagement in HIV care.
Throughout October, ICHAD’s research staff in Uganda have delivered MGF-HIVSR to 51 families at our study sites. These interventions will enable the study team to examine the impact of the study interventions on several factors, including HIV viral suppression, adherence to HIV treatment, and participants’ experiences with stigma related to their HIV status. Results from M-Suubi have the potential to inform how adolescents living with HIV are supported within their families and schools, the most important developmental contexts for their development and wellbeing. For more information about M-Suubi, visit https://ichad.wustl.edu/research-studies/msuubi/ and see the recent publication, A Multilevel Integrated Intervention to Reduce the Impact of HIV Stigma on HIV Treatment Outcomes Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Uganda: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
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Dr. Proscovia Nabunya Featured in National Institute of Mental Health CGMHR Webinar Series
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Dr. Nabunya presents at the NIMH CGMHR webinar
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The National Institute of Mental Health's Center for Global Mental Health Research (CGMHR) hosted a webinar on September 28, focusing on establishing an independent career in global mental health research. The webinar included an overview of the CGMHR’s funding priorities, current funding opportunities, and advice from researchers who have successfully transitioned to become independent researchers in global mental health research, and advice from researchers who have successfully transitioned to become independent researchers in global mental health research. Among the featured researchers was ICHAD Co-Director and Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Proscovia Nabunya. Dr. Nabunya and the other panelists shared advice to emerging researchers on a variety of topics including specific guidance on conducting mental health research in international contexts, working with mentors to advance one’s career, and creating work-life balance. View the full recording of the webinar here.
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ICHAD Welcomes Visiting Fellow Dr. Leyla Karimli
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ICHAD has recently welcomed visiting fellow, Dr. Leyla Karimli, Assistant Professor at the Social Welfare Department, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. She is currently spending her sabbatical in residence with ICHAD, working on several collaborations with Dr. Fred Ssewamala and members of ICHAD’s research team. Dr. Karimli has over 13 years of international research and practice experience focusing on poverty and social exclusion, including working with international development agencies in the former Soviet Union and Sub-Saharan Africa. She has multiple works produced in collaboration with colleagues from ICHAD, UCLA, University of Chicago, and University of Antwerp, aiming to understand the specific mechanisms through which economic strengthening interventions affect children’s wellbeing. “As a global poverty scholar, I feel very empowered by partnering with ICHAD and their stellar team. The ethos embodied by ICHAD – conducting research that transcends the rarefied world of academia and makes a real impact on children and their families – sets a standard for how vital and tangible our work is and can be. My driving purpose of improving the wellbeing of children and their families shares a perfect match with the founding principles and commitment ICHAD exemplifies”. Dr. Leyla kicked off this season of the ICHAD Speaker Series through the Brown School’s Open Classroom, with her talk, “Economic Strengthening Interventions Among Caregivers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Underlying Mechanisms of Its Effect” To view the complete recording of her talk, click here.
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New Human Resources Director Joins ICHAD Uganda
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Ms. Sanyu Nakayita recently joined the ICHAD family in our Masaka, Uganda, office in the role of Human Resource Manager. Ms. Sanyu comes to us from Sheraton Kampala where she worked for 21 years in various roles, with the last seven years working as the head of strategy for hotel operations in Uganda. Ms. Sanyu holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Nkozi University; and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Ndejje University. Ms. Sanyu is excited to return home to Masaka where she was born and bred, and she looks forward to being a positive influence to the people in the community, through empowering, mentoring, coaching and rendering assistance to those in need. Join us in welcoming Ms. Sanyu Nakayita into our ICHAD family!
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Recent Publications
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Mutumba, M., Ssewamala, F.M., Namirembe, R., Sensoy Bahar, O., Nabunya, P., Neilands, T., Tozan, Y., Namuwonge, F., Nattabi, J., Acayo Laker, P., Mukasa, B., & Mwebembezi, A. (2022). A Multilevel Integrated Intervention to Reduce the Impact of HIV Stigma on HIV Treatment Outcomes Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Uganda: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR research protocols, 11(10), e40101.
Sensoy Bahar, O., Boateng, A., Nartey, P.B., Ibrahim, A., Kumbelim, K., Nabunya, P., Ssewamala, F.M., McKay, M.M. “ANZANSI Program Taught Me Many Things in Life”: Families’ Experiences with a Combination Intervention to Prevent Adolescent Girls’ Unaccompanied Migration for Labor. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 13168.
Ssewamala, F.M., McKay, M.M., Sensoy Bahar, O., Nabunya, P., Neilands, T., Kiyingi, J., Namatovu, P., Guo, S., Nakasujja, N., Mwebembezi, A. (in press). Suubi4StrongerFamilies: A Study Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Trial Addressing Child Behavioral Health by Strengthening Financial Stability and Parenting among Families in Uganda. Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Dvalishvili, D., Ssewamala, F.M., Nabunya, P., Sensoy Bahar, O., Kizito, S., Namuwonge, F., Namatovu, P. (in press). Impact of Family-Based Economic Empowerment Intervention, Suubi+Adherence (2012-2018) on Multidimensional Poverty for Adolescents living with HIV (ALWHIV) in Uganda. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
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Welcome Baby Isaiah to the ICHAD Family!
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Team ICHAD Places Third in Soccer Gala
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Team ICHAD took third place at the Independence Corporate Soccer Gala at Masaka Sports Club in Masaka, Uganda. Go team!
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ACTIVE ICHAD RESEARCH STUDIES (2022)
Bridges-R2
Kyaterekera Project
M-Suubi
Obuvumu
Preventing Substance Use among Adoloscents
Suubi+Adherence4Youth
Suubi+Adherence-R2
Suubi-Mhealth
Suubi4Her
Suubi4StrongerFamilies
SMART Africa Studies
ACTIVE TRAINING PROGRAMS (2022)
ACHIEVE
CHILD Global Research Fellowship
LEAD Global Training Program
Researcher Resilience Training Program
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UPCOMING EVENTS
November 2 | 12:00 pm CST
Hybrid Event: Brown Lounge, Washington University in St. Louis and Virtual
"Interventions to Address Stigma and Mental Health Challenges among Children and Families in Low Resource Settings: Implications for Public Health" with Dr. Proscovia Nabunya. Register here.
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OTHER EVENTS, FUNDING & TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Call for Applications
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.
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Global Social Welfare
Special Issue for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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QUICK LINKS
Our Team
ICHAD News
SMART Africa News
SMART Africa/ICHAD Conference Videos
2021 ICHAD Annual Report
2021 Capacity Building Report
Capacity Buildng Connection
Publications
Donate
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Training Program NOTABLES
Congratulations to the following trainees and alumni on their recent accomplishments!
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Two CHILD-GRF trainees from the 2021 cohort represented CHILD-GRF by presenting their work at the virtual Fogarty International Center HIV Research Training D43 Trainees and K Grantees Network Meeting. Yvonne Karamagi presented A Qualitative Study on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Adolescents Living with HIV (15-19 years) at Mildmay Uganda Hospital, and Richard Mpango presented his project, Evaluating the Effectiveness of the New Forest Parenting Program (NFPP) to Mitigate Behavioral Problems and Improve Adherence Outcomes among Children and Adolescents Infected with HIV (CA-HIV) in Uganda.
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Ronald Olum (ACHIEVE 2022) was awarded second prize for his presentation, Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Towards Contraception Among School-Going Adolescents and Young People in Mbale, Eastern Uganda, at the Sexual and Reproductive Health: Informing Policy and Practice through Research and Preservice Training conference in Kigali, Rwanda. The conference was hosted by the Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT) at the University of Michigan.
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Anita Arinda (CHILD-GRF 2020) co-authored the published manuscript, Differences in Reasons for Late Presentation to HIV Care in Uganda Among Men and Women, in the journal AIDS and Behavior.
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Agatha Kafuko (CHILD-GRF 2020) presented Prevalence and Risk Factors for Sexual Violence among 13-17 Year-Old Girls in Uganda at the Sexual Violence Initiative (SVRI) Forum 2022, hosted by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SRVI) in Cancún, Mexico.
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Raymond Atwebembere (CHILD-GRF 2020) Presented about the Obuvumu Study Progress at the SU-CUGH African Global Health Hybrid Conference at Stellenbosch University.
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Edgar Guma (CHILD-GRF 2022) presented Cerebral Malaria and its Mental Health Sequelae at The Malaria Situation in Uganda Symposium at the General
Military Hospital in Bombo, Uganda.
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Allan Kalungi (CHILD-GRF 2022) co-authored a published manuscript in the American Journal of Human Genetics, Genetic structure correlates with ethnolinguistic diversity in eastern and southern Africa.
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We want to celebrate you!
We invite all trainees and alumni of ICHAD training programs (CHILD-GRF, LEAD, & RRT) to submit their accomplishments. Email Laura at Lpeer@wustl.edu.
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