News & Updates

June 2023 Edition, Issue 66

Welcome to another edition of the CARTA monthly updates. Read on to keep abreast with what is new.

Exciting News: Join Us at the Upcoming CARTA Conference!

Inspiring the Next Generation: Insights from Ojo Melvin on Research and Academic Excellence

Q&A

Feature

"Be pragmatic, persistent, and maintain a positive outlook while endeavoring to empower those around you as agents of positive change......."

Read our latest Q&A feature with Melvin Ojo Agunbiade, CARTA focal person for Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and cohort 3 graduate. He reflects on his academic journey, and the professional and personal milestones achieved, having been recently promoted to the position of Associate Professor at OAU. He also offers valuable insights to inspire the next generation of researchers and scholars. Access here

Samuel Mwaniki (cohort 8, University of Nairobi) has successfully completed all the requirements of his doctoral degree at the University of Witwatersrand on June 7, 2023. His degree is a Doctorate of Philosophy, with the thesis on 'Integrated biological behavioral assessment of human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted infections among tertiary student men who have sex with men in Nairobi, Kenya (Project Bespoke)'.

His completion brings the number of CARTA-funded PhD completions to 143 while 82 fellows are still in progress.

John Alonge (cohort 4 graduate, University of Ibadan) delivered a keynote address on 'The Evolving Landscape of Library and Information Services in E-Learning Environments' on June 21, 2023, at the first Symposium of the Federal University of Lafia Library in Nigeria.

He spoke on how libraries and information services are adapting to the E-Learning era and how they can improve access, learning, and support for students.

Stefanie Vermaak (cohort 10 fellow, University of the Witwatersrand) was a speaker at the AIDS Impact Conference in Stockholm which took place on June 12-14, 2023.

Her presentation was based on her PhD research, 'It is digital, much easier and educational: Usability and acceptability of digital consent for biomedical HIV research in Soweto, South Africa.’

Godwin Anywar (cohort 6 graduate, Makerere University) was selected as a 2023 Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) Fellow at the American Studies Association (ASA) on June 16, 2023. The fellowship comes with a two-year ASA and Emerging Scholars Network Membership. ASA plans to host 15 of the Carnegie fellows to present their work at the ASA’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California, from November 30 - December 2, 2023. He will be presenting a paper on ‘Antiviral activity of Ugandan medicinal plants against human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1)’. He will also participate in a panel discussion with three other Carnegie Fellows where they will discuss ‘Afro-Futures: Science, Technology, and Innovation in Practice and Imagination’.

Valens Mbarushimana (cohort 6 fellow, University of Rwanda) presented his PhD work at an interim seminar at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, on June 2, 2023. The seminar sought to monitor the progress and quality of research, introduce timely and supportive interventions, provide relevant and useful methodological and substantive feedback and recommendations, and provide an interim milestone towards which student works, thus promoting steady progress and giving student experience in presenting and debating scientific work amongst peers and seniors. The title of his PhD research is ‘Early Adolescents’ Knowledge, Beliefs and Behaviors Regarding Gender and Sexuality in Rwanda: implications for their Sexual Experiences and Health Outcomes’.

Charles Ssemugabo (cohort 9 fellow, Makerere University) won a grant to design a multifaceted, community-driven, behavioral change intervention to improve first response to childhood burns (Cool-Burn20) with colleagues from the George Institute for Global Health at Imperial College London. He will be the Ugandan lead for the 18-month (July 2023 - December 2024) Medical Research Council-funded project. The grant aims at co-developing an intervention to improve early response to burns in children below 5 years in slum communities in Uganda and to identify potential system-wide intervention delivery pathways aligned with the socio-ecological model of health behaviors.

Boladale Mapayi (cohort 4 graduate, Obafemi Awolowo University) paid a visit to Brown University on June 2 - 7, 2023, where she was received by Prof Abigail Harrison and the faculty at the School of Public Health. They held several discussions around her initiative, the Shine Project (a CARTA re-entry grant awarded in 2022), potential collaboration with Obafemi Awolowo University, and partnerships with funding bodies, including CARTA. She also spoke about the findings from her study, implications, and future plans.

Omotade Ijarotimi (cohort 10 fellow, Obafemi Awolowo University) was selected to join the editorial board of Frontiers in Global Women's Health Journal as a review editor of the contraception and family planning subspeciality on June 15, 2023.

As part of this trusted network of experts, she will review 5-10 manuscripts per year and will be acknowledged on all manuscripts they endorse for publication.

Wits University Ranked Top on the Continent

CARTA partner, the University of the Witwatersrand, (Wits), South Africa has taken the top spot in Times Higher Education (THE)’s inaugural 2023 Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings. The league table includes 88 universities across 20 African countries. Other CARTA partner universities on the list include Makerere University, Uganda (ranked fifth), the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (36), and Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria (39). THE ranking assesses specifically the impact of universities in addressing some of the toughest challenges faced in the region and uses indicators that provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three vital areas: teaching, research, and societal impact. Explore the rankings here

KUHeS Holds Supervisors Training of Trainers

Toward strengthening graduate training supervisory processes, the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Malawi organized a supervisors Training of Trainers (ToT) on June 5 - 9, 2023 for senior faculty members of different schools and directorates at the institution. One of CARTA's interventions, the supervisors' workshop seeks to enhance the supervision process, through the training of the supervisors based on experiences and best practices.

The ToT is an outcome of CARTA’s rigorous mainstreaming efforts that have been in momentum to see partner institutions adopt and independently-run CARTA interventions in their respective institutions.

APHRC Takes 20^th Anniversary Festivities to Senegal

As a final stretch of marking two decades of impactful research and collaboration, the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) held a colorful celebration in Dakar, Senegal where its West African Regional Office (WARO) is located. The event featured a panel discussion on 'The development and decolonization of research in the Francophone context’. The WARO office was launched in 2019 and is headed by CARTA Graduate, Cheikh Faye. In his role at APHRC, he leads the Countdown 2030 Initiative, a multi-institution collaborative that calls for the accountability of governments and development partners, identifies knowledge gaps, and proposes new actions for universal coverage of women, children, and adolescent health.

Funding: Applied Global Health

This year, the Medical Research Council (MRC) has split the global health funding call into two: research and partnership to address global health challenges and inequities. Proposals of all sizes, including large research projects and small to medium-scale applications, will be accepted. Interested applicants should note the applied global health funding opportunity is now split into separate ‘research’ and ‘partnership’ outline application processes. Applicants are advised to read both the ‘applied global health research’ and the applied global health partnership’ funding opportunities, before deciding which one is the best fit for their application. Access Research call or partnership call

Deadline: July 27, 2023

Funding: ARUA-U21 ECR Collaborative Awards

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and U21 have launched a new funding opportunity, to mark the beginning of a wider network-to-network partnership. The ARUA-U21 ECR Collaborative Awards will support Early Career Researcher-led projects between ARUA and U21 network member universities, using ARUA's Centres of Excellence as specialist research hubs. This one-off funding round, offering up to $15,000 per project, will support ECR projects that can also involve doctoral students, and industry partners/NGOs. The following research areas, aligned with ARUA's Centres of Excellence and the known research strengths of the U21 network, will be the focus: food security climate and development, and water. Details

Deadline: July 31, 2023

Fellowship: SSACAB Post-Doctoral in Biostatistics 

Through funding from the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science in Africa (DELTAS Africa) program, the Sub-Saharan African Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) is currently inviting applications for seven full-time post-doctoral fellowships. The post-doctoral fellowship program focuses on quantitative research in health-related fields with the aim of building a career in Biostatistics, which is a growing field in low and middle-income countries due to increased biomedical research. Funding will cover fellows undertaking a Post-Doctoral program in Biostatistics at participating training institutions for two years. Details

Deadline: The call will remain open until all seven positions are filled

Fellowship: MARCAD PLUS Master, PhD, and Postdoctoral Fellowships

MARCAD Plus has launched a new capacity-building program for Master, PhD, and Postdoctoral in the thematic areas of control and elimination of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) (Schistosomiasis & Soil-Transmitted Helminths). With the program, MARCAD Plus seeks to train African scientists able to provide relevant answers for the control and elimination of malaria and NTDs. Successful candidates will receive advanced training, supervision & mentorship, international exposure, and build their research capacities. The program will facilitate their networking and collaboration with other institutions and help them become competitive for international funding. Fellowships will be based at one of the seven African-based institutions listed above. Details

Deadline: July 28, 2023

Access a wide range of opportunities related to global health research from the Fogarty International Center here:

https://www.fic.nih.gov/Funding/News/Pages/global-health-funding-news-2023-06-26.aspx

Foresight Directory

The Foresight Directory emerged from a project to map futures and foresight actors in the Global South.  Foresight being the capacity and capability to think systematically about the future to inform decision-making today. With more than 50 years of experience funding research in countries in the Global South, but relatively new to the strategic foresight space, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) did not have a good sense of who was working on foresight in these spaces nor how foresight was perceived among actors in the Global South—particularly important in the context of calls to "decolonize development". To gain a better understanding of the actors in this space and these issues, IDRC worked with a team at the School of International Futures (SOIF). Together they conceived the notion of developing a database of actors engaged in foresight, futures and related methods, who are living, working or supporting capability-strengthening in the Global South. Explore

To be featured in the next CARTA Monthly, share with us your news and updates

via email to cartacomms@cartafrica.org on or before July 28, 2023.

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upcoming events, meetings, story ideas, new collaborations, new trials/updates, upcoming and published papers, policy briefs, community engagement activities, scholarships, what you are reading, if you won a grant, attending or about an upcoming conference, a call for applications/funding/papers, etc.

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