News & Updates

November 2024 Edition, Issue 83

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

Showcasing at the Kenya Innovation Week 2024

We are Hiring: Program Coordinator

Are you a motivated professional with expertise in project impact evaluation and communication? CARTA is looking for an exceptional leader to join our vibrant research management team and lead/support our initiatives across Africa. CARTA focuses on rebuilding Africa's research capacity by training and supporting the next generation of African scholars and researchers. This exciting role will involve supporting the development of PhD and postdoctoral fellows, leading impactful initiatives, boosting visibility, and contributing to our mission of strengthening Africa’s research capacity. Details

CARTA is Now on LinkedIn!

We are thrilled to connect with our partners, researchers, funders, and the wider academic community on the LinkedIn platform. Follow us to stay updated on our latest projects, events, capacity-building efforts, and everything we do to transform Africa's research landscape. Connect here

APHRC Holds Inaugural Research Symposium

On November 20, 2024, the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) held an inaugural Africa Health and Development Annual Research Symposium (AHDARS) under the theme 'Leveraging Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Innovations for Evidence-Informed Policymaking in Africa'. The symposium brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and APHRC board members to discuss how data science (DS) and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming Africa’s population, health, and development sectors. The event served as a platform for exchanging ideas, sharing research findings, and identifying innovative approaches to integrating DS and AI into evidence-informed decision-making.

CARTA Fellows Among 2024 Highly Cited Researchers

CARTA fellows were among the 6,886 researchers recognized by Clarivate this year for their exceptional contributions to academic research. Clarivate, a global leader in transformative intelligence, recognizes researchers who have authored multiple Highly Cited Papers—ranking in the top 1% by citations in their field(s) and publication year on the Web of Science over the past decade. This distinction highlights the outstanding influence of CARTA fellows in advancing knowledge within their disciplines. Clarivate’s 2024 analysis also offers valuable insights into global trends in research excellence, showcasing the geographic, institutional, and disciplinary distribution of top research talent. Read more

PhD Completions

Eight fellows have completed their PhD degrees, meeting all the requirements from the University of Witwatersrand. They are set to graduate on December 9, 2024.

Alice Muhayimana

Cohort 10, University of Rwanda

PhD: Nursing Education

Thesis: Development of strategies for health care providers to sustain respectful maternity care to women in labor

Justin Kumala

Cohort 6, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences

PhD: Virology

Thesis: The effect of insecticide resistance on Malaria vector control in Chikwawa, Southern Malawi

Martha Makwero

Cohort 7, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences 

PhD: Public Health

Thesis: The assessment of patient-centered care among diabetic patients in Southern Malawi

Siphamandla Gumede

Cohort 8, University of Witwatersrand  

PhD: Internal Medicine

Thesis: Strengthening understanding of effective adherence strategies for first-line and second-line Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in selected rural and urban communities in South Africa

Lebogang Maseko

Cohort 8, University of Witwatersrand 

PhD: Occupational Therapy

Thesis: Integrating rehabilitation services at primary healthcare level in Johannesburg, South Africa

Valens Mbarushimana

Cohort 6, University of Rwanda

 

PhD: Public Health

Thesis: Early adolescents' knowledge, beliefs and behaviors regarding gender and sexuality in Rwanda: Implications for their sexual experiences and Health outcomes

Foluso Ayobami

Cohort 8, University of Ibadan 

PhD: Anatomical Sciences

Thesis: Effects of aqueous extract of kola nut (Cola nitida) on Sprague Dawley dams and exposure on the hippocampus of the progeny

Kganetso Sekome

Cohort 10, University of Witwatersrand

 

PhD: Public Health

Thesis: Feasibility and acceptability of a contextualized physical activity and diet intervention for hypertension control in a rural adult population of South Africa

Alice Muhayimana, cohort 10, University of Rwanda, presented her PhD research findings, ‘Respectful Maternity Care,’ to senior hospital leaders and clinical staff at Rwamagana Level 2 Hospital and Kiziguro District Hospital in the Eastern province of Rwanda on November 6 - 7, 2024.

Kganetso Sekome, cohort 10, University of Witwatersrand, won the 1st runner-up prize at the University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences' 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. The idea behind the 3MT competition is to increase researchers’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills, and capacities needed to effectively explain a research topic in three minutes in a language appropriate to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

University of Nairobi’s Christine Mbindyo, Cohort 8, and Winnie Mutai, Cohort 4, were part of the organizing committee and facilitation of sessions at the National AMR Scientific Symposium 2024. The symposium was held in commemoration of this year’s World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) that adopted the theme of ‘Educate, Advocate, Act Now’. Convened by the National Antimicrobial Stewardship Interagency Committee (NASIC), the symposium sought to promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to curb the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. WAAW is a global campaign that is marked annually from November 18 - 24, to improve awareness and understanding of AMR and encourage best practices among the public, One Health stakeholders, and policymakers.

As one of the key activities of her CARTA-funded project through the re-entry grant program, Aanuoluwapo Olajubu, cohort 6, Obafemi Awolowo University, visited her external mentor, Prof. Violet Naanyu of Moi University, Kenya in November. She had a week-long intensive training on data management and analysis of qualitative data using Nvivo. Similarly, in line with expectations for the mentor to also visit the mentee, Prof. Violet Naanyu visited Obafemi Awolowo University where delivered a public lecture on community engagement and knowledge translation, with 238 participants. A new collaborative research network and institutional collaboration were established during her visit.

Godwin Anywar, cohort 6, Makerere University, attended the 2024 World Science Forum that took place on November 20 - 23, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. At the forum, he participated in a side event: ‘Trust in Science’, a workshop for early career researchers organized by the Global Young Academy (GYA) and the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). 

On November 26 - 28, 2024, he attended the twentieth annual meeting of the African Science Academies (AMASA 2024) and the General Assembly of the Network of African Academies of Sciences (NASAC), in Algiers, Algeria. He presented on ‘Promoting Science Diplomacy for Sustainable Development in Africa’ as one the co-leads of the Science Diplomacy in Africa working group of the Global Young Academy’. 

Godwin also participated in the Uganda Text Book Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association (UTANA)- hybrid symposium on authorship capacity where he moderated a panel session on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and academic authorship. With the theme ‘Capacity building for academic and nonfiction authorship for Africa’s Transformation’ the symposium took place from November 14 -15, 2024 in Kampala, Uganda. 



Additionally, he attended and moderated a session on the regulation and registration of herbal medicinal products (HMP) in African countries. Organized by the Society for Medicinal Plants and Natural Products Research (GA) in collaboration with PharmaConnect Africa NPC and The Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA), the session was part of an eSeminar series ‘Regulation of Natural Products – a Global Challenge’.

Funding: Public Health Research - Ultra-Processed Foods

There is growing interest in food processing and its effect on health. The Public Health Research (PHR) Program is accepting stage 1 applications to their commissioned workstream for this topic. The PHR program is predominantly interested in the evaluation of interventions operating at the population/group level, rather than at an individual level, which should address health inequalities and the wider determinants of health. Interventions are likely to impact different (sub)populations in different ways and encourage researchers to explore such inequalities of impact in their study design. Details

Deadline: December 13, 2024

Funding: Research in Mental Health Nursing

The National Institute for Health and Care Research is interested in funding high-quality applied health and social care research to increase and improve the evidence base about mental health nursing and the mental health nursing workforce under the Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Program. Details

Deadline: January 8, 2025

Funding: Evidence-Informed Policy-Making Grants

The British Academy invites proposals for evidence-informed policymaking in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA), therefore, applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.  Details

Deadline: February 19, 2025

Fellowship: Atlas Short-term Fellowship for East African Researchers

The Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme (FMSH) and the Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) of Nairobi are offering a short-term fellowship of three months in France for postdoctoral researchers from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Eastern Congo (Kivu) who have presented their thesis from 2019. This research stay is designed to enable researchers to conduct research studies in France: field inquiries, library and archives work. This program is open to researchers originating from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda Eastern Congo (Kivu) (nationality is a requirement) and affiliated with an institution of higher education and research or a public or private research institute based in one of these countries. Details

Deadline: December 9, 2025

Call for Papers: Globequity Scheme

The International Journal of Public Health (IJPH, 2022 Impact Factor: 4.6) and Public Health Reviews (PHR, 2022 Impact Factor: 5.5) - owned by the non-profit Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) - publish all content Open Access. The journals also support first authors from low- and middle-income countries to publish without fees. The APC waivers are offered through the journals’ GLOBEQUITY program, funded by Swiss universities (details for PHR, IJPH).

Deadline: Before the end of 2024

Call for Papers: Health in Africa Collection

Nature Communications, Communications Medicine, and Scientific Reports are launching an open call for papers to support and showcase research related to all aspects of health in Africa. They aim to promote high-quality research that advances our understanding of health issues in Africa, and advocates for better healthcare on the continent in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Submissions that are focused on both intra- and inter-regional health are encouraged. Details

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Call for Abstracts: New Ways of Transcribing, Visualizing, Publishing, and Providing Access to Data on Epidemics and Contagious Diseases

The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) Scientific Panel on ‘Epidemics and Contagious Diseases: The Legacy of the Past’, will be hosting a one-day online-only workshop on the topic of ‘New ways of transcribing, visualizing, publishing, and providing access to data on epidemics and contagious diseases” at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) on 18 June 2025. The event aims to bring together experts from various disciplines working directly or indirectly on methodological questions of transcribing, visualizing, and publishing tabular or otherwise structured or unstructured data in research with handwritten or printed historical sources as effectively as possible using innovative and modern methods. Abstracts can be submitted here

Deadline: March 1, 2025

Vacancy: Regional Director of the Lancet Countdown Africa Regional Centre

The role is an opportunity for a recognized academic leader in Africa to steer the direction of the Lancet Countdown’s research in the region, to expand the regional representation within the Global Lancet Countdown activities, and to inform a health-centered response to climate change that takes into account the needs, knowledge, and opportunities of African people. Details

Deadline: December 15, 2024

A Practical Guide to Protocol Development for Systematic Reviews

This guide is designed to help both students and researchers master essential skills in developing strong research protocols while providing you, as an educator, with a valuable resource for teaching these processes. Developing a solid protocol is a critical step in any systematic review, and we're here to make this process smoother and more accessible. With comprehensive insights from experts, this guide offers students invaluable support in creating well-structured, high-quality protocols—setting their systematic reviews up for success from the very beginning. Details

Text Recycling Research Project

Learn about text recycling and access resources from the Text Recycling Research Project, the first large-scale investigation of researchers' reuse of materials from their prior work in new documents. As the use of plagiarism-detection software by research journals and academic institutions grows, more instances of text recycling are being identified—and yet there is no consensus on what constitutes ethically or legally acceptable practice. Text recycling is thus an increasingly important and problematic matter in research ethics and publishing. The Text Recycling Research Project aims is to better understand text recycling, to help build consensus among stakeholders, and to promote ethical and appropriate practice. Details

Courses in Global Health Research

The Global Health Training Centre is offering free eLearning courses in global health research for staff of all roles, in all regions, and covering all disease areas, developed by the Global Health Network in collaboration with several partners. The eLearning courses are designed to cover every step, process, and issue that needs to be understood to conduct high-quality research. Every course is written to be globally applicable, for all diseases and all regions. Each course is carefully researched to provide high-quality material that is peer-reviewed and regularly updated. A certificate is issued once a minimum of 80% is achieved in the course quizzes. Learn More

Webinar: Overcoming Barriers to Birth Defect Diagnosis and Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Join this webinar to explore the Virtual Biorepository System (VBS), an innovative model for equitable, rapid access to locally managed biological specimens designed to enhance outbreak preparedness. The VBS, developed by the University of Colorado VBS team and The Global Health Network, aims to serve as a “global public good” by facilitating timely access to specimens and data crucial for developing diagnostics, vaccines, and research on infectious diseases. Register

Date: December 5, 2024

Webinar: Engaging with Communities - Lessons learned from Africa and the United Kingdom

Four panel members working in community engagement in Africa and the United Kingdom will be sharing their experiences, challenges, and top tips and having a discussion for the audience to join in. The webinar will be chaired by Annabelle South, Policy and Impact Research Coordinator at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit (CTU), University College London (UCL). Register

Date: December 9, 2024

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

via email to cartacomms@cartafrica.org on or before December 10, 2024.

Submissions should include but are not limited to:

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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