Volume 17| June 1, 2019
CARTA Fellow to lead the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) West Africa regional office
Caption: APHRC Executive Director and CARTA Co-Director Catherine Kyobutungi and CARTA Fellow Cheikh Faye in Dakar, Senegal during the launch of the APHRC regional office.
Cohort Five Fellow Cheikh Faye has been appointed the first regional director of the APHRC West Africa regional office unveiled on May 14 . The office was officially opened by the Executive Director, Catherine Kyobutungi who led the Center’s delegation in launching the APHRC West Africa regional office in Dakar, Senegal. The launch was graced by the Board, and representatives from the health and finance ministries in Senegal. The regional office will anchor APHRC’s partner projects in West Africa such as the Countdown to 2030 Regional Initiative , Improving Girls Education , and the Immunization Advocacy Initiative .

Faye, who is registered for his doctoral studies at the University of the Witwatersrand is conducting his research on the factors associated with stunting and catch-up growth among under-five children in Nairobi informal settlements. He is scheduled to graduate next month.
Photos: The CARTA Research, Evaluation and Planning Meeting in Nairobi
The 1st CARTA Research, Evaluation, Learning and Planning meeting was held in Nairobi Kenya from May 30 to 31 . The meeting assessed CARTA's contribution and attribution in building vibrant multidisciplinary academy of world class research in our partner institutions. It brought together focal persons from CARTA African partner institutions, the CARTA secretariat and an external evaluator, Barbara Klugman. Dr Klugman (top picture on the right) offers strategy support and conduct evaluations with social justice funders, NGOs, networks and leadership training institutions globally. 
Taofeek named among next global leaders in cardiovascular health
Cohort One Fellow, Taofeek O. Awotidebe Adedoyin from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria has been named one of 25 World Heart Federation (WHF) Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders.

As part of the program, he will participate in a forthcoming 'think tank' seminar in the UK in October 2019 and will be involved in shared collaborative grant proposal; participate in research, implementation, or dissemination activities related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention or treatment. The Geneva-based program was created in 2014 by Professor Salim Yusuf, a CVD research leader and WHF Past President. The program seeks to build the capacity, professional development, mentorship and networking of WHF Emerging Leaders in 100 countries.
Appointment: Evangeline nominated to Kenya’s National Cancer Board
Our graduate and Cohort Four fellow, Evangeline Njiru , from Moi University is among four appointees to the Kenya National Cancer Institute board. Evangeline is a physician, oncologist, and lecturer at Moi University.

Her doctoral study focused on a situational analysis of cancer care in the western Kenya population. The announcement was published in the Gazette notice of May 6 by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Health, Sicily Kariuki .
Promotion: Kennedy now Associate Professor
CARTA graduate and Cohort One Fellow Kennedy Otwombe was promoted to an associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Public Health. 

The statistician is based in the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, University of the Witwatersrand.
Esther in Dakar for Networking symposium
CARTA Five Fellow Esther Kikelomo Afolabi from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, participated in the two-day African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship (ADDRF) Networking Symposium held on May 15 to 16 in Dakar, Senegal. 

Afolabi, also an ADDRF fellow, was one of 50 fellows from 14 African countries selected to share their research work in health rights, health systems, and health policy at the symposium. The Symposium also hosted two parallel sessions, one on policy engagement facilitated by APHRC’s Director Lauren Gelfand and CARTA Communications Officer Eunice Kilonzo . The other session was on writing for a non-scientific audience conducted by The Conversation Africa. APHRC Director of Research Capacity Strengthening Division Evelyn Gitau led the two-day event that also provided an opportunity for the APHRC Board to engage with the fellows during a Q&A session. The ADDRF program, established in 2008, provides opportunities for capacity building to fellows researching on population and health. To date, the program has supported 211 fellows and of these, 165 have graduated.
Caption: Esther Kikelemo Afolabi , APHRC Director of Research Capacity Strengthening Division Evelyn Gitau and ADDRF Fellow Mula Tusekile Chimwemwe .
Our fellows in Durban, South Africa for Infectious diseases symposium
Three of our fellows, Winnie Chepkurui Mutai ( left Cohort Four, from the University of Nairobi), Oluseye Okunola ( center Cohort Seven, from the Obafemi Awolowo University), and Angella Musewa ( right Cohort Eight, from the University of Nairobi) presented their abstracts at the Infectious Diseases Symposium from May 27 to 28 in Durban, South Africa. 

The fellows, whose doctoral studies are on infectious diseases, responded to a call for abstracts and were successful and consequently, sponsored to attend the symposium that brought together young scientists from Africa. The theme of the symposium on ‘ONE HEALTH: A focus on Infectious Diseases in Africa’ aimed to increase knowledge and build capacity in infectious disease research among early career researchers in the African region. This stems from the growing global threats of epidemics and the need for realization of a collective sense of responsibility towards a proactive public health regime. 

The symposium was hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) -Twas Young Affiliate Network (TYAN), the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE) and the World Academy of Sciences Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Partner (TWAS-SAREP).
Sunday makes an oral presentation in Texas, the United States
Our Cohort One Graduate, Sunday Adedini , spoke at the Annual Conference of the Population Association of America , held on April 10 to 13 .

He made an oral presentation of his paper titled “ Trends, Patterns and Determinants of Long-Acting Reversible Methods of Contraception among Women in Sub-Saharan Africa ” during a session on Contraceptive Behaviour in Developing Countries.
He said: “The presentation was well applauded and useful comments were provided by the discussant and other participants at the session. The manuscript has been revised and is now under review in an open access reputed refereed journal.”

He added the major highlight of his experience at the conference was “receiving useful comments on my presentation and networking and establishing new contacts for the purpose of collaborative research."
Mary speaks at global meeting on public health nursing
Our Cohort Six Fellow Mary Wanjira from the University of Nairobi gave an oral presentation titled " Compliance with Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (IFAS) and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Kiambu County, Kenya ."

She spoke at the 5th International conference for Global Network of Public Health Nursing that took place from May 14 to 16 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Chief Guest was Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta . The conference was hosted by the University of Nairobi School of Nursing Sciences in conjunction with Kenya's Ministry of Health.
Watch: Fred as he defends his doctoral study
Fred Maniragaba , Cohort Five from Makerere University successfully defended his PhD thesis on May 14 .

His doctoral study focused on the determinants of quality of life of older persons in rural Uganda. 
Thank you Taofeek , Evangeline , Kennedy, Cheikh, Kim, Sunday, and Mary for the photos and text.
CARTA participated in the SIDA Science Day from May 20 to 22 in Stockholm, Sweden. Our Program Manager Florah Karimi , APHRC Director of Research Capacity Strengthening Division Evelyn Gitau and Co-Director Sharon Fonn represented the consortium. Prof. Fonn made a short presentation at a workshops during the three day event where she spoke on Gender equality, specifically, how to increase the number of women researchers in research capacity building programs.

Below are tweet from the event:
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DELTAS Annual General Meeting in Dakar, Senegal from July 15 to 18 . It will be a meeting of sponsored trainees from the DELTAS Africa programs as well as other programs to network and share results of their research.
Are you considering publishing your scientific work? We would like to share with you a great website— Think. Check. Submit —that highlights what to look out for if you want to avoid predatory publishers. The site helps researchers, like yourself, to identify trusted journals for your research. The site has a range of tools and practical resources to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications. Follow this   link for more details .
Burnout is making us worse at our jobs , according to the World Health Organisation.
Stephen Ojiambo Wandera , Betty Kwagala, Olivia Nankinga, Patricia Ndugga, Allen Kabagenyi, Bridgit Adamou and Benjamin Kachero (2009): Facilitators, best practices and barriers to integrating family planning data in Uganda’s health management information system in BMC Health Services Research.

Adedini S.A , Akinyemi J.O & Wandera S.O (2019): Women’s position within the household as a determinant of neonatal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa , South African Journal of Child Health.

Adewole O.G, Adedini S.A & Bisiriyu L.A (2018): Multilevel analysis of male fertility behaviour in Nigeria in African Population Studies, 32(3).

Njoku E.O, Okunlola D.O, & Adedini S.A Demographic assessment and adjustment of census age distribution in selected West African Countries (2018): African Population Studies, 32(3), DOI: 10.11564/32-3-1231.

Kamau M , Kimani S and Mirie W. Counselling and knowledge on iron and folic acid supplementation (IFAS) among pregnant women in Kiambu County, Kenya: a cross-sectional study [version 3; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]. AAS Open Res 2019, 1:21.

Lester Kapanda , Vincent Jumbe, Chimaraoke Izugbara and Adamson S. Muula (2019) Healthcare providers’ attitudes towards care for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Malawi in BMC Health Services Research .

The names in bold denote CARTA fellows.
UNICEF is organizing an experts conference on brain health (mental health) in children and adolescents in November, 2019 . They are looking for well known and respected African researchers/scholars as well as organisations working on these issues that could contribute to the knowledge and debate. Email Dr Priscilla Idele , Director of the UNICEF Office of Research, here: [email protected].

The Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD) is seeking to fill the position of postdoctoral research fellow with experience and strong interest in the area of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in Africa .  Deadline July 6, 2019.


The 100&Change is a MacArthur Foundation competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that will make measurable progress toward solving a significant problem. 100&Change will select a bold proposal that promises real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. And it will award a $100 million grant to help make that solution a reality. Proposals focused on any critical issue are welcome .



Templeton World Charity Foundation is pleased to announce a new Request for Proposals for the Global Innovations for Character Development initiative . The initiative aims to support scientific research related to the development and measurement of character strengths in diverse contexts. The Foundation is offering up to 12 Proof of Concept ($234,000 USD) awards and one Transition to Scale ($1 million USD) award for innovative, high quality research and implementation projects. More details here .

For other opportunities check out the CARTA website .
Write for The Conversation Africa
Share the findings or new research in your area of expertise or your doctoral study. The Conversation Africa is a highly reputable and credible source of information to improve the quality and scope of public discourse. Interested? Write to our Communications Officer.
Share with us any news and updates such as upcoming events, conferences, meetings, story ideas, new collaborations, new trials/updates on progress, 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. Share these before June 14, 2019 to be included in the next CARTA news & updates.