Joseph Maurice Mutisya wins AU-TWAS prize in Basic Sciences Technology and Innovation, 2012.

Joseph Maurice Mutisya a CARTA fellow cohort 2, has won the prestigious African Union Developing Countries Academy of Sciences (AU-TWAS) National Competition Scientific Awards 2012.  Mutisya’s submission won the Basic Sciences Technology and Innovation category which has a prize money award and a certificate.   Mutisya’s submission is an outstanding achievement in scientific research in Africa.

Joseph Mutisya - extreme left - with colleagues on a field visit
to the Kilifi District Hospital, March 2012

The other category of the AU-TWAS prize is Life and Earth Sciences.  Each year, each participating country offers two prizes in each of the two fields to young scientists.  The news came while Mutisya was at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa attending the Joint Advanced Seminar (JAS 2) for his PhD fellowship by the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA).  

The Director of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and CARTA Director, Dr. Alex Ezeh congratulated Mr. Mutisya on this achievement on behalf of APHRC and CARTA staff.

CARTA Conference on Public Health, November 27, 2012

CARTA Conference on Public Health.

During JAS 2, fellows are accorded an opportunity to participate at an international conference as part of the Seminar.  Therefore CARTA organized on November 27^th, the CARTA Public Health Conference with renowned researcher presenting their research findings.  The Keynote address was given by Prof. Ademola Ajuwon, of the University of Ibadan who spoke on the role of patent medicine vendors in the delivery of injectable contraceptives in Ibadan, Nigeria. There were oral sessions on communicable and non-communicable diseases - the challenges of health care in South Africa and on developing responsive health systems.  A poster presentation session helped to entrench lessons learned during the JAS session on poster design.

CARTA fellows found the Conference very helpful and drew a comparison between research in South Africa and their countries of origin.  .  “I loved the workshop. I learned a few lessons: How to organize a good conference; The importance of knowing the target before making a presentation;  Timing of presentation to fit the allocated time; and The flow of the presentation.  I was impressed with the amount of research being done in South Africa and collaboration with various government agencies to translate research to action”, Said John Njenga, a Fellow from the University of Nairobi after the attending the conference.

Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) 4th Conference, November 27-29, 2012

Peter Nyasulu at the 4th ICAN Conference

Peter Nyasulu did a presentation to the Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) 4th Conference, Cape Town November 27-29, 2012 The presentation which is based on his PHD work registered at the University of the Witwatersrand was entitled “Antimicrobial resistance among clinical isolates of invasive Staphylococcus aureus from seven academic hospitals in South Africa over a 12 months period” In his discussions and conclusion, the study found that high rates of Staphylococcus aureus resistance were observed among in-patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia.  The study also found out that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was 54.1%, but higher in <5 years 63.3% compared to other ages p=<0.001.  It was also observed that there was an enhanced infection control in hospital settings and recommended reinforcement of continued surveillance of antimicrobial resistance.  Peter is a CARTA fellow, cohort 1 and teaches at the University of Witwatersrand.