JAS3 Cohort 2 Commences in Ibadan, Nigeria

The Joint Advanced Seminar-3 (JAS-3) for Cohort 2 of CARTA Fellows has commenced at the University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan, Nigeria on Monday August 4, 2014 as scheduled. The JAS , which will take place over four weeks is billed to end on August 28, 2014.

The Vice Chancellor (5th from the Right) and his entourage with the Facilitators and CARTA Fellows

Addressing the 19 Fellows in the cohort that are attending the JAS from the CARTA partner institutions and the facilitators at the seminar, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole expressed his delight that this JAS was taking place in Ibadan. He reiterated that UI identifies strongly with the goals of CARTA and his administration was ready to contribute all it can to ensure the success of CARTA activities and programs. He welcomed all the participants to Ibadan and assured them that UI was committed to ensuring their safety and comfort throughout the period of their stay in Nigeria.

Professor Sharon Fonn responding to the Vice-Chancellor; CARTA Fellows paying attention

Responding, Co-Director of CARTA, Professor Sharon Fonn, thanked the Vice Chancellor for coming to address the participants at the commencement of the JAS. She expressed her satisfaction that this JAS is taking place within the campus of a partner institution of CARTA and emphasized the determination of CARTA to ensure that its activities are held in the facilities available in its partner institutions. This will encourage the upgrading of these facilities and also increase awareness of CARTA and its programs in the partner institutions. She recalled that CARTA earlier held a training workshop for faculty and administrators from partner institutions on the campus of Makerere University (a CARTA Partner) in July 2014. She expressed the hope that UI will continue to contribute to the growth of CARTA and the achievement of its goals.

From Left: Professor Adewole (VC), Professor Aiyelari (DVC-Administration), Professor Olayinka (DVC-Academic), Mr Olukoya (Registrar), Mr Aponmade (Bursar) and Professor Salako (Provost, College of Medicine), University of Ibadan.

The Vice-Chancellor was accompanied to the event by a large entourage of top university officials, including the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Professor A.E. Aiyelari, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Professor A.I. Olayinka, the Registrar, Mr O. Olukoya, the Bursar, Mr I.O. Aponmade and the Provost of the College of Medicine, Professor B.L. Salako. Also present at the occasion were the Deans of the four faculties in the College of Medicine, Professor O.G. Ademowo (Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences), Professor A.O. Malomo (Faculty of Clinical Sciences), Professor A.J. Ajuwon (Faculty of Public Health) and Professor J.T. Arotiba (Faculty of Dentistry). The Dean of Students, Professor A.R. Alada and a host of other university officials were also present.

The Vice Chancellor with CARTA officials after unveiling the commemorative plaque

Earlier, while welcoming the Vice Chancellor and his entourage to the venue, the CARTA Focal Person for UI and the Chairman of the CARTA Board of Management, Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun introduced the facilitators for the seminar, including the Dr Chima Izugbara (APHRC), Professor Bo Eriksson (Nordic School of Public Health), Dr Tony Onwuegbuzie (Texas, USA), Dr. Ann Mwangi (Moi University), Professor Uche Isiugo-Abanihe (UI), Professor E.A. Bamgboye (UI), Professor O,M, Oluwatosin (UI) and Dr Roseangela Nwuba (UI).

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac F. Adewole declaring the hostel block open

Thereafter, the Vice Chancellor, the facilitators and the participants proceeded to the new postgraduate hostel building in Alexander Brown Hall, where the CARTA Fellows participating in JAS-3 were being accommodated, to formally commission the building for use. The hostel block was renovated with infrastructure funds provided by CARTA, with counterpart funding from UI.

The Postgraduate Hostel Block, Alexander Brown Hall, University of Ibadan

University of Malawi appoints Dr. Kamija Phiri, as a co-focal person

The University of Malawi (UNIMA) appointed Dr Kamija Phiri, Associate Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, and currently the Dean of Public Health and Family Medicine and former Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research as a CARTA co-focal person. Dr Phiri replaces Dr. Wilson Mandala, who has assumed the Associate Directorship Position at the Malawi-Liverpool-Welcome Trust Research Program at the UNIMA College of Medicine. Dr. Phiri is an accomplished researcher and a recipient of the Third Annual (2012) Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award awarded by the Accordia Global Health Foundation.

Prof. Kimani Murugaru, new Focal Person, University of Nairobi

The University of Nairobi, Population Studies and Research Institute (PSRI) has a new Director. Prof. Murungaru Kimani replaced the long serving Director of PSRI Prof. Lawrence Ikamari who will now concentrate on research and teaching at the University.  The new Director of PSRI, Prof. Murugaru  holds a BSc. In Mathematics and Statistics; a MSc in Population Studies; and a PhD. in Population Studies and will be the new focal person at the University of Nairobi.

Dr. Jane Kengeya-Kayondo of the Wellcome Trust, Joins the Faculty and Administrators' Workshop

Dr. Jane Kengeya-Kayondo (standing) interacts with participants at the CARTA FAS Workshop, Makerere University, July 23, 2014

Dr. Jane Kengeya-Kayondo, the Wellcome Trust, Special Adviser for Africa joined the Faculty and Administrators' group in Makerere on July 23. 2014. Dr. Kengeya-Kayondo interacted with the participants before addressing them on the continued support Wellcome Trust has been extending to CARTA since inception. She also shared with the participants, the new opportunities the Trust has in place for the next funding cycle period.  She noted that she is an alumnus of Makerere University .

Dr Esimai Olapeju Adefunke - Joins the CARTA Office at OAU

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU)  has an additional person as CARTA focal person.  Dr Esimai Olapeju Adefunke an  Associate Professor /Consultant in department of Community Health joins Prof. Antony Aluko Mabayoje in the running of CARTA affairs at OAU.  Dr. Esimai has a master’s degree in Environmental control and management from  OAU and a master’s degree in bioethics from University of Ibadan. Additionally, Dr. Esimai is a fellow of Public Health in the National Post Graduate College of Physicians and West African College of Physicians and was awarded a graduate diploma degree in Early Childhood Development by the Virtual University of Victoria , Canada and certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation.

At OAU, Dr. Esimai is a lecturer in the Departments of Community Health, Medical Rehabilitation and Nursing focusing on Reproductive Health, Epidemiology, Nutrition and Environmental Health.  She is the current coordinator of the Master of Public Health program and her research interests are in the area of Reproductive Health, Nutrition and Environmental Health. Previously, Dr. Esimai worked as a Consultant to agencies like WHO, USAID , UNICEF, The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).  In all these agencies, she greatly contributed to knowledge in the areas of Epidemiology, International and Environmental Health.

CARTA's 5th Faculty and Administrators' Staff Workshop, Makerere University Kampala

Makerere University Administration Block

Makerere University, will host over 100 delegates from CARTA Partner institutions for a three-day workshop from July 21 - 23, 2014 in Kampala Uganda.  This is the fifth such training where participants are drawn from faculty members who recently acquired their PhDs, Librarians, Information and Technology staff, public relations officers, and finance personnel among others.

CARTA aims at strengthening research management capacity at African universities, by taking participants through a process of learning, experience sharing of best practices in order to be able to effectively support CARTA doctoral training offered through a model collaborative PhD program in population and public health.

Cohort 5 Selection process commences

CARTA has commenced the process of recruiting the next cohort of Fellows.  Cohort 5 selection process kicked off on June 1, 2014 when a total of 62 nominees were invited to undertake pre Joint Advanced Seminar (pre JAS 1) on line assignments to compete for the 25 fellowships available on offer in 2014/15 period.

The 62 nominees will submit their work by July 15, 2014 to enable the CARTA Secretariat undertake a grading exercise with the fellowships awarded  in September 2014 based on their performance and the quality of their application package. The package includes an outline of the fellows' research proposal and a resume.

A nomination by the CARTA partner institutions is not necessarily an award of a fellowship but rather, a step towards the fellowship. Nominated fellows compete for the few fellowships through the pre JAS 1 assignments and quality of the the application package.  The CARTA Secretariat wishes the nominated fellows luck.

Wellcome Trust research capacity scientific conference. Uganda in May 20 - 21, 2014.

Wellcome Trust will be hosting a research capacity scientific conference in Uganda in May 20 - 21, 2014.  The conference will showcase the breath and quality of the science outputs from the Trust’s capacity-building projects. CARTA is one among the Trust's projects.  

A call for submission of abstracts from beneficiaries of the Trust's support was floated in December 2013. This call received over 170 responses which were assessed on merit by a selection committee made up of both Wellcome Trust staff, governors and researchers. 

Several CARTA fellows submitted their abstracts for consideration whereby three were accepted for final presentation to the conference, the three, together with the titles of their abstracts and type of presentation are shown on the table below:

	Firstname	Last name	CARTA Institution	Abstract title	Presentation type
1	Anne	Khisa	The University of Nairobi	An exploratory study of reintegration of women following obstetric fistula surgery in West Pokot, Kenya.	Poster
2	Stephen Ojiambo	Wandera	Makerere University	Prevalence and correlates of disability among older Ugandans: Evidence from a national household survey	Poster
3	Simbarashe	Takuva	University of the Witwatersrand	Genetic Variation in the Vitamin D Receptor and HIV Disease Progression in a South African Cohort	Oral

The presentation is a competition with the best oral and poster presentations will receive an award.  Anne Khisa, Stephen Ojiambo Wandera and Simbarashe        Takuva will be hoping to win an award in their presentations.

CARTA at PAA 2014. Boston, Mass, May 1-3, 2014

Population Association of America, a non-profit, scientific, professional organization that promotes research on population issue held its annual meeting in Boston Massachusetts May 1-3, 2014.  The annual event brings together world leading researchers working on population issues.

7 CARTA fellows abstracts accepted for presentation.
In 2014, 7 CARTA fellows had their abstracts accepted for presentation, 6 of whom made it to the annual meeting.  These are Stephen Ojiambo Odera cohort 2, Mary Obiyan cohort 2, Joshua Akinyemi cohort 1, Nicole de Wet cohort 1, Sunday Adedini cohort 1 and Melvin Ojo Agunbiade cohort 3.  Judy Mangeni cohort 3 whose abstract was accepted for presentation would have been there but faced logistic difficulties.  The fellows were joined by CARTA Director Alex Ezeh who was there also attending the meeting together with other staff from APHRC, among them Chimaraoke Izugbara.  See select pictures taken at the meeting,

Left to right - Joshua Akinyemi, Alex Ezeh, and Sunday Adedini (extreme left)

Sunday Adedini 

Sunday Adedini and Nicole De Wet

From left Melvin Ojo Agunbiade, Stephen Ojiambo, Sunday Adedine and Joshua Akinyemi 

Save Kumwenda at the University of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Save Kumwenda has just finished a 10 day training course in Laboratory Techniques at the University of Kwazulu Natal (UKZN) in South Africa.  Save is a CARTA PhD fellow cohort 3 from the University of Malawi.

Microscopic identification of ova

During the CARTA Joint Advanced Seminar held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania March 5 – 28, 2013, fellows discussed their PhD research topics together with their facilitators with a view to identifying gaps to be addressed. After sharing his topic, Save was fortunate to identify an area of improvement in his research.  He said “I identified that one of my major weaknesses was lack of practical skills in laboratory techniques especially helminth identification in ecological sanitation manure. It was then agreed with my supervisors that I attend a short course on the same before I start analyzing my samples.”  He needed to practically acquire laboratory skills in Helminth identification in ecological manure in order to progress seamlessly in his area of research.

Save Mixing Samples in the Laboratory

It was organized for Save to attend a 10 day short training course where he was to practically learn the skills while he analyzed his samples at the University of Kwazulu Natal under the able guidance of Professors Chris Buckly and Colleeen Archer.  The course started on April 7 – 14, 2014 and addressed key areas of description of parasites, types of parasites, how they can be identified, microscopic techniques and undertook a field visit to understand how sampling is done.

The whole training was fully funded by CARTA under Save’s CARTA PhD Fellowship. At the end of the course, Save had this to say “The training has been very useful to me especially considering that it was my first time to identify helminth ova. The design of the course was wonderful and the tutors were very excellent. Now I am very clear on what I am going to do on my PhD research. The skills I have learned will not only assist me in this research but will also assist me in more related research. I will also teach colleagues and laboratory staff at my home university engaged in similar research.”  He also expressed his gratitude to CARTA for funding received to undertake the course and UKZN staff, Colleen Archer, Val Kerry, Prof. Chris Buckley and Kerry Lee Philip for organizing the training and their efforts in making him a become a better researcher.  Save also paid glowing tribute to Dr Tracy Morse of University of Malawi for connecting him with Prof. Chris Buckley.

CARTA JAS 1 Cohort 4 and JAS 4 Cohort 1 opened

CARTA has entered an historical phase in its programming by the hosting of the last Joint Advanced Seminar (JAS 4) for cohort 1.  The Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, Prof. George Magoha opened the session.  Prof. Magoha was represented by Prof. Enos Njeru, Principal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nairobi, who read the official opening statement from Prof. Magoha.  See the attached. Present during the opening were the CARTA Director Dr. Alex Ezeh, CARTA Deputy Director, Prof. Sharon Fonn and CARTA staff led by the Program Manager, Ms. Mercy Machiya.

CARTA Fellows from cohort 1 and 4 gave their testimony to the usefulness of the program. Dr. Sunday Adedini, who graduated with a PhD December last year encouraged cohort 4 fellows to work hard and put a lot their time in their studies and also have a cordial working relationship with their supervisors.  Dr. Adedini gave a personal account of his experience as a CARTA fellow and observed that he has attained the objective of CARTA. He has done 6 publications from his work 5 of them have been published in reputable high impact journals.  The remaining paper is awaiting response from publishers. He further informed the fellows that he has met and made academic networks across Africa and indeed the world, having presented his works in gatherings all over the world.  He attributed all these achievements to the rich CARTA program.

Dr. Flavia Matovu represented Cohort 1 fellows. She thanked CARTA for the opportunity and pledged that fellows in cohort 1 will work hard to attain their objectives.  Cohort 1 fellows who first came to Nairobi for JAS 1 in March 2010 have returned for the last of the 4 planned Joint Advanced Seminars (JASes).  They will be in Nairobi for the next four weeks  starting March 10, 2014. JAS 4 will end on April 4, 2014.

JAS 4 session is jointly held together with JAS 1 for the newly recruited cohort 4 fellows.  There are 27 fellows in this cohort who will hold joint sessions with cohort 1 fellows.

Fogarty Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Sunday Adedini

Sunday Adedini graduated with a PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand, South African in December 2013.  He was in the first cohort of CARTA fellows and among the first graduands in the CARTA program, together with Nicole de Wet also of the University of the Witwatersrand.  Sunday has clinched a one year postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Fogarty Foundation through the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The Fellowship runs from January to December 2014. 

Statement from the University of the Witwatersrand Pertaining to Anti-homosexuality Legislation in Africa.

From: Kanina Foss On Behalf Of VCO News
Sent: 03 March 2014 12:45 PM
Subject: STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND PERTAINING TO ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY LEGISLATION IN AFRICA

MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL

DATE: MONDAY, 3 MARCH 2014

STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND PERTAINING TO ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY LEGISLATION IN AFRICA

The University of the Witwatersrand notes with dismay and concern recent legislation in Nigeria and Uganda that criminalises women and men who express themselves through relationships other than those defined as heterosexual. It also decries the targeted violence that has accompanied this legislation in these and other countries.

While academic debates may focus on the extent to which human sexuality is a result of nature or nurture, or whether it is inherent to Western or African culture, the reality is that diversity in terms of sexual orientation is part of the recorded history of virtually all societies.

Tolerance and acceptance of such diversity has not been easily secured, but those nations that have afforded equal rights to sexual minorities alongside a multitude of other diverse identities can justifiably claim the benefits of an equitable and just environment for their citizens who live in, and actively contribute to an inclusive and productive state.

The University of the Witwatersrand values diversity and believes that its student and staff body should reflect a multiplicity of race, gender, socio-economic background, urban and rural geographic origin, culture, ethnicity, disability, religion, national origin and sexual orientation. Indeed it believes that everyone has a role to play in furthering human development and that diversity can only enhance learning and the generation human knowledge. Such principles are the foundation of university policies and are underpinned by values enshrined within the constitution of South Africa.

It is the University’s view that recent legislation in Africa and elsewhere that seeks to criminalise sexual minorities, runs counter to these values and in addition contravenes key articles contained within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is apparent that these legislations are driven, not by a desire to address true criminality but rather are projected by an incomplete understanding of human sexuality compounded by an orchestrated campaign of hate towards vulnerable groups. South Africans understand only too well the damaging legacy that hate founded on institutionalised prejudice can deliver and that while the seeds of hate are easy to sow, they can take generations to uproot once they have spread and taken hold.

Leadership carries with it a huge responsibility, not least of which is protection of minority rights from the ebb and flow of opinion amongst the “moral majority”. The University (that counts amongst its staff and students, thinkers from across the continent of Africa), stands with other academic institutions in urging leaders to reflect carefully on what they have allowed to pass and points out that history will judge harshly those who are responsible for imprisoning others as a result of whom they love. We strongly urge that these laws be rescinded and encourage others who value the sanctity of Universal Human Rights to call for the same.

How CARTA institutitions fared in the University Rankings 2014

	ranking	World Rank	University	Presence Rank*	Impact Rank*	Openness Rank*	Excellence Rank*
1	6	690	University of the Witwatersrand	1600	1310	468	423
2	9	1167	University of Nairobi	1828	1898	774	1329
3	10	1218	Makerere University	2021	2567	896	865
4	21	1926	Obafemi Awolowo University	1635	1631	9990	2172
5	24	2183	University of Ibadan	7780	2743	5056	1323
6	28	2284	University of Dar Es Salaam	2561	3398	6193	1856
7	38	3177	National University of Rwanda	1218	5873	3316	3133
8	99	5867	University of Malawi	10155	8547	13544	1418
9	137	7882	Moi University	6640	8608	6715	5155

For detailed information on the ranking, visit http://www.webometrics.info/en/Africa?page=1