The Medical College in East Africa has secured a new research-training grant that will see faculty and fellows explore new research avenues into the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and the leading cause of the deadliest type of cancer in Kenyan women, cervical cancer.
The D43 grant, Global Infectious Disease and HPV Research Training Program in Kenya, from the Fogarty International Center, will support a five-year programme that will see AKU staff investigate how to tackle the public health threat posed by HPV.
During the programme, researchers will receive training and mentorship from specialists at the University of Washington in Seattle (UW) on the epidemiology and biostatistics of the infectious disease and will also have the chance to obtain a master’s degree in public health from UW.
Cancer of the cervix claimed over 4,800 lives in Kenya, according to the World Health Organization’s 2014 country profile.
“Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable,” said Professor Michael Chung, chair of AKU’s department of medicine in East Africa. “Research in HPV under this grant will improve morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer and will help develop interventions that can greatly improve public health.”
“The research will enable us to have a better understanding of HPV’s interaction with the body and with other viruses such as HIV,” added Professor Marleen Temmerman, director of AKU’s Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health in Nairobi. “Even more importantly, it will help us explore how we can prevent, screen and treat for the virus and for precancerous lesions. This includes HPV vaccination in young girls.”
The grant’s objectives fall in line with targets under goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals which call for special efforts to tackle the threat posed by infectious diseases. Activities under the grant also correspond with strategic objectives under Kenya’s National Cancer Control Strategy 2017–2022 which emphasises the need for screening programmes for cervical cancer and to further research partnerships that can tackle the threat posed by the disease.
The Medical College in East Africa has secured a new research-training grant that will see faculty and fellows explore new research avenues into the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and the leading cause of the deadliest type of cancer in Kenyan women, cervical cancer.
The D43 grant, Global Infectious Disease and HPV Research Training Program in Kenya, from the Fogarty International Center, will support a five-year programme that will see AKU staff investigate how to tackle the public health threat posed by HPV.
During the programme, researchers will receive training and mentorship from specialists at the University of Washington in Seattle (UW) on the epidemiology and biostatistics of the infectious disease and will also have the chance to obtain a master’s degree in public health from UW.
Cancer of the cervix claimed over 4,800 lives in Kenya, according to the World Health Organization’s 2014 country profile.
“Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable,” said Professor Michael Chung, chair of AKU’s department of medicine in East Africa. “Research in HPV under this grant will improve morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer and will help develop interventions that can greatly improve public health.”
“The research will enable us to have a better understanding of HPV’s interaction with the body and with other viruses such as HIV,” added Professor Marleen Temmerman, director of AKU’s Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health in Nairobi. “Even more importantly, it will help us explore how we can prevent, screen and treat for the virus and for precancerous lesions. This includes HPV vaccination in young girls.”
The grant’s objectives fall in line with targets under goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals which call for special efforts to tackle the threat posed by infectious diseases. Activities under the grant also correspond with strategic objectives under Kenya’s National Cancer Control Strategy 2017–2022 which emphasises the need for screening programmes for cervical cancer and to further research partnerships that can tackle the threat posed by the disease.
