Community Engagement Before Health Research is a MUST

As the mother of an adolescent girl who could benefit from the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and as a medical provider in Uganda, it pains me greatly to see other parents refusing to vaccinate their children because of myths and misconceptions that are spread in the community. With the HPV vaccine, this includes the belief […]

Beyond the Training

One of the best things that has happened to me this year is ACHIEVE. When I was first selected to participate in the ACHIEVE research training program, in all honesty, I was not very excited. I had envisaged the program to be a typical research training. But little did I know that the fellowship would […]

The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement: Building a Study Advisory Board in Dushanbe

While I have worked in other Central Asian countries for nearly a decade, ACHIEVE is the first time that I’ve travelled to or worked in Tajikistan. My research is on access to HIV prevention and testing services for adolescents and young adults, and because the data that I am collecting may touch on sensitive topics […]

Change is Not Meant to be Easy

Hello from Northern Ghana! Although I am a US-based trainee I have been lucky enough to already be living and working in Northern Ghana as an OB/GYN through the AMPATH partnership since 2022. Having made Tamale my home for over a year has its advantages – in these first first few months of the Fogarty […]