The Launch of My ACHIEVE Research Project: A Story Behind Success
I was excited to begin my ACHIEVE project after a great head start with the NIH Research Orientation in July 2024. The process began with the IRB submission, which I believed would be easy, and I was expecting to get the ethical approval within 6 weeks. However, became much more challenges and complex then previously […]
Successful Community Engagement Efforts Can Be Achieved Brick by Brick…
My favorite part about undertaking any research endeavor is the time when I get to go to the field. I love it! During fieldwork, I lean into an old nursery school lesson that has remained with me over the years – the power of the five senses. Utilizing my visual, auditory, and olfactory cues allows […]
Global Partnerships are the Foundation of Global Health Research
As of September, I’ve been setting up shop to undertake the work of my study, Adapting a nutrition intervention to address low fruits and vegetables intake, a cancer risk, among people living with HIV receiving care in HIV clinics in Uganda. I expected a very processed based, check-list type of start-up to the project similar […]
Community Spaces
Greetings everyone! I write this update off the back of the SVRI (Sexual Violence Research Initiative) conference in Cape Town. This was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and collaborators, old and new, and to meet fellow early career researchers. It served me a reminder of the importance of community. Last summer, during my […]
Feverishly Paddling Duck Feet
It has been over a month since my last post and although a lot of work on the “Early Childhood Development for Maternal Mental Health” study –now rechristened the “Maternal Mental Health and Early Childhood Development in Kawempe” study–there is little observable progress to share. I’m stuck in IRB limbo: I am just a few […]
‘Go where the real issues affecting the community are, engage with them to develop context-specific solutions that effectively address these issues’
Before participating in the ACHIEVE program, I held the belief that rigorous research was synonymous with adhering strictly to established scientific protocols and methodologies. However, my visits to the Greater Masaka and the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Uganda profoundly reshaped my understanding of research practices. I gained insights through observation and was motivated by the […]
Research Study: Reflections on the Approval Process
Neonates with gastrointestinal disorders often face substantial nutritional challenges. These may arise due to conditions such as congenital anomalies or postoperative complications that impair nutrient absorption or oral intake. This is what has inspired me to start my ACHIEVE study on the barriers to evaluating the nutritional status of neonates with gastrointestinal disorders in Kampala, […]
The Often Thankless But Essential Work of Instrument Validation
My ACHIEVE project, The Early Childhood Development for Maternal Mental Health study (ECD4MMH), will explore the potential for improving maternal mental health (MMH) during the critical “first 1,000 days” of child growth and development through a community-based early childhood development (ECD) program delivered by community workers in a peri-urban area of Kampala, Uganda. Many of […]
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 […]
Coming soon!
A Tribute to Resilience, Innovation, and Inspiration
As I await IRB approval on my ACHIEVE Project, Improving Nutritional Status of Neonate Surgical Patients with Gastrointestinal Disorders, I have been fortunate enough to spend time the pediatric surgery ward at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, which cares for neonates with gastrointestinal disorders, and I have come to understand the various challenges […]