Inside SMART Africa

SMART Africa-Kenya in-Country PI, Dr. Anne Mbwayo, recently published an article in Global Social Welfare titled “Mental Health in Kenyan Schools: Teachers’ Perspectives.” In this qualitative study, Dr. Mbwayo and her colleagues interviewed public primary and secondary school teachers in Kenya to better understand the teachers’ experience with mental health problems in schools and how they […]

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Fred Ssewamala and ICHAD Affiliate Dr. Larissa Jennings Mayo-Wilson on their recent publication “Microenterprise Intervention to Reduce Sexual Risk Behaviors and Increase Employment and HIV Preventive Practices Among Economically-Vulnerable African-American Young Adults (EMERGE): A Feasibility Randomized Clinical Trial” published in AIDS and Behavior. The paper explores the feasibility of conducting a […]

The ICHAD/SMART Africa training programs launched the 2020 summer training session on June 8 with a Zoom orientation meeting bringing together all 25 trainees from the three training programs: Researcher Resilience Training (RRT), LEAD Global Training Program (LEAD), and CHILD-Global Research Fellowship (CHILD-GRF). Trainees from across the US and Uganda met each other and shared […]

The ICHAD/SMART Africa training programs consist of three NIH-funded training grants–LEAD Global Training Program (Co-Directors: Dr. Fred Ssewamala and Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg), Researcher Resilience Training (Co-Directors: Dr. Fred Ssewamala, Dean Mary McKay, and Dr. Sean Joe), and CHILD-Global Research Fellows (Co-Directors: Dr. Fred Ssewamala, Dean Mary McKay, and Dr. Noeline Nakasujja). The programs support early career researchers in domestic and […]

The SMART Africa studies examine the impact and implementation of an evidence-based multiple family group (MFG) intervention for children experiencing behavioral problems and their families in Uganda, Kenya and Ghana. Due to COVID-19, all three programs have been temporarily suspended but are preparing to resume study activities. In Uganda, the team is finalizing additional COVID-related questions to ask […]

The ANZANSI Family Program seeks to pilot test the feasibility of an innovative combination intervention – Family economic empowerment and Multiple Family Group (MFG) –  amongst adolescent girls at risk of dropping out of school in Northern Ghana. In July, the team held a group meeting with all schools interested in participating in the study to give […]

In the month of June, the ICHAD field office, where SMART Africa-Uganda is housed, received a training from Mr. Kaggwa Emmanuel, the District Surveillance Focal person about proper use of thermometer guns. Body temperature readings are one important method to screen for coronavirus symptoms, with normal body temperature ranging between 36 and 37.5 degrees celsius. […]

From left to right: Field Supervisor, Florence Namuli enjoys time with her family; Research Assistant, Sharon Namyalo plays cards; Deputy Study Coordinator, Herbert Migadde and his family get some fresh air; Study Coordinator, Joshua Kiyingi models the new masked style; Security Personnel, Augustine Kiiza and his family at a small birthday gathering; Administrative Assistant, Teopista […]

ICHAD and SMART Africa Director, Fred Ssewamala and Associate Director Betsy Abente had an editorial published in New Vision, one of Uganda’s leading national newspapers in early May. The opinion piece notes the hidden risks that may affect Uganda due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include potentially higher rates of HIV, as people are unable […]

Congratulations to ICHAD Faculty Affiliate Larissa Jennings Mayo-Wilson and ICHAD and SMART Africa Co-Director, Fred Ssewamala on their paper published in PLoS One “Lessons learned from using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to assess sexual risk behaviors among Kenyan young adults living in urban slum settlements: A process evaluation.” This paper highlights Respondent-driven sampling as an important tool in reaching a […]

We are pleased to announce that we are in the final stages of formalizing a relationship between Washington University in St. Louis, led by the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, and Makerere University located in Kampala, Uganda. This will be only the second partnership between Washington University’s McDonnell Academy and a partner university on the African […]

“I have opportunities to get involved in different aspects/stages of research projects: from planning a study, updating an instrument, field visits to data management, data analysis, and preparing and publishing manuscripts. I have been supported by prominent scholars in the field on different aspects of my work. Some of them consulted/supported me even though they […]