VIGH researchers to develop an interactive game to improve mental health among youth living with HIV in Nigeria
Young people living with HIV (Y-PLWH) have poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy and engagement in HIV care, making HIV the leading cause of death for African adolescents. Depression and psychological distress are much more common among Y-PLWH than in the general population, and are associated with significantly worse adherence to care and treatment when compared to Y-PLWH without these co-morbid conditions. Thus, untreated depression and severe psychological distress are important contributors to poor HIV outcomes in this population.
New grant supports child neurology and epilepsy researchers in Nigeria
Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Bayero University Kano (BUK) in Kano, Nigeria, and Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) have a long history of successful NIH-funded collaborations in childhood brain disorders.
These three institutions are partnering on a new $1.2 million, five-year training program funded by the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Fogarty’s Chronic, Non-Communicable Diseases and Disorders Across the Lifespan Training Program.
NIH support bolsters research on persistent microalbuminuria in Nigeria
The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Kano, Nigeria have received a federal grant to study the factors associated with microalbuminuria among participants in an ongoing clinical trial of genetically at-risk HIV-positive adult Nigerians.
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) grant will provide $2.2 million over the next four years.
NIH Grant Bolsters Childhood Status Epilepticus and Epilepsy Research in Nigeria
The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) has received a new research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Fogarty International Center of the NIH to establish a large childhood status epilepticus (SE) cohort in northern Nigeria with key partners Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Bayero University, and with the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa.
Prevention of Stroke in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia in Nigeria: A task shifting community hospital approach
Stroke is a devastating complication of sickle cell anemia (SCA) occurring in approximately 11% of children affected with the disease in resource-limited countries, compared to 1% in high-income countries. Nigeria bears 50% of childhood SCA's global burden, and stroke is a frequent complication leading to increased death and disability.
Moderate fixed‐dose hydroxyurea for primary prevention of strokes in Nigerian children with sickle cell disease: Final results of the SPIN trial
Sickle cell disease (SCD), an inherited blood disorder, is prevalent throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 240,000 children are born with SCD each year across the continent of Africa, and up to 70% of those infants born with sickle cell disease die before the age of five.
University students in Nigeria willing to self test for HIV, cross-sectional study
A recent study co-authored by Dr. Muktar Aliyu, M.D., MPH, DrPH, professor of Health Policy and Medicine and associate director for research for VIGH, assessed the willingness of students at Bayero University in Nigeria to self-test for HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) encourages the use of HIV self-testing, especially in areas such as West and Central Africa where 64% of people living with HIV are unaware of their status.
Policy Change Impacts HIV Care in Nigeria
VIGH faculty and colleagues surveyed 30 comprehensive HIV clinics in Nigeria and found they are experiencing major challenges in providing routine HIV services as a result of PEPFAR’s policy changes. The findings were published in PLOS ONE.
VIGH study seeks to expand epilepsy care efforts in Africa
The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, with Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, will conduct a 60-site cluster randomized clinical trial in three cities in northern Nigeria to determine the efficacy of shifting childhood epilepsy care to epilepsy-trained community health extension workers with a five-year $5.9 million federal grant, “Bridging the Childhood Epilepsy Treatment Gap in Africa (BRIDGE),” from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health. Edwin Trevathan, M.D., M.P.H., Amos Christie Chair in Global Health, Professor of Pedi
VIGH Hosts Program for Strengthening Clinical Trial Regulation Capacity
This week, VIGH hosted visitors from Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) and the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) to attend the VIGH Transdisciplinary Program for Strengthening Clinical Trial Regulation Capacity. The goal of this program was to build capacity of NAFDAC and NACA staff for clinical trial regulation and oversight of clinical trial protocols. NAFDAC, Nigeria's local equivalent of the U.S.