CGH collaborator, Dr. Sarah Matuja, awarded World Stroke Organization seed grant to improve stroke care in Tanzania

Dr. Sarah Matuja, a lecturer at the Weill Bugando School of Medicine in Mwanza, Tanzania, has secured a seed grant to develop stroke units and improve stroke care in Tanzania from the World Stroke Organization’s Future Leaders program. The program aims to build up capacity, professional development, mentorship and collaborations to drive global stroke prevention. Dr. Matuja is currently receiving training in neurology at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and mentorship from CGH faculty and Weill Cornell Medicine Associate Professor of Medicine, Dr. Robert Peck.

The World Stroke Organization’s Future Leaders program aims to build capacity, professional development, mentorship and collaborations to prevent and better treat strokes worldwide. Dr. Matuja will use her fellowship training to strengthen her mission in the field of stroke, healthcare systems and health policy research in Tanzania. She conducts research on the morbidity and mortality of stroke, as well as health outcomes in people with stroke in Tanzania and is a former recipient of the NIH Fogarty Fellowship.

In the last 40 years, the growing rate of cardiovascular disease has given rise to a surge in the incidence of stroke in Tanzania affecting individuals in their fourth to sixth decades of lives associated with premature deaths. Dr. Matuja’s research aims to document this recent surge and to understand the sequelae following stroke in the Tanzanian population. Her previous work includes research on young adult stroke patients, stroke incidence in low- and middle-income countries, and the establishment of a stroke registry at a large tertiary care hospital in urban Tanzania. Dr. Matuja is working closely with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health to improve stroke care in Tanzania, particularly by promoting the establishment of stroke units in this region.

Article by Sabrina Loureiro