From the Field: Welcoming the First Cohort of Fogarty HIV Research Trainees in Tanzania

 Dr. Daniel Fitzgerald, the Director of the Center for Global Health (CGH) at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Dr. Lindsey Reif, junior faculty at CGH, traveled to our affiliate site in Mwanza, Tanzania this November to welcome the first cohort of the Center’s newly-established Fogarty research training program in HIV clinical investigation. The new cohort is comprised of 8 physician-scientist fellows conducting research on HIV in the Mwanza region, all pictured below.

All 8 inaugural physician-scientist fellows in the Fogarty research training program in HIV clinical investigation, including: (in front) Jane Maganga, Oscar Muhini, Dismas Matovelo, Brenda Kitilya, Bazil Kavishe, (in back) Tulla Masoza, Mussa Kelvin Nsanya and Benson Issarow.

Fellows are embarking on long-term mentored research training along with their didactic training at Weill Bugando/Catholic University of Health and Allied Science, where they are completing graduate programs (MS and PhD) in epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health. Dr. Fitzgerald from Weill Cornell and Dr. Saidi Kapiga from Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU) co-direct the training program, and welcomed the fellows with an introductory reception in Mwanza (pictured below).

A summary of the fellows and their scopes of research are as follows:

Benson Issarow: Dr. Issarow is a research coordinator on a HIV clinical trial, which aims at assessing the role of social worker intervention on reducing post hospital mortality among HIV-infected adults. 

Bazil Kavishe: Dr. Kavishe is a senior research scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research Mwanza Center, and his primary research focus is on non-communicable diseases (NCD), including investigation of the infectious causes of NCDs.

Brenda Kitilya: Ms. Kitilya is a research scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research who currently holds a Master of Public Health, and her current PhD project is focused on the relationship between physical activity and the risk of diabetes among HIV-infected and uninfected adults.

Jane Maganga: Dr. Maganga is a research scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from HUJI in Israel and an MD from Muhimbili in Tanzania. She is currently pursuing her PhD with a topical focus on female genital schistosomiasis (FGS), including insights into optimal treatment strategies for FGS and HIV prevention.

Tulla Masoza: Dr. Tulla teaches pediatric and child health to the undergraduate and postgraduate students at CUHAS and participates in clinical work at the Bugando Medical Centre. Her research interests are in cardiovascular diseases, congenital heart diseases and infectious diseases.

Dismas Matovelo: Dr. Matovelo is a medical doctor, obstetrician and gynecologist, and senior lecturer at Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS) and Bugando Medical Centre (BMC), respectively. His research interests are on clinical and operational research with emphasis on maternal and child health. He is focused mainly on issues related to access, utilization of healthcare, and gender and equity issues affecting maternal and child health. 

Oscar Muhini: Dr. Muhini is a lecturer in the Pathology Department at the Catholic University of Allied Sciences (CUHAS), as well as an Anatomical Pathologist at the Bugando Medical Centre (BMC). His research interests include HIV and women’s health, and his PhD project currently in progress is titled, “HPV Genotype Distribution and Oncogene Expression In HIV Positive Adults and the Underlying Risk Factors for Anal, Oral and Genital Malignancy at Bugando Medical Centre.”

Mussa Kelvin Nsanya: Dr. Nsanya works as a research scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) / Mwanza intervention Trials Unit (MITU) and is currently pursuing his PhD at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS). His PhD project is on determining the incidence of high blood pressure and associated risk factors among school attending adolescents in Mwanza city in Tanzania.