Introducing 17 New Trainees in this Year’s Fogarty Research Training Program

This September, 17 second-year physician-scientist fellows were enrolled in the Center for Global Health’s Fogarty research training program funded by the NIH, which supports trainees in strengthening scientific expertise and skills needed to conduct research in low-resource settings and supports their next steps to become independent investigators. We enrolled 9 trainees from Tanzania, 7 trainees from Haiti and 1 trainee from the United States. Trainees are long-term research fellows conducting global health research in Haiti or Tanzania, and are under mentorship from faculty at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Science/Bugando Medical Center (CUHAS/BMC), the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR)/Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU) in Mwanza, Tanzania, GHESKIO (Haitian Group of the Study of Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections) in Port au Prince, Haiti, and Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM). Through the program, trainees will have the opportunity to learn from and engage with senior faculty from WCM on research methodology, intervention development and testing, data collection and analysis and career development workshops. This year’s cohort will have the opportunity to participate in several research projects focused on cardiovascular disease, women’s health, adolescent health, HIV, and other infectious and neglected tropical diseases. Additionally, this program enables fellows to participate in the training program alongside their respective graduate programs (MSc and/or PhD) at their affiliate academic institutions.

A summary of all 17 fellows and the scopes of their research interests are as follows:

Tanzania

Jacqueline Materu is a biostatistician and doctoral candidate in Biostatistics at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS). Her research focuses on the application of advanced survival analysis and censored regression models in analyzing sexual behaviour data among adolescents.

Crispin Mukerebe is a senior laboratory scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), and his primary research focus is on microbiology and immunology, including infectious disease diagnostics.

Onike Mcharo is a research assistant at the Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU). She is trained in economics, sociology, medical anthropology, and financial management. She has experience in WASH, HIV/AIDS, behavior change communication, and maternal and reproductive health.

Sophia Kagoye is a research scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR). She holds an MD degree and Masters in epidemiology and applied statistics. Her research interests include reproductive health and mother and child health specifically, focusing on health service utilization and intervention coverage.

Raphael Matinde is a registered pharmacist and an assistant lecturer of Medicinal Chemistry at Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS). He holds a master’s degree in Medicinal Chemistry from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His research interests include cancer, HIV, and antimicrobial resistance.

Fransiscko Fundi is a registered nurse at Bugando Medical Center and a tutorial assistant in Bioepidemiology at Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS). His research interests include maternal and child health, and HIV, particularly with key vulnerable populations.

Gloria James is a medical doctor, and the head of the research and training unit at Bugando Medical Center. She completed her MSc in preventive Cardiology from Ireland. Her research interests include HIV, schistosomiasis, and diabetes.

Haiti

Elsie Jean is a medical doctor specializing in children’s medicine at GHESKIO. Her research has focused on children living with HIV, syphilis, tuberculosis and malnutrition. She is currently the study coordinator of 2 IMPAACT studies that focus on HIV mitigation. Her main career objectives are to conduct research in Haiti to improve access and quality of care for vulnerable children living with HIV, TB, and malnutrition.

St Sauveur Reichling is a medical doctor specializing in internal medicine at the State Hospital of the University of Haiti. As a clinical researcher, he aims to obtain information related to cardiovascular diseases affecting the Haitian population and their risk factors through statistical data.

Fabienne Homéus is a medical doctor at GHESKIO and supports the care of patients living with HIV. Her research interests include HIV, TB, cancer, and nutrition.

Jean Bernard is an Internal Medicine specialist. He is a research physician and study coordinator in GHESKIO’s AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). He has an interest in long-acting ART and short regimen TB treatment.

Dominique Lespinasse is a medical doctor working as a research physician and OBGYN at GHESKIO. He has participated in several IMPAACT studies as a research coordinator. His research interests include sexual and reproductive health, family planning, sexual assault, obstetrics and gynecology.

Marie Flore Pierre is a medical doctor and research physician at GHESKIO working with vulnerable populations living with HIV/TB or co-infection. She previously worked as a study coordinator on various clinical research projects. She is passionate about providing quality clinical care to vulnerable populations in Haiti.

Andre David is a research physician at GHESKIO. He completed his medical degree at the Pontifica Universidad Catholica Madre y Maestria. His research interests include mental health, family planning, and cancer.

Nancy Dorvil is a medical doctor and research physician at GHESKIO. She is the study Coordinator in GHESKIO’s Clinical Trails Unit (CTU) for NIH-funded randomized trails comparing same-day ART initiation versus rapid ART initiation for patients with TB symptoms at HIV testing.

Inddy Joseph is a social worker whose research is focused on social and environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease in Haiti.

Article by Alexandra Cordeiro.

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