H3Africa Spotlights

Study Coordinator; TrypanoGEN+ project with its Secratariat at Makerere University and has sites at Uganda Virus Research Institute, in Malawi, DRC, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Guinea. The study aims at identifying the genetic determinants of two neglected Tropical diseases; Human African Trypanosomiasis and Schistosomiasis.

Barbara has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry/Chemistry and Master of Science in Molecular biology, both from Makerere University, Uganda and a Doctorate in Science from the University of Bern, Switzerland in 2009. Barbara started off her Research Career in 2002 as a Research Assistant and rose to the rank of Research Officer I in 2009 soon after her PhD. Barbara has a vast experience in laboratory work especially Molecular Biology, little experience in ELISA, Flow cytometry and Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification Assay (MLPA). She also has experience in field-related activities of Neglected Tropical Diseases and project. Barbara has interest in Functional genomics and systems biology.

From January 2012-February 2016, Barbara worked as a Post-doctoral Research Scientist/Assistant coordinator of the Makerere University- Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) Research Training programme in Infection and Immunity (MUII) at UVRI. As a Coordinator she gained skills in coordinating activities which have been of great help since she became the project Manager of the TrypanoGEN project from April 2016- December 2018 and now is the Project manager of TrypanoGEN+ project. During these years I have gained a lot of skills in Research management and improved project coordination skills.

Some of our H3Africa Fellows were part of the Graduation ceremonies that took place at the University of the Witwatersrand in July 2022.

Congratulations to Blessing Rotondwa Sitabule who graduated with an MSc in Human Genetics. He was supervised by Dr Houcemeddine Othman and Prof Scott Hazelhurst. His research was entitled “Structural Bioinformatics Analysis of CYP2D6 pharmacogenetic variation relevant to sub-Saharan African populations”. The research was based at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) and it was nested within the Wits-HAfrica/GSK ADME project, with Prof Scott Hazelhurst as the PI of the main project.

Blessing is now a Ph.D. student at the University of the Witwatersrand and his current project will be focused on assessing the impact of genetic variants on proteins involved in antimalaria and anti-TB drug response.

Carol is the Project Manager for the HIV Virology Section within the Centre for HIV and STIs at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research laboratory is headed by Prof. Lynn Morris with the main focus of the research being understanding the antibody response to HIV infection and vaccination and exploring the role of neutralizing antibodies in HIV prevention and treatment. The H3A funded project, titled “Immunoglobulin gene diversity in an African population and impact on antibody function in HIV infection” aims to uncover immunoglobulin gene diversity in the Zulu population of South Africa by sequencing antibody genes and examining the impact of diversity on antibody function. This project is uncovering novel alleles which may be important for understanding infection and for developing more effective vaccines. Stored samples from the CAPRISA cohort in KwaZulu-Natal are being used for the study. The laboratory has also recently become involved in COVID-19 research with the development of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization and Fc effector assays and ELISAs.
Prior to her current position (2014-present) Carol was a laboratory based researcher within the Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. She received her PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand for her work on adenoviral delivery of RNA interference (RNAi-) based gene silencing therapeutics for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Carol has worked in various disciplines including virology, oncology and cytogenetics.

Congratulations to Henrietta Monye, Ophthalmologist, Eleta Eye Institute, Ibadan, Nigeria on winning the first runner-up prize at the Fellows Presentations at the 20th H3Africa Consortium Meeting that took place recently in Cape Town. We caught up with her to learn more about her career. What was the title of your presentation at the 20th Consortium meeting?  The title of my presentation was “The burden, manifestations and parental willingness to test for genetic eye diseases in children in Ibadan, Nigeria – evidence for planning”. What is your research interest?  My research interests include ophthalmic genetics and the ethical, socio-cultural and legal implications in a developing country setting. How do you feel about being the first runner up winner in the best fellows’ presentations at the 20th Consortium meeting? I was delighted at the acknowledgement and feel encouraged to do even better. Can you give your thoughts about young women in science? I believe that with the appropriate support and mentorship, like that provided by H3Africa, many more young female scientists can reach their potential and prove their scientific worth by excelling in their spheres of influence. How do you see the future of Genomics research in Africa?  The future is very bright. In recent years, there has been a surge of advancements in skilled human resources, infrastructure, and the quality of genomics research emanating from Africa and led by Africans. African scientists are breaking new frontiers in diverse fields of genetics and are moving onto the global stage. The H3Africa Consortium has been a major driving force for these breakthroughs. It is indeed an exciting time to be an African female scientist. How has H3Africa helped you in advancing your career and opened doors for you?  My experience with working on the Eyes of Africa: Genetics of blindness study nurtured my interest in ophthalmic genetics. As an H3Africa fellow, I have benefitted immensely from the wealth of opportunities it provides – from travel grants, workshops, and specialized courses, to strategic opportunities for mentorship, networking and collaborations. I would say that all these have set my career off on an excellent trajectory. I recently completed my ophthalmology training with a thesis on genetic eye diseases in children, and I plan to undergo further fellowship training in ophthalmic genetics.

Congratulations to Vincent Ntui-Njock, Biochemist and Molecular Biologist, University of Buea, Southwest Cameroon on being the first prize winner at the Fellows Presentations at the 20th H3Africa Consortium Meeting that took place from the 27 to 28 February  2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. We spot him to learn more about his career.

• What is your affiliation?

University of Buea, South West, Cameroon and Medical Research Council the Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine the Gambia
 

• What was the title of your presentation at the 20th H3Africa Consortium Meeting?

The title of my presentation was ’LOW PARASITE INFECTION DENSITY AND HIGH ALLELIC FREQUENCIES OF MSP2 IN PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM ISOLATES FROM PREGNANT ACROSS THE DIFFERENT MALARIA ECO-ZONES IN CAMEROON’’.
 

• What is your research interest?

 My research interest is focus on Molecular Biology, Malaria Epidemiology, Parasite Genetics and Drug Resistances (Malaria in Pregnancy)
 

• How do you feel about being the winner of the best Fellows' presentations at the Consortium Meeting?

I was ecstatic at the proclamation and acknowledgement of the award with this echoing in my head’’ Vincent don’t get too excited or too comfortable, you need to do more. I was so motivated to never relent my little effort and work harder appreciating my mentors and God for my little beginnings. I felt an inner peace within me and cried for a brighter future and career.
 

• Can you share any other highlights of your experience at the Consortium meeting in Cape Town?

The 20^th Consortium meeting in Cape Town was just one of its kind if was so encouraged by the emerging leaders’ presentations, testimonies, struggles, successes, and their achievements. I really admired each of them when they presented their progress and not leaving out the fellow’s speed talk presentations. I never regretted being a part of the meeting.
 

• Can you give your thoughts about early career scientists and emerging leaders in Science and their role in advancing research?

Early career scientists and emerging leaders in Science are just so amazing and applaudable working endlessly to see research takes a different look and to meet up with the recent discoveries and technologies.

Science has always taken a new look with wonderful findings and development in recent years with recent technologies. Every moment I try to read, I always see something new and amazing in science. So early career scientists and emerging leaders in Science are blessed with all the recent resources and opportunities at their disposals. I will equally say they a doing great in advancing research because they are the ones behind the bench putting all the conceived research ideas to realisation, trying all the experiments, and ensuring they work with good reproducible results. They are completely not left out as evident in their presentations in conferences and their turnout in workshops always curious to learn from great leaders and scientist.

I believe science will never be the same if entrusted to these hardworking, smart, intelligent, great minds and young talents for the advancement in science.
 

• How do you see the future of Genomics research in Africa?

Talking about Genomics research in Africa it is promising and in a very energetic phage with a better bright feature. In recent years, a lot of output has been recorded and publish from Africa in genomics and it’s taking a drastic growth as genomics is becoming the centre of almost every research field.
 

• How has H3Africa helped you in advancing your career and opened doors for you?

Going back to how I started my PhD program is a whole lot and exciting story to tell, how I even applied with the consent of my parents due to fear that I might not go through it finically. By faith and with enthusiasm about my career and where I came from, I couldn’t give up and all thanks to PAMGEN-H3Africa it was a dream come through.

Doing my PhD research project as a PAMGEN-an H3Africa fellow, I have gained so many skills from basic research to scientific innovations and writing with great exposures to the science world not limited to my field of studies only. My experience working on Malaria epidemiology, genetics and drug resistance has always made me smile. As an H3Africa fellow, I have benefited greatly from conference travel grants, workshops, lab visits and short courses. Also, I have had international exposure to the science world not leaving aside mentorship, collaborations and networking with great scientists, other fellows, and great minds. All thanks to H3Africa for shaping my career history, path and for making my dreams come true seeing a bright and promising career ahead of me. H3Africa through PAMGEN has giving me a story to tell and every reason to become a better scientist in my generation and I remain humble to this consortium.

• Added Update

I have recently completed my PhD research Project with dedication to PAMGEN-H3AFRICA Community and Thesis submitted awaiting public defence in a few months.