The UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2023 CFAR Mentored International Investigator Award (MIIA). The purpose of the MIIA is to encourage international junior investigators (at an advanced stage of training or recently independent) to conduct independent research with close mentorship from UW/Fred Hutch CFAR faculty. This research should ultimately lead to acquiring preliminary data to obtain funding to continue their HIV/AIDS research careers. Recipients are awarded $20,000/year (direct costs) for up to 2 years to conduct their project.
Congratulations to our 2023 CFAR MIIA awardees, Dr. Ruth Nabisere of the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) Mulago, and Dr. Dickens Onyango of the Kisumu County Department of Health!
Ruth Nabisere, MBChB, MPH
Project Title: Association between adverse events and pharmacogenomics in patients receiving weekly Isoniazid and rifapentine
Mentors: Paul Drain (UW), Christine Sekaggya-Wiltshire (IDI), Jotam Pasipanodya (Stanford)
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Dr. Ruth Nabisere is a medical officer/trial manager at the Integrated TB/HIV clinic of the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) Mulago where she will be conducting her research. She attained a Master’s degree in Public Health from University of Leeds after securing a commonwealth scholarship in 2017/2018. In 2020, she received a Fogarty fellowship award to conduct research describing the UGT 1A1 polymorphisms among HIV infected patients on TB treatment in Uganda and understanding the effect of these polymorphisms on dolutegravir pharmacokinetics in this population. Her research will focus on assessing the association between adverse events and pharmacogenomics in patients receiving weekly Isoniazid and rifapentine and this work will contribute towards accurate profiling of individuals likely to experience adverse drug reactions.
Dickens Onyango, MBChB, MSc
Project Title: Optimizing the Tuberculosis Preventative Therapy Cascade for people with HIV through the Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach: An Adaptation and Pilot Study
Mentors: Sylvia LaCourse (UW), Anjuli Wagner (UW), Grace-John-Stewart (UW), John Kinuthia (Kenyatta National Hospital), Kenneth Sherr (UW), Sarah Gimbel (UW)
Location: Kisumu, Kenya
Dr. Dickens Onyango is a medical doctor in Kenya with a strong background in public health and a visiting scientist at Kenyatta National Hospital. His previous work has focused on evaluating adherence to and the outcomes of tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT) among people living with HIV. For his CFAR Mentored International Investigator Award, he plans to adapt the Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach (SAIA) for optimizing the TPT cascade for people living with HIV. In a small pilot, he plans to generate preliminary data on the impact of SAIA on TPT outcomes in western Kenya.
To learn more about about the CFAR Mentored International Investigator Award, click here or contact us at cfardev@uw.edu.