Our Work

We have the following Thematic Areas:

CANCER

1. Genomic approaches for understanding breast cancer in Kenya funded by National research Fund (Kenya). PIs: Francis Makokha, Mount Kenya University, Shahin Sayed Aga Khan University and Peter Bird AIC Kijabe Hospital: Data from Nairobi Cancer Registry indicate that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer associated morbidities in Kenyan women. Molecular genetic studies of breast cancer have been transformative in furthering our understanding of the natural history and targeted treatment of breast cancer, but this has been dominated by studies in European populations. This Kenya National Research Foundation (NRF) funded study aims to elucidate genomic and molecular architecture of breast cancer Kenyan population.

2.Precision Medicine for earlier diagnosis and reduced mortality from breast cancer in Kenya funded by the UK research and innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund PIs: Jonine Figueroa-University of Edinburgh, Francis Makokha-Mount Kenya University and Shahin Sayed-Aga Khan University: Barriers to having improving breast cancer survival in Kenya are multifaceted, however a big impediment has been late stage at diagnosis, reduced capacity in molecular pathology laboratory methods for improved diagnosis and treatment especially for women who would most benefit from precision medicine therapies (e.g. tamoxifen). This project is focused on data collection pipelines / data sharing protocols in Kenya to understand diagnostic pathways for breast cancer, build capacity for molecular pathology studies of cancer; assess the feasibility of detecting breast cancer using circulating tumour DNA.

3. Assessing the impact of measures taken by Kenya government to curb the spread of Covid-19 on provision of health services, funded by Scottish Funding Council-Global Challenges Research Fund (SCF-GCRF) from The University of Edinburgh PIs: Jonine Figueroa-University of Edinburgh, Francis Makokha-Mount Kenya University: The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has had both direct and indirect impacts on public health in Kenya. Measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Kenya include reduced number of passengers in public transport vehicles to half and movement restriction into and out Nairobi Metropolis, Kilifi and Mombasa Counties were imposed. We are collating data on in and out patient clinics from prior to and during the pandemic to determine the impact on in and out patient attendance and develop and test a mobile phone based intervention to allow continued provision of specialty health services.

4. Cancer Registry Projects PIs: Francis Makokha – Mount Kenya University; Sharon Mweni – Machakos Level 5 Hospital; Peter Bird – Kijabe Mission Hospital: Nested on project 2, we have collected data on cancer cases diagnosed in Kiambu and Machakos Counties. This data is being used to develop Machakos County Cancer Registry to be hosted at Machakos Cancer Care & Research Centre, AIC KIjabe Mission Hospital Cancer Registry. We were motivated to carry out this work because the exact incidence of cancer in Kenya is not known. We believe that hospital or county based cancer registries that are continuously updated will contribute data into the national cancer registry, hence help establish the country cancer incidence.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

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DIABETES

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