StAAHR Projects
In StAAHR we take an interdisciplinary approach to consolidate our research achievements in the fields of infectious diseases and global health. The projects under StAAHR are brought together under three goals:
Integrated mixed-methods research drawing on interdisciplinary expertise. We do this through creating North-South or South-South research partnerships.
Integrating general microbiology and mycobacteriology methods to improve diagnosis of tuberculosis and other bacterial infections: Microbiologists and clinicians are working to
- Identify and resolve the microorganisms that underlie contamination in tuberculosis liquid culture
- Improve tuberculosis treatment monitoring by establishing the St Andrews developed tuberculosis Molecular Bacterial Load Assay (TB-MBLA) test at three sites in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Research skill development through training: We are deploying expertise in the consortium to deliver training in:
- Data visualisation
- Qualitative and quantative methods
- Sceintific writing groups
- Improving TB diagnosis
Our cross-cutting activities analysis and capacity building projects bring together multi-disciplinary, international teams to study these problems and devise new ways to address them.
British Council Ghana Community Development Project
UK Universities working with African Universities to spur innovation and enterprise among the youth.
CARE: Covid-19 and Antimicrobial Resistance in East Africa
CARE is an 18-month study that seeks to investigate the extent to which COVID-19 has changed health-seeking behaviour for common bacterial illnesses and the availability and usage of ABs. in East Africa.
Capacity Building in Geographic Information Science (GIS) to Map Health Landscapes
In this capacity building project, GIS specialist Fernando Benitez-Paez is training and mentoring analysts from Uganda and Tanzania on the foundational concepts of GIS.
HATUA: Holistic Approach to Unravel Antibacterial Resistance in East Africa
The HATUA Research Consortium is a 3-year study that seeks to investigate the diverse drivers of antibiotic resistance in urinary tract infections in East Africa.
How can Medical Records be Better Used to Tackle AMR?
This project focuses on clinic-based medical record keeping and the flow/networks of information about patients and antibiotics.
SMERT
The University of St Andrews’ Dr. Wilber Sabiiti and Dr. Morven Shearer are working with the Tanzanian team to strengthen research ethics review and medicines regulatory capacity in a project named SMERT.
TWENDE
In Swahili, twende is a word used to encourage one another to move forward.
Understanding Patient Pathways to Care
Inter-disciplinary research on the drivers of patient treatment seeking.