A Peer-to-Peer Health Education Program for Vulnerable Children in Uganda

In this paper, children attending a U.S.-sponsored private primary school serving orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda were interviewed in focus groups about their participation in a peer-to-peer health education program in which they used music, dance, poetry, art, and drama to convey health information. The children reported enhanced knowledge and changes in health behavior among themselves and their peers

Alterations in gene expression and sensitivity to genotoxic stress following HdmX or Hdm2 knockdown in human tumor cells harboring wild-type p53

While half of all human tumors possess p53 mutations, inactivation of wild-type p53 can also occur through a variety of mechanisms that do not involve p53 gene mutation or deletion. Our laboratory has been interested in tumor cells possessing wild-type p53 protein and elevated levels of HdmX and/or Hdm2, two critical negative regulators of p53 function. In this study we utilized RNAi to knockdown HdmX or Hdm2 in MCF7 human breast cancer cells, which harbor wild-type p53 and elevated levels of HdmX and Hdm2 then examined gene expression changes and effects on cell growth. Cell cycle and growth assays confirmed that the loss of either HdmX or Hdm2 led to a significant growth inhibition and G1 cell cycle arrest. Although the removal of overexpressed HdmX/2 appears limited to an anti-proliferative effect in MCF7 cells, the loss of HdmX and/or Hdm2 enhanced cytotoxicity in these same cells exposed to DNA damage. Through the use of Affymetrix GeneChips and subsequent RT-qPCR validations, we uncovered a subset of anti-proliferative p53 target genes activated upon HdmX/2 knockdown. Interestingly, a second set of genes, normally transactivated by E2F1 as cells transverse the G1-S phase boundary, were found repressed in a p21-dependent manner following HdmX/2 knockdown. Taken together, these results provide novel insights into the reactivation of p53 in cells overexpressing HdmX and Hdm2

Addressing gaps in AMR awareness in the public: an evidence-based policy brief to guide school curriculum review in Uganda

The government of Uganda, through its Ministry of Health, previously adopted curriculum review as a mechanism to respond to public health threats such as HIV/AIDS and include content in primary and secondary schools. This approach contributes to raising public awareness, a key strategy recommended by the World Health Organization to support the global response to the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This policy brief, developed for policymakers related to school curricula, aims to advocate for and support integration of AMR content in Uganda's primary and secondary level school curricula. The policy brief supports efforts by the multisectoral National AMR Subcommittee to create awareness on this issue as part of its role in facilitating the operationalization of Uganda's National Action Plan on AMR

Vaccines to combat river blindness: expression, selection and formulation of vaccines against infection with Onchocerca volvulus in a mouse model.

Human onchocerciasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by Onchocerca volvulus and an important cause of blindness and chronic disability in the developing world. Although mass drug administration of ivermectin has had a profound effect on control of the disease, additional tools are critically needed including the need for a vaccine against onchocerciasis. The objectives of the present study were to: (i) select antigens with known vaccine pedigrees as components of a vaccine; (ii) produce the selected vaccine antigens under controlled conditions, using two expression systems and in one laboratory and (iii) evaluate their vaccine efficacy using a single immunisation protocol in mice. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that joining protective antigens as a fusion protein or in combination, into a multivalent vaccine, would improve the ability of the vaccine to induce protective immunity. Out of eight vaccine candidates tested in this study, Ov-103, Ov-RAL-2 and Ov-CPI-2M were shown to reproducibly induce protective immunity when administered individually, as fusion proteins or in combination. Although there was no increase in the level of protective immunity induced by combining the antigens into one vaccine, these antigens remain strong candidates for inclusion in a vaccine to control onchocerciasis in humans

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) – more than a century of research and control

This review summarises more than a century of research on onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, and its control. River blindness is an infection caused by the tissue filaria Onchocerca volvulus affecting the skin, subcutaneous tissue and eyes and leading to blindness in a minority of infected persons. The parasite is transmitted by its intermediate hosts Simulium spp. which breed in rivers. Featured are history and milestones in onchocerciasis research and control, state-of-the-art data on the parasite, its endobacteria Wolbachia, on the vectors, previous and current prevalence of the infection, its diagnostics, the interaction between the parasite and its host, immune responses and the pathology of onchocerciasis. Detailed information is documented on the time course of control programmes in the afflicted countries in Africa and the Americas, a long road from previous programmes to current successes in control of the transmission of this infectious disease. By development, adjustment and optimization of the control measures, transmission by the vector has been interrupted in foci of countries in the Americas, in Uganda, in Sudan and elsewhere, followed by onchocerciasis eliminations. The current state and future perspectives for control, elimination and eradication within the next 20–30 years are described and discussed. This review contributes to a deeper comprehension of this disease by a tissue-dwelling filaria and it will be helpful in efforts to control and eliminate other filarial infections

In Search For New p53 Regulated Genes

The p53 tumor suppressor protein has the ability to transactivate its target genes whose gene products are involved in carrying out cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, DNA repair, and senescence. Here, I report that two genes may be p53 regulated. Utilizing a microarray method to search for novel p53 target genes, I was able to identify a possible transcriptional target of p53 being solute carrier family 1a1 (SLC1a1). Along with that finding I also identified an E2F-target gene, minichromosome maintenance 10 (MCM10), as being p53 regulated. Gene expression profiling of MCF7 breast cancer cells treated with RNAi targeting Hdm2 and HdmX in order to reactivate p53 led to increased SLC1a1 transcript levels. DNA damage experiments in several cell lines and along with a p53 overexpression experiments established that p53 activation does not directly result in a transcriptional increase in SLC1a1 expression. Thus the results suggest that SLC1a1 is not a transcriptional target of p53 and may have been a false positive result from the microarray experiment. Gene expression profiling of MCF7 breast cancer cells treated with RNAi targeting Hdm2 and HdmX in order to reactivate p53 led to a transcriptional decrease in MCM10 expression. DNA damage experiments along with siRNA targeting Hdm2 and HdmX established that p53 activation leads to a reduction in MCM10 transcript levels. Furthermore, I established that the p53-mediated reduction of MCM10 mRNA levels is due to p53-mediated transactivation of p21, a well-known p53 target involved in cell cycle arrest. These results suggest that p53 activation leads to a reduction in gene expression of E2F target genes involved in cell cycle progression through transactivation of p21

The Impact of Shrinking Civic space on Youth activism, the resilience of civil society, and social sustainability.

Calls to ensure the attainment of sustainable development across the development spectrum in the world today need one to understand in depth the role played by all stakeholders. For a long time, Civil society organizations (CSOs) have contributed immensely to the realization of the social pillar i.e., social transformation initiatives, family building, cultural value upholding and respect for individual human rights,etc. of sustainable development through the inclusive engagement of all sections of society. A big part of their focus has been on youth following CSOs’ acknowledgment of youth as the leaders of tomorrow. This acknowledgment has also been actualized through CSO efforts such as empowering youth to participate in low-level democratic processes of their organizations and groups. This thesis paper attempts to deepen and expand on how Civil society activism has for a while now concentrated on building society with the approach of ensuring local ownership. The approach led to the inclusion of youth in the development interventions which for a long time now started paying off. The endless objective participation of youth in many social issues like the demand for social accountability today has a big contribution from the work of Civil society Organizations.I argue in the paper that with the increasing regression of democratic practices in the world, the most affected category of society is the youth and mainly those believing in being a part of contributing to social development based on their lived experiences as well as acquired knowledge.

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The Impact of Shrinking Civic space on Youth activism, the resilience of civil society, and social sustainability.

Calls to ensure the attainment of sustainable development across the development spectrum in the world today need one to understand in depth the role played by all stakeholders. For a long time, Civil society organizations (CSOs) have contributed immensely to the realization of the social pillar i.e., social transformation initiatives, family building, cultural value upholding and respect for individual human rights,etc. of sustainable development through the inclusive engagement of all sections of society. A big part of their focus has been on youth following CSOs’ acknowledgment of youth as the leaders of tomorrow. This acknowledgment has also been actualized through CSO efforts such as empowering youth to participate in low-level democratic processes of their organizations and groups. This thesis paper attempts to deepen and expand on how Civil society activism has for a while now concentrated on building society with the approach of ensuring local ownership. The approach led to the inclusion of youth in the development interventions which for a long time now started paying off. The endless objective participation of youth in many social issues like the demand for social accountability today has a big contribution from the work of Civil society Organizations.I argue in the paper that with the increasing regression of democratic practices in the world, the most affected category of society is the youth and mainly those believing in being a part of contributing to social development based on their lived experiences as well as acquired knowledge.