DIDIDA consortium is looking for PhD students based in Uganda

Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases pose a major health challenge in Africa, in part, because  their management remains very poor. It is known that lifestyle behaviours, including exercise,  diet and sleep can influence the control of diabetes and other NCDs, and there is increasing  evidence that digital technologies that capture such lifestyle behaviours can help improve  disease control. 

This project will examine whether data captured and processed from wearable technology  (including smartwatches, and continuous glucose monitoring devices) can aid decision-making by both patients and healthcare providers to improve disease control.  

The student will oversee the deployment and monitoring of the outputs from the devices,  including questionnaires, as well as their collection into a structured digital dashboard to enable  data analysis and visualisation. The primary focus will be on understanding diabetes (with a  secondary objective to also include hypertension). 

Personal Skills and Qualifications: We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and  intelligent student, with skills and knowledge evidenced through a track record of achievement.  For the project described, we would also require evidence of expertise in at least two of the  following subject areas, namely NCD and infectious disease epidemiology, community  medicine, digital technologies, medical devices and sensors and/or m-health. 

Supervisory team 

1. Professor Moffat Nyirenda, MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit
2. Professor Frances Mair, University of Glasgow 
3. Dr Harriet Mpairwe, MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit
4. Dr Julien Reboud, University of Glasgow

Additional Information for the three projects: The students will be part of the DIDIDA  consortium, a broad cross-disciplinary expertise covering diagnostics, digital technologies,  epidemiology, molecular biology, social science, health economics and translational/field  studies. Although the students will be based in Entebbe Uganda, they will be registered for a PhD at the University of Glasgow (with their fees and a stipend  provided). There is resource and funding available for the students to attend project meetings  and conferences as well as to spend time training at the University of Glasgow and/or at other  centres within the DIDIDA consortium in Europe or Africa.

Apply before 29th April 2023. Application procedure and details here.

Tropical countries, such as Uganda, have a heavy burden of infectious conditions such as  malaria and schistosomiasis. The infections that present with fever are particularly challenging  to make a definitive diagnosis. 

Most available diagnostic tools are expensive, cumbersome, or not easily accessible,  particularly in the primary health care setting. New technologies including lateral flow devices  and novel nucleic acid amplification-based diagnostic tools, which can be deployed at the  point-of-care, in communities, present a huge opportunity to increase access to diagnostics,  even in remote locations. Members of the DIDIDA consortium (https://didida-health.eu) are at  the forefront in the development of such new tools and have achieved proof-of-concept of  integrated, multiplexed field-based detection of nucleic acids from a range of samples  (including blood and swabs). 

In this project, we will integrate a multiplexed test for malaria and Bilharzia together on the  same nucleic acid point-of-care device, from a blood finger-prick, based on the existing proof of-concept Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technologies available in the  consortium.  

The PhD will provide the opportunity for the candidate to be closely involved in the  development and validation steps, and demonstrate the key value of such advanced tests in the  field. The student will work with partners at the University of Glasgow, Vector Control  Division, Uganda Ministry of Health and Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute.  

Personal Skills and Qualifications: We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and  intelligent student evidenced through a track record of achievement. For the project described,  we would require evidence of expertise in at least two of the following subject areas, namely  diagnostics, digital technologies, medical devices and m-health. Although we welcome  applicants with relevant experience from any academic background, we are particularly  interested to receive applications from candidates with expertise in the engineering sciences  and/or biomedical engineering (including undergraduate and or master’s qualifications). 

Supervisory team 

1. Professor Jonathan Cooper, University of Glasgow 
2. Dr Julien Reboud, University of Glasgow  
3. Dr Harriet Mpairwe, MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit
4. Professor Moffat Nyirenda, MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit

Additional Information for the three projects: The students will be part of the DIDIDA  consortium, a broad cross-disciplinary expertise covering diagnostics, digital technologies,  epidemiology, molecular biology, social science, health economics and translational/field  studies. Although the students will be based in Entebbe Uganda, they will be registered for a PhD at the University of Glasgow (with their fees and a stipend  provided). There is resource and funding available for the students to attend project meetings  and conferences as well as to spend time training at the University of Glasgow and/or at other  centres within the DIDIDA consortium in Europe or Africa.

Apply before 29th April 2023. Application procedure and details here.