Karolinska Institutet President Visits AMBSO
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ICT Support
By Hillary Wamani
16th November 2024
The Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization (AMBSO) on 13th November 2024 hosted a high-level delegation led by the President of Karolinska Institutet (KI), Prof. Annika Östman Wernerson, to strengthen the ongoing collaboration. The delegation included esteemed academic researchers including Prof. Gunilla Eriksson, Prof. Susanne Guidetti, Prof. Johanna Blomgren, and Prof. Kseniya Hartvigsson. Based in Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet is one of the world’s foremost medical universities, renowned for its leadership in medical research and education. KI conducts the largest share of academic medical research in Sweden and offers the country’s most comprehensive range of medical and health-related educational programs.
During the visit, Prof. Wernerson praised AMBSO for its impactful contributions to public health research and encouraged its staff to consider pursuing PhD opportunities at KI. A distinguished expert in medical research with a focus on chronic kidney disease, Prof. Wernerson also expressed interest in a potential partnership with Uro Care Hospital to conduct urinalysis studies in biomedical research.
AMBSO Program Director, Mr. Kyasanku Emmanuel, extended his gratitude to the delegation, acknowledging the pivotal roles of Prof. Wernerson, Prof. Guidetti, and Prof. Eriksson in advancing the collaboration. He highlighted the transformative impact of joint projects, including the Stroke Study, GIRLS Project, Mental Illness Project, and APHS data analysis, while expressing optimism for future initiatives.
Mr. Daama Alex, Head of Epidemiological & Behavioral Studies, provided a detailed account of the collaboration’s history. The partnership began in 2019 with a physical visit and subsequent discussions, culminating in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on 23rd September 2019 facilitated by Prof. Anna Mia Ekström, Leader of the Global Sexual Health Research program at KI. The collaboration has since seen two renewals and the development of additional initiatives, such as the KI-HELD team’s involvement in the Stroke Project led by Prof. Eriksson and Prof. Guidetti in 2023. A Swedish MRC Collaboration grant has been instrumental in advancing the partnership, enabling international travel for research teams, formative meetings, baseline data collection, and improvements to the APHS data collection tools. The grant also supports onsite mentorship programs, training in data collection quality and scientific writing, and the establishment of online communication platforms to sustain collaboration between the institutions.
The KI delegation later participated in a field visit to Kazo, an urban community in Wakiso District and part of the APHS study cohort. This visit provided valuable insights into AMBSO’s integral community engagement activities and the structural composition of households in the study.
The visit concluded with a renewed commitment to deepening the collaboration between AMBSO and KI. Both institutions pledged to expand the collaboration, including linking KI to other AMBSO collaborations and partners for broader joint research initiatives.