Congratulations to Javier Lezaun, Susana Carvalho and Research Affiliate Alexandra Alvergne for their AfOx Research Development awards which have been announced today by the Africa Oxford Initiative.
Launched in 2019, the AfOx Research Development Awards (AfOx ReDA) build on existing AfOx funded collaborations between researchers in African institutions and University of Oxford to address one or more Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Eight awards have been made. Each project has a lead researcher from an African institution and a University of Oxford collaborator. The awards address at least one Sustainable Development Goal through their research and aim to generate societal benefits beyond creating knowledge in their area of specialisation.
Read more about the awards at the AfOx website.
Lea Toe Pare and Javier Lezaun: Developing the Social Science of Malaria Control for Areas of High Transmission
Over the last fifteen years, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have witnessed significant declines in the levels of mortality and morbidity associated with malaria. In the last few years, however, the trajectory towards a decreasing malaria burden has been halted, and in some cases reversed. Several new methods of mosquito control are being tested across sub-Saharan Africa to reverse this trend, and Burkina Faso is at the forefront of much of this innovation. In 2019, an AfOx Travel Grant enabled Lea and Javier to develop a new social sciences agenda to control vector borne diseases in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries. The AfOx ReDA will enable them to strengthen the contribution of the social sciences in malaria control and introduce novel approaches to mosquito control in Burkina Faso.
Fredrick Manthi and Susana Carvalho: Ecology and the deep roots of our African origins
Fredrick Manthi received an AfOx Travel Grant in 2019. During his visit to Oxford, he met with researchers in Oxford’s School of Anthropology and began discussions with Susana Carvalho’s team researching ecology and African origins. Through this award, they plan to further their collaboration by pooling resources at the University of Oxford and the National Museums of Kenya to develop our understanding of the ecological and environmental contexts in which the first hominins emerged in Africa. In addition, the project will promote education through outreach activities in Kenya, develop innovative research tools at the museum in Nairobi and promote international partnerships amongst African and UK based institutions.
Salome Bukachi and Alexandra Alvergne: Food safety in households with young children and its impact on their nutritional and health status in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya
During her AfOx Fellowship in 2019, Salome was affiliated with Oxford’s School of Geography, where she worked and published on gender and water security. While an AfOx Fellow she established collaborative relationships with colleagues at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography. Salome is a social anthropologist with an interest in infectious diseases, gender issues and community engagement. Through the AfOx ReDA she will build on her collaborations with colleagues at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography to explore food safety in households with young children in Nairobi’s informal settlementsand the impact of food security on their nutritional and wider health status.
