On 25th May 2021, the Child Health and Development Centre (CHDC) participated in activities of an open day that was organized by the Makerere Research and Innovations Fund (MakRIF) at the College of Health Sciences. MakRIF had been organizing similar events at other Colleges around the university to enable the showcase of projects/studies that it has funded since its inauguration in 2019.
The day started with presentations from 20 select researchers that were funded by MakRIF. Among the presenters was Dr. Arthur Mpimbaza, a lecturer at the CHDC, who presented findings of his study titled; “Developing a model health systems strengthening strategy to reduce malaria deaths in Uganda: a situation analysis,” in the Davis Lecture Theater.
After the presentations, guests were treated to an outdoor exhibition where the Centre had a chance to show off its other studies that were funded by MakRIF during the exhibition. These included a poster presentation, “The covid-19 mobile application with inbuilt epidemiological surveillance, case, and contact tracing system”. This app was developed by CHDC with Dr. Harriet Babikako as the Lead Investigator. The other poster presentation was on “Role of malaria, the microbiome, acute kidney injury and brain injury on clinical recovery in children with acute malnutrition (MKS)” a study which was done by Dr. Anthony Batte as the Principal Investigator, and also funded by MakRIF. Other projects at CHDC also exhibited their work, key among them being the Parenting Project. CHDC also had an opportunity to showcase its most outstanding publications in its tent.
The event was graced by the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof. Barnabbas Nawangwe and the Chairman of the Grants Committee, Prof. William Bazeyo. Other academic and non-academic staff at the university attended the vibrant event.
By Agnes Namaganda
agnesknamaganda@gmail.com
