Approved Research This page provides a searchable list of all research protocols that have been reviewed and approved by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology(UNCST).
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Name Title Nationality Approval Date Expiry Date Field of Science/Classification Trial Type Research Type  
Amy  Ritterbusch Elizabeth
ID:
Child Protection Mapping and Honour
REFNo: SS970ES

1.To examine the effect of global narratives of child wellbeing on child protection and rights practices in Uganda
2.To explore prospects for local child protection practices in informing and enriching global child protection policy
3.To explore the concept of honour and examine how it promotes children’s wellbeing and or sustains violence against children in the Ugandan context.

USA 2021-09-03 2024-09-03 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Zarin Machanda Machanda
ID:
The form and functions of leadership in wild chimpanzees
REFNo: NS288ES

This project will establish chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as a new comparative model of human-like leadership by testing how individual variation across a leader’s temperament, behaviour, and physiology shapes collective action in natural social groups. The first aim of the project is to support continuing long-term data collection by the Kibale Chimpanzee Project. We have three additional research aims that are specific to this project: (1) to identify and describe different domains of leadership in wild chimpanzees; (2) identify and describe the characteristics of chimpanzee leaders; and (3) evaluate the success of different pathways to leadership for chimpanzees. This project aims to collect both observational and experimental data that will provide detailed empirical insight into leadership among wild chimpanzees
USA 2021-09-08 2024-09-08 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Radhika Sundararajan Lu
ID:
A pilot study of adherence support delivered by informal health providers to improve entry to and retention in HIV care in rural Uganda
REFNo: HS1747ES

: Pilot test the adapted intervention to evaluate implementation and impact on linkage/retention in HIV and ART adherence among individual PLWH,Adapt an evidence-based layperson adherence support curriculum for delivery by TH.,
USA 2021-10-01 2024-10-01 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Yang Jae Lee
ID: UNCST-2021-R012449
Destigmatization of Mental Illness Through Theater
REFNo: HS1764ES

1. Primary Objective
Effectiveness of a community theater-based destigmatization program to combat stigma and increase care-seeking habits as measured by KAP (knowledges, attitudes, and practices) survey and focus groups at the beginning and the end of the intervention

2. Secondary Objective
1) Assess the general prevalence of mental health conditions for patients attending outpatient visits for general medical conditions
2) Assess KAP towards mental health of healthcare providers to shape future interventions in mental health destigmatization

USA 2021-12-10 2024-12-10 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Dorothy Stamps Sarah
ID: UNCST-2019-R001036
Dry Rifting in the Albertine-Rhino graben, Uganda (DRIAR)
REFNo: NS294ES

Investigating the physics of strain accommodation in the magma-poor Albertine- Rhino Graben of the East African Rift System using geodynamic modeling and GNSS geodesy
USA 2021-10-08 2024-10-08 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
DeeAnn Reeder Marie
ID: UNCST-2021-R012240
Tolerance and resistance responses of African bats to viral antigens: Immunological tradeoffs in zoonotic reservoir hosts.
REFNo: NS300ES

The overall goals of the proposed work are (1) to understand the role that infection tolerance plays in the ability of African bat species to serve as reservoir hosts for virulent zoonotic viruses (especially Ebola), and (2) identify the molecular and behavioral mechanisms that contribute to these tolerance phenotypes.


USA 2022-02-24 2025-02-24 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Pooja Chitneni
ID: UNCST-2021-R012955
The adaptation and validation of an HIV disclosure measurement tool in Uganda
REFNo: HS1872ES

Aim 1: Explore how and why heterosexual men and women disclose HIV to sexual partners. We will purposively sample up to 40 PLWH stratified approximately equally by reported prior HIV disclosure to sexual partner(s) and gender to participate in qualitative in-depth interviews. Interviews will focus on HIV disclosure beliefs, intentions, and behaviors with an emphasis on gender norms, incomplete disclosure, HIV co-morbidities (e.g., STIs), and disclosure preferences. ,
USA 2022-02-23 2025-02-23 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Tana Chongsuwat
ID:
Evaluation of Understanding, Perceptions, and Attitudes Toward Cervical Cancer Screening, Prevention, and Treatment Services Available to Women in Gulu City, Uganda
REFNo: HS1862ES

Understand attitudes and perceptions regarding seeking cervical cancer screening, treatment, or prevention services.,Assess the level of knowledge of men and women on cervical cancer etiology, risk factors, screening, and prevention services available to them.,
USA 2021-12-07 2024-12-07 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Michael Schwartz William
ID:
A Comprehensive Study of Human-Carnivore Conflict Mitigation and Prevention Measures in Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Unique Context of Human and Large Carnivore Ecology
REFNo: NS309ES

The following management-driven research proposal seeks to investigate human-carnivore conflict challenges in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda through five interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary retro- and prospective studies (conservation sociology, community ecology, ecosystem services, wildlife ecology, and conservation biology) in the hopes of making informed, integrated, and strategic mitigation and prevention efforts. This includes 1) a compound cost-benefit analysis of fencing as a human-carnivore conflict (HCC) prevention and carnivore conservation measure; 2) a critical review of Uganda Carnivore Program’s (UCP) carnivore conflict mitigation and prevention efforts (with special emphasis on safe husbandry, experiential tourism, and compensation of genuine losses); 3) a brief review of large carnivore ecology, its resources needs, and current impacts of anthropogenic activity on large carnivore viability in Queen Elizabeth National Park; 4) competition-strategies and tactics of human ecology with wildlife ecology in Queen Elizabeth National Park and its impacts on ecosystem productivity and services; and 5) a critical cultural context review of local custodianship concepts vis-à-vis integrated management approaches (Resource Sharing Agreements, compensation, livelihood support etc.).
USA 2021-12-13 2024-12-13 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Gregory Klazura J
ID:
Pediatric Surgery Training for Rural Ugandan Providers: An Evaluation and Quality Improvement Study
REFNo: HS1895ES

Evaluate the impact of the Pediatric Emergency Surgery Course on rural healthcare providers.
Objective 1: Measure knowledge retention for past course participants.
Objective 2: Measure provider knowledge before and after the course for new participants.
Objective 3: Evaluate course surveys to determine areas for course improvement.
Evaluate the impact of the Pediatric Emergency Surgery Course on pediatric surgical patients.
Objective 4: Measure pediatric operative volume at rural hospitals where the course was delivered before and after the course.
Objective 5: Measure complication rates (mortality, readmission, surgical site infection, reoperation) of patients treated or referred by providers at one of the designated sites before and after the course.
Objective 6: Measure the volume and time to referral of complex pediatric surgical conditions for patients who were treated at one of the designated sites before and after the course.

USA 2022-01-18 2025-01-18 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Kirsten Beyer M
ID: UNCST-2021-R013472
Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on cancer prevention and control service delivery in Uganda
REFNo: SS1098ES

The proposed study seeks to explore how COVID-19 has impacted cancer prevention and control activities and COVID-19 vaccination access and distribution in Uganda across the cancer continuum. 1. Investigate health care professionals’ perceptions regarding: a. How COVID-19 has impacted the provision and use of cancer treatment and preventive services. b. Their own personal fears about COVID-19, and fears and misconceptions they’ve encountered among their patients relating to COVID-19 impacting prognosis c. COVID-19 vaccination and its accessibility, coverage and distribution to cancer patients d. The impact of COVID-19 on data collection and analysis activities that support cancer prevention and control 2. Investigate patients’ perceptions regarding: a. How COVID-19 has impacted the provision and use of cancer treatment and preventive services b. COVID-19 vaccination access and distribution to cancer patients c. Fears about how COVID-19 impacts their cancer diagnosis and prognosis
USA 2022-01-14 2025-01-14 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Corinne Kendall
ID:
Using vulture movement patterns in Queen Elizabeth National Park to understand and address poisoning and poaching activities
REFNo: NS311ES

Overall goal: To understand and address the main threats to vultures (and carnivores) in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Objective: Use data from tagged vultures to assess vulture population status and threats, identify and respond to poisoning (and other) incidents and use this information to improve law enforcement and conservation management strategies, and develop appropriate human-wildlife conflict mitigation tools.

Output 1 – Establish a real-time monitoring system by tagging vultures in QENP

Activities
1. Trap and deploy four 70g solar-powered satellite units on White-backed vultures.
2. Analyze data from tagged vultures to find indicators of poaching activities
3. Identify mortality alerts form tagged birds to locate poisoning incidents
4. Provide regular, relevant information to key partners, WCS and UWA, to integrate within existing anti-poaching operations and ensure poisoning events are rapidly discovered and addressed.

Output 2 – Assessment of population status of vultures in QENP
Activities
1. Conduct annual roadside surveys of vultures and other scavenging raptors to understand abundance of birds in QENP, and compared with other similar well-studied sites
2. Use findings from vulture movement studies to inform roadside survey efforts, so that surveys can focus on suitable habitat
3. Use findings from tagged vultures to identify nesting areas and possibly colonies
4. Use population trend change over time to inform long-term success of the conservation management strategies developed from this project


Output 3 – Assessment of threats to vultures in QENP
Activities
1. Take blood samples from vultures to assess the risk of lead exposure in QENP vulture populations and look for seasonal variation in lead levels that may relate to legal and illegal hunting.
2. Collect and map information on mortality events of tagged birds, including the frequency, location and reason for mortality to identify hotspots and main threats
3. Synthesize information with other important overlapping research, such as from collared lion monitoring and known depredation events

Output 4 – Build the capacity of rangers to rapidly respond to poisoning events.
Activities
1. Train 20 rangers in proper protocols for collecting samples at poisoning event to gather appropriate evidence so that perpetrators may be found as well as in proper carcass disposal methods to reduce secondary contamination.
2. Train 20 rangers on how to rehabilitate any sick or injured vultures found at these events and how to release them back into the wild





USA 2022-01-10 2025-01-10 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Michalina Montano
ID:
MEASURING THE BURDEN OF HIV IN ADULT CANCER PATIENTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, AND IDENTIFYING BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS TO COORDINATION OF HIV AND CANCER CARE: PLANNING FOR A PRAGMATIC CLINICAL TRIAL
REFNo: HS2068ES

1. To determine the prevalence of treated and untreated HIV, and undocumented HIV and ART status among patients with new cancer diagnoses in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). 2. To refine estimates of treated and untreated HIV in cancer patients and describe missingness of HIV and ART status. 3. To identify current practices and systems-based barriers and facilitators to providing HIV care at cancer centers, and acceptability and feasibility of integrating HIV care in cancer care settings. 4. To develop a study design and strategy for a multi-country pragmatic effectiveness-implementation trial to test strategies for coordinating ART initiation and maintenance with cancer care at cancer centers.
USA 2022-08-02 11:36:33 2025-08-02 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Jennifer Ross
ID:
Modeling Approaches to Prioritize TB Prevention in Uganda
REFNo: HS1981ES

1. Estimate national, regional- or district-level patterns in prevalence, incidence, and mortality of TB and TBHIV using a geospatial model to identify geographic areas with higher versus lower infection burden.

2. Quantify the potential impact in disease burden and cost for PT scale-up in regionalized versus uniform implementation.

3. Engage stakeholders to inform model development and evaluate strategies to improve the acceptability and feasibility of modeled strategies for TB prevention.

USA 2022-03-30 2025-03-30 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Sarojini Hirshleifer
ID:
Can Incentives Change Beliefs? A Field Experiment in Uganda
REFNo: SS1250ES

The objective of this study is that this high incentive treatment sends a strong signal of the important of the micronutrient powder even to those who didn’t receive it. Thus, we must consider the expected value of this incentive, which is only (1/5)*60000=12,000, which is the price of one box of micronutrient powder. By necessity, in this study, we can only give the incentive to a small fraction of the sample, since only participants who do not receive the incentive are a focus of the study
USA 2022-08-02 9:48:04 2025-08-02 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Adam Branch
ID:
Fuelling Violence to Fuelling Peace: Charcoal and Environmental Justice in East Africa
REFNo: SS1157ES

Primary Research Objective: To determine how charcoal can contribute to sustainable peace instead of social and environmental harm. Secondary Research Objectives: Determining the power structures in the charcoal sector. Determining what charcoal extraction practices are used, and what their impact upon ecosystems is. Mapping the relations between communities and charcoal landscapes. Discerning the new pathways to environmental justice that are emerging among communities.
USA 2022-02-08 2025-02-08 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Christopher Udry
ID:
Seeding Innovation through Reality TV
REFNo: A178ES

he project will improve our understanding of farmers’ learning and adoption process by studying the role of information provided to urban and rural network members. Given the low marginal costs of distribution, programs like SSU have a high potential to deliver agricultural advisory services at scale.,to understand if reality TV can help to enhance the knowledge and adoption of recommended agricultural practices among farmers in Uganda.,
USA 2022-02-10 2025-02-10 Agricultural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Eliot Atekwana Anong
ID:
Dry Rifting in the Albertine-Rhino graben, Uganda (DRIAR)
REFNo: NS322ES

Our project objectives are to (1) map the lithospheric and mantle structure below segments of the rift in the northern Western Branch, (2) map magma melt depth, thickness and spatial distribution along the rift, (3) map the rift and fault architecture and determine their relationship to rifting, (4) determine fault communication with deep magma sources via volatiles and gas chemistries, (5) provide constraints on surface motions and rift opening rates from GPS measurements, and (6) test the three hypotheses with numerical models. During this project we will:
1. Use magnetotellurics (MT), gravity and passive source seismology to determine variations in lithospheric thickness, mantle-flow or frozen lithospheric anisotropy, and to assess the presence or absence of melt at depth.
2. Use magnetics, gravity, and seismology to determine the thermal structure and thickness of the crust beneath the rift zone.
3. Constrain surface motions with new GNSS observations.
4. Collect geomorphic samples for Quaternary geochronology for landforms cut and offset by the rift-bounding faults to determine their fault slip rates.
5. Use industry seismic reflection data acquired over the Albertine-Rhino graben to investigate fault evolution and strain migration through time.
6. Conduct field observations to examine the geometry and kinematics of rift related structures for the Albertine-Rhino Graben and Precambrian structures to evaluate the possible presence of a Precambrian suture zone that was reactivated during rift evolution.
7. Use the geochemistry of hot springs and measurements of magmatic gas fluxes along the border faults to establish the presence or absence of shallow magma chambers and the presence of magmatic volatiles-assisted faulting, while also quantifying variability of tectonic CO2 flux to the atmosphere from the northern Western Branch of EARS
8. Incorporate the above observations into a geodynamic model that test hypotheses about the role of melts beneath magma-poor rifts and how variations in lithospheric thickness and asthenospheric flow or the properties of the lithosphere relate to strain localization.
The different rift basins of the northern segment of the Western Branch of EARS exhibit distinct geomorphological features from south to north that are probably controlled by processes operating in the asthenosphere and lithosphere. Thus, a field experiment designed to investigate the along axis variability of the lithosphere and upper mantle structure along this entire segment from Lake Edward in the south to the Rhino graben in the north and its termination against the Aswa Shear Zone will provide critical insights on geodynamic processes operating in the asthenosphere, lithosphere, and at the surface which drive magma poor rifting.
USA 2022-02-24 2025-02-24 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Danielle Falk
ID:
Educators in Emergencies: The Lived Experiences and Professional Identities of Refugee and National Primary School Teachers in Uganda and South Sudan
REFNo: SS1213ES

To determine in what ways teachers conceptualize their professional identities,To understand how protracted conflict, forced displacement, and recurrent migration influences teachers’ lived experiences in their classrooms, schools, and communities in refugee-producing and receiving countries,To explore the lived experiences and professional identities of refugee and National Primary School Teachers in Uganda and South Sudan,
USA 2022-03-14 2025-03-14 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Maya Homsy King
ID:
Occupational health survey of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Conservation Staff
REFNo: HS2136ES

Tp gain an understanding of the facilities and services that Bwindi NP staff use, the reasons for which they use these services, and the policies that they work under in terms of sick leave and healthcare.
USA 2022-07-06 9:58:53 2025-07-06 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
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