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  
Teesta Dey
ID:
Systematic development and validation of a Post-Natal Maternal Self-Assessment Tool for predicting post-natal morbidity in the immediate postpartum period following healthcare facility births in Uganda
REFNo: SS876ES

General Objective To develop a valid, reliable, useful and acceptable post-natal maternal self-assessment tool for predicting post-natal morbidity in health care facilities in Uganda Specific Objectives 1. To explore immediate postnatal care provision, coverage and utilisation in healthcare facilities in Uganda and elicit opportunities to improve care 2. To establish the core content of the tool 3. To create a tool that is culture and setting specific to postnatal Ugandan women 4. To assess the tool for validity and reliability 5. To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and usability of the post-natal maternal self-assessment tool For each specific objective there are sub-objectives listed within the protocol as attached
 UK 2021-06-28 2024-06-28 Social Science and Humanities Degree Award
Paul Atherton
ID:
Girls’ Education Challenge Phase II: Continued Access and Learning during Covid-19 in GEC-II PEAS treatment and control schools in Uganda
REFNo: SS764ES

The final research questions for the proposed study are listed below:

a) How have PEAS sought to provide continued access to learning opportunities during school closures?
b) How are the PEAS supporting girls to return to school, and with what effects on girls’ access to learning opportunities?
c) How are PEAS identifying which girls are most at risk of not returning to school? Can a scorecard approach help projects identify those most at risk within projects in a cost-effective way?
d) How have girls’ learning levels changed during the COVID-19 period?

UK 2021-05-20 2024-05-20 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Graham Birch John
ID:
Title of research project: Oxidative shielding and the inter-generational costs of reproduction in male wild banded mongooses
REFNo: NS164ES

(1) To understand transgenerational influences on health and reproductive success in
wild mammals.
(2) To investigate the impact of paternal health on the development and reproductive
success of offspring, using banded mongooses as a model system.
 UK 2021-09-20 2024-09-20 Natural Sciences Degree Award
Rosalind  Parkes-Ratanshi Parkes
ID: UNCST-2019-R000717
 Characterizing STIs and antimicrobial resistance in men with urethral discharge syndrome in Uganda
REFNo: HS1338ES

Primary:
• To assess and compare the prevalence of pharyngeal STIs (gonorrhea, chlamydia) in relation to urogenital STIs, characterize the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profile of pharyngeal and urogenital gonorrhea, and identify demographic and behavioral risk factors associated with STIs at different anatomical sites. STIs and AMR profiles will be determined using a combination of traditional laboratory methods (cultures) and molecular approaches, including, but not limited to nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs).

Secondary:
• To assess acceptability of self-collected tests in men with UDS and pharyngeal testing for STIs in Uganda.
• To estimate the prevalence of 4 STIs in a population of men with UDS caused by the following pathogens: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG), Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), and Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) using NAATs.
• To estimate the proportion of STIs (CT/NG/MG) at multiple anatomical sites (penis and pharynx (throat))
• To assess the prevalence of HIV and syphilis, and compare HIV result to self-reported HIV status.
• To explore socio-demographic, behavioural and clinical factors associated with positive STI diagnosis and antimicrobial-resistant infections.
• To compare the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of pharyngeal and urogenital NG isolates recovered the same participant(s).
• To compare the distribution of AMR markers in pharyngeal and urogenital NG.
• To determine the effectiveness of treatment for urogenital NG infections on pharyngeal infections.
• To explore the feasibility of detecting NG and AMR markers using a single-cell molecular approach directly from pharyngeal samples.
• To collect pharyngeal samples for future metagenomics analysis to explore the role of microbiome on pharyngeal NG infections and AMR.
• To explore the role of commensal Neisseria species on the development of AMR in NG.
To provide samples to be added to the Johns Hopkins International STI biorepository at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA.


 UK 2021-06-23 2024-06-23 Medical and Health Sciences Non-degree Award
Georgina Pearson
ID:
Living the Everyday: Health-seeking in times of sickness and epidemics at Uganda’s borders
REFNo: SS878ES

1. To document everyday knowledge production on illness, among academics, media, public health practitioners and people living on and across border regions. 2. To identify patterns and practices of health-seeking across the border region., 3. To explore interactions between bodies of knowledge produced by various groups at the border, and detail convergences and divergences., 4. The above objectives will lead on to inform policies in response to potential and emergent threats in border regions.
 UK 2021-07-07 2024-07-07 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Catriona  Waitt John
ID: UNCST-2019-R001068
 Implementation of a "bundle of care" to improve anticoagulation control in patients receiving warfarin in Uganda and South Africa
REFNo: HS1422ES

Primary objective is to evaluate whether implementation of warfarin bundle improves time in therapeutic range

Secondary objectives are:
-To evaluate whether implementation of the warfarin bundle improves time to achieving a therapeutic INR
-Whether implementation of the warfarin bundle affects the occurrence of adverse events(death, bleeding and thrombotic events)
-whether staff find the interventions contained in the bundle acceptable
-To explore patients' experiences and acceptability of the package of care, and
-Whether the bundle represents good value for money
 UK 2021-07-09 2024-07-09 Medical and Health Sciences Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Richard Mallett
ID:
The effects of digital employment on livelihoods, associational life and politics in the urban informal economy: a case study of Kampala’s boda boda sector
REFNo: SS844ES

This proposed research looks at the effects of digital employment on livelihoods, associational life and politics within the urban informal economy – an important area of research lacking serious academic engagement. It aims to do so through an analysis of labour and livelihoods in the motorcycle taxi (or boda boda) sector of Uganda’s capital city, Kampala. Though difficult, dangerous and poorly paid, boda riding nonetheless provides vital work in a context of widespread unemployment, helping a significant share of the urban population make a living in the absence of formal alternatives and safety nets. With the recent arrival of the gig economy, involving app-based motorcycle taxi companies, the nature and organisation of employment in the sector is being reconfigured in uncertain ways and with uncertain effects – testing, amongst other things, the capacity of boda work to absorb urban unemployment. The purpose of the study is to engage critically with the idea that new technologies of employment integrate smoothly and seamlessly into local settings, creating jobs and connecting workers to new economic possibilities in ways that are often perceived to be unproblematic. Instead, it focuses on the challenges that occur as digital innovations come into contact with the urban informal economy, and the unintended consequences that accompany the disruption of people’s livelihoods within it. There are three specific objectives guiding the study, which have been formulated through a review of relevant literature. These are as follows: 1. To examine the effects of digital employment on the livelihoods of riders in Kampala’s boda boda sector 2. To examine the effects of digital employment on the associational and organisational features of work within Kampala’s boda boda sector 3. To examine the effects of digital employment on the relationship between riders in Kampala’s boda boda sector and political actors and processes
UK 2021-07-01 2024-07-01 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Matt Baillie Smith
ID:
Volunteering Together: Blending Knowledge and Skills for Development
REFNo: SS848ES

This research project aims to develop a critical understanding of how different types of volunteers (e.g. community, youth, corporate, national, international and remote volunteers) work together in Uganda. VSO have long carried out their projects using a range of volunteer modalities. They refer to this approach of different types of volunteers working together as “blended volunteering”. The aim of this research is to enhance the understanding of how this “blended approach”, where different types of volunteers work together, can contribute value to the work of VSO Uganda. Beyond that, we expect the research will tell us something about how volunteer modalities may be combined to maximise development impact in other contexts and overall. Furthermore, we will examine relationships between volunteers, primary actors and partner organisations in the field, to capture the wider context within which VSO volunteers work, interact, and deliver development outcomes. Based on our analysis of existing preliminary work as building blocks in this analysis, we have identified significant knowledge gaps in the evidence basis of volunteering and development studies to further explore the concept and practice of blended volunteering: although VSO has observed that blended volunteering can lead to better development outcomes, the exact reason for the impacts of this type of development work remains little understood. Having a fuller understanding of what types of combinations work best, how, when, and why, will not only help VSO deliver higher quality projects and programmes; it will also help them communicate the importance of their development work, and the importance of not just volunteering, but of the particular synergies that emerge when volunteer teams consisting of national, international, and local volunteers with different backgrounds, experiences and skill-sets work together. By ‘volunteer knowledge and skills’ then, we refer not only to individual assets, but also to group assets that emerge from the context in which they work together and the relationships with primary actors and other relevant stakeholders.

Therefore, through this study we aim to better understand: team-focused approaches to volunteering; the programming dimensions of blended volunteering; how different volunteers and primary actors experience blended volunteering approaches; and ‘What works and why’ in the ‘blended volunteering’ model. Furthermore, the research will explore the challenges and obstacles that arise when different types of volunteers and other actors work together, as identified by volunteers, VSO staff and primary actors. This will further help VSO navigate some of these challenges in practice and manage these difficulties as early as the design phase for upcoming projects. This research will thus help VSO develop a deeper understanding on what combination of volunteering and implementation models may be most effective in which specific contexts, and how leveraging these contributions can assist VSO to deliver development impact at scale. This includes understanding the respective strengths and weaknesses of different volunteering modalities in diverse contexts. This presents an opportunity to make a significant contribution to knowledge of volunteering and development, as well as to support innovative programming for ‘blended volunteering’.
 
Based on an extensive literature review and on the experience of VSO Uganda in the field, the general objective of this short-term research project is: To understand how blended volunteering can improve development impacts.
To achieve this objective, we need to understand various areas of the planned and unplanned aspects, outcomes, successes and challenges of VSO’s work. In order to gain a better understanding of this, we divide our main research objective into 4 distinct aims:

(1) Strengthen the evidence base about how combining volunteering modalities has potential to improve programme outcomes (relationships and combinations; impacts);
(2) Deepen understanding of the unique contribution of diverse volunteering modalities, and whether when combined these contribute to enhanced programme outcomes (relationships and combinations; impact);
(3) Understand how the knowledge of diverse volunteering modalities can be designed into VSO programmes to improve outcomes and deliver impact for primary actors (programme design);
(4) Support VSO’s thought leadership by using the findings to influence debates around volunteering and development in policy, practice and academic spaces (impact).

In order to achieve these aims and this main objective, the main research question in this study is the following:
How does different types of volunteers working together improve development impacts?
Our research design is informed by participatory and people-centred approaches and methodologies, as will be described in detail in our methodology section. The study will contribute to policy, practice, and academic understandings in this field by exploring existing examples of blended volunteering contributing to improving development outcomes among VSO Uganda’s portfolio of programmes. Moreover, the study will highlight the potential for further exploring blended volunteering both as a practice and a concept beyond the selected case studies.
 UK 2021-07-01 2024-07-01 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Christopher Dolan Gerald
ID:
"changing gender norms and gender-responsive humanitarian action in Uganda”
REFNo: SS858ES

 To examine gendered norms, roles and power relations changed during and after forced displacement;
 To explore how existing knowledge on gender issues informed design of the current refugee response; and
 To find out implications for humanitarian agencies of observed changes in gender roles, norms and power relations

 UK 2021-08-17 2024-08-17 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Rosalind  Parkes-Ratanshi Parkes
ID: UNCST-2019-R000717
 Acceptability and feasibility of mhealth technology for sensitization and contact follow up for high-risk communities for infectious disease outbreaks; Call for Life-COVID (CFL-C) and Call for Life Ebola (CFL-E)
REFNo: SS865ES

1.To document experiences of using an IVR service to support COVID positive patients and for those in COVID quarantine.
2.To evaluate the acceptability of using an IVR service for post COVID-19 mental health screening in Uganda.
3.To assess feasibility of using an IVR service for outbreak response, through documentation of the experience and lessons learned of using CFL-C by health care workers, policy makers, developers and implementing actors
4.To explore barriers and enablers to health seeking behaviour and vaccinations, perceptions/ stigma/ fears/concerns of COVID and other epidemic outbreaks including EVD and mitigation measures (e.g. cancelling funerals – Ebola, school and business closures – COVID, including comparisons of the two) within at risk and hard to reach communities.

UK 2021-08-16 2024-08-16 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Derry Taylor James
ID:
Learned social knowledge in chimpanzees
REFNo: NS269ES

To understand the nature of chimpanzee social knowledge and how it is acquired
 UK 2021-08-11 2024-08-11 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Freda Wolfenden Janet
ID:
Strengthening School Leadership Towards Improving School Resiliency: An Improvement Science Approach
REFNo: SS893ES

General Objective: Contribute to improved quality and equity of the continued learning and well-being of girls and boys in the Global South during the prolonged school closures of the COVID-19 crisis, and future emergencies

Specific Objectives1.Knowledge Generation. Deepen understanding of how an improvement science approach can strengthen instructional school leadership towards school resiliency in a range of Global South contexts.

2.Capacity Building. Build the capacity of school leaders for data-driven decision-making and problem-solving leading to improvement.

3.Policy and Practice Influence. To inform education policy and practice on strengthening instructional school leadership and building school resiliency using the improvement science approach.
 UK 2022-04-29 2025-04-29 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Janet SEELEY
ID:
Menstrual health interventions, schooling and mental health symptoms among Ugandan students (MENISCUS): a school-based cluster-randomised trial.
REFNo: HS1525ES

1. To evaluate whether the MENISCUS intervention improves educational attainment and reduces mental health symptoms (primary outcomes) among Secondary girls in Uganda.

2. To evaluate whether the MENISCUS intervention improves: i) knowledge of puberty and menstruation; attitudes towards menstruation (girls and boys); ii) menstrual practices at last menstrual period (LMP); iii) knowledge and practice of pain management during LMP; iv) self-efficacy in addressing menstrual needs experiences at LMP; v) quality of life and happiness; vi) school and class absence during menses (nested cohort); vii) school and class absence overall (nested cohort); viii) prevalence of urogenital infections (bacterial vaginosis, vaginal yeast and urinary tract infections)
3. To evaluate the costs of setting up and running the intervention package, the unit cost per female student reached, and the incremental cost-effectiveness of the intervention per unit increase in selected policy-relevant outcomes, relative to optimised usual care
4. To assess whether the intervention was implemented with fidelity, and to understand the contextual factors affecting implementation, the acceptability to participants, and the intervention mechanisms. We will achieve this through a process evaluation including quantitative indicators and qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.
5. To assess the policy environment around menstrual health in Uganda, focusing on how implementing the intervention contributes to, and aligns with, the attainment of the Government policy objectives on menstruation management in schools. We will assess the policy/regulatory frameworks to which the outcomes of the intervention contribute, identify the supportive and constraining factors to the implementation of the policy guidelines and how the findings of the intervention inform refinement of current policy.

 UK 2021-07-14 2024-07-14 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Cally Tann
ID: UNCST-2023-R008021
 Transitioning a Bundle for Early Detection and Intervention for Children with Developmental Disability to Scale for Low-Resource Settings
REFNo: SS910ES

WS1: To develop harmonised training materials to promote and support high fidelity implementation of the PDC and ABAaNA EIP at scale.
WS2: To further develop the Ubuntu multi-media web platform including development of a pilot mobile tablet application to promote programme accessibility and fidelity.
WS3: To identify existing approaches to livelihood support for caregivers of children with developmental disability in low- and middle-income countries to inform the development of a livelihoods component to the EIP.
WS4: To develop a scale-up strategy, business model and marketing strategy to disseminate the PDC and EIP approaches to a wider audience.
WS5: To define a sustainable monitoring, evaluation and learning strategy to track implementation of the PDC and EIP at scale

 UK 2021-08-03 2024-08-03 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Janet SEELEY
ID:
Multimorbidity in Africa - Increasing Understanding of the Health Workers’ Experiences and Epidemiology (MAfricaEE)
REFNo: SS998ES

Explore the healthcare professionals' (HCPs) experiences of treating and managing patients with multi-morbidity in Uganda and what health workers see as the main barriers to optimal care provision. How do health care professiönals view the potential impacts of COVID-19 on care for patients with multi-morbidity?
 UK 2021-09-13 2024-09-13 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Christopher Dolan Gerald
ID:
Improving access and retention in inclusive education for refugee children with disabilities
REFNo: SS937ES

I.To explore stakeholder’s understanding of the processes, challenges and opportunities for refugee children in accessing and progressing in inclusive education
II.To establish the current capacity of the education system to deliver safe and inclusive quality education for refugee children with special needs and disabilities
III.To describe the extent to which RCSN and their caretakers access timely and appropriate support to improve their physical, psychological and social functionality
IV.To establish the extent to which Key stakeholders effectively champion social accountability and implementation of policies and commitments on inclusive education
V.To examine the daily needs of RCWD and their carers

UK 2021-09-23 2024-09-23 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Jayne Ellis
ID: UNCST-2021-R013987
 “Integrated management of cryptococcal and opportunistic infections to improve outcomes in advanced HIV disease (IMPROVE study)”
REFNo: HS1607ES

1) To generate evidence on the safety (adverse events) and feasibility (adherence and tolerability) of 1HP (one month of isoniazid and rifapentine) for TB preventative therapy (TPT) amongst adults with HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis.
2) To generate preliminary data on potential secondary benefits (reduced loss to follow-up, reduced active TB disease, reduced mortality due to TB) of early (inpatient initiation) 1HP TPT as compared to standard (outpatient initiation) 1HP TPT amongst adults with HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis.

UK 2021-08-25 2024-08-25 Medical and Health Sciences Clinical Trial Degree Award
Clare Tanton Tanton
ID:
Taking the Good School Toolkit to scale
REFNo: SS1035ES

The aim of the project is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of using Regional Resource Persons to deliver the Good Schools Toolkit in primary and secondary schools in Uganda and to relate markers of implementation to intermediate outcomes in teachers.
The specific objectives are:
1. To determine whether implementation of the Good Schools Toolkit through Regional Resource Persons can be done with fidelity and whether it is associated with attitudes towards violence against children and markers of school operating culture among teachers.
2. To understand Teacher Protagonists’ motivations, their perceptions of their role and how these evolve during intervention implementation. To understand Teacher Protagonists’ experiences and opinions of intervention mode of delivery and the support they receive from Regional Resource Persons and school administration, and their views on the main successes and challenges of this approach.
3. To understand the experiences of Regional Resource Persons in supporting schools and at different stages of intervention implementation. To understand Regional Resource Persons’ perceptions of the main successes and challenges they face during intervention implementation and how these challenges might be overcome.
4. To explore how the attitudes and behaviours of the Regional Resource Persons evolve following Good Schools Toolkit training and during their role supporting schools, and how this correlates with their performance.
5. To understand teachers’ experiences returning to school after prolonged COVID-related closures

 UK 2021-11-19 2024-11-19 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Molly  Atkins
ID:
Women fish processors and traders: navigating the digital transformation
REFNo: SS1220ES

The small-scale fisheries (SSFs) sector is experiencing an acceleration in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and initial evidence suggests that COVID-19 has further intensified the digitalisation of everyday practices in SSFs, creating new relations between money, people, time, and space. Digital technologies have the potential to support a range of positive outcomes for women fish workers in the Global South, who face multiple and complex gendered challenges in work and society. In SSFs women’s engagement with ICTs has opened new spaces for economic enhancement, facilitated social networks and contributed to resilience amid the impacts of COVID-19. Yet, limited information exists regarding the ways in which ICTs are accessed and used in the everyday lives of women fish workers. Few studies have examined which women stand to benefit and under what conditions. The overarching aim of this research is to investigate how women fish workers are navigating the digital transformation in small-scale fisheries, through a case study approach in Lake Victoria, Uganda. The research will be directed by the following research objectives: 1. To explore the social, political, economic and environmental contexts associated with women fish processors and trader’s access and use of ICTs? 2. To investigate the barriers/challenges women face in access to and use of ICTs? 3.. To examine the processes of empowerment that ICTs support or undermine?
UK 2022-08-02 9:42:47 2025-08-02 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Janet SEELEY
ID:
Examining ethical issues, stakeholder engagement and acceptability of biobanking in Sub-Sahara Africa
REFNo: HS1645ES

General Objectives:
To explore perceptions, informed opinion and experiences of key stakeholders on approaches and value of community engagement in biobanking in LMIC; and if and how community approval should be obtained.

Specific Objectives:
1. To explore key stakeholders’ perceptions, informed opinions and underlying values around potential benefits of biobanks in SSA and important aspects of operationalising a biobank in LMICs.
2. To describe approaches that could be used to engage communities and stakeholders about biobanking.
3. To examine governance systems and structures that should be in place for a biobank to become operational, and ways in which community voices might be included in those systems
4. To determine initial key elements required to assume a community social license based on outputs of 1-3

UK 2021-09-08 2024-09-08 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
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"A prosperous Science and Technology Led Ugandan Society."

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