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  
Lara Rosenoff Gauvin Shelley
ID:
We are Sons and Daughter of Bwoc: Refusal and Land Rights Protections in Rural Post-Conflict Acoliland, Northern Uganda.
REFNo: SS112ES

To understand: What do processes involved in writing a clan-based non-profit foundation’s constitution (in a previously oral tradition of indigenous governance) do for relatedness in the post-conflict, land-pressured context? After it is written, and circulated, what does the document do for relatedness in context? How does/can it mediate both between sons and daughters of the clan, and between clan members, National Government, and foreign companies, as examples? And finally, how do real and perceived land pressures impact ideas and practices of relatedness, and thus social repairing and particular notions of refusal, through time.
Canada 2017-11-14 2020-11-14 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Madelyn Prevost
ID:
The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Crafting subjects with regimented health and religion
REFNo: SS122ES

This project is intended to further the knowledge on HIV/AIDS, Catholicism, Non-Governmental Organizations, poverty, and work in a Ugandan context as globalization, greater access to medicine, and modernity change the cultural landscape. In addition to furthering scholarly knowledge, this project will also, ideally, help the site organization, Reach Out Mbuya remain relevant in the changing climates of donor funding, client needs, and HIV prevalence rates. Reach Out is a Catholic-based HIV/AIDS organization that seeks to provide holistic care to clients and their families through medical care, material support, subsistence projects, counseling, HIV prevention, and peer support. In Kampala, Reach Out has community sites in Mbuya, Banda, and Kinawatak; they also have an additional site in Kasaala. I will likely draw all of my participants from the Mbuya, Banda, and Kinawataka site locations; as a volunteer, I will spend most days at Mbuya, but also do work in Banda and Kinawataka sites weekly. Therefore, I will be more known to staff and clients at these locations, making recruiting participants smoother. Building off literature that demonstrates how an HIV diagnoses affects a person’s sense of self and habits (Wekesa and Coast [2013]; McGrath et al [2014]); Whyte [2014]; Bartos and MacDonald [2000]), I propose that HIV, as well as comprehensive aid programs can have unique and varied affects on a person’s employment and livelihood. Adding to this argument, I will draw on literature dealing with subject formation (how a person’s identity and behaviours are formed and changed through processes and interactions), both in secular and Christian contexts (Foucault [2000]; Koopman [2013]; Skinner [2012]; Tambling [1990]; Norget, Napolitano, and Mayblin [2017]). Using this literature, I will argue that it is a combination of the regimented HIV/AIDS treatment schedule and Catholic belief and practice encouraged and facilitated by Reach Out that creates a socially responsible and productive subjects in their clients. Working from this hypothesis, my project asks three primary questions: (1) How might being HIV positive affect an individual’s work, livelihood, and/or employment, and what role might religion play in the extent of these effects? (2) How does Reach Out’s comprehensive, holistic-based approach complement services provided by the government? (3) How does being HIV positive affect one’s social and/or economic standing, and one’s capability to remain in care?
Canada 2017-11-20 2020-11-20 Social Science and Humanities Degree Award
Adriena De Visser
ID:
Global Health Electives: Ethical Engagement in Building Global Health Capacity
REFNo: SS229ES

Research Question: At sites where the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and other international institutions have long-standing collaborations in support of global health electives, what are the relationship dynamics as perceived by stakeholders in sub-Saharan Africa in regards to visiting medical trainee global health electives? Specific Objectives We aim to: 1)Explore and explain perspectives regarding the harms and benefits of global health electives from multiple stakeholders. 2)Explore and explain perspectives on how to create more equitable and mutually beneficial global health electives from multiple stakeholders. The stakeholder perspectives which we plan to include are those at the host site in Mwanza, Tanzania and Mbarara, Uganda: health facility administrators, host physicians, medical officers, nurses, local trainees, patients and/or family members, and a community leader.
Canada 2018-07-26 2021-07-26 Social Science and Humanities Degree Award
William NESBITT Alexander
ID:
Causes and implications of the depletion of effective calcium concentrations in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda, East Africa
REFNo: NS53ES

To re-evaluate the work of Beadle (1981) and accurately measure the calcium and other major ion concentration of Lake Nabugabo and the surrounding wetlands. To identify the sink of calcium in the system to see why the concentration is so low compared to other lakes in the LVB. To explore the implications of low calcium by investigating the Ca/P ratio in Nile perch and mukene in both Lake Nabugabo and Lake Victoria to determine the effects on its bone strength, density and growth.
 Canada 2018-05-22 2021-05-22 Natural Sciences Degree Award
Simon L'Allier
ID:
Behavioral endocrinology of male dispersal in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda
REFNo: NS84ES

Evolutionary causes and consequences (or the “why”) of dispersal are fairly well established, bein respectively inbreeding avoidance and increased reproductive success (Bowler & Benton, 2005). However, the environmental, social, individual, and physiological proximate mechanisms underlying individual dispersal decisions, and their consequences, are still poorly understood. Previous studies have mainly focused on the individual’s physiological response to
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dispersal events (before and after) and looked at the social outcome (e.g., dominance rank) rather than the processes leading to that outcome. For this research, my objectives are to examine how the numerous potential costs of dispersal drive individual dispersal decisions as to when, where, and how they transfer (lone or parallel). I will assess the environmental, social, and physiological causes and consequences of dispersal in vervet monkeys at Lake Nabugabo. My hypotheses and predictions are summarized in Table 2. Dominance rank is often established once a male immigrates into another group. The males’ ability to take over a group and the attainment of a high dominance rank might be dependent on when, where, and how they disperse. My research contributes to a broader understanding of how the immediate environmental, social, and individual factors affect the way they transfer.
Canada 2019-12-12 2022-12-12 Natural Sciences Degree Award
Letha Victor
ID:
Trauma Pollution: an ethnographic and historical theorization
REFNo: SS316ES

The study is part of a larger ethnographic project on the phenomenon of spiritual distress in contemporary northern Uganda, for which I collected the primary data from 2013-2014 (research approved by the UNSCST). This phase of research theorizes how cultural context affects the relationship between psychic trauma (broadly conceived) and ritual pollution (haunting, unwanted spirit possession, unusual illness, misfortune, etc.). The study aims specifically to answer: How do the concepts of "trauma" (in English) and "ajwani" (in Acholi Luo; tentatively interpreted as "ritual pollution) interact discursively? How do contemporary Acholi people interpret the relationship or non-relationship between these two concepts? How have their interpretations changed or not changed since the British colonial (1900-1962) era and the era of humanitarian intervention (2005 to present)? My objective is to examine the connection between "trauma" and "ritual pollution" in 1) current cultural context, by way of observations of and interviews with the Acholi people in Uganda with whom I conducted my primary fieldwork; and 2) by historical examination of the epistemological shifts surrounding ritual pollution and psychic woundedness in Uganda, by way of archival collections on religion and medicalization.
 Canada 2019-10-07 2022-10-07 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Mark  Purdon David
ID:
The Sustainability of International Investment Projects in the Forest and Bioenergy Sectors in Developing Countries: A Comparison of Uganda and Tanzania
REFNo: SS323ES

The objective of this research project is to update research into the sustainability and effectiveness of the foreign investment projects in the land-use sector through a comparative research design involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. Led by Mark Purdon, Assistant Professor at the École des sciences de la gestion at the Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG-UQAM), the project will also involve academic researchers and graduate students at Makerere University in Uganda. In particular, the project will involve Dr. Patrick Byakagaba of Makerere University, School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences who has been undertaking similar research over recent years. The specific objective is to determine the extent to which foreign investment projects in the land-use sector in Uganda and Tanzania, which were first investigated in 2009, are contributing to sustainable low-carbon development, with special attention to payment issues, household land management and project performance.
Canada 2019-08-09 2022-08-09 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Denise Ferris Nicole
ID:
Take-up and Impact of Digital Repayment in Microfinance
REFNo: SS369ES

1. To assess the effect of digital repayment on loan performance and the microfinance model.
a. Understand if access to digital repayment methods affects repayment timeliness and default rates.
b. Understand if access to digital repayment affects group cohesion
2. To assess the effects of digital repayment on microfinance clients.
a. Assess if digital repayment is beneficial for microentrepreneurial clients
b. Assess if digital repayments for microfinance loans affect other use of mobile money
3. To assess how digital repayment differentially affects those who would prefer not to take it up.
a. Assess if those forced into digital repayment change their repayment behaviour.

 Canada 2019-11-19 2022-11-19 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Jennifer Palmer
ID:
The lives & livelihoods of displaced health workers in Uganda
REFNo: HS495ES

By studying the relationships between these global health trends, humanitarian HRH governance in Uganda, and the experiences of displaced HCWs, we aim to provide an in-depth case study of the political dynamics, contradictions and lived realities affecting HRH development in a contemporary refugee response. We do so to prompt debate in domestic and international policy circles which might lead to better inclusion of displaced HCWs in this and other humanitarian responses and, ultimately, explore avenues to improve the lives, livelihoods and future health systems of crises-affected populations.
Specific objectives of this work include:
Map HRH governance initiatives affecting displaced HCWs in Uganda alongside contemporary trends in the health and protection fields which influence HRH decision-making for displaced HCWs by policy actors.
Document the migration and livelihood trajectories of displaced HCWs in relation to their motivations and aspirations for health system building and self-reliance during their experiences of different phases of conflict and displacement.
Identify formal and informal bureaucratic practices which regulate HRH development for displaced HCWs as well as the networks, resources and solutions displaced HCWs draw on to secure access to health livelihoods.
Explore displaced HCW perceptions of the quality of public health responses for refugees in Uganda, including links between continuity of care for patients and continuity of practice for healthcare providers.
Through RECAP collaborators and other interested policy actors, contribute evidence and analyses that could improve employment of displaced HCWs to HRH governance initiatives and processes identified during the research process.

 Canada 2020-06-12 2023-06-12 Medical and Health Sciences Non-degree Award
Bonnie Fournier
ID: UNCST-2019-R000250
 Reducing HIV-related Stigma in School Children
REFNo: HS510ES

Specific research objectives:
● Objective 1: To assess the magnitude of change, among young people who receive the arts-based intervention, in measures of stigma (i.e., enacted, internal, anticipated, courtesy, and perceived), HIV knowledge and attitudes towards young people who are HIV+ and –affected;
● Objective 2: To assess the intervention effect on HIV testing behavior among HIV-negative sexually-active young people;
● Objective 3: To assess the intervention effect on linkage to care, initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), and adherence to ART among HIV+ young people;
● Objective 4: To evaluate how, and under what circumstances, the intervention had an effect.

 Canada 2020-11-17 2023-11-17 Medical and Health Sciences Non-degree Award
Valerie Schoof Anna Mylene
ID:
PEOPLE & PRIMATES: A BIO-GEO-CULTURAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING HUMAN-WILDLIFE INTERACTION
REFNo: NS120ES

We use a multidisciplinary bio-geo-cultural approach to examine the causes and consequences of perceived costs and benefits of human-wildlife interaction in different ecological and cultural settings to ultimately improve protection of biodiversity through mitigation of human-wildlife conflict (HWC) and sustained engagement with local communities at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda and Lewa-Borana Conservancy, Kenya. Specifically, our objectives are to: I) explore the role of landscape characteristics and ecological factors in understanding the behaviour and movement of vervet monkeys, II) evaluate community perceptions of wildlife and research in two villages in Uganda (Bbaale & Bukakata) and one in Kenya (Manyangalo), III) compare community perceptions of crop damage caused by wildlife to objective measurements of crop-foraging behaviour, and IV) develop community-relationships to facilitate long-term sociocultural and biological research on human-wildlife interaction and promote conservation via community outreach.
 Canada 2022-07-08 9:08:38 2025-07-08 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Tanner Regan
ID:
Enhancing Voluntary Property Tax Compliance through SMS: A Field Experiment in Kampala, Uganda
REFNo: SS457ES

The overall aim of the research is to identify whether increasing public information on individual’s tax compliance has an effect on tax morale and compliance in the city of Kampala. These findings should help to inform the KCCA in the design of policy changes to increase tax revenues through higher voluntary compliance.

The central question of this research asks, “Does public reporting of tax payments raise compliance?”. We consider two channels of effect through which public reporting can influence compliance. The first is a direct effect; “How does an individual change their compliance behaviour when they know that this will be publicly reported?” and the second considers the effects of such a policy on tax morale; “How do tax payers change their behaviour when they observe others being publicly reported?”.

We address other questions to better answer the central question. In order to gain a further understanding of the underlying mechanisms and optimal policy, we will also ask:

• Whether the type of public reporting matters; “How does public reporting affect compliance behaviour when only compliers are reported, or when only non-compliers are reported?”
• Whether peer group matters for public compliance; “How does public reporting affect compliance behaviour when reporting is done on a village level vs a city level?”.
• Whether taxpayers are more likely to be influenced by knowledge of compliance of high property worth/’influential’ individuals

We are particular keen to understand how the effects of providing public information on compliance compare with other means of improving voluntary compliance in a context of limited trust in government. These additional methods will be identified based on focus group discussions that will be held between April and May 2020.

Canada 2020-07-27 2023-07-27 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Julie Teichroeb Annette
ID:
Social decision-making in Angolan colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii) and vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) at Lake Nabugabo
REFNo: NS131ES

Understanding the effects of social constraints on group size and composition, movements, and foraging decisions.
 Canada 2021-11-24 2024-11-24 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Shelley Jones
ID:
Women to Women Research for Economic Empowerment in Uganda: A Participatory Action Research Project
REFNo: SS710ES

The goal of this project is to engage women in Uganda in conducting research that investigates successful community-based, women-led entrepreneurial initiatives in order to inventory, analyze, and report on best practices and lessons learned that will contribute to knowledge that can be accessed by other women who are interested in entrepreneurship. The objectives are to support the participants to 1) develop research skills that will enable them to gain information, knowledge, and insights into how to develop thriving, sustainable initiatives that provide sufficient income to attain and sustain a reasonable standard of living; 2) create and disseminate knowledge around issues directly concerned with women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship
 Canada 2021-06-21 2024-06-21 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Robin NESBITT Clark
ID:
Impact of COVID-19 on HIV and TB patient care in Malawi and Uganda
REFNo: HS1218ES

To describe the impact of COVID-19 and the public health measures to control the spread of COVID-19, on HIV and TB patients and their care in the MSF projects in Chiradzulu, Malawi and Arua, Uganda, including patient perspectives and perceptions.
 Canada 2021-03-23 2024-03-23 Medical and Health Sciences Non-degree Award
Carmen  Logie
ID: UNCST-2021-R013185
 Kuwawezesha Vijana (Empowering Youth): An HIV Self-Testing and Comic Intervention with Refugee Adolescents and Youth in a Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda
REFNo: SS884ES

The primary study aim is to compare the effectiveness of adding HIV self-testing, education- comics, or both to the standard of care approaches of HIV testing among refugee youth in Bidi Bidi in increasing HIV status knowledge.
The primary outcome is HIV testing uptake (HIV status knowledge, verified through asking HIV serostatus and verifying with voluntary point of care testing).
The secondary outcomes include HIV knowledge, HIV-related stigma, use of SRH services (e.g., condoms, contraception), and linkage to a clinic for confirmatory testing.
 Canada 2021-08-16 2024-08-16 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Vandana Sharma
ID:
Assessing StrongMinds’ Community-based Therapy Groups with a Gender Lens
REFNo: SS954ES

The overall objective of this research is to better understand gender outcomes of StrongMinds programming, including the experience of women participants of both in-person and remote IPT-G with respect to safety and GBV risks.
 Canada 2021-08-16 2024-08-16 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Jenna Amlani Nahid
ID:
PATHWAYS FOR AGILE IMPLEMENTATION: IDENTIFYING THE ACTIVE ELEMENTS OF RAISING VOICES’ GOOD SCHOOL TOOLKIT
REFNo: SS1060ES

to elicit feedback from stakeholders on the program and specific activities to improve the GST ,to understand which aspects of the GST most important for changing relationships within schools and ultimately reducing violence against children ,
 Canada 2021-11-29 2024-11-29 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Carmen  Logie
ID: UNCST-2021-R013185
 Tushirikiane4MH: Mental health literacy and mental health promotion with urban refugee youth in Kampala, Uganda
REFNo: SS1021ES

Our specific objectives are to: 1. Explore linkages between social, environmental, and resource scarcity stressors and mental wellbeing; 2. Identify protective factors, coping strategies, and aspirations for collective and individual wellbeing; and 3. Develop, adapt and test mental health interventions and their combination – including the World Health Organization’s Psychological First Aid (PFA) and Group Management Plus, mental health literacy and PFA, and virtual reality approaches to self-compassion and stigma reduction – with and for urban refugee youth in Kampala.
 Canada 2022-01-06 2025-01-06 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Sonia Michaelsen Ingrid
ID:
Sexual and gender-based violence against South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda: A mixed-methods case study
REFNo: SS1029ES

The overall objective is to explore and compare the perceptions and experiences of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) towards South Sudanese refugees in Uganda who live in designated settlements to those who self-settled. More specifically:
1.To estimate the prevalence of SGBV among South Sudanese refugees in Ugandan settlements vs. those who have self-settled in urban areas
2.To identify the risk and protective factors of SGBV amongst South Sudanese refugees in designated settlements vs. urban areas, from the perspective of South Sudanese refugees and local community leaders and decision makers
3.To explore the relationship between the estimated prevalence of SGBV in settlements and urban areas and the risk and protective factors identified by participants
4.To generate context-dependent, stakeholder-led solutions to reduce SGBV in each setting

 Canada 2022-07-21 10:50:50 2025-07-21 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
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