Employing institution: Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Host institution: Nottingham Trent University (NTU), School of Science and Technology, Department of Biosciences
Project title:
Comparison of bacteria isolated from paediatric cancer patients with bacteraemia and the immediate hospital environment at the Uganda Cancer Institute
Dr Margaret Lubwama a lecturer and medical microbiologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. Dr Margeret’s training as a medical doctor and medical microbiologist puts her in the unique position to carry out research related to infections in cancer patients with a focus on antimicrobial resistance. She is a medical doctor and consultant clinical microbiologist, who holds a master’s in medical microbiology and is in the process of working towards a PhD. Her career vison is to provide critical microbiology data that will be used to develop protocols for the management of infections in patients with cancer, hence improving cancer survival in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
AREF Fellowship research project
The goal of my fellowship project is to determine the relatedness between bacteria causing bacteraemia, colonizing the gastrointestinal tract and in the immediate hospital environment of paediatric cancer patients at the UCI by comparing and analysing DNA from the bacteria using bioinformatic tools. This will in turn enable us to design and implement informed infection prevention and control guidelines at the UCI paediatric oncology unit.
Following the fellowship, she aims to pass on the skills obtained from NTU to staff and students at my department at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. By applying the bioinformatics techniques to our research, the research output at the Department of Medical Microbiology will be rich and improved. High rates of resistant bacteria have been isolated from cancer patients at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) with bacteraemia. However, we do not know the transmission patterns of bacteria isolated in the UCI paediatric oncology unit. One way to understand transmission routes is to determine if the bacteria isolated from various sources are related.
Quote
“Addressing antimicrobial resistance transmission in cancer patients is crucial for cancer survival in sub-Saharan Africa.
”Dr. Lubwana expects to start her fellowship in July 2024