Current Projects

  • In March 2024, team members from Georgetown University, EcoHealth Alliance and the University of Glasgow traveled to Guinea to work with local veterinarians in Dalaba for our Fever Project. The purpose of the trip was to reinforce rodent trapping techniques, supervise safe handling of bats, and ensure project biosafety and ethical protocols were being followed. The four veterinarians in Dalaba showed great improvement from their first animal sampling mission and showed clear understanding of the field biosafety procedures.  Samples collected from these animals will be used to look for signs of exposure to zoonotic viruses. 

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    Photo above shows veterinarians (from left to right) Dr. Amadou Sow, Dr. Abou Sylla, Dr. Mamadou Oury Diallo, and Dr. Mohamed Magassouba collecting samples from an African pouched rat. Photo Credits: Dr. Marc Valitutto

  • This pilot project aims to study the prevalence and characteristics of malaria and Salmonella typhi infection and co-infection in Karachi, Pakistan. Diagnostic challenges for both endemic infections mean that they may be over- or underreported throughout the country. Pakistan’s decentralized health system and resource constraints limit disease control and testing capacity. Without an accurate diagnosis, patients do not receive adequate training. The project had four aims, to 1) examine prevalence of malaria and typhoid, as well as co-infection, in two hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan; 2) identify risk factors for infection of both diseases; 3) assess the feasibility and accuracy of different diagnostic approaches; and 4) develop policy and surveillance recommendations for better prevention, case identification, treatment, and control of malaria and typhoid. Preliminary findings from this project were presented by Georgetown doctoral candidate Zoumana Isaac Traoré at the 71st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Seattle, WA.

  • This project, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in collaboration with Georgetown Global Health Nigeria (part of the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact), will design and conduct evaluations relating to the technical, governance, and policy elements of global health security, with a particular focus on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a case study approach, we are collaborating with academic and governmental partners in countries such as Nigeria, Singapore, the United Kingdom and South Africa to gain insights into the governance of regional, national and sub-national public health decision-making. Additionally, we aim to identify opportunities for more targeted and effective preparedness and response efforts against future pandemic threats. Results of a systematic review, focused on empirical methods for assessing COVID-19 response governance, as well as preliminary results from our Nigeria evaluation, were presented by Sumegha Asthana and Sanjana Mukherjee at the Seventh Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in October 2022.

  • In collaboration with Global Implementation Solutions (GIS), we are supporting efforts to promote and build capacities in basic minimum biosafety and biosecurity protections and multisectoral emergency response capacities in East and Central Africa. The overall project comprises of three tasks: leveraging the capabilities and network of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Program (ERGP) at Georgetown to take a step-wise, risk-based and regionally integrated approach to strengthening biorisk management capabilities across the Central African region, focusing initially on Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Gabon, with the option to expand to additional countries in the region at later project stages; building indigenous capacity to improve biorisk management, biosecurity, and biosafety practices in diagnostic and research laboratories and medical facilities that work with or may encounter high consequence pathogens in Kenya, Somalia and Nigeria; and enhancing and promoting multi sectoral coordination across animal health, human health, border, and other related security sectors to mitigate biological threats in Nigeria, Kenya and Somalia.

  • In collaboration with RTI, we supported project activities related to risk communications and community engagement (RCCE) as well as implementation of intra-action reviews at the provincial level. The focus was on improving the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and had three main objectives; to work with RCCE Pillar leads to update the national COVID-19 risk RCCE strategy to reflect current outbreak status, needs, and resources available and include plans for future potential lockdown and post-outbreak recovery phases; to work with partners to implement the updated DRC National RCCE strategy for COVID-19 response; and to establish a plan for developing, integrating, and maintaining RCCE functions for emergency response as a component of the newly forming national public health institute to ensure effective and responsive RCCE in future outbreaks. To read more, click here.