Our projects

Key Milestones Initiative for Early- and Mid-Career Researchers

2022-present: Key Milestones Initiative for Early- and Mid-Career Researchers

Inspired by our commitment to research capacity strengthening, in 2022 we established the key milestones initiative that supports early- and mid-career researchers to achieve self-defined goals, propelling them to the next stage of their career. This includes support in the following areas:

Peer-reviewed publications
Conference presentations
Fellowships
Research grant applications
Research partnerships
Public engagement
Conference presentations

We do this by leveraging our ongoing projects as platforms for growth.

Impact:

We have supported ~20 early- and mid-career researchers through this initiative. Examples are highlighted in our projects’ impact below.

2018-present: Tobacco and HIV project

Funders: Wellcome Trust through the Centre for Future Health (CFH) at the University of York; UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund.

Our team, led by Dr Noreen Mdege is carrying out funded and unfunded research aimed at developing and evaluating novel smoking cessation interventions that can achieve long-term abstinence among PLWH who smoke, and are scalable within routine HIV care.

Impact:

This work contributed to WHO’s knowledge summary on tobacco and HIV, and WHO’s recommendation that tobacco control should be integrated into HIV programmes.
One early-career researcher was supported to get their first, lead-author publication and successfully enrol in a PhD programme.
One early-career researcher at the University of York leveraged our established collaborative partnerships in Uganda to gather preliminary qualitative data for their Wellcome University Award in Humanities and Social Science application.

2023-2025: Data on Youth and Tobacco in Africa (DaYTA)

Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (now the Gates Foundation) through the Development Gateway: an IREX Venture (lead implementer)

Dr Noreen Mdege led an international team of researchers to collect bespoke, nationally representative data to investigate the prevalence of, and factors associated with tobacco and nicotine product use among adolescents aged 10–17 years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Nigeria.

Impact:

The findings from the research have been used by policymakers and other stakeholders in advocacy activities in television interviews (see example in Kenya) and newspaper articles.
The findings have also informed the campaign messages for the 2025 World No Tobacco Day in the three countries.
Three early-career researchers successfully published their first, lead-author peer-reviewed journal articles.
Two early-career researchers had their first-ever publication from this research.

2021-2025: Tobacco Control Data Initiative

Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (now the Gates Foundation) through the Development Gateway: an IREX Venture (lead implementer)

Dr Noreen Mdege led tobacco control research prioritisation, and the design and implementation of multi-country research to address these priorities across six African countries. The studies covered illicit cigarette trade (the DRC, Zambia); tobacco advertising and promotion (Ethiopia); smoke-free environments (Ethiopia); tobacco-related morbidity/mortality (Kenya); shisha use (Nigeria); and electronic cigarette use (South Africa).

Impact:

The studies provided content for the establishment of six national websites (DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia) that aim to promote evidence-informed tobacco control policy design and implementation by providing country-specific data. Governmental institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) have used the websites as one-stop shops for tobacco control data to support national policy and activities, e.g., (as reported here):
- public awareness campaigns in Nigeria
- advocacy for the tabling of the tobacco control bill in Parliament in Zambia
- National-level customs officers training on cigarette supply chain control (2024) in the DRC
- Ministry of Health and CSO advocacy for the ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products during the World No Tobacco Day (2025) in the DRC.
One early-career researcher successfully published their first, lead-author peer-reviewed journal article.
Four early-career researchers had their first-ever publication from this research.
One early-career researcher successfully got a post-doctoral fellowship position.

2021-2022: Costs and cost-effectiveness of treatment setting for children with wasting, oedema and growth failure/faltering: A systematic review.

Funder: Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, World Health Organization.

This systematic review, led by Dr Noreen Dadirai Mdege examined the costs and resource use associated with the management of children under the age of 5 years with moderate or severe child wasting, and infants under the age of 6 months with growth faltering/failure, in different settings, i.e., inpatient, outpatient, and community settings.

Impact:

The findings from the systematic review informed the updated WHO guidance on the prevention and management of wasting and nutritional oedema (acute malnutrition) in infants and children under 5 years published in 2023.
Three early-career researchers achieved their first milestone, i.e., involvement in international consultancy work.
One early-career researcher got a Wellcome Trust Early Career Award.

2021: Sustainability assessment of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Postgraduate Diploma and Masters in Dietetics Program.

Funder: Kamuzu University of Health Sciences.

A team led by Dr Noreen Dadirai Mdege evaluated various program capacity factors for the sustainability of the program and made recommendations to aid any gaps in achieving sustainability. The capacity factors evaluated included political support, costs and funding stability, partnerships, organisational capacity and preparedness of institutions to adopt and/or scale up the program, program evaluation, program adaptation, communications and strategic planning. The team also assessed the program’s impact on academia, public health delivery and other measurable impact pathways.