Alborada Research Fund awardees to launch international collaboration
Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women worldwide, with the vast majority of CC due to human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Many Low- and Middle-income countries have historically, and continue to, struggle with CC.
Dr Sara Pensa and Professor Nusrah Bolatito Afolabi-Balogun were recently awarded the Cambridge-Africa Alborada Research Fund from the Cambridge-Africa Programme for a project aiming at building capacity for the early diagnosis of CC in Nigeria.
Screening Challenges for Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer in Nigeria
Bottlenecks in costs, challenges with the global supply chain, and rate of uptake with regard to screening the population for diseases are major contributing factors to high rates of HPV and CC in these regions. Tackling these issues requires the development of cost-effective strategies for early detection and treatment, particularly in the context of these bottlenecked low-resource areas.
Professor Afolabi-Balogun has been working on CC for the past 8 years, aiming to identify reliable biomarkers and therapeutics strategies to detect and treat the disease early. Prof Afolabi-Balogun integrates this by championing the engagement of local communities, in particular women, to increase awareness of CC and its cause - HPV.
Dr Pensa is a Senior Research Associate in Professor Walid Khaled’s lab. Her work in the Department mainly focuses on the characterisation of the early stages of breast cancer, to find better strategies for the early detection and treatment of the disease.
Dr Pensa first started collaborating with Professor Afolabi-Balogun at Fountain University in Osogbo (Nigeria) in 2021, via the non-governmental organisation TReND In Africa. Over the past two years, they worked together to build research capacity for Prof Afolabi-Balogun’s Molecular Biology and Genetic Diversity laboratory in Nigeria.
Future directions for the collaboration
With the Alborada Fund, Dr Pensa and Professor Afolabi-Balogun aim to build on their existing collaboration, looking to establish a strong, cheap and reliable platform for the early diagnosis of CC in Nigeria. The project will consist of the design, validation, and implementation of an open-source, locally manufactured, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based HPV test. They aim to develop a diagnostic tool that can be initially implemented during outreach activities and then in healthcare settings throughout Nigeria.
Where to follow these researchers
Dr Pensa: @Dr_SaraPensa
Afolabi-Balogun’s lab:@mbgd_fuo
The Cambridge-Africa Alborada fund can be found here: https://www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/the-alborada-research-fund/
More information on TReND can be found here: https://trendinafrica.org/