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Dr. Juma selected for the Global Health Equity Scholarship (GHES)
By Linnette Leyi
Dr. Phoebe Juma is a physician and the current H.O.U Infectious Diseases Unit. She has been working at Kenyatta National Hospital since 2020 right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when the unit was established.
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This year, Dr. Juma was selected through a competitive process for the Global Health Equity Scholarship (GHES) as a postdoctoral fellow for the 2022-2023 period.
The GHES is one of six Fogarty Global Health programs and has 28 partner Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) institutions across 23 countries including Kenyatta National Hospital.
The study which will be based at KNH will look at Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) among people living with HIV. It will be an effectiveness– implementation science hybrid design study.
“We propose to develop an algorithm for management of CAP in HIV-positive patients in resource-constrained settings. We shall also look at barriers and facilitators to this process,” said Dr. Juma.
She identified that there was low adherence to guidelines on the management of these patients.
“The algorithms will help clinicians manage these patients better and consequently reduce the mortality rate,” she added.
To fulfill part of the requirements of the fellowship, Dr. Juma will spend 2 to 3 months at Yale University in the United States of America engaged in a training experience which will contribute to her growth as an independent global health researcher. The outcomes of this research will help build capacity in the field and for the Hospital and consequently improve service delivery. Dr. Juma’s mentors are Dr. John KinuthiaDeputy Director Medical Research and Dr. Irene InwaniSenior Director Clinical Services under the umbrella of the KNH Research and Programmes Department. Every year, the Research Department advertises opportunities for research funding where interested parties can apply.
PHOTO | COURTESY
