Cambridge University supporting African students through video-link

Experts in the University of Cambridge have been able to discuss their work and connect with students at Makerere University in Uganda thanks to video technology.

The seminars covered a wide array of research from learning about infectious diseases or health conditions (such as HIV, Cancer and Malaria), to the body’s defence mechanisms, vaccines, and immune disorders.

The MUII-Plus Cambridge video-linked seminar series program was set up to support the MSc Immunology and Clinical Microbiology (MICM) course of Makerere University, which has been in existence for eight years.

The aim is to provide additional expert input to the lectures that the students attend locally, with seminars delivered by volunteer academics from the University of Cambridge, the Babraham Institute and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Professor Margaret Stanley, (Department of Pathology) is one of those experts. Her life’s work has focused on a virus which causes cancer and occurs in women predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Because it is a preventable cancer now, I am really quite passionate about doing anything that might help in the development of strategies to give vaccines, to give therapies, to reduce the incidence of this cancer. The opportunity to talk to students who are learning health-sciences and will be part of the infrastructure for health implementation in Uganda was one that I felt was important. I found the experience hugely rewarding.”

Dr Shona Wilson (Department of Pathology) also took part, discussing her work on the human immune response to a parasitic worm that is endemic within Sub-Saharan Africa. She said: “I really enjoyed taking part. It is very exciting to be able to interact with Africa students sitting in Africa while we sit in Cambridge, and to tell them about our work and get feedback on that.”

The seminars not only help students improve their knowledge, but also allow them to plan their next career move, improve skills and inform their choice of research topics say organisers.

Corinna Alberg, the Cambridge-Africa MUII/THRiVE Programmes Coordinator at Cambridge said: “This initiative is key for career development and the training of clinical microbiologists and immunologists who will help solve African problems with regards to health.”

Beatrice Nassanga, A MUII Fellow at Makerere University said: “The seminars have enabled students to further understand the concepts of immunology, microbiology and molecular biology as most presentations further elaborate on the topics that are taught in class.
“The video-linked nature has enabled students to seek more clarification from the presenter during the seminar.”

Further information:

MUII-Plus (https://www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/muii-plus-cambridge/) is an initiative which is part of the wider Cambridge Africa programme (https://www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk/)