Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT)
Research Focus:
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT)
Past Projects:
- Effect of a congregation-based intervention on uptake of HIV testing and linkage to care in pregnant women in Nigeria (Baby Shower): a cluster randomized trial. Ezeanolue EE et al. 2015; Lancet Glob Health; doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(15)00195-3.
- Why are Children Still Being Infected with HIV? Impact of an Integrated Public Health and Clinical Practice Intervention on Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in Las Vegas, Nevada, 2007-2012. Ezeanolue EE et al. 2015; Ann Med Health Sci Res; 253-259. doi: 10.4103/2141-9248.160189.
- Linkage to Care, Early Infant Diagnosis, and Perinatal Transmission Among Infants Born to HIV-Infected Nigerian Mothers: Evidence From the Healthy Beginning Initiative. Pharr JR et al. 2016; J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000001051.
Current Projects:
Missed opportunities in preventing perinatal transmission of HIV
Future Directions:
Male partner linkage to care and viral suppression in PMTCT
Child and Adolescent HIV Care
Research Focus:
Child and Adolescent HIV care
Past Projects:
Current Projects:
Multi-site description of clinical outcomes of children and adolescents receiving ART in Nigeria
Future Directions:
Intersection of adolescent HIV and non-communicable diseases
Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Infection
Research Focus:
Epidemiology of Hepatitis B infection
Past Projects:
- Talla C, Itanyi IU, Tsuyuki K, Stadnick N, Ogidi AG, Olakunde BO, Patel D, Oko JO, Aarons G, Onoka CA, Ezeanolue EE. Hepatitis B infection and risk factors among pregnant women and their male partners in the Baby Shower Programme in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study. Trop Med Int Health. 2021 Mar;26(3):316-326. doi: 10.1111/tmi.13531. Epub 2020 Dec 10. PMID: 33247862; PMCID: PMC7925376.
- Adeyemi OA, Itanyi IU, Ozigbu CE, Stadnick N, Tsuyuki K, Olayiwola O, Ogidi AG, Eze C, Aarons GA, Onoka CA, Ezeanolue EE. Sero-prevalence and determinants of Hepatitis B among a cohort of HIV-infected women of reproductive age in Nigeria. PLoS One. 2020 Sep 17;15(9):e0236456. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236456. PMID: 32941424; PMCID: PMC7498243.
Current Projects:
- Establishment of 12 sentinel sites (six health facilities and six community sites) across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria to assess the impact of Hepatitis B vaccination program on the epidemiology of Hepatitis B infection in women and children.
Future Directions:
Intervention to improve coverage of Hepatitis B vaccination
Screening and Early Detection of Sickle Cell Disease
Research Focus:
Screening and early detection of sickle cell disease
Past Projects:
- Knowledge and awareness of personal sickle cell genotype among parents of children with sickle cell disease in southeast Nigeria Ezenwosu OU et al. 2015; J Community Genet; doi: 10.1007/s12687-015-0225-5)
- Prevalence of sickle cell trait and reliability of self-reported status among expectant parents in Nigeria: Implications for targeted newborn screening Burnham-Marusich AR et al. 2016; Public Health Genomics; doi: 10.1159/000448914)
- Knowledge and awareness of individual sickle cell genotype among adolescents in unity school in southeast Nigeria Ezenwosu OU et al. 2020. Int J Adolesc Med Health; doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2019-0149)
- Ezenwosu OU, Itanyi IU, Nnodu OE, Ogidi AG, Mgbeahurike F, Ezeanolue EE. Community based screening for sickle haemoglobin among pregnant women in Benue State, Nigeria: I-Care-to-Know, a Healthy Beginning Initiative. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021 Jul 8;21(1):498. doi: 10.1186/s12884-021-03974-4. PMID: 34238241; PMCID: PMC8268197.
Current Project:
Intervention to establish and increase uptake and sustainability of newborn screening for sickle cell disease
Future Directions:
Targeted newborn screening for sickle cell disease in LMICs
Uptake of Modern Contraceptive Methods
Research Focus:
Uptake of modern contraceptive methods
Past Projects:
- Impact of male partner’s awareness and support for contraceptives on female intent to use contraceptives in southeast Nigeria. (Ezeanolue et al. 2015; BMC Public Health; doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2216-1.)
- Uptake of permanent contraception among women in sub-Saharan Africa: a literature review of barriers and facilitators. (Olakunde et al. 2019. Contraception; doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2018.12.007)
- Intention to use female permanent contraception among married women and male partners’ support in Benue State, Nigeria. (Olakunde et al. 2022. Pan Afr Med J [under review])
Current Projects:
- Prevalence, impact, and root causes of unintended pregnancies among WLHIV
Future Directions:
- Intervention to improve informed and voluntary use of tubal ligation among women in LMICs who desire permanent contraception
- Acceptability, implementation and evaluation of self-injectable contraception in Nigeria
Epidemiology of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Diseases
Research Focus:
- Epidemiology of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases
Past Projects:
Current Project:
- Cardiovascular risk factors among HIV-infected women
Future Directions:
- Interventions for secondary prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases
- Integrating NCD services into primary health care in LMICs
- Integrating NCD services with existing HIV programs in LMICs
- Intervention to reduce chronic diabetes following gestational diabetes
Mental Health in Low-Resource Settings
Research Focus:
- Mental health in low-resource settings
Past Projects:
- Integrating mental health screening into routine community maternal and child health activity: experience from Prevention of Mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) trial in Nigeria (Iheanacho T et al. 2015; Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol; doi: 10.1007/s00127-014-0952-7.)
- Attitudes and beliefs about mental illness among church-based lay health workers: experience from a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission trial in Nigeria (Iheanacho T et al. 2016; Int J Cult Ment Health; doi: 10.1080/17542863.2015.1074260.)
- Ezeanolue EE, Iheanacho T, Adedeji IA, Itanyi IU, Olakunde B, Patel D, et al; Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance. Opportunities and challenges to integrating mental health into HIV programs in a low- and middle-income country: insights from the Nigeria implementation science Alliance. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020 Sep 29;20(1):904. doi: 10.1186/s12913-020-05750-0. PMID: 32993621; PMCID: PMC7526407.
- Iheanacho T, Nduanya UC, Slinkard S, Ogidi AG, Patel D, Itanyi IU, Naeem F, Spiegelman D, Ezeanolue EE. Utilizing a church-based platform for mental health interventions: exploring the role of the clergy and the treatment preference of women with depression. Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2021 Feb 19;8:e5. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2021.4. PMID: 34026236; PMCID: PMC8127631.
Current Project:
- Feasibility and development of curricula to train priests on cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for perinatal depression
Future Directions:
- Impact of training of priests on mental health screening and treatment
mHealth I: Low-Cost mHealth Interventions For Improved Health Outcomes in Low-Resource Settings
Research Focus:
- Low-cost mhealth interventions for improved health outcomes in low-resource settings
Past Projects:
- An mHealth Framework to Improve Birth Outcomes in Benue State, Nigeria: A Study Protocol. Ezeanolue EE et al. 2017; JMIR Res Protoc; doi: 10.2196/resprot.7743.
- A Patient-Held Smartcard With a Unique Identifier and an mHealth Platform to Improve the Availability of Prenatal Test Results in Rural Nigeria: Demonstration Study. Gbadamosi S et al. 2018; J Med Internet Res; doi: 10.2196/jmir.8716.
Current Project:
- Use of mhealth for birth registration of newborns
Future Directions:
- Use of mhealth for HIV retention in care in LMICs
- Use of mhealth for enhanced patient management and improved patient outcomes especially in NCD care
mHealth II: Digital Technologies and Quality of Health Services
Research Focus:
- Digital technologies and quality of health services
Past Projects:
- Diagnostic and clinical decision support systems for quality maternal care in low-resource settings.
- Abejirinde et al 2019. J Glob Health doi: 10.7189/jogh.09.010420
- Abejirinde et al 2018. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1853-7
- Abejirinde et al 2018. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth doi: 10.2196/11468.
Current Projects:
Future Directions:
- Investigating and overcoming barriers to sustainability and scale-up of digital health innovations in LMICs
Adolescent and Adult Tobacco Use
Research Focus:
- Adolescent and adult tobacco use
Past Projects:
- Disparities in tobacco use by adolescents in southeast, Nigeria using Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) approach (Itanyi IU etal 2018; BMC Public Health; doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5231-1.)
- Predictors of current tobacco smoking by adolescents in Nigeria: Interaction between school location and socioeconomic status (Itanyi IU etal 2020; Tob Induc Dis.; doi: 10.18332/tid/117959.)
Current Project:
- Determinants of tobacco use disparities in Nigeria
Future Directions:
- Interventions to prevent initiation of tobacco use by adolescents
- Smoking cessation interventions
- Tobacco use and HIV
Research Capacity building for investigators in LMICs
Research Focus:
- Research Capacity building for investigators in LMICs
Past Projects:
- Building Sustainable Local Capacity for Global Health Research in West Africa. (Sam-Agudu NA et al. 2016; Ann Glob Health; doi: 10.1016/j.aogh.2016.10.011.)
- Gaps and strategies in developing health research capacity: experience from the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance (Ezeanolue EE et al. 2018; Health Res Policy Syst; doi: 10.1186/s12961-018-0289-x.)
- Challenges and Strategies for Improving Training of Mid-Level Research Personnel in Nigeria (Ezeanolue EE et al. 2019; Ann Glob Health; doi: 10.5334/aogh.2405.)
Current Project:
- Strengthening research administration infrastructure for HIV in Nigeria
Future Directions:
- Strengthening research capacity to conduct HIV and NCD research in LMICs
Proposal Development
- How to Identify an interesting research area
- How to develop a research question
- How to identify and evaluate a grant funding opportunity
- 12 step approach to proposal development
Implementation Science
- Fundamentals of Implementation Science
- Implementation Science Conceptual Frameworks
- Implementation Science Models
- Research Designs for Implementation Science Studies