The academic programmes of CAIHR continued with necessary adjustments to teaching and examination resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Online delivery of the MSc Nutrition was offered for the first time in the 2020/2021 academic year.
Three students completed the new online postgraduate Diploma in Health Research and Epidemiology (designed for students who are not able to commit to full-time study) and two elected to transfer their credits and pursue the MSc Epidemiology degree.
CAIHR contributed to the development of the Inaugural Vital Strategies Healthy Food Policy Fellowship programme for the Caribbean, designed to build the region’s capacity to design, conduct, analyse and present research related to healthy food policy. The August 2020 (first) fellowship recipient was Ms. Stephanie Whiteman, CAIHR-GA-CDRC (Barbados), a PhD Epidemiology candidate at The UWI Cave Hill Campus.
CAIHR continues to identify and obtain external grant funding to support our research strategy from several international agencies and donors. These funds are essential to maintain research productivity and excellence in areas vital to regional health and are particularly critical at a time when there is a freeze on many of CAIHR’s UGC posts. Key initiatives are highlighted below.
CAIHR researchers designed a capacity building workshop to equip senior level persons to adapt and implement the Reach Up programme and conduct training of staff in their countries. A regional workshop for six countries in sub-Saharan Africa was held in Nairobi Kenya. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop was adapted to be delivered online while maintaining the highly interactive nature of the training. The first virtual workshop was held from June 28 to July 9, 2021, with participants from five organisations across eight countries, including Argentina (Hospital Alemán and EDUPAS), Haiti (Université Quisqueya), the International Rescue Committee and World Vision International. This work was supported by the Open Society Foundation and the LEGO Foundation.
With limited resources for tertiary level care and no evidence-based treatments or effective vaccines at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caribbean governments employed a range of public health measures to control the spread of the virus (curfews, no movement days and travel restrictions, limiting public gatherings, closure of restaurants) many of which interfered with daily routines and food systems. These control measure may have had both beneficial and detrimental effects on NCD risk factors and metabolic health. The Caribbean's high NCD burden and heterogeneity in the implementation of COVID-19 control measures provided a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of specific policies on NCD health practices and explore differential effects by gender, urban/rural residence and socioeconomic status.
CAIHR obtained a grant from the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) to conduct a study to determine the impact of COVID-19 control measures and policies on metabolic and physical health of persons with NCDs in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. The study used routinely available laboratory and anthropometric data as well as administration of a telephone survey to persons attending tertiary health care centres in each island. These findings can guide policy development to limit adverse effects in persons at risk of or living with NCDs while containing future COVID-19 outbreaks or other natural disasters.
In September 2020 The UWI received its largest prime award from the United States National Institutes of Health in the amount of US$6 million for the CATCH study. This six-year study, conducted in collaboration with Tulane University, USA and The University of Santander, Columbia, will plan and implement a team-based approach to hypertension care in Jamaica and Columbia. A cluster randomised trial will be conducted in 40 health centres in Jamaica and Columbia followed by a scale up of the intervention to address issues of blood pressure control.
Members of CAIHR contributed to the Jamaica Ministry of Health and Wellness COVID-19 Task Force and have maintained and extended surveillance systems for COVID-19 in the region. Professor Trevor Ferguson was appointed Chair of the Jamaica Ministry of Health and Wellness NCD Committee in March 2021. The NCD Committee will guide multi-sectoral action, with a goal towards advocating and recommending policies and programmes for the prevention and control of NCDs. Several members of CAIHR are part of this committee, contributing their expertise in nutrition, policy and research.
In partnership with the MOHW Family Health Unit, the Child Development Research Group developed a remote delivery approach for the Ministry’s Early Stimulation programme, allowing this vital support for parents and young children to continue.
Professor Knight-Madden co-chaired the Jamaica MOHW Sickle Cell Technical Working Group to improve the quality of sickle cell disease care island-wide. In addition to providing clinical care for persons with sickle cell disease, the CAIRH-SCU partnered with the Jamaica MOHW to conduct online training programmes to increase clinicians’ capacity for managing this condition. In 2021, private maternity hospitals in Jamaica joined the Sickle Cell Disease newborn screening program, making this service available through ALL maternity hospitals.
The Irie Homes Toolbox is an early childhood violence prevention parenting programme that aims to reduce harsh punishment by parents at home, increase positive parenting practices, and decrease child behaviour problems. In response to the increased need for parental support due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a 10-week virtual version of the programme was created including videos of parents and children at home, text messages, weekly virtual group parenting sessions, a weekly ‘Irie Challenge’ and session summaries sent via WhatsApp. The programme is delivered by ECC officers with training and support provided by the Irie Toolbox Team at CAIHR. This work was a partnership with the World Bank, and the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), Jamaica.
As part of The UWI-University of Glasgow Nutrition Collaboration, Dr. Kwesi Marshall and Dr. Debbie Thompson, (MSc and MPhil/PhD Nutrition Co-ordinators) and colleagues from the University of Glasgow organised an online Mini-Academic Exchange on June 9, 2021. The meeting featured six nutrition-themed presentations from current PhD students, three from the University of Glasgow and three from The UWI. Other opportunities for academic exchange will be identified that can help improve student access to a wider range of nutrition expertise and research opportunities.
This initiative emerged out of conversations held between CAIHR and leaders of the largest African-Caribbean Churches in the United Kingdom, who were desirous of forging an alliance with The UWI to stage a signature Diaspora Education and Empowerment initiative based on the University’s body of research and scholarship. Regional and international strategic partnerships are a critical component of CAIHR’s strategic plan and this collaboration with the UK Diaspora Churches offers a unique opportunity to extend UWI and CAIHR research activities and other interventions to the Caribbean and Black diaspora residing in the UK.
CAIHR partnered with the Office of Global Affairs to stage two symposia during the 2020/2021 academic year. Noteworthy keynote speakers included Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, The UWI; Professor Kevin Fenton, Regional Director, Public Health and NHS, PHE London; and Professor Marshall Tulloch-Reid, Professor of Epidemiology and Endocrinology and Director, CAIHR. Cherie-Ann Small, Senior Manager, CAIHR, co-chairs the planning committee and serves as liaison between The UWI and the Churches.
Links to the symposia are presented below.
History, Heritage and Identity Symposium: Keynote by Professor Hilary Beckles, delivered online on UWItv November 12, 2020. http://jeremiahglobal.org/impact/history-heritage-identity/
Overcoming the Burden of Disease Symposium: Keynotes by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and Professor Kevin Fenton. This second instalment built on CAIHR’s formidable body of research on Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition Intervention, delivered online on April 22, 2021 http://jeremiahglobal.org/impact/overcoming-the-burden-of-disease/
Training community health aides to administer early childhood stimulation programme in Jamaica in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness Family Health Unit
Parents using the IRIE homes workbook with their child
Collage of key presenters at the History Heritage and Identity Symposia
Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR)
Tropical Metabolism Research Unit (TMRU)
Epidemiology Research Unit (ERU)
Sickle Cell Unit (SCU)
George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA-CDRC)
Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD)
Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW)
National Health Service (NHS)
Public Health England (PHE)
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