MMUST Leads Fight Against AMR with £2.8 Million International Research Grant

In a significant boost for research at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Professors William Shivoga, Francis Orata and Dr. Anthony Sifuna have secured a major grant of £2,831,047.93 (Ksh 489,517,630). This funding, awarded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under the Global Health Research Groups Call 5, aims to tackle the growing threat of environmental Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR). The project titled ‘Africa AMR-STOP: Strategies for Tackling, Optimizing, and Preventing Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance in East and Southern Africa’, involves 20 researchers led by Dr. Jian Zhou and Prof. Shivoga as Joint Co-Lead Applicants, with Manchester Metropolitan University (UK); University of Pretoria (SA); Busitema University, Makerere University, St Mary’s Hospitals (Uganda); MMUST, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital, and KIWASCO (Kenya) as implementing partners. Members of the UK – Africa consortium at an earlier AMR event. The big idea behind the Africa AMR-STOP Project was co-developed by the three researchers (Prof. Shivoga, Prof. Orata and Dr. Sifuna) together with their local and international collaborators in 2023. Earlier MMUST had awarded the team some seed money of Kshs. 1,000,000, which they used to generate the idea and preliminary data that later gave birth to this mega project. The three researchers clearly had the right mix of expertise to guarantee them this award. Prof. William Shivoga’s speciality is Aquatic Ecology while Prof. Francis Orata and Dr. Anthony Sifuna are Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry; and Molecular Microbiology respectively. The Africa AMR-STOP Project comprises of six work packages, namely, surveillance of ARGs and antibiotics; innovation- eco-hydro wetlands; community involvement and engagement; establishment of information and data exchange to establish a database; capacity building involving training at PhD level, Professionals in health and pharmacists; and economic evaluation. From left, Prof. William Shivoga, Dr. Joseph Owino and Dr. Anthony Sifuna at a past AMR research event. The project will recruit and train 2 post-doctoral and 6 PhD students, from the region as early career researchers. These early career researchers stand to benefit immensely, from the larger UK-Africa Consortium made up of interdisciplinary experts in the fields of: Mathematical Models/Numerical Methods, Aquatic/Microbial Ecology, Global Health, Molecular Microbiology, Computer Science, Health Economics, Anthropology, Medical Microbiology, Environmental Chemistry, Clinical Pharmacy, Clinical Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Public Health, Medicine, Health Policy and Civil Engineering. Speaking to the Directorate of Corporate Communications and Marketing (DCCM) crew, the project Co- Lead, Prof. Shivoga pointed out that AMR is an urgent public health problem with a serious threat to human, animal and environmental health, and that it is particularly severe in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). “We are conducting this research to tackle the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) that has been spreading in the Lake Victoria Basin. AMR is caused by misuse of antimicrobials and our aim is to design approaches that can remove or reduce Antibiotic Residues and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes (ARGs) from the waste water treatment plants. This will ensure that our water bodies are not contaminated, and guarantee safe water for human consumption and use,” said Prof. Shivoga. The Project Co-Lead Applicant, Prof. William Shivoga. Commenting on the magnitude of the project, Prof. Orata who is also the Director of Research and Postgraduate Support at MMUST, revealed that the funding of this project which stretches from 1st February 2026 to 31st December 2030, will enable the equipping of a fully-fledged micro-biology and molecular laboratory. “With this specialized laboratory, we will monitor and conduct surveillance of AMR genes and antibiotic residues in Lake Victoria basin. We will source the samples from Uganda, South Africa and Lake Victoria (Kenya) and analyze them here at MMUST,” explained Prof. Orata. The Director of Research and Postgraduate Support, Prof. Francis Orata. On his part, Dr. Anthony Sifuna, noted that the project’s One-Health approach is important as it involves stakeholders, and will re-engineer how LMICs tackle the AMR challenge in our region. “Our research project will engage communities in co-designing approaches to reduce and slow down the spread of AMR, restore sustainable access to clean and safe water, and reduce the impact of infectious diseases on humans, animals and plants,” stated Dr. Sifuna, who is also the Dean School of Medicine at MMUST. The Dean School of Medicine, Dr. Anthony Sifuna. This is one of the largest funding awards that researchers at MMUST have attained in a long time. Through this funding, Prof. Shivoga, Prof. Orata and Dr. Sifuna have effectively shattered the previous myths touted regarding the true capacity of researchers in Africa. The project demonstrates that support to researchers through seed money from their universities can catapult scholars from Africa into winning the real big money!!! By Dr. Lydia Anyonje and Caren Nekesa