Researchers at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have received an award of just more than €1m from the Irish Government’s programme of assistance to developing countries Irish Aid to lead an investigation into nutrition and HIV treatment through the creation of a Ugandan-Irish research collaboration called Nourish.
Nourish will involve a nutrition research cluster involving academics, clinicians and policy contributors from Ireland and Uganda. The cluster will be led by TCD. Partners will include Makerere University and the Infectious Diseases Institute at MU, Gulu University and the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Uganda. Supporting partners will include University College Dublin and King’s College London.
The aim of the research project will be to understand factors that affect the sustainability of treatment responses to HIV, TCD confirmed today.
The award was made under the Programme of Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and higher education and research institutes.
Apparently, TCD researchers with expertise in health sciences, natural sciences and economics will be designing and delivering interventions to determine the impact of environmental, health and economic factors on the experience and outcomes of Ugandans living with HIV or AIDS.
Principal investigator Dr Martina Hennessy from TCD’s School of Medicine spoke today about how the project will aim to achieve a greater understanding of the complex interactions between food security, HIV/AIDS and socio-economic factors, to impact intervention programmes at national level and benefit people living in Uganda.
She added that the training of existing and new academic and clinical staff in the Ugandan partner institutions will also happen as part of the programme.
Science lab image via Shutterstock
