Cambridge-Africa

Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund COVID-19 Emergency Awards

For 2 months from early April 2020, we operated a rolling emergency funding scheme to make awards, up to a maximum for each award of £20,000, to Cambridge and African researchers working together to address COVID-19 in Africa. We have exhausted our funds and the scheme is now closed to any further applications. Please contact alboradafund@cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk with any queries.

Funded projects 

1 Responding to COVID-19 in Somalia: interactive mass media, 1-to-1 messaging and rapid insights from citizen feedback Dr Sharath Srinivasan (POLIS) Dr George Gathigi (University of Nairobi) & Mr Samuel Kimeu (Africa's Voices) Somalia
2 Rapid response to the COVID-19 crisis using digital fabrication in Malawi Dr Lucia Corsini (Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering), Myamiko Nkoloma & Prof Kamija Phiri (University of Malawi) Malawi
3 Rapid response to crisis using digital fabrication in Ethiopia Dr Lucia Corsini (Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering) & Dr Tilahun (Bahir Dar University) Ethiopia
4 Scaling up COVID-19 testing through open science hardware and local manufacturing Dr Jenny Molloy (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) & Dr Kassahun Tesfaye (Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute) Ethiopia
5 The effects of COVID-19 on education in Ethiopia: Informing short- and medium-term policy responses Prof Pauline Rose (Education) & Prof Tassew Woldehanna (Addis Ababa University and Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute ) Ethiopia
6 Expansion of COVID-19 Diagnostic Capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo Prof Gordon Dougan (Medicine) & Dr Sheila Makiala (INRB) Democratic Republic of Congo
7 Expansion of COVID-19 Diagnostic Capacity in Madagascar Prof Gordon Dougan (Medicine) & Prof Raphaël Rakotozandrindrainy (University of Antananarivo) Madagascar 
8 SARS-CoV-2 Immune correlates of protection in Nigeria (SIP-NG) Prof Jonathan Heeney (Veterinary Medicine) & Dr Chinedu Ugwu (Redeemer's University) Nigeria
9 COVID-19 and the psychological wellbeing of frontline workers in Ghana Dr Justice Tankebe (Institute of Criminology) & Dr Samuel Adjorlolo (University of Ghana) Ghana
10 Design and implementation of a medical oxygen concentrator for resource limited settings Dr David Fairen-Jimenez (Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology) & Dr Richard Ayah (University of Nairobi) Kenya
11 Conspiracies, COVID-19 and Social Media in Africa: Navigating public information campaigns in a digital age Dr Stephanie Diepeveen (Department of Politics and International Studies) & Dr Iginio Gagliardone (University of the Witwatersrand) South Africa
12 COVID-19 Responses in Displaced Communities in Somalia Dr Freya Jephcott (Department of Veterinary Medicine), Dr Salome Bukachi (University of Nairobi) & Mr Samuel Kimeu (Africa's Voices Foundation) Somalia
13 Equity re-examined: Children with disabilities and their education during COVID-19 in Malawi Professor Nidhi Singal (Faculty of Education) & Dr Eric Umar (University of Malawi) Malawi
14  Sentiment and opinion analysis of public space physical activity in Lagos during lockdown: a data-driven approach to developing context-aware public health messaging to reduce disease vulnerability and improve COVID-19 control Dr Tolu Oni (MRC Epidemiology Unit), Dr Taibat Lawanson (Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos) &  Dr Camaren Peter (Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town)  Nigeria
15 Development of Serological Assays to study antibody responses in Ghanaian COVID-19 patients Professor Julian Rayner (CIMR) & Dr Peter Kojo Quashie (WACCBIP, University of Ghana) Ghana
16 Evaluation and feasibility study on the OVSI ventilator in ICU patients with acute respiratory failure in a low-income country setting: a prospective observational comparative study Professor Axel Zeitler (Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology) & Dr Arthur Kwizera (Makerere University) Uganda

 Terms and conditions, templates for the award letter and sub-contract may be found below: 

We gratefully acknowledge the continued generosity of the ALBORADA Trust and support from the University of Cambridge (Research England QR GCRF Grant)