This month, the Light team was in Lagos, Nigeria, working closely with bright young people, public health advocates, and researchers. We collaborated with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) to refine young people’s great ideas and bring real-world solutions that prevent and control cancer. At Light, we fostered community involvement and long-term cancer prevention strategies as we sought to establish a hub for equity and capacity building for early- and mid-career investigators. The stories of innovation, progress, and the journey from theory to practice keep us motivated and inspired. We hope you stay connected with us as we strive for a long-lasting impact in our local and global communities.

The five week Mega Innovation Bootcamp started on June 10 and ran through July 13 for the finalist teams from the 2024 Mega Designathon. The bootcamp started with a week of training on community readiness assessments before going directly into the field during the second week to practice what they had just learned. After spending time in the community, the teams spent  two weeks at NIMR for intensive experiential learning, collaborating with local and global leaders in their fields, and further refining their final pitches. 

The participants gained insight into the communities they plan to serve and skills that will guide and support all of their future work. They worked with multidisciplinary experts to learn more about how social determinants and components of identity impact health, strengthen their quantitative and qualitative research acumen, understand the importance of a strong foundation with trusted colleagues, and define infrastructure for budgeting, teamwork, and networking.

Storytelling, a fundamental component of Light Institute's programs helped participants connect more deeply as they heard and engaged with expert speakers, mentors, and facilitators and integrated their learnings in their final pitches.

The winning teams from each program are listed below. 

🏅 1st place - Team Shield

🥈 2nd place - Team Communishield

🥉 3rd place - Team Unboxed

🥇 1st - Team Hexa

🥈 2nd - Team Heromom

🥉 3rd - Team M-Child

🥇 1st - Team Goal-Getters

🥈 2nd - Team Infinity

🥉 3rd - Team Global Impact

🥇 1st - Team Timileyin

🥈🥈 2nd - TIE: Team Light and Team Freeman

🥉 3rd - Team Victor

The Change Challenge Bootcamp was held from July 8th to July 19th in Lagos, Nigeria as a collaborative effort of the program's PIs and their teams: Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Dr. Oliver Ezechi from NIMR, and Dr. Joseph Tucker from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

The two-week accelerated training program targeted early- and mid-career investigators, focused on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine uptake for cancer prevention through participatory implementation science strategies. During the Challenge, the participants developed strategies for how communities and community-based organizations in Nigeria can increase and sustain the uptake of vaccines for preventable cancers.

The mission of the Change Challenge and ongoing work aligns with the Nigerian National Cancer Control Plan, aiming to reduce cancer incidence and mortality by fostering community involvement and ensuring the long-term implementation of effective cancer prevention strategies. Through an emphasis on community participation, capacity-building, and the sustainability of effective cancer prevention strategies, we hope to create a lasting impact on public health.

The winners from the Change Challenge are listed below. 

🥇 1st - Team Game Changer

🥈 2nd - Team Abeokuta

🥉 3rd - Team DSD Onoco Vax

The US-Nigeria Cancer Control Center Launch was held on Tuesday, July 16th, the second day of the in-person Change Challenge Academy.  

In his opening speech, Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako, who was at the time the Director-General of NIMR, emphasized the newly established Cancer Center's mission to advance cancer research and foster innovation in cancer prevention and treatment. He elaborated on the Center’s commitment to groundbreaking research and collaboration with national and international partners to enhance cancer care and outcomes and underscored its importance in the national health landscape. He offered a motivational call to action for researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the community to unite in efforts to combat cancer and enhance the quality of life for cancer patients within Nigeria.

Members of the Light team at the WashU at the recent 2024 Infectious Diseases Annual Research Symposium

From left to right: Onyekachukwu Anikamadu, Emily Haglin, Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor, Chidi Okafor, Ekenechukwu Kokelu, Nkiruka Obodoechina, Dr. Temitope Ojo, Dr. Olufunto Olusanya

4 Communities By Communities

US-Nigeria Cancer Control Center for Research on Implementation Science and Equity (C3-RISE) Grant | U54 NIH/NCI #U54CA284110

The work of 4 Communities By Communities is focused on raising both awareness and vaccine uptake of two cancer-preventing vaccinations: the Human Papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and the Hepatitis B vaccine to prevent liver cancer.

4 Girls & Women

Actions for Collaborative Community Engaged Strategies for HPV (ACCESS-HPV) Grant | R01 NIH/NCI #R01CA271033

4 Girls & Women is driven by the shared belief that empowering the female population in Nigeria to learn about primary and secondary HPV prevention tactics will bring new voices and ideas to get us closer to a reality of widespread HPV vaccination for girls 9 - 14 years old and HPV screening for screen-eligible women to end cervical cancer. 

4 Youth By Youth

The work of 4 Youth By Youth is founded on the belief that young people have innovative and creative ideas for making their communities a healthier and safer place as they develop into adulthood. The two current 4YBY programs are focused on youth-friendly HIV self-testing and high blood pressure/stroke prevention.

Sustaining Innovative Tools to Expand Youth Friendly HIV Self-Testing (S-ITEST) Grant | UG1 NIH/NICHD #UG1HD113156

S-ITEST is a follow-up to the initial I-TEST program that started in 2018 to work with adolescents and young adults  to define, evaluate, and implement intervention strategies to address HIV through preventative behavior modifications and youth self-testing. Now almost six years later, the team has added goals to continue developing youth-inspired strategies to sustain the interventions developed and implemented to date and ensure the at-risk youth will remain uninfected with HIV, despite living in a LMIC with resource constraints.

Music4Health | Innovative Tools to Expand Music-Inspired Strategies for Blood Pressure and Stroke Prevention (I-TEST BP/STROKE) Grant | R01 NIH/NHLBI #1R01HL168766-01

Music4Health is addressing the substantial burden of hypertension and stroke in a way Nigerians know and love – through music. By inviting members of the community to share their lyrics, voices, and spirits, we provide them a platform to share their talents while raising awareness and educating the Nigerian public on heart health.

STAR

Stimulating Training and Access to Research Experiences for Minority and Underrepresented Populations (NIAID STAR) Grant | R25 NIH/NIAID #U01CA279863

STAR was developed in partnership with leaders at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgia State University, and Northeastern University to address the significant research to practice gap for HIV/AIDS by creating a path for the next generation of global majority implementation researchers.

COMING SOON: IREACH

Innovative Rapid Enabling, Affordable, point of care HPV self-testing strategy Grant | U01 NIH/NCI #U01CA279863

The IREACH program is currently developing a single-use self-testing kit for HPV screening to increase screening eligible women in Nigeria for HPV infections. Stay tuned for exciting updates!

LIGHT

Leaders Igniting Generational Healing & Transformation

After recognizing a crucial piece of conversations about public health – the public themselves – was missing, LIGHT was designed to bring the public together to join the conversation, or in other words: Leaders Igniting Generational Healing & Transformation. Through invitations to participate in poetry and writing workshops, submit creative work to ongoing contests, join mindfulness practices, and attend the annual LIGHT Festival, the public is put at the center of public health to ignite change in public health. 

To stay up to date with the Light team, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter using the button below and keep an eye out for our website and social media updates! To learn more about Light or if you have ideas for partnership, please write to us at lightinstitute@wustl.edu.

We can't wait to hear from you!  

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