From the Director’s Desk: Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor

It brings me great joy to welcome you to the first of many Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation newsletters that I hope would begin to stimulate joy and love for the work we do to bring the public back into public health. When I thought of what to say or write here to welcome you to this inaugural issue, the words of Toni Morrison came to mind, the idea of “dreaming” the world as it ought to be. Here at Light, we are dreamers, a group of people united with a task to co-create the health the public wants with unusual and vivid clarity, first for the public and of course, for impact. We are also open to serve you, as in the words of Shel Silverstein, "if you are a dreamer, come in.” This is an open invitation to come along this journey with us, to join us, as we continue to dream with clarity what the public, wants for their health, both locally and globally.

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.

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. 

Eight members of the WashU team traveled to Lagos, Nigeria last month for a first of its kind event – the NIH-funded Mega Designathon 2024. After receiving and reviewing over 1,000 applications from a recent open call crowdsourcing contest held across five of the Light Institute's grant funded projects, the top 10-15 applications were invited to advance to the Mega Designathon to continue developing their innovations and solutions to address leading public health issues in Nigeria: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake, Hepatitis B (HBV) birth-dose vaccine uptake, hypertension and stroke awareness, and sustaining HIV self-testing.

During the Mega Designathon, the participants spent two full days working with and learning from public health researchers, implementation scientists, and creative experts to further develop and refine their proposed solutions and interventions. After these two days of mentorship, each team pitched their refined ideas and music to a panel of esteemed judges in hopes of continuing their Mega journey. The judges scored and provided actionable feedback for each team and were then tasked with the difficult decision determining which teams would advance to the Mega Innovation Bootcamp. At the closing ceremony, 21 teams learned they were selected to move forward and invited to return to Lagos for the Bootcamp.

The NIH-funded projects dedicated to address these challenges and participating in this contest include 4 Communities By Communities (C3RISE), 4 Girls & Women (ACCESS), 4 Mothers & Babies (C3RISE), 4 Youth By Youth (S-ITEST), and Music 4 Health (I-TEST/BP STROKE). The preparation, implementation, and facilitation of Mega Designathon 2024 would not have been possible without our partnerships with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, PinPoint Media, Hip Hop Public Health, Omniverse, Wake Forest School of Medicine, and all of the other organizations and individuals who dedicated their time and experience to making this event a success.

The six-week hybrid NIH-funded STAR Bootcamp started on Monday, May 20 for the qualifying finalists from the February 2024 STAR Designathon and will run through the end of June. This cohort of STAR Scholars will spend the first five weeks of Bootcamp virtually refining and preparing their novel solutions to ultimately implement demonstration projects and interventions promoting HIV prevention and awareness strategies for global majority populations in the US before meeting in-person in St. Louis for the final week to conclude the program with a collaborative demonstration project at WashU to highlight National HIV Testing Day on Thursday, June 27.

Throughout the six weeks, each Scholar will gain experience and understanding of field research practices, effective crowdsourcing, influential grant writing, equity, successfully collaborating with community-based organizations, and developing in leadership, all led by  HIV and implementation science experts committed to training the next generation of HIV researchers and implementation scientists from WashU and our partners at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgia State University, and Northeastern University. 

The finalist teams from the NIH-funded Mega Designathon 2024 will be returning to Lagos for the Mega Innovation Bootcamp, a month-long immersive experience to continue developing their interventions, working alongside experts and leaders across the field with a passion to work with the next generation of public health innovators, researchers, and change-makers. The extended time together will provide opportunities for first-hand experience in field research methods and community engagement strategies and help prepare each team for their final pitch in hopes for the opportunity to pilot implement their solutions. Please watch for updates from Lagos on social media throughout the Innovation Bootcamp and a feature in the July edition introducing you to each of the winners and their solutions!   

The LIGHT (Leaders Igniting Generational Healing and Transformation) team is busy preparing for the 3rd annual LIGHT Festival coming up on June 21 and 22. This virtual event is open to everyone across the world interested in participating in conversations bridging the gap between public health and creative expressions. By bringing artists, authors, story tellers, healthy lifestyle and wellness guides and practitioners, and public health researchers, the LIGHT Festival creates an environment for everyone to feel welcome, a sense of belonging, and included in the stories we tell moving forward. If you are interested in learning more, please visit the LIGHT website here for more information or contact LIGHT Research Coordinator, Alexis Engelhart, at alexise@wustl.edu.  If you are interested and able to join, or know someone else who may also be interested, please register here and share with your networks.

Additionally, if you are learning more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Alexis (alexise@wustl.edu) to discuss the options. There are six different sponsorship packages to choose from and each includes ways to partner with LIGHT now and in the future.

Light is excited to announce the launch the US - Nigeria Cancer Control Center in Lagos, Nigeria, on July 15, 2024. This celebratory event will be followed by the Center's inaugural training program held July 15 - 21, 2024 for early career leaders in vaccine-preventable cancers to continue building research capacity for dissemination and implementation science in cancer research in Nigeria. 

After responding to open call contest asking how communities and community-based organizations can increase and sustain uptake of vaccines for preventable cancers in Nigeria, finalist teams made up of 4-5 early career researchers will be coming together for the Change Academy in July. This event will provide the participants opportunities to network with others interested in similar work, learn from experts in the field, and receive coaching support as they work to finalize their proof-of-concept interventions to minimize vaccine-preventable cancer diagnoses.  

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

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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