Faculty and Student Research

The Africa Institute is home to faculty members and students from across various faculties, departments, and disciplines across campus. Below you can see brief research highlight videos from a few of our faculty members and students, and the research being done by them here at Western.

Faculty Research & Program Highlights

Dr. Lessley Gittings

I am a community-engaged health equity researcher with an interest in the social and structural factors that shape health across the life course. My research focuses on: (1) social and environmental determinants of HIV and sexual and reproductive health; and (2) participatory and art-based approaches for youth empowerment and well-being. My programme of research in South Africa focuses of the role of community health workers in responding to emergencies and disasters (South Africa Country Partner: Kheth'Impilo), empowering and supporting frontline providers in the paediatric-adolescent HIV response (regional partner: Paediatric-Adolescent Treatment Africa) and the health and well-being of young people living with HIV (in collaboration with the Adolescent Accelerators Hub, University of Cape Town). I supervise one Master's and one Doctoral student at the University of Cape Town.

Dr. Andrew Walsh (Anthropology)

I have been doing research and working with students and colleagues in Madagascar since 1992. Since 2007, this has involved ongoing work with students and colleagues at l’Université d’Antsiranana, in northern Madagascar. A Malagasy colleague and I recently published a brief article outline some of this work. You can find that here: https://cas-sca.ca/en/culture-archive/a-collaboration-continues-connecting-canadian-and-malagasy-students-since-2007/

Dr. Katherine McKenna

I do research on East Africa, mainly Tanzania, I supervise a PhD student in GSWS, Michael Osei, whose thesis is on " From Suffering to Sustainability: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Conflict, Climate
Change, and Women's Resilience in Bawku, Ghana."

Dr. Eric Arts (Microbiology & Immunology)

Research Interests: Virology; HIV; Drug Resistance; Evolution; Pathogenesis

Dr. Francisco Olea-Popelka (Pathology & Labratory Medicine)

I collaborate as a research & scientific advisor and project coordinator with colleagues and community members on different projects on tuberculosis in wildlife species and livestock and on zoonotic tuberculosis in livestock and humans.

Dr. Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala

Dietary Intervention to Mitigate Air Pollution Health Effects (DIMAP), Grand Challenges Canada (GCC). USD $150,000 with Kofi Amegah (University of Cape Coast Cape Coast, Ghana), Saverio Stranges (University of Western Ontario, Canada) 2024-2025.

Building an Innovative Forage Production System to Improve the Sustainability of Goat Husbandry in Tropical and Temperate Climates, Western University - Western Interdisciplinary Development Initiatives. CAD$200,000 with Raymond Thomas et al. (PI) 2024-2026.

Bayesian Spatio-temporal modelling to support early warning systems on the impact of climate change on the burden of malaria, Grand Challenges Canada and South Medical Research Council. $150,000Kandala N-B (PI), Luginaah I (Co-PI), Western University, 2024-2026.

The Consortium of Sub-Saharan Africa Advanced Training Programme for Leadership and Excellence in Biostatistics (SSACAB). Wellcome Trust –DELTAS Initiative. USD $4 Million. Kandala N-B with T. Chirwa (PI: University of the Witwatersrand), J. Todd (PI:London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), H. Mwambi (PI: University of Kwazulu Natal). 2022-2026.

Dr. Abiodun Abiodun

My research explores how multinational health enterprises operate in new markets and their role in accelerating access to health technologies in the face of regulatory complexity. This research stream builds on my work as a physician and health economist with experience in health service delivery, supply chain reforms, and health market analyses across multiple African countries.

Candis Mcllnes & Violetta Gallagher

Co-sponsoring “The African Case Study Conference 2025” hosted by Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) – University of Pretoria. The date is September 10 &11^th. 2025. This is the second year of the conference with faculty attending from multiple business schools in South Africa and other countries across the continent.

Dr. Elie Chrysostome, PhD

The Training for Case Teaching Method is a program aimed at training professors from African universities on the Case Teaching Method. This initiative is part of the 39 Country Initiative established by Prof. Paul Beamish at Ivey Business School in 2010. Previous training sessions were held in Benin in 2017, Senegal and Ivory Coast in 2019, and the next session is scheduled to take place in Benin in June or July 2025. In addition to training, efforts are being made to develop case studies with a focus on Africa. One such case, centered on the gold industry, has been written and is currently undergoing publication through Ivey Publishing. Several other case writing projects focusing on Africa are also in progress.

Dr. Jessica Prodger (Microbiology & Immunology)

I have several collaborators in Uganda: Rakai Health Sciences Program, UVRI-IAVI (Uganda Virus Research Institute – International AIDS Vaccine Initiative), Infectious Disease Institute (at Makerere University)

Dr. Joshua Pearce (PhD & FCAE)

Research in:

Open-Source Light Therapy Box Calibration System
Design and Development Of Affordable Solar Electrical and Power Supply Systems for Portable Oxygen Concentrator to Integrate with Ambulances and Low Power Settings Facilities
Open-source Surgical Fracture Table

Dr. Mamadou Diop, PhD

I am currently collaborating with researchers in department of Physics and at Ecole Superieur Polytechnique at Universite Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal. I am also advising two PhD students at the same university. Last summer I gave several lectures at Multimedia University (Nairobi, Kenya) and have plans to collaborate with researchers at the National Institute of Optics Laboratory (NIOL) of the same university.

Dr. Aaron Fenster, PhD, FCCPM

A 3D ultrasound imaging system is being used in Uganda, Mbarara to image the brains of premature babies who are suffering from post hemorrhagic ventricle dilatation. This is in collaboration with Boston Children Hospital working on an NIH funded trial.

Dr. Yolanda Hedberg, PhD

I am mentoring a scholar, Dr. Sarah Uleato, from Nigeria (Rhema University) and currently in Germany, in terms of career development. She was also successful in obtaining a grant to visit our annual meeting in the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute at Queen’s University, Kingston.

I am collaborating with Prof. Emeka Oguzie both in my NSERC CREATE program CORRECT and in a grant funded by the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute, for which I am one of the co-PIs. This research focuses on smart coatings to protect metals from corrosion. The new grant funded by Carbon to Metal Coating Institute also includes HQP at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.

Jessica Karuhanga MFA

My research and art practice focus on Black diasporic concerns. I am researching the repatriation of colonial objects back to Africa and developing a sculpture installation inspired by bass drums from Uganda, where my family is based.

Dr. Yolanda Babenko-Mould, RN, PhD

I coordinate annual nursing student study abroad elective course experience where students gain global health and pediatric nursing clinical experience at a public hospital in Rwanda. I’m also the coordinator of international partnerships – exploring and supporting the development of partnerships with the School of Nursing and international institutions – currently engaging in discussions with the Aga Khan University – East Africa Campuses; Universidade Federal Da Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; 2 Schools of Nursing in Ukraine. I also collaborate with partners at the University of Rwanda in relation to doctoral supervision and committee membership at the UR and at Western.

Dr. Saverio Stranges, MD, PhD, FAHA

Collaborating on Public Health and Epidemiological Projects at Schulich, Health Sciences, LHSC, Social Science and Engineering. Co-Director of the Western Center for Climate Change, Sustainable Livelihoods and Health (WeCLISH)

Dr. Obidimma Ezezika, PhD

His research lies at the nexus of global health and implementation science and examines how to scale evidence-based innovations to meet marginalized communities’ health needs locally and globally

Dr. Melanie Katsivo

Collaborating on projects across disciplines, that require incorporation of EDI and Social Determinants components. The Africa Institute co-created and manages the Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholars Project for West Africa, where 14 West African and 3 Western PhD and Early Career scholars will have visited Western and partner universities in West Africa for short-term research visits, between 2022 – 2025. The Africa Institute co-created and manages an undergraduate- focused experiential learning project, where students are placed in healthcare settings in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Senegal, for periods of 5 weeks, during summer. They also take the EDIDI for the Healthcare Workforce online course, developed by the Africa Institute. In Collaboration with International Learning at Western International and the African Partners, The Africa Institute recruits African candidates for participation in Government-funded short study visits at Western.

Dr. Isaac Luginaah

My broad area of research interest includes environment and health, population health and GIS applications in health.

Dr. Godwin Arku, PhD

Regional and local economic development policy and planning; Urban development and policy analysis; Immigrants Integration; Development issues.

Dr. Glorieuse Uwizeye, PhD

Research interests: Interdisciplinary research program expands the current understanding of intergenerational health effects of exposure to socio-political and racial violence.

Dr. Egide Kalisa, PhD

My research focuses on individuals’ exposure to air pollutants in indoor and outdoor environments, understanding how much pollution people breathe, and how to reduce those exposures.

Dr. Paul Beamish, PhD

My active engagement in supporting African scholarship and education takes two primary forms. On a personal level, I co-supervise two African PhD students, have five Africa-focused journal articles under review, and am finalizing several Africa-focused teaching cases. More broadly, my larger involvement is through the 39 Country Initiative, which grants free access to over 8,000 Ivey Publishing copyrighted cases to universities in the world’s poorest countries—those with a per capita GNP below USD 2,000. Of the 46 eligible countries, 37 are in Africa. In addition to providing these materials at no cost, we organize in-person case teaching workshops annually in 10 to 12 countries. An experienced case teacher travels to a selected city in each country, conducting two to four half-day workshops at different universities, fully funded by the initiative. This effort enhances case-based teaching capacity and broadens access to high-quality educational resources for faculty and students in under-resourced regions.

Dr. Elysée Nouvet, PhD

I am a member of the WHO Technical Working Group on interim guidance for social and behavioral research for mpox. In this role, I attended a meeting in Kinshasa in November and will remotely engage in the upcoming meeting in Brazzaville due to my teaching commitments. Our work focuses on supporting research for impact in the current emergency. Additionally, my application for a project in collaboration with partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been funded for this year. This project involves train-the-trainer workshops with HIV survivor organizations, educating them on their rights as research participants. Between January and September 2025, we will develop and deliver two workshops in DRC to build the capacity of community leaders in research participants’ rights and in using the Participants’ Research Ethics Toolbox (PRET), which was designed for limited literacy adults after the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak. Those who complete the training will be equipped to lead similar workshops in their communities. We will also conduct virtual dissemination activities, including webinars in collaboration with WHO, to introduce research leaders and teams to the open-access, multi-lingual PRET and its alignment with CDC Africa/WHO Mpox response principles. Additionally, I am co-investigator and leading empirical work in a five-year Wellcome Trust-funded project on solidarity in global health, based at the University of Ghana. I also regularly partner with the National Health Research Ethics Committee in Guinea, and in March, we co-organized a regional workshop on solidarity in collaboration with Western University and the Solidarity Project.

Research & Scholarship