By Winston Mbanda

KEMRI/CDC’s Dr. Videlis Nduba, Nancy Otieno, Rachel Ochola and Elizabeth Matey won top awards during this year’s KEMRI Annual Scientific and Health (KASH) conference which was held in Nairobi between 7^th and 10^th February. Dr. Nduba, a Principal Investigator in TB branch, won an award in the Established Scientists category while Nancy Otieno won in the Young Scientists category. Elizabeth Matey, Study Coordinator in the NTD branch, emerged the winner in the Best Oral Presentation by Young Scientist category. The awards were based on oral presentations made by the participants.

In its second year, the KASH conference attracted scientists from Kenya and around the world as they shared both oral and poster presentations of their scientific research activities. Scientists from pioneer research institute KEMRI/CDC as was expected had their stars shining high up above the rest as they scooped four prestigious awards.

Nancy presented an abstract on the Socio-Economic, Demographic and   Geographical    determinants of Seasonal Influenza Vaccine uptake in rural Kenya. The paper gave very insightful information and results about the Influenza vaccine uptake in Nyanza, which is the main study area of the Influenza program.

Dr. Nduba’s oral presentation was on Calculating the Annual Risk of Infection with Mycobacterium TB among Adolescents. It highlighted the possibility of an adolescent getting infected in a period of one year. Elizabeth presented an abstract on Geospatial Distribution of Schistosoma   mansomi and other Soil Transmitted Worm Infections along Shores of Lake    Victoria in Western Kenya-the SCORE project.

Dr. Nduba said, “I was pleasantly surprised! My presentation was a ten minute one and I made it without any awards or rewards at the back of mind.”  Similar sentiments were made by Nancy who said, “It caught me by surprise. I’m usually thorough and I give my work the best shot, I did the same with my presentation for KASH but the last thing that was on my mind was getting an award. But I’m glad my midnight oil was not burnt in vain, it’s also an eye opener that there’s so much out there; my next shot is for a grant.”

Dr. Nduba and Nancy encouraged other scientists who are on their way up the scales to put in extra work in whatever they do. They called on the upcoming scientists to attend such conferences and learn from presentations made by senior scientists. “It’s just about practice and exposure. You must also ensure you know and understand your presentation material very well.” said Nduba.

“Let us take advantage of the resources we have available here at KEMRI/CDC, especially the mentorship opportunities. I am certain we all have the potential.” said Nancy.

“This is a team effort, the presentation involved abstracts from several studies”, Elizabeth appreciated the role played by each individual in Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) branch. She said that, “it’s because of the support we got from the team that we were able to come this far.” Other NTD branch staff who attended the KASH conference in Nairobi are Boaz Mwomba, Geofrey Muchiri and Gladys Odhiambo.