BIG Cat is a premier initiative by the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) to build capacity for cancer research in Africa. The goal of BIG Cat program is to aid the next generation of African cancer researchers to base their careers in their home countries and institutions, and to contribute to the overall expansion of capacity for research and training in Africa by generating evidence that will guide practice and policy. BIG Cat was initiated in 2010 by the US National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health (NCI/CGH), and it is now a collaborative effort of AORTIC, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and NCI/CGH, with funding support from Partners including academic, industrial and scientific organizations.

Research

Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas (NHL) are a leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected patients, with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma and Burkitt Lymphoma being among the most prevalent subtypes. Growing evidence supports an oncogenic role for HIV-1 and its antigens, particularly the Transactivator of transcription (Tat) protein, in lymphomagenesis. Using ChIP-Seq and whole transcriptome analysis (RNA-Seq), Dr. Rios is set to identify Tat-association sites and elucidate their potential role as a transactivator of cellular genes within the B-cell genome. In addition, they plan to determine the impact of Tat on the miRNA-targetome.

Biography

Dr. Leonardo Rios received his PhD from the University of Cape Town, where he studied the impact of HIV infection on lymphomagenesis. He showed that Tat can promote c-MYC and AICDA expression in lymphoma cells by interfering with transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of these oncogenes. He seeks to expand on these results during his postdoctoral work, aiming to identify the Tat interactome within B cells and to elucidate if these interactions promote lymphoma in HIV-positive patients.

Acknowledgement of Support

I am honored to receive the Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat) award. This grant will enable the expansion of research in the important field of HIV-associated malignancies that affects a large portion of our population. It also provides me with the opportunity and support to start an independent research program.

Research

Breast cancer screening rates are low among women in low-and-middle-income countries, resulting in stark disparities in breast cancer burden around the world. This critical public health problem is highly relevant to Ghana where breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths and only 4.5% of women have undergone screening. Dr. Mensah, along with a multidisciplinary team of independent investigators from KNUST and KATH, are set to use a mixed-methods design to understand barriers to breast cancer screening. They plan to develop a mobile phone-based app that can be used to educate women about screening for breast cancer. The study will be conducted in rural settings in Kumasi, Ghana, where a combination of barriers is likely to be responsible for the low participation in breast cancer screening. 

Biography

Dr. Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah has a doctorate in nursing with advanced training in oncology and palliative care. Other than doctoral training in South Africa, all her academic and research training including her fellowship has been in Ghana. She is currently a senior lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). She has devoted her career to oncology practice, teaching, and conducting health research in urban and rural districts in northern Ghana.

Acknowledgement of Support

The 2022 BIG Cat program will expand my capacity for research and training in generating practice and policy-relevant evidence, thereby promoting and supporting me as I seek to establish a successful career path in cancer research in KNUST and Ghana.  Ultimately, I will develop interventions that will potentially further the health of women.

Research

Almost all genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been performed in Europeans or Asians despite the high incidence and mortality rates in women of African ancestry. Dr. Kamiza aims to identify genetic factors for cervical cancer in women of African ancestry, specifically from the Johannesburg Cancer Study and AWI-Gen cohort. He is also set to perform a trans-ethnic meta-analysis using publicly available summary data. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization, he also seeks to identify lifestyle factors causally associated with cervical cancer.

Biography

Dr Abram Kamiza obtained his bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science at the University of Malawi, and his MSc and PhD degrees in Genetic Epidemiology at Taipei Medical University in Taiwan. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interest is to identify environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors associated with cancer development. Currently, he is working to identify genetic factors associated with cervical cancer in black South African women using genome-wide approaches.

Acknowledgement of Support

This grant is important to me, as it will provide a platform to uncover genetic variants associated with cervical cancer in women of African ancestry, develop polygenetic risk scores that may be used for targeted screening and preventative strategies and establish local, regional and international networks for future collaborations.

Research

There is emerging evidence that HPV-associated anal precancer and cancer are increasingly reported, particularly among women with history of high-risk HPV (hrHPV) infections, premalignant or cancer of the cervix, who had no history of anal sex. Dr. Morhason-Bello seeks to elucidate the mechanisms behind the detection of high-risk HPV in the anus of women that have high-risk HPV in their cervix, using biological samples collected from the Sexual Behavior and HPV infections in Nigerians in Ibadan (SHINI) study. He is set to identify potential biomarkers (using epigenome-wide association studies and gene-specific DNA methylation PCR) in women that have similar high-risk HPV in the cervix and anus. Such biomarkers could potentially be developed as a screening tool for early detection of precancer and cancer of the anus.

Biography

Dr Imran Morhason-Bello completed his undergraduate training in Medicine and Surgery and Master’s degree in Reproductive Biology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, a Master’s degree in public health (Epidemiology) at University of Liverpool, and a doctoral degree (PhD) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He is a Fellow of West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and Honorary Consultant at University College Hospital, Ibadan. He is focused on understanding the behavioral, lifestyle and genetic components of human papillomavirus infections, associated precancers and cancers in different populations.

Acknowledgement of Support

The Big Cat grant is hopefully going to catalyze my aspiration as a clinician scientist who continuously attracts competitive grants and engages in cutting edge multidisciplinary team research using novel technologies to answer critical public health research questions on HPV infections and associated cancers and other cancers in Africa.