AAS Open Research最新文献

{"title":"Challenge of diagnosing acute infections in poor resource settings in Africa","authors":"F. Chidzwondo, F. Mutapi","doi":"10.12688/AASOPENRES.13234.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/AASOPENRES.13234.1","url":null,"abstract":"Frequent disease outbreaks and acute infections occur in rural and low-income urban areas of Africa, with many health systems unprepared to diagnose and control diseases that are recurrent, endemic or have extended their geographic zone. In this review, we focus on acute infections that can be characterized by sudden onset, rapid progression, severe symptoms and poor prognosis. Consequently, these infections require early diagnosis and intervention. While effective vaccines have been developed against some of these diseases, lack of compliance and accessibility, and the need for repeated or multiple vaccinations mean large populations can remain vulnerable to infection. It follows that there is a need for enhancement of national surveillance and diagnostic capacity to avert morbidity and mortality from acute infections. We discuss the limitations of traditional diagnostic methods and explore the relative merits and applicability of protein-, carbohydrate- and nucleic acid-based rapid diagnostic tests that have been trialled for some infectious diseases. We also discuss the utility and limitations of antibody-based serological diagnostics and explore how systems biology approaches can better inform diagnosis. Lastly, given the complexity and high cost associated with after-service support of emerging technologies, we propose that, for resource-limited settings in Africa, multiplex point-of-care diagnostic tools be tailor-made to detect both recurrent acute infections and endemic infections.","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43442396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION CHARACTERISTICS OF RAPID POINT OF CARE SARS-CoV-2 ANTIGEN TESTING IN KENYA","authors":"Eva Muthamia, S. Mungai, M. Mungai, G. Bandawe, F. Qadri, Z. Kawser, S. Lockman, L. Ivers, D. Walt, S. Suliman, M. Mwau, J. Gitaka","doi":"10.1101/2021.06.03.21258290","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.03.21258290","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a need for rapid identification of infectious cases. Testing barriers have prohibited adequate screening for SARS COV2, resulting in significant delays in treatment provision and commencement of outbreak control measures. This study aimed to generate evidence on the performance and implementation characteristics of the BD Veritor rapid antigen test as compared to the gold standard test for diagnosis of SARS COV2 in Kenya. Methods: This was a field test performance evaluation in symptomatic and asymptomatic adults undergoing testing for SARS COV2. Recruited participants were classified as SARS-CoV2-positive based on the locally implemented gold standard reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test performed on nasopharyngeal swabs. 272 antigen tests were performed with simultaneous gold standard testing, allowing us to estimate sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for the BD Veritor rapid antigen test platform. Implementation characteristics were assessed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research for feasibility, acceptability, turn-around time, and ease-of-use metrics. Results and Discussion: We enrolled 97 PCR negative symptomatic and 128 PCR negative asymptomatic, and 28 PCR positive symptomatic and 19 PCR positive asymptomatic participants. Compared to the gold standard, the sensitivity of the BD Veritor antigen test was 94% (95% confidence interval [CI] 86.6 to 100.0) while the specificity was 98% (95% confidence interval [CI] 96 to 100). The sensitivity of BD Veritor antigen test was higher among symptomatic (100%) compared to asymptomatic (84%) participants, although this difference was not statistically significant. There was also a lack of association between cycle threshold value and sensitivity of BD Veritor test. The BD Veritor test had quick turnaround time and minimal resource requirements, and laboratory personnel conducting testing felt that it was easier to use than the gold standard RT-PCR. Conclusion: The BD Veritor rapid antigen test exhibited excellent sensitivity and specificity when used to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection among both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in varied population settings in Kenya. It was feasible to implement and easy to use, with rapid turnaround time.","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43323463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The nexus between improved water supply and water-borne diseases in urban areas in Africa: a scoping review.","authors":"Nyamai Mutono, Jim A Wright, Henry Mutembei, Josphat Muema, Mair L H Thomas, Mumbua Mutunga, Samuel Mwangi Thumbi","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13225.1","DOIUrl":"10.12688/aasopenres.13225.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> The sub-Saharan Africa has the fastest rate of urbanisation in the world. However, infrastructure growth in the region is slower than urbanisation rates, leading to inadequate provision and access to basic services such as piped safe drinking water. Lack of sufficient access to safe water has the potential to increase the burden of waterborne diseases among these urbanising populations. This scoping review assesses how the relationship between waterborne diseases and water sufficiency in Africa has been studied. <b>Methods:</b> In April 2020, we searched the Web of Science, PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar databases for studies of African cities that examined the effect of insufficient piped water supply on selected waterborne disease and syndromes (cholera, typhoid, diarrhea, amoebiasis, dysentery, gastroneteritis, cryptosporidium, cyclosporiasis, giardiasis, rotavirus). Only studies conducted in cities that had more than half a million residents in 2014 were included. <b>Results:</b> A total of 32 studies in 24 cities from 17 countries were included in the study. Most studies used case-control, cross-sectional individual or ecological level study designs. Proportion of the study population with access to piped water was the common water availability metrics measured while amounts consumed per capita or water interruptions were seldom used in assessing sufficient water supply. Diarrhea, cholera and typhoid were the major diseases or syndromes used to understand the association between health and water sufficiency in urban areas. There was weak correlation between the study designs used and the association with health outcomes and water sufficiency metrics. Very few studies looked at change in health outcomes and water sufficiency over time. <b>Conclusion:</b> Surveillance of health outcomes and the trends in piped water quantity and mode of access should be prioritised in urban areas in Africa in order to implement interventions towards reducing the burden associated with waterborne diseases and syndromes.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":" ","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8311817/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39292616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Factors associated with research productivity in higher education institutions in Africa: a systematic review.","authors":"Dieudonne Uwizeye, Florah Karimi, C. Thiong'o, Jackline Syonguvi, V. Ochieng, Francis Kiroro, Alex Gateri, Anne M. Khisa, Hesborn Wao","doi":"10.12688/AASOPENRES.13211.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/AASOPENRES.13211.1","url":null,"abstract":"Background: There are low levels of research productivity among Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Africa, a situation that is likely to compromise the development agenda of the continent if not addressed. We conducted a systematic literature review to determine the factors associated with research productivity in HEIs in Africa and the researchers' motives for research. Methods: We identified 838 papers related to research productivity in HEIs in Africa from various databases, from which we included 28 publications for review. The inclusion criteria were that (i) the paper's primary focus was on factors associated with research productivity; (ii) the setting was on the higher education institutions in Africa; (iii) the type of publication was peer-reviewed papers and book chapters based on primary or secondary data analysis; and (iv) the language was English or French. Essays, opinions, blogs, editorials, reviews, and commentaries were excluded. Results: Most of the studies operationalized research productivity as either journal publications or conference proceedings. Both institutional and individual factors are associated with the level of research productivity in HEIs in Africa. Institutional factors include the availability of research funding, level of institutional networking, and the degree of research collaborations, while individual factors include personal motivation, academic qualifications, and research self-efficacy. Conclusions: Deliberate efforts in HEIs in Africa that addressed both individual and institutional barriers to research productivity are promising. This study recommends that the leadership of HEIs in Africa prioritizes the funding of research to enable researchers to contribute to the development agenda of the continent. Moreover, HEIs should build institutional support to research through the provision of research enabling environments, policies and incentives; strengthening of researchers' capabilities through relevant training courses, mentorship and coaching; and embracing networking and collaboration opportunities.","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":"4 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47369923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Description and comparison of physical activity from self-reports and accelerometry among primary school children in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: a pilot study.","authors":"Mary Vincent Mosha, Elizabeth Kasagama, Philip Ayieko, Jim Todd, Sia E Msuya, Heiner Grosskurth, Suzanne Filteau","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13118.4","DOIUrl":"10.12688/aasopenres.13118.4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background</b>: Self-reports are commonly used to assess physical activity in children. Existing self-reports for physical activity have not been validated for primary school children in Tanzania. To understand if primary school children can accurately report their physical activity, we examined the validity of self-reported physical activity against accelerometer measured physical activity. <b>Methods</b>: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May to July 2018. We conveniently selected four primary schools in Moshi municipal and Moshi rural districts in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. From these districts, 51 children aged 9 - 11 years were randomly selected. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect physical activity-related variables. Children wore accelerometers for seven consecutive days to capture physical activity movements. Spearman's rank test and Bland Altman plots were used for assessing validity and agreement between self-reports and accelerometer moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). <b>Results</b>: The study participants' mean age was 10 (SD=0.8) years, and 32 (63%) were girls. A significant positive correlation was found between self-reports and accelerometer MVPA (rho=0.36, p=0.009). The mean total of weekday minutes in MVPA from accelerometers was higher than from self-reports, 408 (SD = 66) versus 261 (SD = 179). <b>Conclusions</b>: This study found a significant positive correlation between self-reports and accelerometers. Self-reports are prone to errors due to recall bias, which interferes with their validity. More research is needed to develop better self-reported measures with specific activities that children can easily remember. Also, researchers should carefully consider the inherent limitations in the validity of self-reports.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":"3 1","pages":"40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8132476/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66397597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Use of a mutation-specific genotyping method to assess for HIV-1 drug resistance in antiretroviral-naïve HIV-1 Subtype C-infected patients in Botswana.","authors":"Dorcas Maruapula, Iain J MacLeod, Sikhulile Moyo, Rosemary Musonda, Kaelo Seatla, Kesaobaka Molebatsi, Melvin Leteane, Max Essex, Simani Gaseitsiwe, Christopher F Rowley","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13107.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/aasopenres.13107.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> HIV-1 drug resistance poses a major threat to the success of antiretroviral therapy. The high costs of available HIV drug resistance assays prohibit their routine usage in resource-limited settings. Pan-degenerate amplification and adaptation (PANDAA), a focused genotyping approach based on quantitative PCR (qPCR), promises a fast and cost-effective way to detect HIV drug resistance mutations (HIVDRMs).  Given the high cost of current genotyping methods, we sought to use PANDAA for screening key HIVDRMs in antiretroviral-naïve individuals at codons 103, 106 and 184 of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase gene. Mutations selected at these positions have been shown to be the most common driver mutations in treatment failure.  <b>Methods:</b> A total of 103 samples from antiretroviral-naïve individuals previously genotyped by Sanger population sequencing were used to assess and verify the performance of PANDAA. PANDAA samples were run on the ABI 7500 Sequence Detection System to genotype the K103N, V106M and M184V HIVDRMs. In addition, the cost per sample and reaction times were compared. <b>Results:</b> Sanger population sequencing and PANDAA detected K103N mutation in three (2.9%) out of 103 participants.  There was no evidence of baseline V106M and M184V mutations observed in our study. To genotype the six HIVDRMs it costs approximately 40 USD using PANDAA, while the reagents cost per test for Sanger population sequencing is approximately 100 USD per sample. PANDAA was performed quicker compared to Sanger sequencing, 2 hours for PANDAA versus 15 hours for Sanger sequencing. <b>Conclusion:</b> The performance of PANDAA and Sanger population sequencing demonstrated complete concordance. PANDAA could improve patient management by providing quick and relatively cheap access to drug-resistance information.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":"3 1","pages":"50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8112461/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66396846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Kenya's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a balance between minimising morbidity and adverse economic impact.","authors":"Edwin N Wangari, Peter Gichuki, Angelyne A Abuor, Jacqueline Wambui, Stephen O Okeyo, Henry T N Oyatsi, Shadrack Odikara, Benard W Kulohoma","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13156.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/aasopenres.13156.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has ravaged the world's socioeconomic systems forcing many governments across the globe to implement unprecedented stringent mitigation measures to restrain its rapid spread and adverse effects. A disproportionate number of COVID-19 related morbidities and mortalities were predicted to occur in Africa. However, Africa still has a lower than predicted number of cases, 4% of the global pandemic burden. In this open letter, we highlight some of the early stringent countermeasures implemented in Kenya, a sub-Saharan African country, to avert the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These mitigation measures strike a balance between minimising COVID-19 associated morbidity and fatalities and its adverse economic impact, and taken together have significantly dampened the pandemic's impact on Kenya's populace.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":" ","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7921885.2/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25584013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"COVID-19 and the HIV care continuum in Uganda: minimising collateral damage.","authors":"Enock Kagimu, Emily M Martyn, Jane Gakuru, John Kasibante, Morris K Rutakingirwa, Richard Kwizera, Kenneth Ssebambulidde, Darlisha Williams, Jayne Ellis, Fiona V Cresswell, David B Meya","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13099.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/aasopenres.13099.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread across the world within months of its first description in Wuhan, China in December 2019, resulting in an unprecedented global health emergency. Whilst Europe and North America are the current epicentres of infection, the global health community are preparing for the potential effects of this new disease on the African continent. Modelling studies predict that factors such as youthful and rural population may be protective in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the World Health Organisation (WHO) African Region, however, with 220 million infections and 4.6 million hospitalisations predicted in the first year of the pandemic alone, fragile health systems could still be placed under significant strain. Furthermore, subsequent disruptions to the provision of services for people living with HIV, or at risk of acquiring HIV, are predicted to lead to an extra 500,000 adult HIV deaths and a 2-fold increase in mother to child transmission of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020-2021. Ignoring these predictions may have severe consequences and we risk \"stepping back in time\" in AIDS-related deaths to numbers seen over a decade ago. Reflecting on our current experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda, we explore the potential impact of public health measures implemented to mitigate spread of COVID-19 on the HIV care continuum, and suggest areas of focus for HIV services, policy makers and governments to urgently address in order to minimise the collateral damage.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":"3 ","pages":"28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11208847/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Community engagement and feedback of results in the H3Africa AWI-Gen project: Experiences from the Navrongo Demographic and Health Surveillance site in Northern Ghana.","authors":"Godfred Agongo,&nbsp;Cornelius Debpuur,&nbsp;Lucas Amenga-Etego,&nbsp;Engelbert A Nonterah,&nbsp;Michael B Kaburise,&nbsp;Abraham Oduro,&nbsp;Michele Ramsay,&nbsp;Paulina Tindana","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13081.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/aasopenres.13081.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Community and Public engagement (CE) have gained traction as an ethical best practice for the conduct of genomics research, particularly in the context of Africa. In the past 10 years, there has been growing scholarship on the value and practice of engaging key stakeholders including communities involved in genomics research. However, not much has been documented on how research teams, particularly in international collaborative research projects, are navigating the complex process of engagement including the return of key research findings. This paper is part of a series of papers describing the CE processes used in the AWI-Gen study sites. We describe the key processes of engagement, challenges encountered and the major lessons learned. We pay particular attention to the experiences in returning research results to participants and communities within the Demographic and Health Surveillance site in northern Ghana.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":" ","pages":"15"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8063542/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"38958576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of the MUII-plus mentorship programme: reflections of Fellows' experiences and lessons for other programmes.","authors":"Irene Andia Biraro, Emmanuella Driciru, Rehema Namaganda, Fiona Luboga, Charles Kato Drago, Anne Wajja, Brenda Okech, Mary Gorrethy N Mboowa, Raymond Muganyizi, Moses Kizza, Stephen Cose, Victoria Diana Bukirwa, Damalie Nakanjako, Alison M Elliott","doi":"10.12688/aasopenres.13091.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/aasopenres.13091.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> The Makerere University Research Training Programme in Infection and Immunity (MUII) mentorship programme began 11 years ago with a successful group mentorship model. Over the years, the programme has evolved and is presently anchored on the \"GROW\" approach. This model allows individuals to: set Goals (What I want?); Reflect (Where am I now?); think of Options (What can I do?); What to implement (my actions?). It is intended to help fellows (current, honorary, alumni) herein referred to as mentees achieve their short, medium, and long-term research, career and professional goals. <b>Methods:</b> A mixed methods study combining a cross-sectional survey, one focus group discussion and 11 in-depth key informant interviews were carried out between November 2018 and January 2019 to 1) assess the status of the mentorship programme, 2) perform a strength weakness opportunity and threats (SWOT) analysis, and 3) identify factors relevant for sustainability. <b>Results:</b> An open invitation was made to 52 fellows to participate in the survey, and 23 responded. Among respondents, the largest proportions were male [70% (16/23)], and PhD fellows [35% (8/23)]. The respondents rated the fellowship experience as excellent [65% (15/23)], and most [78% (18/23)] revealed they had benefitted greatly from the programme. The SWOT analysis revealed outstanding strengths of having regular fellows' meetings for peer support, and availability of international collaborations, linkages and exposure. Opportunities identified included large pool of mentees within MUII-plus and evidence of fellows taking up leadership positions. The biggest weakness that also presented as a threat to the mentorship programme was the busy schedule of mentors. <b>Conclusions:</b> The MUII-plus mentorship programme has strong potential to offer research and career mentorship to its fellows. To promote sustainability of the programme, there is a need for innovative ways to engage mentors; such as digital platforms (e-mentorship) for greater mentor-mentee interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":34179,"journal":{"name":"AAS Open Research","volume":"3 ","pages":"37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11109704/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}