During a one-week trip to Dakar, Senegal in May 2023, an interdisciplinary team of eight Pitt faculty and staff engaged and collaborated with colleagues from the West African Research Center and the University Cheikh Anto Diop (UCAD) to co-create a series of research and teaching projects that further interdisciplinary scholarship based in West Africa in addition to public discourse and understanding of race and identity.
Subsequently, Dr. Tiffany Gary-Webb formed a collaboration with Dr. Bamba Gaye (UCAD, AMedRA), initially as a participant in the Dakar Call. Co-organized by Dr. Bamba Gaye, the Dakar Call was an international meeting held in September 2023. This event united academia, global health organizations, funding bodies, higher education institutions, health ministries, and researchers to address the pressing challenges of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa.
Dr. Gary-Webb was invited by Dr. Bamba Gaye, the super moderator of the panel entitled “Research in NCDs around the World,” to discuss the social determinants of health as influencers of NCDs. With support from the Center for African Studies and the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, Dr. Gary-Webb and Dr. Gaye have assembled a team to analyze data on NCDs in Senegal:
- Dr. John Tukakira, a Master of Public Health student in the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Epidemiology, is investigating trends in hypertension, treatment, and control among adults in Senegal. His research will also examine sex disparities in these areas. This information will be used to develop and inform public health interventions aimed at reducing hypertension and its associated health risks in Senegal.
- Dr. Ngone Gaye, a consultant cardiologist from the Alliance For Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA), is analyzing the age-standardized trends in non-communicable diseases incidence among adults aged 30 to 79 in Senegal over 19 years (2000-2019). Her research aims to inform effective preventive strategies to tackle the growing burden of NCDs in Senegal.
- Dr. Mame Madjiguene KA, a consultant cardiologist from the Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA), is evaluating time trends in the age-standardized prevalence of tobacco use, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity in Senegal from 1976 to 2020. The main objective of her research is to analyze the evolution of these cardiometabolic risk factors through previous preventive strategies. This work also provides information that could be used for future public health interventions in Senegal targeting tobacco, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
The group will present data at the 2024 American Public Health Association Meeting and will work on several scientific manuscripts. The group will pursue additional funding in the Fall 2024.