BIG CAT (Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research)
About
The key objectives of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) are to further research relating to cancers of relevance to Africa; to support training programs in oncology for health care workers and researchers, and to deal with the challenges of creating cancer control programs and to raise public awareness of cancer in Africa.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has been a long-standing supporter of AORTIC’s vision for enhancing cancer research and cancer control in Africa for the three (3) BIG Cat cohorts.
Purpose
The Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic (BIG Cat) Research, Cohorts I-III, a collaboration between AORTIC and NCI, was intended to support exploratory data collection by African scientists engaged in cancer research in Africa. The BIG Cat funding was not intended to support longer term research but to catalyze subsequent application for funding from NCI and/or other sources.
The grants are not intended for principal investigators outside of Africa, although collaborative research projects are encouraged. All funds provided must be spent in Africa. Research proposals are encouraged that span the cancer continuum (descriptive epidemiology, prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment including supportive and palliative care and behavioral research).
BIG Cat funding is intended to support research projects i.e., the funding is not intended to enhance or improve healthcare services directly but is for research aimed at forming a basis for reducing the burden of cancer in Africa.
The BIG CAT research funding is intended to support cancer research in Africa by African clinicians and scientists. The grant is $50 000 for a 2 year period.
To date BIG Cat Cohort I – III have been completed and we are currently initiating BIG CAT Cohort IV.
ABOUT BIG Cat Cohort IV
AN AFRICAN ORGANISATION FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN CANCER (AORTIC) PROGRAM Administered by AACR and in coordination with the U.S. National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health (NCI/CGH) and supported by Takeda Pharmeceuticals. Please view the Press Release here: https://www.aacr.org/about-the-aacr/newsroom/news-releases/aacr-and-aortic-announce-four-grants-to-support-early-career-cancer-researchers-in-africa/
BIG Cat COHORT IV AWARDEES (2022)
| NAME | RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE | COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|
| BIG Cat Cohort IV | ||
|
Leonardo Alves de Souza Rios
|
Pathobiology of HIV-associated lymphomas – Defining the role of HIV-1 Tat
|
South Africa |
|
Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah
|
Development and evaluation of a mobile app to promote breast cancer screening
|
Ghana |
| Abram Bunya Kamiza | Evolving genetic factors for cervical cancer in women of African ancestry | South Africa |
|
Imran Morhason-Bello
|
Epigenetic biomarkers of anal HPV infection in women with cervical HPV
|
Nigeria |
BIG Cat COHORT I AWARDEES
| NAME | RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE | COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|
| BIG Cat Cohort I | ||
| Adebola Adejimi (and C. Asuzu) | Cancer & Traditional Healers | Nigeria |
| Chibuike Chigbu | Cervical Cancer | Nigeria |
| Pedro Fernandez | Prostate Cancer | South Africa |
| Innocent Mutyaba | Childhood Cancer | Uganda |
| Michael Mwachiro | Oesophageal Cancer | Kenya |
| Karin Richter | Cervical Cancer | South Africa |
BIG CAT COHORT II AWARDEES
| NAME | RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE | COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|
| BIG Cat Cohort II | ||
| Gabriel Ogun | Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas in Nigerians | Nigeria |
| Fred Okuku | Impact of clinical guidelines for Kaposi’s Sarcoma in Uganda | Uganda |
| Caroline Dickens | Breast Carcinoma Receptor subtypes in HIV+ & HIV- women | South Africa |
| Lindsay Farrant | Life-limiting progressive malignant disease | South Africa |
| Elijah Onwudiwe | Treatment of women who tested positive to VIA and VILI | Nigeria |
| Seth Wiafe | Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices – early detection breast | Ghana |
BIG Cat Cohorts III Awardees
| NAME | RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE | COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|
| BIG Cat Cohorts III | ||
| Sengayi, Mazvita | Burden of cancers attributable to HIV in South Africa (2005 – 2015) | South Africa |
| Guisseve, Assucena | Hormone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 in breast cancer in Mozambique: patterns of expression and relation with etiology, management and prognosis | Mozambique |
| Kayamba, Violet | Gastric cancer in Zambia: analysis of risk factors and strategies for early detection | Zambia |
| Kirimunda, Samuel | HLA class in burkitts lymphoma diagnosed East African minors | Uganda |
| Masamba, Leo | Incidence of neutropaenia and its complications in chemotherapy patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre-Malawi | Malawi |
| Kassaman, Diana | The cancer related health literacy status, information & education needs of patients in Kenya in respect to cancers of the cervix and breast | Kenya |