RELIGHT Winners 2019-2021

The RELIGHT programme, supported by the Medical Faculty at UiO, facilitated by Centre for Global Health (CGH), aims to assist these established research groups in becoming global leaders in their fields, reaching the status of ‘research and innovation excellence.’

For the RELIGHT-period of 2019-2021, three groups have been funded:

Project: Digital Health Promotion in the Global South – (ProDHP)

Image may contain: technology, electronic device, material property.
Photo by: Felix Sukums, Muhimbili University, Tanzania

The ProDHP project is addressing digital health promotion (DHP) and aims to contribute to better health outcomes in local global south societies. The main outcomes of DHP is the prevention of disease and health care system strengthening, in addition to societal empowerment and digital literacy. The RELIGHT funding will strengthen the DHP activities at UiO, with reviewing ongoing activities, and establishing a DHP consortium with international collaborations on a global scale. The goal is to increase the portfolio of digital health messages and create high quality, unbiased health animations related to antimicrobial resistance and sexual violence in the global south.

See and download all Digital Health Videos here

Project: The Child, Nutrition and Development (CHNUDEV)

Image may contain: child, play, community, water, adaptation.
Photo by: Per Ole Iversen, UiO

The Child, Nutrition and Development (CHNUDEV) project originates from a randomized trial conducted among mothers and their small children (6-8 months) in rural Uganda in 2013-14. The main aim was to test if maternal education encompassing aspects of nutrition, hygiene and stimulation would improve child growth and development outcomes. At ages 2 and 3 years, growth was only minimally affected, but the children from mothers in the intervention group scored far better on measures of cognitive, language and motor functions. Whereas gut microbiota abundance could not explain these findings, reduced maternal depression and better iodine status were associated with our positive findings. The team is now in the process of performing a follow-up study, as the children are about to start school (7-8 years), and the long-term goal is to monitor them again when they reach adulthood.

Project: The Politics of Global Health Security

Image may contain: people, social group, community, event, fun.
Photo: From left, Sonja Kittelsen, Katerini Storeng & Antoine de Bengy Puyvallée (SUM), Unni Gopinathan (missing from photo), UiO Photo by: Lise Bjerke (SUM), UiO

The Politics of Global Health Security project will develop critical social scientific research into pandemic preparedness, unpacking how knowledge about pandemic risk is produced, and the consequences for how particular pathways of response are identified and pursued. Based on the interdisciplinary Power and Politics in Global Health research group at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), UiO, the project will explore how socio-political dynamics and power structures interact with governance arrangements and biomedical or technological practices. This includes studying the rationales and practices of private sector engagement in epidemic preparedness and response in Norway and globally. The RELIGHT funding will provide the basis for broader project collaborations and network building, setting the groundwork for proposals under, for example, the NORDFORSK societal security call and the EU’s Horizon 2020.

Published May 19, 2020 2:05 PM - Last modified Mar. 9, 2022 12:55 PM