Clinical Research Education and Management Services - Creams

02/10/2025

National Commission for Science and Technology MalawiWHO MalawiMalawi Liverpool Wellcome ProgrammeMinistry Of Health - Malawi Public Health Institute of Malawi GIZ MalawiMalawi Assemblies Of God UniversityMalawi Association of Medical Laboratory ScientistsAfidepKamuzu University of Health SciencesUNC Project MalawiClinical Research Education and Management Services - CreamsUganda Virus Research InstituteAfrican Society for Laboratory Medicine

14/09/2025

🎉 Congratulations to our very own Senior Researcher! 🎉

We are proud to share that Dr. Adriano Focus Lubanga, a Senior Researcher at Clinical Research Education and Management Services (CREAMS), will be speaking at the International Conference for Primary Health Care in Africa next month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

His presentation, "Transforming the Research Landscape: Leveraging Digital Technologies to Improve Data Collection, Monitoring, and Follow-up in Rural Malawi – Lessons from the MEINO Project," will highlight our innovative nutrition project implemented in Kasese, Dowa.

This project, developed in collaboration with LifeHealth, demonstrates how digital tools can revolutionize primary health care and clinical trials through:
1. Real-time participant monitoring
2. Instant reporting of side effects
3. Direct digital connection to study physicians and specialists
4. Personalized e-wallets for patients

We celebrate this milestone as it reflects CREAMS’ continued commitment to advancing research and improving health systems in Malawi and beyond. 🌍

👏 Join us in congratulating Dr, Lubanga on this achievement and wishing him all the best as he represents Malawi on this international stage!

14/09/2025

Antimicrobial Resistance Technical Working Group (AMR TWG)

On Thursday, CREAMS joined the Ministry of Health and partners at the AMR Technical Working Group meeting in Lilongwe.

The session focused on:

1. Dissemination of AMR surveillance and Point Prevalence Survey data
2. Validation of the AMR National Action Plan, Communication Strategy, AMS Guidelines, and AMR Surveillance Guidelines

Malawi has made significant progress in tackling AMR within the One Health framework, and today’s deliberations mark another step forward in strengthening national capacity to safeguard the effectiveness of life-saving medicines.

14/09/2025

Strengthening Africa’s Health Research Agenda

2 weeks ago, Malawi, through the support of Africa CDC, convened a five-day National Health Research Prioritization Workshop bringing together key stakeholders from government, academia, civil society, and implementing partners.

Africa, home to 20% of the world’s population yet burdened with 25% of global disease, has long faced a research paradigm driven more by donor interests than local needs. To change this, Africa CDC has developed a Health Research Prioritization Framework—a methodological, multi-stakeholder approach to define national health research priorities that collectively inform the African continental agenda and contribute to Agenda 2063.

Workshop Objectives:

1. Define priority diseases and health conditions with critical knowledge gaps.
2. Identify gaps in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and determinants of health.
3. Develop research questions to generate evidence for impactful solutions.
4. Draft a roadmap for short-, medium-, and long-term research.

✅ Expected Outcomes

1. A comprehensive list of Malawi’s national health research priorities.
2. Clear definition of high-level knowledge gaps per priority disease/condition.
3. A roadmap to guide future research, aligned with continental health security goals.
4. This marks a significant step toward ensuring African-priority, impact-driven research that responds to the needs of our communities.

👏 CREAMS is honored to collaborate in this process alongside the Public Health Institute of Malawi - Research Division, Africa CDC, and fellow partners. Together, we are shaping a future where evidence directly drives policies, interventions, and sustainable health outcomes.

14/09/2025

Project MEINO: Early Nutrition Findings from Malawi

We are excited to share preliminary field data from the MEINO (Malawi Early Infant Nutritional Optimization) study, a quasi-experimental trial exploring the use of Jaramillo soup as an early complementary food for infants in rural Malawi.

Why this matters:

The first 1,000 days of life are critical for growth, neurodevelopment, and long-term health. In Malawi, exclusive breastfeeding rates remain ~60%, and complementary feeding often relies on maize-based foods that lack essential nutrients.

What we tested:

Infants in the MEINO group received Jaramillo soup—a plant-based, locally sourced, hygienically prepared complementary food—starting at 3 months of age, alongside breastfeeding.

📊 Key findings (preliminary):

1. Lower illness burden: Caregiver reported fever was far less frequent in MEINO infants (7%) compared to controls (36–52%).

2. Better sleep: MEINO infants had significantly fewer nighttime awakenings.

3. Neurodevelopment: Higher scores in problem-solving and personal-social domains on the ASQ-3, with only 7% at risk of developmental delay vs. 20–60% in control groups.

4. Safety: No adverse events reported; Jaramillo soup was well-accepted by caregivers and infants.

✨ Conclusion:

These results suggest that Jaramillo soup is a feasible, safe, and culturally acceptable complementary feeding option in low-resource settings—particularly where exclusive breastfeeding is not sustained and infant formula is unavailable.

📌 Additional notes:

The trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR202508534853350).

On 15th August, we held a dissemination event with Orant Charities staff and mothers at the BUA Stop Over conference room, where caregivers shared moving real-life stories of how this intervention is impacting families.

We will be sharing these findings at upcoming conferences across Africa, continuing the conversation on nutrition innovation and policy.

🙏 Huge thanks to our collaborators, health workers, and participating families who made this study possible.

05/08/2025

📢 New Publication in BMC Infectious Diseases
CREAMS Malawi, in collaboration with AMRNCC (MoH), has published new evidence on alarming antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends in Malawi’s public health facilities.
🧪 Study title:
Trends and patterns of antimicrobial resistance among common pathogens isolated from adult bloodstream and urinary tract infections in public health facilities in Malawi, 2020–2024
🔍 Key findings from 2,787 samples:
50% of isolates were resistant to tested antibiotics
E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and Citrobacter freundii showed high multidrug resistance
Significant increases in resistance to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin
📊 These findings underscore the urgent need to strengthen AMR surveillance, diagnostics, and stewardship in Malawi.
📄 Read full article: https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-025-11335-1
👏 Kudos to lead author Dr Akim Bwanali and co-authors Drs Adriano Focus Lubanga, Sibongile Kondowe, and the entire study team.

Introduction Bacterial bloodstream and urinary tract infections present a huge health burden especially in low-resource settings, which is worsened by the escalating burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, surveillance data on antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of pathogens remains sca...

05/08/2025

📍Fieldwork! | Strengthening Cold Chain Maintenance in Malawi

28th July, marked a meaningful step forward for CREAMS Malawi as we hit the ground in the field, piloting data collection tools across facilities in Lilongwe ahead of full-scale implementation in Mchinji, Mangochi and Nkhotakota of the Rapid Response and Repair (R3) Project starting tomorrow.

This pilot exercise ensures we collect quality, actionable data that will strengthen cold chain equipment (CCE) maintenance systems and ultimately improve vaccine delivery across Malawi. We're proud to be contributing to a project that champions preventive maintenance, data-driven decision-making, and sustainable systems strengthening.

As an official implementing partner, CREAMS is supporting the R3 project through Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

We extend our gratitude to Nexleaf Analytics and the wider R3 Consortium—including VillageReach and Ministry of Health for trusting CREAMS to lead the MEL here in Malawi.

Together, we’re building resilient health systems—one data point, one technician, and one cold chain unit at a time.

17/07/2025

📣 Did You Know?
You can still attend the Public Health Research Dissemination Conference even if you're not presenting an abstract!

✅ Registration is open to everyone — whether you’re presenting or just interested in learning, networking, and engaging in important public health discussions.

👇 Register today and be part of the movement!
📍 https://phim.health.gov.mw/rdc2025/

Public Health Institute of MalawiMalawi GovernmentAfrican Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)Luke InternationalNurses and Midwives Council of MalawiNational AIDS Commission

17/07/2025

🧠 RDC 2025 is taking shape!
CREAMS joined partners today at Lalibela Boutique Hotel for the 2nd preparatory meeting for Malawi’s National Public Health Research Dissemination Conference.

We reviewed subcommittee progress and began shaping the scientific program roadmap.
📢 Don’t miss out!
✅ Register to attend
✅ Submit your research & innovations
✅ Sign up for side events
https://phim.health.gov.mw/rdc2025/
Public Health Institute of Malawi Malawi Government
Let’s move from research to action—together!

16/07/2025

🚨 Deadline Extended! 🚨
We’re excited to announce that the abstract submission deadline for the National Public Health Research Dissemination Conference (RDC 2025) has been extended to 31st July 2025!
🗓️ New Deadline: 31st July 2025
📍 Conference Dates: 29–31 October 2025
📌 Venue: Bingu International Convention Centre, Lilongwe
🎯 Theme: "Advancing public health research to build resilient and sustainable systems"
This flagship event brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and global health partners to spotlight cutting-edge evidence and foster actionable dialogue on Malawi’s public health priorities.
If you're working in public health, epidemiology, health systems, climate and health, AMR, NCDs, maternal and child health, or related fields—this is your platform.
📝 Submit your abstract here:
👉https://phim.health.gov.mw/rdc2025/
Let’s build resilient health systems—together! 🇲🇼

06/07/2025

Africa is unique, Malawi is unique, our problems are unique, so should be our solutions. The global south need to be empowered and south to south Collaborations needs to be strengthened.

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06/07/2025

📢 Reminder
🕒 Countdown to NPH-RDC 2025 – 15 Days Left to Submit Your Abstract!
Join us at the National Public Health Research Dissemination Conference happening from 29th–31st October 2025 at BICC, Lilongwe.
🧪 Conference Theme: Advancing Public Health Research to Build Resilient and Sustainable Systems
✅ Submit your abstract here: https://phim.health.gov.mw/rdc2025/
🧾 Registration & payment details now available.
👥 Brought to you by hashtag ,hashtag , hashtag , hashtag , hashtag , hashtag , hashtag , and other leading partners in public health research.
📞 For assistance: +265 999 877 398 / +265 992 744 497
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