George Tinega, a Kenyan bioinformatics and molecular biology graduate student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology,
has been selected as a 2013 Fellow for the Leadership Enhancement in
Agriculture Program (LEAP) of the Norman E. Borlaug International
Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program.
The Borlaug LEAP Fellowship honours Nobel Laureate Norman E. Borlaug who has been hailed as the father of the Green Revolution.
The fellowship supports engaging a mentor at a United States university and at a CGIAR centre to support and enhance the thesis research and mentoring experience.
The Borlaug LEAP Fellowship is awarded to only a few outstanding
graduate students from developing countries who show strong scientific
and leadership potential, have a well-coordinated proposal between their
home university, a United States university mentor and the CGIAR
mentor, and whose research is related to a strong research and support
project within the host country.
Tinega’s research project, “Molecular characterization of Salmonella isolates obtained from Wambizzi pig abattoir in Kampala, Uganda”, will use DNA-related techniques to identify Salmonella
strains isolated from pork products and assess the usefulness of these
techniques in epidemiological analysis and control of this important
food-borne pathogen.
The use of more accurate methods for detecting Salmonella in pigs and pork products can improve the management of salmonellosis, especially during emergencies.
This has potential to contribute towards reducing the public health
risks associated with the pig value chain in Uganda where smallholder
pig production is gaining popularity to meet the rising consumer demand
for pork in urban areas.
The research is being done through the Safe Food, Fair Food project under the lead supervision of Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist and food safety specialist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya.
The first phase of the project – preliminary laboratory analysis of food samples at Makerere University, Uganda – has already been completed.
From April to July 2013, Tinega will work with scientists at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa hub at ILRI to use DNA-related techniques such as multilocus sequence type analysis to characterize the Salmonella isolates.
He then proceeds to the University of Texas Medical School at Houston
until 31 December 2013 for further training and research in molecular
technologies, genomics, bioinformatics and biosafety under the
mentorship of Barbara E. Murray.
“I’m grateful for this leadership and training opportunity at the
Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical School as
it provides a platform to carry out state-of-the-art biomedical,
bioinformatics and genomics research,” said Tinega.
“This is also a useful opportunity to foster research collaboration
and knowledge exchange between my home university and the University of
Texas Medical School for mutual benefit.”
“I plan to further my career development towards a PhD so that I may
use my enhanced research skills to contribute towards the socio-economic
development of my country,” Tinega added.
Tinega holds a Bachelor of Biological Sciences degree from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
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