Ifakara Health Institute

Yesterday we spent the day learning about the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI). It was a day of inspiration for me! We met Fredros Okumu, an IHI researcher and Grand Challenges Canada grantee, and headed over to the IHI headquarters in Dar es Salaam. I’d been very excited to meet Fred, who is the principal investigator on the “smelly socks against malaria” project I’d heard so much about! Several others met us there, including Dickson Wilson and Robert Sumaye, the co-investigators on the smelly socks project.

Dickson demonstrated and explained a prototype of one the smelly socks devices he, Fred and Robert are developing. It’s a device that’s complementary to the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and insecticide spraying inside the house, because it attracts mosquitoes outside the house. 

Dickson demonstrating the smelly socks device

The device attracts mosquitoes with the odour of worn socks or a synthetic chemical odour made to simulate the same. The mosquitoes are then contaminated with insecticide. Some die in the box-shaped device, and the mosquitoes that escape die soonafter because of the insecticide!

A prototype of the smelly socks vs. malaria device

Learn more about the Low- and Middle- Income Stars in Global Health Program through which Fredros received his grant: http://www.grandchallenges.ca/grand-challenges/gc1-explorations/grand-challenges-in-global-health/. Fred's biography is also available here!

After the demonstration, we briefly met with the director of IHI, Salim Abdullah, who welcomed us warmly and highlighted that he hoped to produce more successful researchers like Fred who could get grants to do transformative research in global health.

When my dad again spoke to researchers about funding opportunities, I realized that these are truly people that understand the problem. They live the problem; and they have a better chance than any developed world research scientist of figuring out implementable solutions if given the opportunity.

Engaged in discussion on funding opportunities

Next we headed off to Bagomoyo, a town about an hour outside of Dar es Salaam where another branch of IHI is located. We first travelled to a government health station or “dispensary”, the first step in the Tanzanian health care system. We were toured around the location by two IHI researchers who also showed us what would soon become a new labour and delivery ward.

     Dispensary in Bagomoyo            New labour and delivery ward

Then we drove a bit further to an IHI clinical research facility under construction. This is also the site of the insectory where the colony of mosquitoes for a malaria vaccine trial is being grown. Marta, or as she is called by the others “Mother Mosquito”, showed us her insectory and explained how she is growing her colony. Very cool!

Finally we travelled to the office of the Bagomoyo branch of IHI to meet some of the researchers there and again highlight the funding opportunities for low- and middle-income innovators. This particular branch of IHI manages the pediatric ward of the district hospital, so they showed us around the ward as well. There were 2 children with measles. I thought nothing of it until I registered my dad’s reaction; he’d never seen a case of measles in many years of medical practice in Canada.

Dad with the nurses in the pediatric ward

After a long day and a lot of new learning, we returned to Dar es Salaam with a stop on the way at a historic slave port in Bagomoyo. I was very grateful to Fred and all of the IHI researchers for showing us so much of what the Institute is working on and teaching me so much! I was inspired by the commitment of young local innovators to tackle local problems.

      Dad and I at the slave port         Dad and the smelly socks team