The Motsepe Fund was established in 2020 to support faculty-led and student-driven research projects that focus on advancing key challenges and opportunities facing Africa, with a focus on projects falling within the STEAM rubric (the application of the arts and humanities to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research). Following the success of the first five rounds of awards, the Motsepe Foundation has generously renewed its commitment to enable another five years of awards. Now in its sixth year, the Motsepe Fund continues to garner interest from faculty across the University.
Mark Elliott, vice provost for international affairs and Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History, shared: “We are thrilled with the continued interest in this fund from across Harvard’s Schools. Thanks to the generosity of the Motsepe Foundation, now even more faculty will have the opportunity to create lasting and meaningful research partnerships across continents. The work coming out of these collaborations has led to actions that are improving life for millions of people.”
“The importance of research funding cannot be overstated, especially now. The Motsepe Fund continues to enable faculty to work to solve major societal challenges through multidisciplinary, multifaceted perspectives, in collaboration with talented partners across Africa,” said John Shaw, senior vice provost for research, Harry C. Dudley Professor of Structural and Economic Geology, and professor of environmental science and engineering.
The six projects selected this year for awards from the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa are:
“Understanding the Sociocultural Dynamics of Deploying Slow-Release Vaccines in LMICs”
By David Mooney, Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; with co-investigators Kwasi Adu-Berchie (Wyss Institute) and Phuong Phim (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), and collaborators Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey (Ghana National Vaccine Institute), Gordon Akanzuwine Awandare (University of Ghana), Peter Quashie (University of Ghana), Francis Anto (University of Ghana), Patricia Akweongo (University of Ghana), Langbong Bimi (University of Ghana), and Alexander Ansah Manu (University of Ghana).
“Impact of the Village Mentorship Journey on Achieved Mentorship Outcomes: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial with Mixed Methods Assessment”
By Megan Murray, Ronda Stryker and William Johnston Professor of Global Health, Harvard Medical School; with co-investigators Jessica Haberer (Harvard Medical School), Yap Boum II (University of Yaounde and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention), Nsaibirni Robert Fondze Jr. (Epicentre Médecins Sans Frontières), and Romaric Nzoumbou-Boko (Institut Pasteur de Bangui).
“Ecological Imagination, or Climate Wisdom in the Archive of African-Language Fiction”
By Tinashe Mushakavanhu, assistant professor of African and African American studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; with co-investigator Confidence Joseph (University of Johannesburg).
“Bridging Indigenous Knowledge and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A STEAM Approach to Integrating Ifá Orature into Generative AI”
By Jacob Olupona, Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African American Studies and professor of African religious traditions, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; with collaborators Terrence Johnson (Harvard Divinity School) and Olakunle Jaiyesimi (Harvard Griffin GSAS).
“Preventing Prostate Cancer Deaths in African Men: The Value of Early Detection”
By Timothy Rebbeck, Vincent L. Gregory Jr. Professor of Cancer Prevention, Harvard Chan School; with co-investigators Mohamed Jalloh (Hospital General Idrissa Pouye), Shingai Mutambirwa (Dr. George Mukhani Academic Hospital), Joseph Nukungugu (University of Dodoma and Benjamin Mkapa Hospital), Zribi Ahmed Said (Atlas Medical Center, Tunisia), Babacar Sine (Aristide Le Dantec Hospital and Military Hospital of Ouakem), and Tlotlo Ralefala (Princess Marina Hospital), and collaborator Leila Helu (Harvard College).
“Centering a Local Conservation Organization into the Bonobo Diversity Network (BonDiv), a Harvard-Led Large-Scale Monitoring Platform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo”
By Martin Surbeck, associate professor of human evolutionary biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; with collaborators Erin Wessling (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research), Hjalmar Kuehl (Senckenberg Society of Nature Research), Maurice Nsase Soki (Forêt pour le Développement Intégral), and Jasmin Mutahinga Kalwahali (University of Kisangani).
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