“Empowering Bolivian Youth with ASD: ​Culturally Relevant Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults ”​

Support for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Bolivia, the lowest-income country in South America, is exceedingly scarce, with a severe lack of trained providers or accessible therapeutic services, particularly for adolescents and young adults. This disparity leaves many families without necessary supports, exacerbating the developmental, social, and economic challenges faced by individuals with ASD and their families. Addressing this urgent need, our project aims to develop and pilot-test a culturally adapted, economically and geographically accessible intervention and delivery model tailored for Bolivian adolescents and young adults with ASD.

Building on our preliminary successes with young children with ASD in Bolivia, we will conduct a needs assessment with adolescents, young adults, and their caregivers to identify specific social, behavioral, communicative, academic, and mental health-related needs. This data will inform the cultural adaptation of an existing parent-mediated intervention through iterative meetings with Bolivian stakeholders. By leveraging local strengths and culturally relevant adaptations, our project aims to promote sustainable and equitable access to ASD support services for adolescents and young adults, significantly improving the quality of life for individuals with ASD and their families in low-resourced settings.

“Understanding the epidemiology of endemic and emerging diseases in Uganda: a collaborative research initiative comprising the Mbale Emergency Operations Center, World Health Organization-Uganda, and the University of Virginia”​

The epidemiology of diseases in Uganda is dynamic and characterized by a diverse range of health challenges and inequities. Endemic infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis (TB) remain significant contributors to the country's disease burden, with prevalence varying across regions. Additionally, emerging and re-emerging diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, and viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola, Marburg, Rift Valley fever and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, pose continuous threats, requiring vigilance and rapid responses. A comprehensive understanding of the epidemiology of diseases is needed to enhance public health outcomes in Uganda, which is often a bellwether for communicable diseases in East Africa, and indeed, the world.

The Mbale EOC multidisciplinary regional response team /WHO/UVA Research Collaboration is a nascent initiative focused on identifying and ameliorating diseases of local and national importance that threaten public health in Uganda. The collaboration members work together to better understand endemic and emerging diseases by gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data obtained from community-member interviews, health facilities, and the Uganda Ministry of Health District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) national database. For this project, we propose to further the work of the EOC/WHO/UVA Research Collaboration to 1) delineate a comprehensive evaluation of national and district level priority disease prevalence over time, 2) develop advanced predictive spatiotemporal modeling of regional and national malaria outbreaks, and 3) conduct a pilot environmental surveillance study of wastewater to identify priority pathogens in the wastewater of the local community.