CEE Associate Professor Amy Pickering has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health titled "Multi-component chlorination intervention to reduce neonatal infections in rural health facilities." Maternal and neonatal mortality remains high in sub-Saharan Africa, and infections are a leading cause of death.
Poor water quality and highly contaminated surfaces in healthcare facility maternity wards are known to increase gut colonization with bacterial pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This $3.5 million award will support a research study in rural Kenya evaluating a novel chlorination intervention in healthcare facilities to reduce colonization of mothers and neonates with sepsis-associated bacteria and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
The study will involve postdoctoral scholar Dr. Yoshika Crider and PhD students Joyce Kisiangani and Jeremy Lowe. It leverages the development of a novel chlorine doser developed by Associate Professor Pickering and her team that will be manufactured and sold in Kenya.