Our Work Together
The U.S. National Cancer Institute was the lead scientific institution behind one of SHED's most significant international research collaborations: the Epidemiology of Burkitt Lymphoma in East African Children and Minors, known as EMBLEM. SHED served as a central Tanzanian implementation institution for this multinational research program, with SHED Medical Director Dr. Esther Kawira serving as Principal Investigator for Tanzania. The study connected researchers and clinical institutions across Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and the United States in a rigorous investigation of the environmental, infectious and biological factors associated with childhood Burkitt lymphoma.
Key Projects or Contributions
SHED's role went far beyond providing a study address. International epidemiologic research required ethical and regulatory coordination, trained personnel, standardized procedures, reliable case identification, communication with hospitals and health facilities, field travel, laboratory handling, data systems, financial administration and consistent implementation across a wide geographic area. SHED staff helped coordinate field operations, study administration, case-finding networks, logistics and relationships with participating health institutions.
Why the Partnership Mattered
The NCI relationship shows that a rural Tanzanian organization can operate within a highly structured international research program, meet the demands of outside investigators and research governance, and at the same time use its local relationships to reach hospitals, clinicians and communities that a distant research institution could not manage on its own.
