Vaginal Microbiome Research Consortium for Africa: study protocol of a multicentre prospective clinical study to evaluate temporal vaginal microbial composition associated with maintenance of reproductive health in women in South Africa and Kenya
The VMRC4Africa study has been granted ethical approval by the Human Research Ethics Committees in South Africa (UCT HREC: 611/2022) and Kenya (KEMRI Scientific and Ethics Review Unit: SERU No. 4569). Deidentified microbial community compositional data will be made available on public databases. Results of the study will be published in peer-reviewed journals.
Authors
- Brian Kullin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5460-1977)
- Anna‐Ursula Happel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3658-8638)
- Shantelle Claassen-Weitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2175-3776)
- Elizabeth A. Bukusi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2031-2808)
- Linda‐Gail Bekker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0755-4386)
- Jo-Ann Shelley Passmore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1471-4245)
- Hannah Livingstone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4804-7425)
- Jacques Ravel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0851-2233)
- Pauline Wekesa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9706-3979)
- Heather B. Jaspan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0745-6073)
- Tanya Pidwell
- Nicola Mulder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4905-0941)
- James Ochieng
- Serah Gitome (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3371-4213)
- Rezeen Daniels
- Rhoda Otieno
- Lisa Bilski
- Karabo Mahlangu
- Anika Chicken (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6166-6269)
- Kirsten Welp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0839-8597)
- Katherine Gill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3372-9506)
- Charles R. Swanepoel
- Michael Lefevre
- Michael S. Humphrys
- Lydia Awili
- Winnie Agolla
- Amos Mutharimi
- Yacoeb Ganief
- Pride Kanyoka
- Anda Madikida
Institutions
- Human Genome Sciences (United States) (US)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation (ZA)
- University of Washington (US)
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (ZA)
- Kenya Medical Research Institute (KE)
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (ZA)
- Cape Town Science Centre (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMJ Open
- Published
- 2025-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090938
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Reproductive tract infections research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.18
Funders
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Virginia Marine Resources Commission