Our researchers conduct highly impactful projects and clinical trials that address pressing health challenges across sub-Saharan Africa. Working closely with partners in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Niger, Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, and Mozambique, our trials generate rigorous and locally relevant evidence to improve patient care.
Explore our ongoing projects and clinical trials below to learn more about the research we are currently conducting. To find out more about our completed trials and see how our work is already shaping health policies and saving lives of children across Africa, visit our impact page.
Our trials
SMAART-MAP Trial
Severe malaria remains a major cause of serious illness and death in African children. Even with effective anti-malarial drugs, many children die within the first day of hospital admission. Malaria also often leads to serious complications, including malaria, severe anaemia, and impaired kidney function, that significantly reduce the chances of survival.
The SMAART-MAP trial is a new study designed to improve the care of children hospitalised with severe malaria by testing supportive treatments for each of these three complications. The first patients were enrolled in Kilifi, Kenya, in January 2025, and the trial will expand to seven more sites across six African countries.
By generating high-quality evidence, the SMAART-MAP aims to inform future treatment guidelines and improve the chances of recovery for children with severe malaria.
H-PRIME Trial
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects about 1% of children born in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Without early diagnosis and treatment, between 50% and 90% of those affected die before the age of five. Yet, current treatment guidelines in the region are largely informed by studies from high-income countries, which may not fully reflect the needs and circumstances of African health systems.
The H-PRIME trial is addressing this gap by conducting the largest therapeutic randomised controlled trial ever conducted in children with sickle cell disease. Launched in January 2024, the trial includes 1,800 children across four clinics in Uganda, each receiving one of several treatments designed to reduce early deaths.
The goal of the H-PRIME trial is to generate robust evidence that will inform future sickle cell treatment policies.
Trials - GASTROSAM & COAST-Nutrition
GASTROSAM Trial
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains a major cause of serious illness and death among children in African countries. Current international guidelines recommend oral rehydration and advise against giving fluiding directly into veins (intravenously) for children with SAM, due to concerns about possible heart failure or fluid overload in malnourished children.
The GASTROSAM trial tested this assumption by comparing the safety of three rehydration strategies: standard oral rehydration (the current recommended approach), rapid intravenous (IV) rehydration, and slow IV rehydration. The study involved nearly 300 children hospitalised with SAM (with dehydration caused by diarrhoea) across four African countries.
The study found that intravenous rehydration, whether rapid or slow, was as safe as the standard oral approach in children with SAM, challenging long-held assumptions about the risk of IV rehydration in severely malnourished children. The evidence is now under review and may contribute to future updates of global SAM treatment guidelines.
COAST-Nutrition Trial
To prevent poor long-term outcomes (deaths and readmissions) for children who are hospitalised with severe pneumonia, the WHOs integrated global action recommends the importance of continued feeding but gives no specific recommendations for nutritional support. Early nutritional support is practiced in a wide variety of critically ill patients in order to provide vital cell substrates, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals essential for normal cell function and decreasing hypermetabolism.
The COAST-Nutrition trial aimed to determine whether providing supplementary feeding for eight weeks using Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) in addition to the usual diet could improve recovery in children aged six months and older who did not have severe acute malnutrition. The study compared this approach with standard care (usual diet alone) and involved more than 800 children admitted with severe pneumonia complicated by hypoxia in Uganda and Kenya.
Although the trial did not show improved long-term outcomes for African children recovering from severe pneumonia, COAST-Nutrition has laid important groundwork for future research and clinical trials investigating specialised nutritional interventions designed to meet the metabolic needs of children with severe infection.
General enquiries
Please forward any enquiries about the Centre of African Research and Engagement to:
ICCARE Team
iccare@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7594 8841