Ms. Jupiter Marina Kabahita
“I also like the fact that now I have collaborations in different African countries.“
Ms. Jupiter Marina Kabahita, Bioinformatician at the Uganda National Health Laboratory Services, Uganda, reflected on the network she has built throughout the fellowship during the closing week of the AU-EU Health Partnership – a programme designed to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever.
After visiting all the hosting institutions, Marina concluded that the programme offered a rare opportunity to form strong bonds with African colleagues. The fellows spent extensive time together, learning about each other’s work, sharing challenges, and exploring how they could support one another’s research regardless of their individual project concepts. Through this network, she has learned techniques she can apply to other diseases in Uganda beyond mpox, and she is already working with African colleagues on the idea of developing a joint grant application.
Marina also reflected on the gaps in infrastructure and leadership that continue to shape how knowledge gained is applied at home. In Europe, she observed, project conceptualisation is deeply tied to societal impact. Researchers are not only conducting research, publishing articles but are thinking about how their research can have a tangible impact on peoples’ lives. “I think back home we need to start asking those same questions,” she said.
For her, this shift is fundamentally about mindset. African researchers, she argued, must begin to approach their work with translational intent. She imagined a scenario in which a research student is encouraged by their professor to pursue innovative ideas and translate their findings into something tangible that benefits society, a spark that could inspire others to do the same.
When asked what she would choose if she had a choice between publishing articles or protecting the intellectual property of her findings and translating it into something palpable, Marina paused. At this stage of her career, she explained, publishing remains essential for establishing herself within her research field and progressing toward a professorship. Although the fellowship has motivated her to explore translational research more intentionally and to consider how her work could eventually reach the market.
Discussing her work on Mpox and Uganda’s response to the outbreak, Marina underscored the importance of collective action. “You cannot fight an outbreak alone or as an institution. It’s a collaborative effort.” She proudly shared how Uganda’s investment in building its capacity during the mpox epidemic has transformed the country’s approach to investigating and understanding outbreaks. With support from Africa CDC and the Ugandan government, genomic sequencing for mpox is now being conducted at the Uganda National Health Laboratory Services (UNHLS) — a public health laboratory — rather than a research institution or university. “That really changes how we fight outbreaks and how we actually understand them,” she said.
| Meet Jupiter Ms. Kabahita is a bioinformatician and pathogen-genomics specialist. She applies computational approaches to analyse genomic data from pathogens of public health importance, and her work in next-generation sequencing and phylogenetics supports capacity building, transmission mapping and outbreak detection. Research focus: Proteome conservation analysis to identify Mpox specific vaccine targets Host institutions – University of Ghana – Supervisor: Prof. Gordon Awandare – Radboud University – Supervisors: Prof. Benjamin Mordmüller, Prof. Marien De Jonge & Prof. Quirijn de Mast – Pompeu Fabra University – Supervisor: Prof. Andreas Meyerhans – University of Bern – Supervisor: Prof. Carmen Faso |
“I also like the fact that now I have collaborations in different African countries.“
Ms. Jupiter Marina Kabahita, Bioinformatician at the Uganda National Health Laboratory Services, Uganda, reflected on the network she has built throughout the fellowship during the closing week of the AU-EU Health Partnership – a programme designed to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever.
After visiting all the hosting institutions, Marina concluded that the programme offered a rare opportunity to form strong bonds with African colleagues. The fellows spent extensive time together, learning about each other’s work, sharing challenges, and exploring how they could support one another’s research regardless of their individual project concepts. Through this network, she has learned techniques she can apply to other diseases in Uganda beyond mpox, and she is already working with African colleagues on the idea of developing a joint grant application.
Marina also reflected on the gaps in infrastructure and leadership that continue to shape how knowledge gained is applied at home. In Europe, she observed, project conceptualisation is deeply tied to societal impact. Researchers are not only conducting research, publishing articles but are thinking about how their research can have a tangible impact on peoples’ lives. “I think back home we need to start asking those same questions,” she said.
For her, this shift is fundamentally about mindset. African researchers, she argued, must begin to approach their work with translational intent. She imagined a scenario in which a research student is encouraged by their professor to pursue innovative ideas and translate their findings into something tangible that benefits society, a spark that could inspire others to do the same.
When asked what she would choose if she had a choice between publishing articles or protecting the intellectual property of her findings and translating it into something palpable, Marina paused. At this stage of her career, she explained, publishing remains essential for establishing herself within her research field and progressing toward a professorship. Although the fellowship has motivated her to explore translational research more intentionally and to consider how her work could eventually reach the market.
Discussing her work on Mpox and Uganda’s response to the outbreak, Marina underscored the importance of collective action. “You cannot fight an outbreak alone or as an institution. It’s a collaborative effort.” She proudly shared how Uganda’s investment in building its capacity during the mpox epidemic has transformed the country’s approach to investigating and understanding outbreaks. With support from Africa CDC and the Ugandan government, genomic sequencing for mpox is now being conducted at the Uganda National Health Laboratory Services (UNHLS) — a public health laboratory — rather than a research institution or university. “That really changes how we fight outbreaks and how we actually understand them,” she said.
| Meet Jupiter Ms. Kabahita is a bioinformatician and pathogen-genomics specialist. She applies computational approaches to analyse genomic data from pathogens of public health importance, and her work in next-generation sequencing and phylogenetics supports capacity building, transmission mapping and outbreak detection. Research focus: Proteome conservation analysis to identify Mpox specific vaccine targets Host institutions – University of Ghana – Supervisor: Prof. Gordon Awandare – Radboud University – Supervisors: Prof. Benjamin Mordmüller, Prof. Marien De Jonge & Prof. Quirijn de Mast – Pompeu Fabra University – Supervisor: Prof. Andreas Meyerhans – University of Bern – Supervisor: Prof. Carmen Faso |
