Getting newborn hepatitis B vaccines to more babies in Nigerian communities
Research Project 2
This project uses community-designed ideas to help newborns in Nigeria get the first hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Saint Louis, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11177751 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and other parents in Nigerian communities might be invited to share ideas and vote on messages and delivery plans to make sure newborns get the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. The team will use crowdsourcing to gather community-designed solutions, adapt them using implementation science methods, and pilot the selected approaches at clinics, home births, and other local sites. They will track whether more babies receive the birth dose on time and whether families find the approaches acceptable. The aim is to find locally practical ways to raise timely hepatitis B vaccination for newborns.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Newborns and their mothers or caregivers in the targeted Nigerian communities—including those who deliver at home or at community clinics—are the primary candidates for participation.
Not a fit: People outside the study communities or adults already living with chronic hepatitis B are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this newborn vaccination implementation effort.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could increase timely newborn hepatitis B vaccination and help prevent lifelong HBV infection and future liver cancer.
How similar studies have performed: Crowdsourcing has been used successfully to promote hepatitis testing and community engagement in resource-limited settings, though applying it specifically to birth-dose vaccination is less common.
Where this research is happening
Saint Louis, United States
- Washington University — Saint Louis, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Iwelunmor, Juliet — Washington University
- Study coordinator: Iwelunmor, Juliet
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.