Using data science to map and reduce air pollution harms to children in Sub-Saharan Africa
Official title: Leveraging Data Science Applications to Improve Children's Environmental Health in Sub-Saharan Africa (DICE)
Funded at University of Cape Coast · NIH-11177012 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses data science and local air monitoring to show how air pollution and neighborhood factors affect children's health across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Cape Coast NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cape Coast, Ghana) |
| Project start | September 12, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $244,643 |
| NIH project number | 5U01ES036147-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11177012 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children and adolescents living in Sub-Saharan Africa—particularly in areas of Ghana and Uganda with high air pollution—are the main population who could benefit from this research.
✕Less likely to help
People who live outside Sub-Saharan Africa or whose health problems are unrelated to air pollution exposure are unlikely to directly benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If my child lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, this project will map where fine particle (PM2.5) pollution is highest and how it links to childhood respiratory illness. The team will combine land use models, high-resolution ground monitors, and mobile monitoring in places including Ghana and Uganda to estimate exposure over time. They will look at neighborhood greenness and nutrition as factors that might change how pollution affects kids and will study household and regional drivers of risk. The goal is to create maps and profiles that can help target interventions where children are most harmed.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could pinpoint high-risk areas and factors so policymakers and health programs can better target actions to reduce pollution exposure and childhood respiratory illness.
How similar studies have gone: Land use regression and high-resolution exposure mapping have linked air pollution to health in other regions, but combining mobile monitoring with nutrition and greenness data across SSA is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
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University of Cape Coast
Cape Coast, Ghana Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Amegah, Adeladza Kofi — University of Cape Coast
- Study coordinator: Amegah, Adeladza Kofi
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.