What We Do

This project includes several subprojects.

Project 1: Socialities of a vaccine trial: Bacteria, Tourists, Local Communities, and Scientists in Benin (BAT)

An experimental international vaccine trial is sending 800 Finns to Benin, West-Africa and the objective of this study is to investigate its conduct.  In reference to literature on clinical trials in low and middle income countries, the project will follow the conduct of the trial and follow its impact on its Finnish participants and the local community in Benin. What happens when a large number of tourists arrive at a quiet, off-the-beaten-path destination? What happens when innovative medical research is conducted in collaboration with a cultural centre? How do existing cultural values and practices inform the encounters between the Finns and the Beninoise?

Project 2:  Occurrence, sources and prevention of antimicrobial resistance in West Africa

Antibiotics have made it possible for people to live longer, healthier lives. Antimicrobial resistance, however, is an increasing problem, especially in low-resource settings. This project will employ a range of methods from microbiology, clinical medicine and sociology to produce new knowledge about how AMR genes spread especially in poor West African regions, in areas where local capacity to address AMR is limited, and identify ways how the spread of AMR could be curbed.

The sociological sub-project will employ participatory and visual methods to work with local communities to understand AMR related practices and generate public knowledge about AMR within the region.