AfOx Fellow
2019
Academic & Researcher
Department of Biological Science
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences/Dar es Salaam University College of Education
Tanzania

Research interests

  • Human genetics and genomics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Microbiology

Dr Siana Watoky Nkya

Research

Hemoglobinopathies are common in Sub Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. Globally, Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is the most common haemoglobinopathy, with over 300,000 babies born with the condition worldwide.Tanzania ranks 5th in countries with the highest SCD birth prevalence.

Increased survival of individuals with SCD can be achieved by early diagnosis by newborn screening (NBS) and comprehensive care. In Africa, no country has succeeded in establishing a sustainable NBS-SCD programme due to, among other things, the cost of screening technologies. DNA based methods are known to be accurate and sensitive and can be used to complement conventional assays. However, DNA methods are traditionally expensive and require a longer turnaround time.

We have developed a relatively low-cost, low maintenance, remote access mobile DNA analysis for infant/early childhood screening for SCD, which will be used to identify haemoglobin mutations from neonates DNA extracted from Dried blood spots (DBS) or peripheral blood. 

AfOx Fellowship

Siana was an AfOx-Collaborative Fellow in 2019.

During her 8 week AfOx fellowship in 2019, Siana was hosted by the Department of Oncology and St Peter's College

Key publications

  • Perspectives on Building Sustainable Newborn Screening Programs for Sickle Cell Disease: Experience from Tanzania: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7010012
  • A qualitative study on aspects of consent for genomic research in communities with low literacy: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-020-00488-0 
  • Influence of gender norms in relation to child’s quality of care: follow-up of families of children with SCD identified through NBS in Tanzania: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-020-00482-4 
  •  F cell numbers are associated with an X‐linked genetic polymorphism and correlate with haematological parameters in patients with sickle cell disease: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.17102 
  • Identifying genetic variants and pathways associated with extreme levels of fetal hemoglobin in sickle cell disease in Tanzania: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12881-020-01059-1