04 Sep African excellence in the spotlight: Young award-winners explain their TB, HIV research

At the 20^th edition of the annual INTEREST conference, Clark Joshua Brianwong and Oratile Mokgethi presented the top oral abstracts. Here they share what the Joep Lange and Charles Boucher awards mean to them.

CLARK JOSHUA BRIANWONG

For the first time in the conference’s history, an early-career researcher won the top prizes at INTEREST back-to-back.

In 2025, Uganda’s Clark Joshua Brianwong took home the Charles Boucher award for the top-scoring oral presentation. A year later, he strode again on stage in his trademark suit and tie, this time to be handed the Joep Lange award.

“To have your work validated at a big conference like this is something that not only motivates us but also helps us to live in the spirit of the founding fathers,” Clark Joshua said off-stage. “Because their work was to encourage early-career researchers to ensure that we continue carrying their mantle.”

The abstract Clark Joshua presented – “Data-driven deployment of an AI mobile CXR van to accelerate TB detection in Eastern Uganda” – built on his 2025 award-winning work.

Though eastern Uganda, where Clark Joshua currently works at the Baylor Foundation Uganda, was fortunate to receive a mobile chest X-ray van, the low yield of tuberculosis cases (1%) frustrated him and his team. Case notification data showed that TB was continuing to spread in communities.

Adding information from electronic medical records and their contact tracing system, the team built a far more comprehensive database to pinpoint TB hotspots with the help of AI.

The result?

After screening 2,400 people, the team achieved an 11% yield – increasing the number of cases identified tenfold. This reduced the cost per case from US$82 to $49.

Polishing publication skills

At the 20^th INTEREST conference, Clark Joshua participated in a continental peer group to help prepare his abstracts for publication in an academic journal.

“I gained a lot of experience about publications: how to write [them] and how to answer questions from reviewers – but also getting insights from different reviewers,” he explains.

Clark Joshua found it helpful to learn about other studies and how peers approach research.

“It shows that Africa has rich information that can help us when donor resources are dwindling. How can we in Africa – as early career researchers, as the continent, as a scientific platform – learn from each other?”

‘Your geography is not your ceiling’

Academically, it’s been a momentous year for Clark, as he also graduated with a master’s degree in public health from Makerere University and recently completed a certificate in AI and machine learning.

This meant less time than usual for his favourite pastimes: hiking and watching rally car races. Still, Clark managed to fit in the thrill of jet skiing on a visit to Zanzibar just after INTEREST concluded.

“I tried to jet ski for the first time, and the feeling was good,” he says, grinning. “That’s how close it could be to a rally.”

In the back of his mind, a doctoral project is brewing.

“But I need to do something that is impactful, something that won’t only stay on paper, but is implementable. This means getting the right supervisor, getting the right question…  and not just getting the right title.”

Announcing his award on LinkedIn, Clark Joshua had written: “To every young African researcher: Your geography is not your ceiling.”

By using the right tools and asking the right mentors to guide them, African researchers can provide homegrown answers, he explains.

“The data is here [in Africa],” Clark Joshua says. “And the questions are also here. But historically, someone else worked with our data, modelled it, and then also came with findings.”

Now researchers like him are rapidly changing this picture, one award-winning study after the other.

Read last year’s interview with Clark Joshua.

 

ORATILE MOKGETHI

Clinical medicine’s loss turned into HIV research’s gain.

Oratile Mokgethi longed to be a doctor. But growing up in a South African township as the child of a single mother, it was difficult to fund this dream.

Instead, Oratile accepted a bursary to study biological sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Twice she applied to switch to medicine via the graduate entry route. Twice she was told no.

“Looking back, I think it’s one of the best things that had happened to me, even though it didn’t feel like it at that time,” she remarks.

Because while Oratile was completing an internship at a clinical research facility, she discovered her real calling.

“I kept asking myself questions like: Is this intervention really working? Who got the placebo? What are the results telling us? And so, I ended up finding out what I had to study to be able to answer these questions.”

Oratile enrolled for an honour’s degree in human biology, followed by a master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics, achieving both with distinction.

“This career path gives me a way to stay close to patients, but from a different angle where I can see the bigger picture,” she lays out.

Designing health systems around people

Oratile works as a researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO) in Johannesburg. For the study that won her INTEREST’s Charles Boucher, she and her team analysed data from South Africa’s largest chronic HIV medicine dispensing program.

Even though prescriptions for antiretroviral treatment were extended from six to twelve months during the global pandemic, the study showed that stable clients maintained their health.

Currently, she and her team are investigating the various ways such differentiated service delivery models can be integrated with other services, such as family planning. And for her doctoral studies, which she embarked on in 2025, Oratile is looking at how HIV care can be integrated with the management of chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

“In many ways, everything I’ve been researching connects,” she says. “It’s all about how we can design health systems that are built around people’s lives.”

‘In the right room’

When Oratile has time to relax, she enjoys mountain biking with her partner, going to music festivals, or tackling a puzzle. The pair also recently took up CrossFit and Hyrox, a combination of fitness and strength training.

Oratile was sadly mid-air when she was announced as award-winner.

“As soon as I landed, I had so many messages of congratulations,” she recalls. “You know, sometimes when you’re in a room full of incredibly accomplished researchers who’ve been doing this work for decades, there’s a part for you that quietly wonders whether you belong there.

“Winning the award was significant for me in a way that went beyond the recognition itself. It was a validation for me, not just of the study, but of the work that my team and I put into the study.

“But more than anything, it’s a signal that I’m in the right room, that I’m asking the right questions – and questions that matter.”

 

ADVICE FOR EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHERS   Clark Joshua Brianwong Submit your idea, however rough it is, to your supervisor. The feedback is what you need to go on building on your idea, Learn an analytical skill or two, not just superficially, but to understand that specific skill well, Find a collaborator who will be genuinely harsh with you. You need to collaborate because you don’t have expertise in every area, When looking at health data, treat it as a business problem and have a business mindset. Oratile Mokgethi Don’t wait until you feel ready Avoid the trap of thinking you must know more, publish more, or be fully ready before seeking opportunities. Submit abstracts, apply for conferences, and put yourself forward even when unsure. The worst outcome is feedback, which is how you grow. Find people invested in your growth Actively connect with other peers in the research area, because research can feel solitary. The best work comes from collaboration. Try to surround yourself with people who challenge you, ask hard questions, and are invested in your growth.