John Ndaferankhande is a Pharmacist in the CORE – Clinical Research Support Unit (CRSU) Department. He is attached to the Pediatric and Child health group under the Phase II-III Empirical Treatment against Cytomegalovirus Tuberculosis in HIV Infected Infants with Severe Pneumonia: A Multicenter, Open-Label Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial (EMPIRICAL). His master’s research project was on “Stability of Valganciclovir subjected to domestic conditions in the EMPIRICAL trial”

He was awarded the CORE Master scholarship to study Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology, a two-year online program with the European Program for Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology, a combination of six Universities (Erasmus University Rotterdam – Netherlands, University of Bordeaux – France, University of Barcelona -Spain, University of Hertfordshire – England and University of Verona – Italy

John has acquired knowledge in Clinical Pharmacology, conducting an appraisal of drug utilization studies, risk-benefit analysis of drugs, and susceptibility to drug adverse reactions. He also gained knowledge of regulatory frameworks regarding the conduct of clinical trials and the usage of pharmaceutical products.

Asked how the scholarship has been beneficial to him, John has this to say, “I have benefitted from the research environment a lot. I was hugely assisted by the research expertise at MLW. The Statistical Support Unit provided me with much support in my research project and the Pediatric and Child Health Group helped me frame the research question and provided funds to conduct the study through EMPIRICAL.

The feeling of achieving the masters is one of elation, excitement, and appreciation. This is something I have wanted to achieve for a long time, and it has finally come. It is a dream come true. I am full of appreciation to MLW for the operations scholarship and to my supervisor Dr. Pui-Ying Iroh Tam who provided unwavering support throughout. I also appreciate Dr. Marc Henrion for drilling me into the statistical side of my project and my line manager, Markus Gmeiner, for supporting me. There are a lot more people I would have mentioned but in general, MLW was a fantastic environment for the realisation of this award”.

We are proud of you, John!