The PROTEA team visits Namibia

Members of the Partnerships for Children with Heart Disease in Africa (PROTEA) group were hosted by Dr Fenny Shidhika, at Windhoek Central Hospital in Namibia from 11-14 April 2022.

The programme included lectures by Prof John Lawrenson, Head of the Paediatric Cardiology Service of the Western Cape, on cyanotic congenital heart disease, management of complex cases, and cardiovascular haemodynamics, while Drs Thomas Aldersley and Timothy Spracklen gave updates on the PROTEA study’s clinical and genetic findings. PROTEA group leader and Children’s Heart Disease Research Unit director, Prof Liesl Zühlke, gave a televised address at the start of the meeting.

Windhoek Central Hospital has been an active recruitment centre for PROTEA since last year (2021). The team got the opportunity to attend cardiac ICU rounds and outpatient clinics, and train hospital staff on the PROTEA database. They also toured the Namibian Institute of Pathology (NIP) where DNA samples for the first 50 Namibian PROTEA participants have been extracted and stored. Engagement with NIP and hospital staff provided useful feedback on their experiences working on the PROTEA study and further avenues for strengthening the partnership between our institutions.

Above: Dr Nathalia Endjala (NIP) extracting DNA for the PROTEA study.