Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 22;16(1):6745.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62102-4.

Beyond the samples: Nigerian research staff perspectives on a multicentre neonatal sepsis study's impact

Chinenye Akpulu  1   2 , Rashida Yakubu  3 , Fatima Tukur  3 , Ashiru H Yusuf  3 , Aisha Kassim  3 , Aisha Mukaddas  3 , Adeola Adeleye  3   4 , Fatima Alkali  3 , Augustine O Maduekwe  5 , Queen Nsude  5 , Vivian Asunugwo  5 , Mary-Joe Okenu  6 , Samuel Yakubu  6 , Lamidi Audu  6 , Mairami Amsa  6 , Fatima Isa Modibbo  6   7 , Kathryn Thomson  8 , Chioma R Achi  8   9 , Kenneth C Iregbu  6 , Timothy R Walsh  8 , Kirsty Sands  8   10
Affiliations

Beyond the samples: Nigerian research staff perspectives on a multicentre neonatal sepsis study's impact

Chinenye Akpulu et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

Drawing on experiences of Nigerian healthcare staff in a multi-centre international study, we describe insights into capacity strengthening, patients’ engagement, and discuss long-term challenges in sustaining outcomes after project funding ends.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: Full ethical approval was sought before BARNARDS began in 2015 to collect the samples and patient data from 2015 to 2017. All research was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. To discuss BARNARDS with Nigerian staff, additional ethics within the University of Oxford was approved in June 2022 (OxTREC 522-22).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Perceived impact of BARNARDS.
Research staff involved in the BARNARDS study reported perceived improvements in hospital infrastructure, enhanced clinical and laboratory capacity, better interdisciplinary collaboration, and increased opportunities for patient edification during enrolment. Created in BioRender. Akpulu, C. (2025) https://BioRender.com/hug34wh.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. A word cloud generated from staff discourse.
Word cloud generated from staff reflections related to research conduct (Source Data file). Terms reflect how participants described team culture and ethical approaches to clinical research delivery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Bank Group. Nigeria Country Profile - Population, total. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2025 (2025). Available from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG.
    1. Federal Government of Nigeria. Second National Strategic Health Development Plan 2018–2022: Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the wellbeing of the Nigerian populace at all ages. Abuja: Federal Ministry of Health; 2018. Available from: https://extranet.who.int/countryplanningcycles/sites/default/files/publi....
    1. National Population Commission & National Bureau of Statistics. Demographic Statistics Bulletin 2022. Abuja: National Bureau of Statistics; 2023. Available from: https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pdfuploads/DEMOGRAPHIC_BULLETIN_2022_FIN....
    1. World Health Organization. Newborn mortality. Geneva: WHO; 2022. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/newborn-mortality.
    1. Ujah, I. A. O. et al. Factors contributing to maternal mortality in North-Central Nigeria: a seventeen-year review. Afr. J. Reprod. Health9, 27 (2005). - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources