AMBER Initiative · Africa and LMICs
B-cell science in the places where immune resilience is hardest won
The AMBER Initiative, for AntiMicrobial B-cell Exploratory Research, is an international research initiative founded and scientifically led by Dr. Ramapraba Appanna and hosted by Mildmay Research Centre Uganda. It advances B-cell immunology, antibody science and host-microbiome research to investigate infectious and non-communicable diseases, with particular emphasis on maternal and child health.
The science
Why B-cells, and why here
B-cells and the antibodies they produce sit at the centre of how the body remembers and resists infection. AMBER investigates that machinery directly, alongside the host-microbiome interactions that shape it, across both infectious and non-communicable disease.
The emphasis on maternal and child health is deliberate. Immune development in pregnancy and early life sets the terms for a great deal of what follows, and it is precisely where evidence from low- and middle-income settings is thinnest.
AMBER Global Health
Immunity is not only biological
AMBER's global health research programmes examine how poverty, nutritional deficiencies, climate vulnerability and environmental exposures influence immune resilience and disease susceptibility.
Poverty
How sustained material deprivation shapes immune resilience and the capacity to resist and recover from infection.
Nutrition
The effect of nutritional deficiencies on immune development and on susceptibility to disease.
Climate vulnerability
How climate pressure on communities translates into measurable pressure on immune health.
Environmental exposure
The role of environmental exposures in shaping disease susceptibility across the life course.
Collaboration
Working across four regions
AMBER collaborates across Africa, other low- and middle-income countries, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
Advance discovery
Generate scientific understanding of B-cell immunology, antibody responses and host-microbiome interactions in the settings where that evidence is scarcest.
Strengthen capacity
Build research capability within the institutions and communities taking part, rather than extracting samples and questions from them.
Reduce health inequities
Direct the science towards the health inequities carried by communities living in poverty.
Scientific leadership
Founded and led by Dr. Ramapraba Appanna
Dr. Appanna is an immunologist at Mildmay Research Centre Uganda and the founder and scientific lead of the AMBER Initiative. She set the initiative's direction across B-cell immunology, antibody science and host-microbiome research, and leads its collaborations across Africa, other low- and middle-income countries, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
Work with AMBER
Bring a question in B-cell or microbiome science
AMBER welcomes collaboration from research partners across Africa, other low- and middle-income countries, Europe and North America.
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