Timothy Makumbi Kabanda

Title : Feasibility of MicroRNAs profiling among Breast Cancer tissues at a sub Saharan University,Teaching Hospital Facility, Uganda.

Abstract:

The incidence of this early onset breast cancer in Uganda has tripled if compared to levels of 1961.Breast cancer in these women is peculiar in its progression and aggressiveness yet hardly an answer has been offered for those characteristics. The ray of hope has emerged through genomic studies of miRNAs in cancer bio-pathologic features. Breast cancer continues to torment and devastate women worldwide. Globally, breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer –related death. among the women population. Cancer of the breast exhibits an unusual aggressive growth pattern among the young population of sub Saharan Africans. Disparities in cancer characteristics are noted between high income and low middle income woman populations. 

Carcinoma of the breast is normally a disease of women who have surpassed the reproductive period. However, a peculiar category occurs before the fifth decade of life, irrespective of ethnic, religious, social status, education nor geographical preponderance, termed early onset breast cancer.

Worldwide, studies in response to cancer risk heterogeneity have unveiled a new concept of Micro RNAs in the development of various cancers. MicroRNAs are tiny short single strands of non-coding RNA comprising 16 – 20 nucleotides in length.  Expression of MicroRNAs often times manifest as excessive or under production hence termed dysregulation or aberrant expression.  MicroRNAs though non protein forming in character (non-coding), possess an essential regulatory role over all protein-producing DNA mediated cellular processes.

There is paucity of knowledge on the prevalent dysregulated MicroRNAs, their impact on disease characteristics and survival of early onset breast cancer in Uganda. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of profiling dysregulated miRNAs and describe the role of these small non coding RNAs in early onset breast cancer pathogenesis, bio-pathologic disease characterization and survival at sub Saharan Africa University Teaching Hospital.

Biography:

Dr. Timothy studied Medicine at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda and graduated as MB ChB in 1998. He practiced Medicine up to 2002 then joined the Makerere University for residence in surgery for which is a Master’s degree of Medicine in Surgery in 2005.He has been involved in a number of research activities at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences, (MakCHS). He has attained an MBA from Sikkim Manipal University of India in 2014, together with a Diploma in Emergency Medicine from the University of Rome, Sapienza in 2009. He is currently a PhD fellow at the same institution. He has supervised over 40 graduate research works and he is also a member of the School of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee of Makerere University, Uganda. He is also a practicing breast and endocrine specialist surgeon at the Makerere Teaching and National referral hospital, Mulago. He has obtained the position of a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Surgery of Makerere University. He has published more than 25 research articles in SCI (E) journals.). He is currently a PhD fellow scrutinizing the role of MicroRNAs in the bio-pathologic characteristics and survival of Early onset breast cancer among Ugandan women at Makerere University, Kampala.