Dr. Irene Sumbele joined the MPH Program as a visiting scholar in 2019, coming to Cornell from the conflict zone of Cameroon as an Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) Fellow. Last year, she was named the 2020 Beau Biden Scholar for her work in “pursuing health equity and safeguarding vulnerable populations.”

Sumbele grew up in Cameroon. In 2006, while pursuing a PhD in zoology and parasitology, she established a multidisciplinary malaria research group with funding from the World Health Organization and the government of Cameroon. “I have always been passionate about investigating infectious diseases associated with poverty in the Mount Cameroon region, where about 60% of children are anemic—this is a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa.” She began to decipher the pathobiology of anemia in Cameroon and its association with malaria, malnutrition, and socio-demographic and environmental determinants.

“Cameroon is a microcosm of all of Africa,” Sumbele emphasizes. “It has a diverse geographical landscape, and 240 tribes with different languages.” She wanted to investigate this diversity as it interacts with poverty, infectious disease, and anemia. Although malaria is prevalent in about 30% of the population, the prevalence of anemia is much higher—more than double. Sumbele wanted to find out what else could be contributing to anemia, especially in children.

They looked into soil-transmitted helminths, or parasitic worms, as well as malnutrition. Even with an abundance of food in Cameroon, there is stark food insecurity. Her team began an intervention study, working with communities to educate them in meal preparation and food preservation techniques. “Cultural practices can affect how people eat and the availability of micronutrients,” she says. In the seven years between 2006 and 2013, there was a drastic decline in the prevalence of anemia among those participating in the intervention, and even a decline in malaria.

Another seven years later in 2020, however, anemia in these groups was again on the rise. “It may be the impact of the conflict,” Sumbele considers, and she plans to return to Mount Cameroon this year to further investigate how war might be influencing prevalence of both anemia and malaria.

“These past two years have been a learning phase for me,” she reflects, having been in “purely academic” departments until joining the MPH Program. “I’m seeing firsthand the interface between academia and practice, and I plan to bring the perspective of a professional training program back with me.” Sumbele has always considered every field research project an opportunity to educate impoverished communities, to slow the spread of infectious diseases, and improve their lives. She appreciates the MPH Program’s intentional approach to community engagement, within an institution that has so many resources. “Cornell is very different from where I come from. The western world has a lot to learn from us—with so few resources, we are able to accomplish a lot.”

When they return to Cameroon, Sumbele and her children are looking forward to the food. She reminisces, “There is so much variety and fresh food, and we miss it—you can cook a completely different meal every day of the month.”

Written by Audrey Baker