<p dir="ltr">Characterization of host and viral factors associated with outcomes of Hepatitis B virus infection in African populations </p>

This poster describes my PhD project plan for the next four years at the Francis Crick Institute.

I presented this at the Crick African Network meeting held at the Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit (MRC/UVRI and LSHTM, 7th to 9th May, 2026) in Uganda and at the Line Infection Network Symposium (22nd June, 2026), at the Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Introduction:

240 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B (HBV - PLWCHB), with the World Health Organization African Region (WHO-AFRO) accounting for 68% of new infections. WHO-AFRO is often neglected and underrepresented in studies, resulting in data gap needed to enhance patient care. HBV leads to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)—all influenced by factors such as viral genotype and load, comorbidities and host immune response. My project seeks to explore cohorts in Ghana (ALIVE) and Ethiopia (BEthSeq) to understand the interplay between host and viral interactions that could be driving liver disease progression in PLWCHB.

Method:

My project will analyze clinical metadata of the ALIVE cohort from the Korle-Bu (KB) and Komfo Anokye (KATH) Teaching Hospitals in Ghana, and BethSEq cohort from the St. Paul's Millennium Hospital in Ethiopia. In plasma samples, I will quantify viral markers using qPCR (HBV DNA) and ELISAs (surface and e HBV protein) and sequence HBV to identify drug resistance and HCC-associated mutations. I will confirm the importance of newly found viral SNPs by transfecting hepatoma cell lines with these mutant HBV, assessing their impact on viral replication and drug sensitivity. I will quantify a set of 10 immune proteins in the plasma using the MSD assay and will sequence the HLA locus and carry out a SNP array from PBMCs.

Results:

For ALIVE, out of 95 PLWCHB, 52.6% (50) were males, 94.7% (90) reported to have never smoked, 60.0% (57) reported no alcohol consumption, 17.6% (69) had no hypertension, and more than 80.0% had no diabetes or dyslipidemia. My next step involves comparing these findings with people living with HCC alone or HCC/HBV.

Conclusion:

This project seeks to gain mechanistic insights into HBV and liver disease outcomes using two African cohorts while identifying biomarkers to enhance patient care.