Camille Wittesaele, Research Degree student at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has been awarded a competitive research grant from the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy for her work on improving access to healthcare services among children of adolescent mothers.

Camille’s research examines engagement with essential child health services among children of adolescent mothers, including those living with HIV, in South Africa. She is also a Co-Investigator for the HEY BABY study and a young researcher of the UKRI GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub. Her research interests include maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, child health records, well-child services, health services research, childhood vaccination and HIV.

Camille said: “I am thankful to the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy for this award which will support the completion of my doctoral research. Children born to adolescent mothers experience a disproportionate burden of poor outcomes. Improving their engagement in healthcare services is critical to reducing infant mortality and morbidity. Evidence generated through my doctoral research will support policy and programming for adolescent mothers and their children and will increase our prospects of interrupting intergenerational cycles of disadvantage.”

The Horowitz Foundation was established in 1997 and issued its first awards in 1999. Awards are granted for policy-related research in all major areas of the social sciences and are approved solely on merit. 25 scholars were awarded the 2023 Horowitz Foundation awards, out of a total of 559 applicants.

Applications for the 2024 Horowitz Foundation Awards close on 1 December 2023.

Learn more about the Horowitz Foundation.