TruScreen Partners with LSUTH on Gates Foundation Grant Application to Advance Cervical Cancer Screening in Nigeria
Truscreen Group Limited (NZX/ASX: TRU) (TruScreen or Company) is pleased to announce its collaboration with Nigeria’s Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) for a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) grant application focused on cost-disruptive cervical cancer screening in Nigeria.
The application targets the Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges: Innovations in Cost-Disruptive Tools for Diagnosis and Screening (OPP12345) programme. Dr. Ayokunle Moses Olumodeji, Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist at LASUTH, selected TruScreen’s AI enabled cervical cancer screening medical device as the cornerstone of his proposed study.
Dr. Olumodeji is the lead investigator for several global health initiatives, including the Gates Foundation–funded AZIN-V Trial and the Grand Challenges Canada CATCH Study, and has previously served as a site investigator for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada.
About the proposed study
The study aims to identify a cost-effective, easily implemented solution for cervical cancer screening in Nigeria, a country where laboratory infrastructure and trained cytology personnel are limited. Nigeria has the highest number of cervical cancer cases in Africa, reporting 14,089 new cases and 8,240 reported deaths in 2022 (WHO).
Dr. Olumodeji’s proposal, centers on the validation of a same-visit “Screen-and-Treat” model that pairs the TruScreen AI-enabled screening medical device with thermal ablation treatment in decentralised rural clinics.
• Funding requested from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: US$300,000
• Duration: Two years from award.
• Cohort: 500 to 1,500 women, dependent on funding
• Application lodged: 28 April 2026.
• Grant decision: Results expected within six months of submission.
Why TruScreen was selected
Dr. Olumodeji selected TruScreen given its ability to perform in low-resource settings: does not require laboratory facilities or specialist personnel, simple to train and operate, fully portable, delivers real-time results at the point of care. These characteristics align directly with the Gates Foundation’s requirement for cost-disruptive, software-defined diagnostics that can be deployed at scale.
Strategic significance
LASUTH works closely with the Nigerian government and serves as an advisor on public health policy, positioning the proposed study to influence national screening guidelines beyond the trial itself. A successful grant award would generate the first West African validation dataset for TruScreen and lay the groundwork for the medical device to be adopted as the standard-of-care for same-visit cervical cancer screening and treatment in Nigeria.
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital is the leading tertiary referral centre in Nigeria and the clinical arm of the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM). The hospital’s Gynaecological Oncology Unit conducts clinical research and policy advisory work in partnership with the Nigerian government and international funders.
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