As a leading higher education institution focused on addressing regional challenges through cutting-edge scholarship, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced plans to host its fourth annual OneUWI Postgraduate Student Conference from November 18 to 21, 2026. This long-running event is designed to showcase high-impact postgraduate research that targets the most pressing social, economic, environmental and public health issues facing the Caribbean region.
The upcoming 2026 conference will carry the central theme “Advancing Knowledge, Shaping Futures: Research, Innovation, and Impact Across the Caribbean and Beyond.” The announcement of the fourth conference coincides with the university recognizing 14 outstanding postgraduate students whose research presentations were selected as the top entries from the event’s third iteration.
The third annual conference faced scheduling delays, having originally been slated for November 2025 before being postponed to a virtual format held January 20 to 22, 2026. Despite the shift to an online setting, the event drew more than 600 registered participants from across the region and beyond, and featured 51 individual research presentations spanning a diverse array of topic areas critical to Caribbean development: public healthcare, climate change resilience, governance systems, educational access and improvement, and cross-sector sustainable development.
The 14 award-winning presenters, selected based on their work’s originality, academic rigor, and direct alignment with the Caribbean’s core development priorities, recently received their awards, including electronic gift vouchers and other commemorative prizes. The honorees and their research topics span multiple UWI campuses and academic faculties, covering everything from clinical public health to economic policy, climate vulnerability, and cultural education:
– Dr. Li-Shann Paul Mullings, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Mona Campus: *Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Infants with Urinary Tract Infections and Concomitant Cerebrospinal Fluid Pleocytosis: A Single-centre Retrospective Study*
– Dr. Griffin Benjamin Jr., Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cave Hill Campus: *Primary Care Patients Awareness Toward Medicinal Cannabis in Barbados*
– Rhonda Rattansingh, Faculty of Social Sciences, St. Augustine Campus: *The Impact of Uni Sensory and Multi Sensory Semantic Cue Congruence on Online Consumer Product Attitude*
– Dr. Gabrielle Boyce, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cave Hill Campus: *Sociodemographic and Health Characteristics of Elderly People Referred to Public Long Term Health Care Facilities in Barbados*
– Shara Williams Lue, Faculty of Social Sciences, Mona Campus: *Workplace Support for Retirement in Jamaica: A Resource Based Dynamic Perspective*
– Gopiechand Boodhan, Faculty of Social Sciences, St. Augustine Campus: *A Proximity Analysis of Communities at Risk from Landfill Air Pollutants – A Study of the Beetham, Forres Park and Guanapo Landfill Sites*
– René Henry, Faculty of Social Sciences, Global Campus: *An Exploration of Perspectives on Programme Diversification in a Tertiary Institution in Anguilla, 2019–2023*
– Dhanielle Smith, Faculty of Social Sciences, St. Augustine Campus: *A Living Wage for Trinidad and Tobago*
– Dr. Deepak Ramsingh, Faculty of Medical Sciences, St. Augustine Campus: *The Role of Ki 67 in the Prognosis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review*
– Mrs. Cynanie Sawyers Haylett, Faculty of Social Sciences, Mona Campus: *An Investigation of the Learning Organisation and Psycho Socio Cultural Predictors of Institutional Effectiveness in Three Jamaican Higher Education Institutions*
– Mrs. Meera Mahase Forgonie, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, St. Augustine Campus: *Household Dietary Diversity and Associated Socioeconomic Factors: The Case of Three Rural Communities in Southeast Trinidad During COVID 19*
– Mr. Jody Brown, Faculty of Humanities and Education, Mona Campus: *Promoting Nutritional Wellbeing through Indigenous Food Systems in Caribbean Households (Home Economics Focus)*
– Ms. Kendria Ferguson, Faculty of Social Sciences, Mona Campus: *Intersecting Vulnerabilities and Socio-Economic Drivers of Household Impact in Post Hurricane Dorian Bahamas*
– Mr. Noor ud din Mohammed, Faculty of Humanities and Education, St. Augustine Campus: *Translanguaging for Creole Education: A Caribbean Centered Approach*
The January 2026 virtual conference opened with formal remarks from UWI’s Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, and featured guest presentations from an international cohort of experts: Nadine Bushell of Lions Clubs International, Rodolpho Gonçalves da Silva of Brazil’s UNESP, and Indian sustainability entrepreneur Ishaan Sudan. Collectively, their talks centered on resilience, cross-border innovation, youth leadership, and community service as foundational pillars for tackling shared global and regional challenges.
Reflecting on the exceptional quality of research showcased at the third conference, Professor Aldrie Henry-Lee, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research (SGSR), emphasized that the presentations showcased the high caliber of postgraduate work across all UWI campuses, and highlighted the clear, direct applicability of this research to real-world regional challenges. “These presentations demonstrate the exceptional quality of postgraduate research across The UWI and direct application to real-world challenges. They reflect a strong commitment to producing knowledge that matters to the Caribbean,” she noted.
Professor Henry-Lee also extended gratitude to the full network of contributors that made the third conference a success, saying: “SGSR extends sincere appreciation to the Session Chairs, Session Discussants, Directors of Graduate Studies and Research, Postgraduate Student Representatives, Guild representatives, presenters, attendees, and organising team whose collective efforts contributed to the success of the conference.”
Beyond academic programming, the third conference included a hands-on community outreach component held January 23, 2026, in Hanover, Jamaica. Postgraduate students partnered with local organizations to deliver emergency relief assistance to more than 200 families impacted by Hurricane Melissa. Organized in collaboration with the Lions Clubs of Jamaica and the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston, the relief effort underscored UWI’s longstanding commitment to community engagement, and will serve as a pilot program for the proposed UWI Give Back Day, scheduled to coincide with the fourth conference in November 2026.
As the OneUWI Postgraduate Student Conference enters its fourth year, university officials confirm the event has cemented its role as a leading regional platform for early-career researchers to share work with both regional and global audiences. Preparations for the November 2026 conference are already well underway, with organizers anticipating the event will further strengthen postgraduate scholarship and cross-institutional collaboration across all five UWI campuses and their global partner institutions.