Uganda has made notable progress in increasing coverage of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) services over the past two decades, but overall progress remains uneven due to inadequate investment and funding for health, fragmented and disorganized healthcare systems, gaps in evidence-based policy, and weaknesses in policy implementation.
In an effort to catalyze policy improvement in Africa, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada and the Malaysia-based United Nations University International Institute of Global Health (UNU-IIGH) have agreed to co-fund a program of work aimed at promoting Maternal, Newborn, Sexual and Reproductive Health (MNSRH) policy improvement and development in five African countries, including Uganda.
On Wednesday 18th January 2023, a partner engagement meeting was held in Kampala to conduct a situational analysis of the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) services in Uganda and discuss challenges in policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Charles Ibingira highlighted the challenges in policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation in RMNCAH services.
“Our targeted outputs are; updated/improved versions of existing policies, or new policies, an improved MNSRH research-policy-practice system (including better coordination and communication between commissioners, producers, and users of research), case studies of catalyzing policy improvement in Africa – CPIA model, and two structured courses for a cohort of young professionals in policy analysis and implementation research,” Prof. Ibingira highlighted.
Prof. Charles Ibingira, the team lead on the project takes notes during the RMNCAH partner’s engagement.
The session was moderated by Professor Elizeus Rutebemberwa, the Deputy Dean, School of Public Health assisted by Dr. Josaphat Byamugisha, of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Director, Makerere University Health Services with assistance from Professor Lynn Atuyambe.
Professor Elizeus Rutebemberwa, the Deputy Dean, School of Public Health moderates the session.
According to Dr. Sarah Byakika, the Commissioner Health Services Planning, Financing, and Policy at the Ministry of Health, there is a need to evaluate program indicators on a regular basis.
“The challenge is that when it comes to monitoring and evaluation, and following up on why we are not achieving targets, there is a big gap. We produce annual sector performance reports but don’t give time to reviewing this performance. People always just go back home and wait for the next report,” remarked Byakika.
Further adding; “We are good at designing policies but are struggling when it comes to learning from them.”
Dr. Sarah Byakika, the Commissioner Health Services Planning, Financing, and Policy at the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Moses Walakira, the family planning program specialist at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) decried the absence of a joint multi-sectoral action plan when it comes to addressing RMNCAH issues.
“How do we work collaboratively to address structural barriers? Who are the gatekeepers? And how do we target them together? Harmonization of perspectives and commitments at different levels is so important, otherwise, we shall remain fragmented in our policy implementation,” said Dr. Walakira.
Dr. Moses Walakira, the family planning programme specialist at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Ms. Friday Madinah, a Senior Youth Officer from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, advises that when dealing with issues related to young people, women, children, and people with disabilities, the Ministry of Health should involve the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, as they also have the necessary linkages and structures to assist in implementing these policies.
Ms. Friday Madinah, a Senior Youth Officer from the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development speaking at the event.
“When issues of young people, women, children and even those of people with disabilities are being handled, it is mostly the Ministry of Health taking charge yet we at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development also have the linkages and structures to help in implementing these policies. Please bring us on board, and make use of our competencies in these areas,” says Madinah.
Dr. Olive Sentumbwe, Family Health, and Population Adviser, at the World Health Organization (WHO), also underscores the need for a platform for the RMNCAH team to utilize in discussions with the other key players in regard to the kind of support they can provide.
Dr. Olive Sentumbwe, Family Health and Population Adviser, at the World Health Organization (WHO) speaks at the partners engagement.
“The platform is crucial when it comes to accountability; following up/asking other sectors, and Ministries whether our policies and action points are being implemented. We also need different platforms at the different levels of government so there is an understanding of policies and their implementation processes by the different beneficiaries,” she said.
According to Dr. Jessica Nsungwa, the Commissioner for Maternal and Child Health at the Ministry of Health of Uganda, accountability ought to be mutual in order for policies to be successful.
“Government should be accountable to its people, but the people also need to be accountable to the government. For example, we bought a bunch of COVID-19 vaccines using government money but people refused to come for them and some of those doses ended up expiring,” Dr. Nsungwa attests.
Dr. Jessica Nsungwa, the Commissioner for Maternal and Child Health at the Ministry of Health of Uganda.
The Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng reported in June 2022 that 2.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine expired due to a lack of interest and misinformation. This highlights the need to improve cooperation and coordination between the public, private sectors, and community to improve access to maternal, newborn, sexual, and reproductive health.
Participants holding a discussion at the RMNCAH partners’ engagement meeting.
Hon. Dr. Bhoka Didi George, a public health specialist, area MP for Obongi County in Obongi District, and a member of the Committee on Health in Parliament reminded the team that the current public health law in Uganda is obsolete, dating back to the 1930s.
“From a legal and regulatory framework point of view, there is a lot of room for improvement. What we have is a national policy, not a law. Therefore, we cannot hold the government accountable in case they fail to deliver on Maternal, Newborn, Sexual, and Reproductive Health for example. We need an enabling legal and regulatory framework,” Hon. Dr. Bhoka.
Hon. Dr. Bhoka Didi George, a public health specialist, area MP for Obongi County in Obongi District, and a member of the Committee on Health in Parliament.
Dr. Richard Mugahi Adyeeri, the Assistant Commissioner Ministry of Health in charge of Reproductive Health advises the localization of policies to suit Uganda’s population needs at the implementation of RMNCAH services.
“One district with five million people, but only one DHO [District Health Officer] can’t have the same issues as a district with only 60,000 people for example. Let us have policies that are not only culturally, but also socially sound,” Dr. Mugahi said.
Dr. Richard Mugahi Adyeeri, the Assistant Commissioner Ministry of Health in charge of Reproductive Health.
Prof. Ibingira stresses that the engagement was quite central to the responsibility of individual stakeholders, which is proper service delivery for the health improvement of Ugandans.
“You have given us a lot of information on the issues we are tasked with, regarding policy formulation and implementation. We are now going to do the analysis by looking at the different existing policies so we can come up with strategies instrumental to accelerating policy improvement. We hope a lot is going to change, and that other countries will learn from us. Thank you very much,” Prof. Ibingira.
The CPIA partnership operates in five countries and is coordinated by the UNU-IIGH, which leads to the conceptualization and evaluation of the program’s model. Makerere University leads the implementation of the CPIA model and operational plan in Uganda, and the project aims to benefit staff and students through visiting fellowships, internships, and Ph.D. research opportunities.
Kampala — On Saturday, a car park on the campus of Makerere University in Kampala became the stage for a continental emergency response. Delegates, dignitaries and diplomats gathered in the tent outside the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), a research institute owned by the university, for the formal launch of the Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST), a joint Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) operation racing to contain the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola sweeping through the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, increasingly, Uganda. After the ribbon-cutting, guests were led inside to tour the team’s new home at IDI’s McKinnell Knowledge Centre, where the command offices have now been set up.
Dr Chris Baryomunsi joins delegates for a group photograph at the IMST launch, Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University.
The numbers explain the urgency. As of 21 June, more than 1,000 confirmed cases and 269 deaths had been recorded across the two countries, the vast majority in Ituri Province in eastern DRC. Uganda’s tally stood at 20 cases and two deaths, almost all traced to cross-border movement from the DRC. Eighty-two health workers have been infected, 18 fatally, a toll that helped push the WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May, mirrored days later by Africa CDC’s own continental emergency declaration.
Prof Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration at Makerere University, with the acting US Ambassador to Uganda and Prof Samuel Luboga, IDI board chair, at the IMST launch.
Until now, the international response has been coordinated remotely, a patchwork of video calls and scattered logistics that officials admit slowed decision-making. The Kampala launch marks a shift from that fragmented model to a single, physically co-located command centre housed at IDI’s McKinnell Knowledge Centre, bringing case management, surveillance, logistics and risk communication specialists under one roof. From there, the convoy of delegates moved on to Kajjansi, on the outskirts of Entebbe, for the formal activation of the IMST’s regional logistics hub, the facility tasked with staging and rapidly deploying protective equipment and medical supplies across the outbreak zone.
Dr Chris Baryomunsi inspects the newly activated IMST logistics hub at Kajjansi, near Entebbe.
For Uganda’s health minister, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the symbolism was as important as the logistics. Speaking at the launch, he argued that no nation can consider itself protected until its neighbours are equally prepared, framing cross-border solidarity as an operational necessity rather than an aspiration. He also announced a new memorandum of understanding with the DRC establishing joint Ebola treatment centres and laboratory services in the border towns of Aru and Kasenyi, warning that outbreak response cannot succeed while transmission continues unchecked on one side of a shared frontier.
Dr Chris Baryomunsi speaks as the guest of honour at the launch of the Continental Incident Management Support Team, Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University.
The WHO’s regional emergency director, Dr Marie-Roseline Belizaire, described the unified command structure as transformative, saying it would pool resources across agencies, cut duplication and keep field decisions anchored to scientific evidence. Africa CDC’s Dr Tolbert Nyenswah confirmed the team, specialists in case management, infection prevention, logistics and contact tracing, has now relocated physically to Kampala to work closer to the epicentre. Eleven epidemic-prone African nations, including Rwanda, Burundi, Angola and the Central African Republic, are participating in the preparedness effort even though most have not registered a single case.
Dr Marie-Roseline Belizaire, WHO AFRO’s regional emergency director, speaks at the launch of the Continental Incident Management Support Team in Kampala.
For IDI and Makerere University, hosting the command centre carries weight beyond the immediate crisis. IDI’s executive director, Dr Andrew Kambugu, said the institute had provided a fully equipped space, now installed at the McKinnell Knowledge Centre, enabling real-time communication between field teams, regional governments and international partners in Geneva, and framed the moment as proof that academic institutions can engage directly with pressing societal problems rather than observe from the sidelines.
Dr Andrew Kambugu delivers welcome remarks at the launch of the Continental Incident Management Support Team, Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University.
That framing matters for a continent whose research infrastructure has often been treated as peripheral to its own health emergencies. By anchoring the IMST’s command function within a Ugandan public university rather than in a foreign capital, the launch signals a modest but symbolic rebalancing: an African-led institution taking custody of an African-led response. The day’s itinerary made the point physically as well as symbolically: from the ribbon-cutting in Makerere’s car park, to the tour of the new command offices, to the drive out to Kajjansi to switch on the logistics hub, delegates traced the full chain of the response they had just committed to running.
Dr Chris Baryomunsi poses with the IMST logistics hub team at Kajjansi, following the hub’s formal activation.
Fred Ouma is the Corporate Communications Specialist, Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI).
Every 4 July, the United States marks its independence. This year’s commemoration carries added significance as the country celebrates 250 years, offering partners across the world a moment to reflect on relationships built through shared purpose, investment and trust.
For Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH), that reflection leads to a long and productive partnership with the people and Government of the United States, spanning more than 35 years. Through U.S. Government agencies and programmes, the collaboration has supported MakSPH’s growth from a national public health training institution into a regional platform for evidence, leadership, health systems strengthening and public health preparedness.
Today, MakSPH stands at a defining point in its institutional journey. Tracing its roots to the introduction of preventive medicine in Makerere University’s then Faculty of Medicine in 1954, the School has grown into a leading public health institution in Africa, training more than 1,000 students across 12-degree programmes, working through district field training sites, contributing to national technical committees, and implementing research and capacity-building work across Uganda and more than 35 African countries.
Hon. Margaret Muhanga, then State Minister for Primary Health Care and Chief Guest, joins Makerere University leaders and partners in cutting the MakSPH@70 anniversary cake during the School’s 70th anniversary celebrations in December 2024.
Its work spans infectious diseases, maternal and child health, noncommunicable diseases, climate and health, digital health, injury prevention, universal health coverage and epidemic preparedness. While grounded in close collaboration with the Government of Uganda, especially the Ministry of Health, this reach has also been shaped by long-standing U.S. Government support. Reflecting on this shared history, MakSPH Dean Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze said the partnership has made a lasting contribution to public health capacity.
“For more than three decades, MakSPH has been privileged to work in strong partnership with the people and Government of the United States. We are grateful for this collaboration, which has made a major contribution to advancing public health training, research and practice in Uganda and across Africa. From the Master of Public Health programme to fellowships, enhanced surveillance, operational research, HIV and infectious disease work, regional networks, innovation, and programmes such as METS, this partnership has helped build the people, evidence and systems that support public health action,” Prof. Wanyenze said.
MakSPH Dean Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze speaks during the UPHIA 2025 launch in Kampala, highlighting MakSPH’s contribution to Uganda’s public health response through research, evidence and technical guidance.
Training Leaders for Uganda’s Health System
In 1994, as Uganda decentralised its administration and public services, the Institute of Public Health, now Makerere University School of Public Health, established the Master of Public Health (MPH) Full-Time programme in response to a clear workforce need for public health leaders who could manage district health systems, investigate outbreaks, conduct needs assessments and respond to emerging health challenges.
Prof. David Serwadda, Professor Emeritus at Makerere University and former Dean of MakSPH, recalls the programme was designed to fill a critical district-level leadership gap. “After a very strong needs assessment by Makerere University and the Ministry of Health, it was found that we needed to train a specific cadre of public health leaders for the districts,” he said. “We needed people with good management skills, people who could investigate an epidemic, do a needs assessment and respond to health challenges.”
Prof. David Serwadda speaks during a departmental retreat in Jinja in June 2026. He served as Director of the Makerere Institute of Public Health from 2003 to 2007 and as the first Dean of MakSPH from 2007 to 2009.
Established as a two-year programme, the MPH Full-Time was based on the Public Health Schools Without Walls model and became one of the earliest community-based public health graduate programmes in Africa. Developed through joint commitment by the Institute of Public Health, the Ministry of Health and the Rockefeller Foundation, and with technical support from the U.S. CDC, the programme placed students at district field sites to learn through apprenticeship while working on real public health problems. Other partners, including WHO and UNFPA, later provided scholarship support.
Three decades later, the MPH Full-Time programme remains one of MakSPH’s flagship contributions to Uganda and the region’s public health workforce. It has trained more than 1,000 public health professionals for leadership across districts, Ministry programmes, research, teaching, implementation and technical advisory work. Many graduates have gone on to serve as District Health Officers, commissioners, programme leaders, researchers, lecturers and public health specialists, strengthening Uganda’s health system leadership.
Fellowships That Strengthened Public Health Response
In 2002, MakSPH hosted the first direct cooperative agreement between Makerere University and the U.S. CDC, formalising the workforce development arm of the partnership. Under the Leadership and Investment in Fighting Epidemics (LIFE) initiative, the agreement launched the HIV/AIDS Fellowship Programme, which trained leaders for organisations working in HIV and AIDS. By 2014, the programme had produced more than 100 long-term fellows, more than 200 medium-term fellows, and over 3,000 short-course participants.
Graduates pose with then U.S. Ambassador to Uganda H.E. William W. Popp during the 10th graduation of Advanced Field Epidemiology Fellows and the 2nd graduation of Laboratory Leadership Fellows under the Uganda Public Health Fellowship Programme in January 2026.
The fellowship platform later transitioned into the Uganda Public Health Fellowship Programme and, through subsequent cooperative agreements in 2016 and 2021, expanded into the broader Public Health Workforce Development Programme. Led by the Ministry of Health through the Uganda National Institute of Public Health, and implemented with the U.S. CDC, districts and MakSPH, the programme now supports advanced field epidemiology, Frontline and Intermediate Field Epidemiology Training, and laboratory leadership.
Fellows are embedded within the Ministry of Health, districts and public health institutions, strengthening surveillance, outbreak investigation, HIV/TB programming, quality improvement, laboratory systems and health informatics. The Field Epidemiology Track has supported an average of about 37 active fellows, including 39 in 2024/2025. That year, fellows provided technical assistance to the Ministry and conducted 84 epidemiological studies and investigations, including work linked to Uganda’s Mpox response.
HIV Evidence That Changed Policy and Practice
UPHIA 2025 laboratory technicians undergo pre-deployment training at MakSPH, delivered with Uganda National Health Laboratory Services, ahead of field data collection on HIV and related health indicators across Uganda.
Uganda’s HIV crisis in the 1980s became one of the earliest tests of MakSPH’s public health mission. The wasting illness, then known as “Slim”, was reported in Rakai in the early 1980s and later identified as HIV/AIDS. Researchers at the Institute of Public Health, now MakSPH, helped advance understanding of the epidemic, with Prof. David Serwadda among the earliest physicians in Uganda to recognise and describe the disease.
That work grew into the Rakai Health Sciences Programme, established in 1989 through collaboration involving Makerere University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and partners. Over the decades, Rakai became a platform for research, surveillance, service delivery and training in communities deeply affected by HIV.
One landmark contribution showed that safe medical male circumcision reduced female-to-male HIV acquisition by about 60 per cent, helping inform HIV prevention policy in Uganda and globally. PEPFAR support also helped expand treatment in Rakai, where surveillance documented reduced mortality, lower HIV incidence, reduced orphanhood and improved community productivity.
The search for stronger prevention tools continued through MakSPH researchers, including Prof. Noah Kiwanuka, whose work in rural and fishing communities highlighted the need for better options for adolescent girls and young women. From 2022 to 2024, MakSPH managed the Makerere-Kalangala study site with UVRI-IAVI for the Gilead Sciences-led PURPOSE 1 trial, with Prof. Kiwanuka as Site Principal Investigator. The study contributed evidence on lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable now recognised as a major advance in HIV prevention.
Surveillance and National Decisions
Then Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng flags off UPHIA 2025 field teams in Kampala on 29 May 2025. The Ministry of Health-led survey is implemented with technical support from MakSPH and partners.
The partnership has also strengthened Uganda’s ability to measure the HIV epidemic and use evidence for national decisions. The Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA) 2024/2025 is the country’s third national household-based HIV impact survey, commissioned by the Ministry of Health with technical support from MakSPH in partnership with UBOS, UVRI, and the U.S. CDC. After two earlier rounds supported by ICAP at Columbia University in 2016 and 2020, the current survey marks a shift to Ugandan leadership in implementation, analysis and use of evidence for the national response.
Funded by the U.S. Government through PEPFAR, UPHIA represents a USD 10 million investment in national evidence generation. Its results, expected in 2026, will provide updated national and subnational estimates of HIV prevalence, incidence, viral load suppression, service coverage and progress toward UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. The survey covers 6,685 households and about 15,000 people aged 15 years and above, with additional focus on adolescents, noncommunicable diseases among people living with HIV, and barriers among those not virally suppressed.
Related surveillance work through the CRANE Survey has generated evidence on populations at higher risk of HIV and often missed by routine data. Established in 2008 with U.S. Government support through PEPFAR and implemented by MakSPH with the Ministry of Health and U.S. CDC, CRANE is one of Uganda’s longest-running HIV bio-behavioural surveillance platforms. More than USD 7 million in U.S. Government investment has supported evidence used in Uganda’s HIV Investment Case, the National HIV Strategic Plan, national bio-behavioural surveillance guidelines and UNAIDS guidance.
In its third round, conducted in 2023 and disseminated in 2024, CRANE reached 7,947 female sex workers and sexually exploited minors across 12 districts. About one in three participants were living with HIV, rising to 54 per cent among those aged 35 to 49. The survey also documented syphilis, high-risk HPV infection, violence, stigma in health facilities and high levels of depression, strengthening the case for targeted HIV prevention, treatment, mental health support, violence prevention, cervical cancer prevention and access to justice.
Then U.S. Ambassador to Uganda H.E. William W. Popp tours MakSPH exhibition stands with MakSPH and U.S. CDC leadership during the 2024 dissemination of CRANE Survey results in Kampala.
Regional Leadership, One Health and Innovation
U.S. Government support extended MakSPH’s contribution from national workforce development to regional public health leadership. In 2005, USAID, through the Higher Education for Development programme, supported the Leadership Initiative for Public Health in East Africa (LIPHEA), led by MakSPH with Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. The initiative strengthened leadership, competency-based training, faculty development and collaborative research across East Africa.
LIPHEA’s legacy continued through the East Africa HEALTH Alliance, which evolved into the One Health Central and Eastern Africa network and later the Africa One Health University Network (AFROHUN). These platforms brought public health, veterinary, environmental and allied disciplines into shared training and practice, helping build a workforce able to predict, detect and respond to zoonotic diseases, epidemics and other complex health threats.
The regional focus expanded further in 2012, when USAID selected Makerere University, through MakSPH, to lead the ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) under the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN). Operating in 16 African countries through a network of 20 African universities, RAN connected African universities, U.S. partners and local innovators to strengthen community resilience to disease outbreaks, climate shocks, food insecurity, conflict and natural disasters. Through research, innovation grants, policy engagement and capacity building, it expanded MakSPH’s regional contribution to resilience science, innovation and implementation research.
METS and National Stewardship
MakSPH Dean Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze signs the METS handover board during the transition of digital health systems and assets to the Ministry of Health on 31 March 2026, as then U.S. Ambassador to Uganda H.E. William W. Popp and Dr. Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, look on.
A recent marker of partnership maturity came through the Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Support (METS) Programme. Launched in 2010 with U.S. Government support through the U.S. CDC and PEPFAR, METS strengthened Uganda’s health information systems, case-based surveillance, monitoring, evaluation and quality improvement for HIV, TB and broader public health programming. Across three five-year grants totalling USD 103.8 million, the programme helped move Uganda from fragmented reporting toward stronger national data systems and more integrated digital health infrastructure.
During its March 2026 handover to the Ministry of Health, METS transferred 16 digital health systems, 725 servers, more than 4,700 computing devices, solar systems for nearly 800 facilities, connectivity equipment for more than 1,300 sites, and network upgrades for regional referral hospitals. The transferred ICT infrastructure was valued at USD 9.3 million. METS also helped improve District Health Information System 2 reporting from 58 per cent in 2020 to 98 per cent by 2025, while Electronic Medical Record coverage expanded to more than 86 per cent nationally, with 1,900 sites using electronic medical records.
Infrastructure and Future Capacity
MakSPH’s new home takes shape near the Eastern Gate at Makerere University Main Campus, supported in part through the USAID ASHA grant.
MakSPH’s expanding mandate has placed new demands on its infrastructure. With more than 1,000 students, wider regional work and a growing research portfolio, the new MakSPH complex on Makerere University Main Campus is designed to support training, research, policy engagement and innovation at scale. In 2021, USAID, through the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) programme, awarded USD 1.1 million through Johns Hopkins University to support the Makerere University Centre of Excellence for Global Health within the new building.
The infrastructure agenda also points to the next phase of the MakSPH and U.S. Government partnership. After more than three decades of investment in leadership, evidence, surveillance, digital systems, regional networks and response capacity, sustaining these gains will require stronger shared responsibility.
As the United States marks 250 years of independence, MakSPH recognises a partnership that has strengthened Uganda’s public health system and continues to build capacity for the region.
The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Makerere University has been awarded a grant from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) to carry out a large-scale trial of secondary TB preventive therapy. The Recurrent TB Screening and Prevention Study (RECENT TB study) is a randomized controlled trial which will be carried out in Uganda and South Africa from September 1, 2026, to August 31, 2030. The study will examine the effectiveness of secondary TPT for preventing recurrent TB while also evaluating the implementation considerations for the successful implementation of secondary TPT in public health settings and the potential of biomarkers to identify patients at the highest risk of recurrence.
To support the successful implementation of this trial, IDI is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as a study coordinator while simultaneously pursuing a PhD. This dual role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge clinical research while developing advanced research skills at the doctoral level.
Job Purpose:
The Project Coordinator will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the trial. S/he will work closely with the Scientific Lead and the broader study team to ensure high-quality, protocol-compliant study implementation. Concurrently, s/he will be enrolled in a doctoral program, using the trial data and research experience to develop and complete a PhD thesis within the contract period.
Key Responsibilities
Study Coordination and Trial Management
Oversee participant recruitment, randomization, and follow-up schedules in accordance with the approved protocol, Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines, and EDCTP regulations
Ensure timely and accurate collection, entry, and verification of study data using electronic data capture systems.
Oversee training and coordination of study nurses, health facility staff, and community health workers in both Uganda and South Africa to ensure smooth trial operations. Occasional travel to South Africa may be needed for this.
Maintain up-to-date versions of all study documentation, including study protocol, informed consent forms, and data collection tools.
Assist in the preparation of study reports, safety reports, and interim analyses for the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) and EDCTP.
Liaise with the IDI Research and Ethics Committee and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) to ensure ongoing compliance.
Coordinate and support monitoring visits, audits, and inspections by the IDI monitoring unit, EDCTP, and other regulatory authorities.
Participate in study team meetings, investigator meetings, and relevant scientific conferences.
PhD Research Activities
Develop a PhD concept and enroll in an approved PhD program at Makerere University and/or the University of Amsterdam by the end of Year 1.
Develop a full doctoral research proposal in consultation with the RECENT TB Scientific and Capacity Building Leads as well as academic supervisors and achieve full registration by the end of Year 2.
Prepare and submit at least 2 manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication in accordance with PhD requirements by the end of Year 4.
Present research findings at national and international scientific conferences.
Engage with the PhD supervisory committee and attend required academic modules and seminars.
Supervise at least one master’s-level student by the end of Year 4.
Submission of PhD thesis for final viva voce examination by the end of Year 4
Reporting and Supervision
For trial-related outputs, the study coordinator will report directly to the scientific lead—RECENT TB. Regular performance reviews will be conducted by the Scientific Lead in alignment with IDI’s performance management framework. For academic purposes, s/he will report to the RECENT TB Capacity Building Lead as well as her designated PhD supervisory committee in accordance with the requirements of Makerere University and/or the Graduate School of the Amsterdam University Medical Center.
Academic Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery (MBChB), plus a Master’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Clinical Research or Internal Medicine
Minimum of 5 years of experience working in clinical research or public health in the Ugandan setting, preferably in TB, HIV, or other infectious diseases.
Demonstrable interest in research, scientific writing and publication with at least one first author peer reviewed publication
Person Specification
Experience with electronic data capture tools and statistical software (RedCap, STATA, R)
Training in Human Subjects Research (HSP) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
Strong interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity for working with TB affected communities.
More Details
Job Code: PJC001 No of Positions: 1 Station: IDI Mulago Classification: Full-time Duration: 9 Months Reports to: co-investigator Posted Date: 2026-07-01 10:45:53.000 Closing Date: 2026-07-14 17:00:00.000
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