Health
Mak-MSU Launch Project to Boost Early Career Research Grant Writing Skills
The Grant writing and publication project, a partnership project between Makerere University (Mak) in Uganda and Michigan State University (MSU) in the U.S, was officially launched on Tuesday 21, March 2023, at Makerere University Yusuf Lule (formerly Central Teaching Facility CTF2) Auditorium. The event was attended by representatives from both universities, including early career researchers (ECRs), research and grant managers, the media, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the launch, Prof. Fredrick J. Muyodi, the team lead from the Makerere University’s Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, expressed his excitement about the project, saying that it would go a long way in strengthening the university’s research capacity.
He congratulated the first cohort of ECRs selected to participate in this training exercise. He also thanked the United States Government through the US Mission in Uganda for funding the project.
“The early career researchers are very important. For those of you that have forests, in order to have a forest you need to have seedlings. We are looking at them as a great asset to [Mak] regarding our ambition of being a research led university,” said Prof Muyodi.
Prof. Trixie G. Smith, the Director of the Writing Center and the Red Cedar Writing Project at MSU and Project Co-Principal Investigator reiterated the importance of the project and the partnership with African university such as Mak. She noted that this falls within Michigan State University’s strategic plan for 2030 that aims at promoting excellence, enhancing equity, and increasing influence.
“Partnerships such as this with [Mak], where we can collaborate with stellar researchers and visionaries, where we can work together to build on the abundant strengths you have here, and where we can conduct research together that is important to a global audience, as well as a local one is key.”
According to Trixie, Writing is a multipurpose tool that applies to various areas of study and subject matters with the ability to surpass personal characteristics such as gender, agency, and citizenship.
“Focusing on writing and the needs of writers, no matter their level or type of writing, can open up new opportunities for networking, for influencing readers and researchers, or making connections in the community and beyond,” said Trixie.
She contends that writing has not only the potential to provide a platform for new ideas but also solutions. “Whether we’re thinking about food security or the effects of climate change on our planet, whether we are thinking about the role of play and literacy learning for our children, or the role of education in keeping people healthy. I am excited to be a part of this launch and I have the opportunity to work with so many of you in the upcoming days and months, and hopefully for many years to come.”
Professor Edward Bbaale, the representative of Mak Vice Chancellor at the launch event and Director of Research and Graduate Studies (DRGT), expressed his excitement about the newly launched grant writing and publication project. “The directorate is also charged with ensuring a conducive environment in which graduate training and research can thrive. This therefore means that having a research topic like this one is right within what is of great interest to the DRGT. And on behalf of colleagues from the directorate, I would like to congratulate Prof. Muyodi, Prof. Trixie and all members and colleagues involved in this study and we pledge our support in all stages of this project.”
In his speech, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice Chancellor hailed the revered partnership with MSU – the Writing Center and the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP). “We have had a long-standing partnership with MSU in a number of fields in Makerere University. These include Human and Veterinary medicine, agriculture and recently in the Humanities. We are very optimistic that this partnership will further strengthen it,” Prof. Nawangwe said.
He added that the collaborative outputs from this project should not only conclude with developing capacities of the ECRs, Research Managers, and establishment of a Writing Center in the coming year, but also be a springboard for strong postdoctoral collaborative research for both institutions and other US universities.
The Vice Chancellor also expressed full commitment by [Mak] towards the successful implementation and realization of the Writing Center initiative, citing that the project was “timely” and would help in strengthening research, grant writing and publication capacity with special focus on the ECRs and Research Managers from the different colleges and entities in Makerere University.
“The participants are a critical mass to sustainably contribute to the Research-led agenda. I have also learnt that a number of senior colleagues have been invited as Senior Mentors to provide the much-needed mentorship to the Early Career Researchers during the project cycle and beyond. I am hopeful that this approach will produce strong collaborative teams,” Prof. Nawangwe said.
He urged the ECRs and the Research Managers to build their capacities and share experiences with their peers with the intention to grow further noting that they “pillars for reaping dividends of being research-led”.
Makerere University through its ten (10) Colleges aspires to be Research-led in the current strategic period (2020-2030) with the intention of contributing solutions to the challenges of climate change, population growth, food security, governance, poverty youth unemployment, among others.
Amy Peterson, Cultural Affairs Officer the US Embassy Kampala while representing Ambassador Natalie E. Brown – U.S. Embassy spoke about President Joe Biden’s Africa strategy, stressing the areas of focus including pandemic recovery, economic opportunities, and conservation launched in September 2022. She explained that academic leadership is critical in tackling these challenges, and that the need for partnership was inevitable, hence the US Department of State recognition and investment in the University Partnership Initiative.
“This project supporting Makerere University and Michigan State University Collaboration is part of a broader network of university partnerships that are supported by the Department of State, linking African universities with US universities.
Ms. Amy announced that the US mission in Uganda is proud to have partnered with Makerere University for over 100 years, which has helped the university become a leading academic institution in East Africa. She also mentioned that in 2022, the US mission participated in the university’s centenary celebrations, acknowledging the strong partnerships that have been established over the years.
She further noted that the US mission is currently working with ten Colleges and departments of Makerere University in Uganda, and has partnerships with each of them.
“We are proud to partner with the School of Public Health, the development of the Infection Disease Institute, the deep relationship and Agriculture over the years.
Our support in the performance arts department with many different types of collaborations over the years to work with the Law School, the development of the Human Rights Law Center. These are all areas where the US mission has partnered with academics here as well as with the institution as a whole to ensure that Makerere University remains at the forefront higher education in East Africa,” Ms. Amy Peterson said.
Adding that; “But as we look forward no institution can do it alone. So, we come back to the value of these partnerships and we are so excited particularly for this project which is towards research led university because it focuses on the essential skill of writing. writing is what every student and every academic needs to build their connections, to build their networks, secure the academic acknowledgement as well as funding opportunities to do the work that they need to do.”
The Research team at Makerere University is led by Prof. Fredrick J. Muyodi, PI, College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS), Prof. Ronald Bisaso, College of Education and External Studies (CEES), and Ms. Stella Kakeeto from the School of Public Health at the College of Health Sciences (MakCHS). The team at Michigan State University is led by Prof. Trixie G. Smith, PI, Director, The Writing Center (WC); Dr. Grace Pregent, Associate Director (WC); Ms. Ann Allegra, Proposal and Capacity Strengthening Administrator, Alliance for African Partnership (AAP); Dr. José Jackson-Malete, Co-Director (AAP).
This week, world leaders, negotiators and researchers are gathered in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, the United Nations climate conference, seeking to turn years of climate commitments into action countries can finance and implement. Among them is Dr. John Bosco Isunju, a climate and health researcher at Makerere University School of Public Health, named among TIME’s 100 most influential climate leaders in 2024.
Dr. Isunju led the School’s technical support to the Ministry of Health for Uganda’s 2023 Climate Change Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment (VAA) and the subsequent development of the Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) 2025–2030. The assessment covered 716 health facilities across 43 districts, documenting vulnerabilities that helped shape the country’s priorities for protecting healthcare from climate hazards.
That experience speaks directly to the task before the 9–20 November summit. With “Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems” among the COP31 Presidency’s Action Agenda priorities, the conference is seeking practical solutions and financing to keep services functioning through climate shocks. Adaptation, the practical changes needed to cope with a changing climate, must ultimately reach the facilities where people seek care.
Protecting facilities from floods and drought also safeguards the public investment behind them, giving Uganda’s adaptation effort an economic significance alongside its importance to patients. In a 27 October 2026 statement ahead of COP31, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell placed climate action within that wider calculation of public benefit.
“More governments are taking climate action right across their economies, to bank the vast benefits of clean energy and climate resilience,” he said. “Almost every major economy, and many medium-sized and smaller economies, now see climate action as a central driver of economic growth, jobs, and affordable and secure energy.”
On 21 October, nearly three weeks before the Antalya talks, the H-NAP was before Ugandan parliamentarians in Kampala. Convened by the Ministry of Health and Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change Uganda, with support from Regenerate Africa and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the engagement examined the plan and Parliament’s role in securing funding, scrutinising implementation and ensuring accountability.
Presenting the VAA, Dr. Isunju explained that the team examined the hazards facing each area, the extent of exposure and the weaknesses that made services vulnerable. They also considered the communities the facilities served. A flood could turn an already difficult journey to treatment into one that patients and staff could no longer make, as seen in many parts of Uganda, including Kasese.
“Either health workers will not work, or communities will not be able to access care, or outreaches will not be possible because roads are cut off,” he told legislators.
Uganda’s H-NAP grew out of commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 to assess health vulnerabilities and develop an adaptation response. The Ministry of Health commissioned the School to undertake the VAA in 2023, with Rockefeller Foundation funding supporting both the assessment and the plan’s development. Developed through stakeholder consultation, with WHO technical support and contributions from other partners, the plan was launched on 22 August 2024.
What the assessment found
The VAA found that drought and floods were disrupting the conditions needed to deliver care. Nearly half of the assessed facilities reported drought exposure, while about two in five reported floods. Among the 284 facilities reporting flood exposure, 141 (about half) said health professionals had been unable to arrive at or leave their workplaces, and 198 (about seven in ten) reported shortages of safe water. Because districts were selected for their history of hazards, these findings describe the assessed facilities and cannot be treated as national estimates.
The H-NAP responds across ten components of the health system, including leadership, workforce training, risk monitoring and sustainable financing. Its proposed actions include revising infrastructure standards and using weather and disease information to warn of health risks earlier. Protecting care requires investment in buildings alongside the people and systems that make them function.
“A significant proportion of healthcare facilities lack water management and safety plans to address contamination risks,” the H-NAP states. “They lack water safety plans and contingency plans for monitoring and reducing contaminants as well as on-site water purification equipment.” Such gaps can leave facilities unable to maintain hygiene, clean equipment and provide treatment safely when water supplies fail or become contaminated.
The H-NAP already includes a budget, giving implementation a basis for resource mobilisation. The UN climate secretariat’s 2026 report on national adaptation plans across sectors identifies the difficulty of turning priorities into fundable projects. It recommends costing specific interventions and securing delivery partners, steps that can help advance Uganda’s health adaptation priorities.
At household level, climate pressures on livelihoods can leave families less able to get care or keep children in school, as community consultations showed.
“Their problems are interconnected. If climate, for example, affects their livelihoods, it directly impacts their health, because that means when they fall sick they can’t get care, and they can’t take their children to school, so things are all interconnected,” Dr. Isunju said.
The Ministry’s Focal Point for Climate Change and Health, Dr. Didacus Namanya, told MPs that resilience, the ability to withstand disruption and keep providing care, must inform how services are built and managed.
“So, our vision in the H-NAP is to have a responsive, adaptive, and resilient health system. Adaptive, we are talking about adaptation. These impacts will not stop; they will continue coming, but we must develop our adaptive capacity. The way we build our health facilities, the way we tackle the disease burden, we must be highly adaptive,” he said.
Dr. Namanya called for district-specific assessments, noting the different conditions in Nakasongola and Bududa, and described an ongoing review of infrastructure design standards. Dr. Isunju reported that guidelines for coordinating climate and health action across institutions were undergoing approval.
A partnership announced in October 2025 by the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Development Research Centre is helping the School and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, working with the Ministry of Health, build an investment case for H-NAP implementation. A separate Ministry of Health and Global Green Growth Institute initiative, begun in June 2026, is advancing climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene standards, investment plans for health facilities and the government’s capacity to deliver improvements.
Questions for Antalya
Legislators sought evidence of what implementation had delivered. Terego East MP Hon. Wilfred Babanga Erima asked how much of the plan had been implemented, how many facilities had been audited and refitted for climate resilience, and how funding was divided between domestic and donor sources. Hon. Shafiga Wanyenya, Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Climate Change, proposed joint follow-up with the health committee and regular progress reviews.
“Our role is to ask the difficult questions and also identify implementation gaps, to advocate for the vulnerable communities and ensure that the national commitments translate into tangible improvements in the lives of our people,” Hon. Wanyenya said.
Those questions belong in Antalya too. The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2026 identifies gaps in global data for assessing whether health systems are becoming more resilient, underlining the importance of tracking what adaptation efforts deliver for health.
The COP31 health programme links implementation of the Belém Health Action Plan with a financing framework intended to help turn health priorities into investable projects. Launched on 9 November, the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience provides a platform for countries to share practical experience. The COP28 adaptation framework sets targets for climate-resilient health services by 2030 and progressively beyond, alongside national adaptation planning by 2030 and multi-hazard early-warning systems by 2027.
The H-NAP gives Uganda a practical agenda for that next stage. It calls for climate and health priorities to enter government budgets and for proposals capable of attracting finance. It also identifies academic partnerships as a route to research and capacity-building funds. Annual reviews would then assess progress and guide subsequent work.
As negotiations continue in Antalya, the next test is whether decisions there, and action at home, help keep care available, on the road to a health facility, and at the water point on which safe treatment depends.
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