Health
Meet Laura Silovsky, a Makerere University Graduate with Refugee Roots Bridging Continents
On Tuesday January 14, 2025, under the radiant rays of the Ugandan sun, Laura Silovsky crossed the stage at Makerere University’s 75th Graduation Ceremony to receive her master’s degree in Public Health Disaster Management (MDM). Hers is a story of passion, dedication, and curiosity to rewrite the narrative of global education. Among 1,813 master’s graduates, Laura’s story stood out, as a blend of refugee roots, firefighting bravery, and a drive to decolonize learning.
Laura’s journey began long before her arrival in Kampala. Born in the UK to a father who fled from Czechoslovakia’s dictatorship in the 1970s, she grew up understanding displacement intimately. “My father was a refugee. Why would I fear refugees?” she once asked during her research fieldwork in Uganda’s West Nile, where her empathy bridged divides.
“People in Uganda may not expect that a muzungu could be the child of a refugee, but my family experienced displacement from (what was then) Czechoslovakia as well as the effects of the protracted conflict in Northern Ireland. Fortunate to have been born in the UK, I was raised to appreciate that disasters can affect anyone, anywhere, anytime.
After studying Sustainable Development at the University of Edinburgh, I worked on a behavior change project tackling non-communicable diseases in Scotland,” Laura says.
Her journey twisted through battling Australia’s bushfires and volunteering in a COVID pandemic, but it was Uganda’s welcoming refugee policies and Makerere University’s academic excellence that pulled her in next.
“In 2020, I relocated to Australia, just after the worst bushfires since records began and before the COVID-19 pandemic. The following two years, I qualified as a firefighter and supported bushfire recovery by volunteering with a community-based organization. After gaining some insight into these different disasters, I made the decision to return to higher education, and so I applied for the MDM programme at Makerere in 2022,” says Laura.
Armed with experience in emergency response, Laura was drawn to the field’s multidisciplinary nature and was convinced she needed to expand her expertise beyond immediate recovery efforts. She aimed to explore the full disaster management cycle and the intricate connection between health and environment.
“I needed to combine gaining academic knowledge with developing practical skills, so the field placement offered within the master’s degree in Public Health Disaster Management programme was a major motivator for me,” she shared.
The love for Uganda
Studying at the University of Edinburgh, Laura took a class in Kiswahili, that included a field-based short course on the Tanzanian shores of Lake Victoria. This experience sparked a desire to spend more time in the region, but she knew she needed to expand her skill set in order to genuinely add value to an organisation, if she was on the continent.
“I hoped studying at an East African university would teach me invaluable soft skills needed to work more effectively as an international team member. Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) has a strong reputation, and I wanted to study somewhere that was locally grounded but globally recognized. Uganda’s progressive refugee policies were an added incentive to learn from experts here,” Laura says.
Laura’s intentional choice to decolonize her education
“I came to Uganda to learn from the experts here,” Laura declared, rejecting Eurocentric frameworks. “A big factor for me wanting to study at Makerere University was to decolonize my education, to recognize that the knowledge about responding to public health disasters and supporting refugees is here in Uganda,” she says.
She adds, “When I first arrived, I was quite vocal with my classmates about wanting to challenge that bias and truly acknowledge the wealth of knowledge within institutions like Makerere. The expertise here is invaluable, and I was intentional about decolonizing my education.”
At MakSPH, Laura immersed herself in courses like epidemiology, struggled briefly with statistics, but thrived on critical discussion groups and consultation with lecturers.
Collaborating with classmates from Uganda and across East Africa, she learned Luganda phrases and Somali proverbs, and built a “family” united by late-night study sessions and shared ambitions.
Beyond expectations
For Laura, studying at MakSPH was the best decision she could have made. She is still struck by the faculties’ wealth of academic and professional experience in public health and disaster management.
“I anticipated the programme would focus on applying the knowledge we gain to real-world scenarios. Of course, there were cultural differences that took me time to adjust to. I am grateful to faculty members such as Prof. Christopher Garimoi Orach, for his dedication and support, Prof. Elizeus Rutembemberwa for leading by example and valuing students’ time, and Dr. Justine Bukenya and Dr. Simon Kibira for offering their extensive support as my dissertation supervisors.”
The Fieldwork Attachment that Transformed Laura’s Research Experience
At Rhino Camp refugee settlement in West Nile, Laura’s work took on new meaning. Partnering with the Uganda Red Cross Society, she helped digitize data tools and walked long distances through Tika Zone, inspecting latrines and speaking with South Sudanese girls about their challenges in managing their menstrual health through their project that focused on schools.
“That experience in West Nile influenced my own research ideas, and it was a privilege to later return to Rhino Camp for data collection. I will always remember the long days walking with my research assistants through villages and being graciously welcomed by so many respondents,” she recalls, noting that the experiences crystallized her resolve to advocate for refugee dignity globally.
Life in Kampala
Life in Kampala, with its vibrant energy and unique challenges, was truly a ‘full sensory experience’ for Laura. “My parents live in a small village, so Edinburgh felt like a big city when I moved there. And Edinburgh is much smaller and quieter than Kampala! But on weekends, I loved going downtown to shop at Owino Market or heading to Kyadondo Rugby Club for some pork.”
These spaces were perfect for Laura, offering new cultural experiences, including matooke, a starchy dish not found in the UK, which is mainly eaten in Uganda as a local delicacy and staple meal. Despite the differences in culture, sharing meals with classmates provided Laura with a comforting sense of connection.
Back to academics, navigating the university administrative processes wasn’t seamless initially for Laura, though. She says administrative hurdles such as paper-based systems, could change for the university to comfortably enjoy its strong reputation.
She recalls, right at the beginning, when she couldn’t find sufficient information online to support her to complete her application to join Makerere University. However, she later received support from the University’s International Office that deals with the welfare of international students.
Other university officials, from finance, librarians, program administrators, to academic registrars, played a key role in supporting her in her research and postgraduate training. “The system relies on dedicated individuals,” she noted, calling for digital reforms while praising MakSPH’s “atmosphere of innovation.”
“From my experience, such as when obtaining my transcript, the system relies heavily on individual staff members working around these administrative challenges. I’m grateful for those who helped me navigate this, and I’m interested to see how the university continues its digital transition, as it could greatly streamline processes in the future,” says Laura.
A Bittersweet Graduation Day
On graduation day, Laura’s pride mingled with melancholy. Watching families cheer on graduates, she reflected on classmates sidelined by finances or family crises.
Having gone through the course and interacted with Ugandan students, Laura hints on the common financial and personal challenges preventing many from graduating: family illness, new children, sponsorship falling through.
“I know so many of my classmates had worked so hard and were almost over the finish line but, due to financial challenges or other commitments at home, it wasn’t possible for them to graduate this year,” she says.
“For me, I was able to make the choice to pursue this program before having children, so I had fewer responsibilities at home, and I had also been saving for many years to get the money to pay tuition. Because I knew I had the money for tuition before I started, I could focus on studying. As you know, the reality for many people is that that’s not always possible.
“Small supports can transform student experiences,” Laura emphasized, advocating for systemic empathy. She sees great potential for more pastoral support at the university, citing peers from UCU and Kyambogo who benefited from accommodations like private breastfeeding spaces and flexible deadlines in special circumstances. Such initiatives, alongside financial aid, could significantly improve student welfare.
Still, the ceremony’s electric energy—watched via livestream by her parents in Europe—symbolized hope. “Uganda taught me that collaboration transcends borders,” she reflected.
“You could feel this sense of how hard everyone had worked to reach up to that point and that this was really an opportunity for them to celebrate, particularly by having family and friends around to be able to see. I love the PhD awards, when you see the PhD students coming out and their families rushing up to greet them. To me, that’s the best part of the ceremony, because a PhD requires so much work and commitment, and I think it’s really emotional to see everyone share this moment with their support networks,” she says.
Adding that; “…I was so grateful that the ceremony was streamed online. My family were watching live at home in Europe and it was so special that they could see me on camera and participate in the ceremony that way as well.”
Laura noted striking similarities between Makerere and Edinburgh’s ceremonies, especially the moment when students were asked to turn and thank their families, an emotional and powerful tradition.
Looking Ahead
Now in Tanzania, Laura eyes roles with international NGOs, armed with Ugandan-taught pragmatism and a zeal to challenge Europe’s refugee policies. “MakSPH gifted me more than a degree—it reshaped my worldview,” she says.
“As a muzungu with a Ugandan postgraduate education, I feel privileged to have benefitted from different educational perspectives, and I hope that the skills and knowledge I acquired during my time at Makerere will help me to secure a role with an international NGO. After witnessing the incredible support that Uganda provides to refugees, I also hope to advocate for more dignified policies concerning refugees in Europe,” she shares.
“There’s a spirit of innovation and dedication at Makerere, particularly when passionate lecturers like Prof. Orach, Dr. Roy Mayega, or Dr. Victoria Nankabirwa engaged students through discussion and sharing lived experiences. You could really see a different level of engagement within the students as well. Overall, I’ve had such a fantastic experience at Makerere University.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” she smiles.“Except maybe convince more Europeans to study here. Africa’s wisdom is the future.”
KAMPALA, 25 February 2026 — Higher education must move beyond awarding degrees to producing solutions for national and global crises, speakers said on Wednesday as Makerere University continued its 76th Graduation Ceremony, positioning universities as central actors in strengthening Africa’s public health capacity.
Addressing graduands on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at Freedom Square, national leaders and university officials framed graduation not as a ceremonial endpoint but as an investment in workforce readiness, research leadership, and evidence-driven governance, particularly at a time when health systems across the continent face growing pressure from pandemics, demographic change, and climate-related risks.
The message resonated strongly through presentations from Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) and Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS), whose graduates enter professional service amid renewed global attention to health system resilience, scientific leadership, and locally generated research.
Delivering the commencement address on Day Two of Makerere University’s 76th Graduation Ceremony, Dr. Margaret Blick Kigozi, Board Chairperson of the Makerere University Endowment Fund, reflected on her graduation in 1976 during a period of national uncertainty under then-Chancellor President Idi Amin. She recalled leaving Uganda soon after with her young family, carrying “little more than education, values, and hope,” an experience she used to frame lessons on resilience, purpose, and responsibility in uncertain times.
Challenging graduates to rethink professional success, she reminded those entering health and life sciences that their training carries extraordinary influence.
“Power does not make you important; it makes you responsible,” she said. “You will decide who is listened to and who is dismissed, who waits and who is rushed through, who feels safe and who feels small. Your education has trained you to ask better questions, but your humanity must guide the answers. Behind every chart, every case, every experiment, there is life, and life deserves care, patience, and dignity.”
Throughout the ceremony, speakers returned to a common refrain: societies increasingly depend on evidence, and universities must produce professionals capable of translating knowledge into policy, practice, and community impact.
Across the four-day congregation, the University will award 9,295 degrees and diplomas, including 2,503 Master’s degrees, 6,343 Bachelor’s degrees, 206 Postgraduate Diplomas, and 30 Diplomas. But beyond the numbers, speakers repeatedly returned to a central question on how higher education can translate academic growth into national development and health security.
On day two, graduands were presented from the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, the College of Health Sciences, and the MakSPH, the latter positioned squarely within Africa’s ongoing struggle to expand its pool of trained epidemiologists, health systems researchers, and policy leaders.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe noted that Africa averages just 80 researchers per million people, compared to a global average of 1,081, warning that the human resource gap remains substantial.
“Today the School of Public Health presents graduands joining the field at a time when Africa faces a critical shortage of highly trained public health leaders,” he said.
The School of Public Health presented seven PhD candidates: Aber Harriet Odonga, Komakech Henry, Lubogo David, Nakisita Olivia, Namukose Samalie, Ntaro Moses, and Osuret Jimmy. It also graduated 195 Master’s students and 29 Bachelor of Environmental Health Science graduates, including four first-class honours recipients led by Phillip Acaye with a CGPA of 4.63.
Their research spans maternal and child health, epidemic preparedness, sanitation behaviour change, nutrition systems integration, and injury prevention, areas increasingly recognised as foundational to national development rather than peripheral health concerns.
University Chancellor Dr. Crispus Kiyonga emphasized that research must move beyond academic publication into policy and implementation.
“Research plays a very vital role in the development of any community,” he said, linking university scholarship directly to Uganda’s national development agenda.
For public health education, that responsibility carries particular urgency. The COVID-19 pandemic, recurring disease outbreaks, and climate-linked health risks have exposed how deeply national stability depends on scientific capacity.
The chancellor hailed the Government of Uganda for committing UGX 30 billion through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (MakRIF).
Mak Urged on More PhDs
Representing the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, State Minister Dr. Joyce Kaducu Moriku described doctoral training as central to Uganda’s research ambitions, noting government efforts to expand funding and modernize higher education systems.
“Universities must produce more PhDs to strengthen the national research agenda,” she said, adding that competence-based reforms aim to align training more closely with societal needs.
“More PhDs also mean the university is growing in academic leadership and an increase in research. So, keep the numbers growing, especially in Science, Technology, and Engineering,” she added.
The 213 PhDs conferred this year, a record, signal more than institutional expansion but a response to structural deficits.
Africa bears approximately 25% of the global disease burden but produces a disproportionately small share of global health research. The continent’s research density remains far below global averages. In this context, each doctoral graduate becomes not merely an academic achievement but a strategic asset.
A University Responding to Its Moment
For the School of Public Health, the graduation reflects a broader evolution in how public health training is conceived. Rather than focusing solely on the treatment of disease, the field increasingly addresses systems, sanitation, nutrition, behavioural change, surveillance, prevention, and climate change, areas where research directly shapes everyday life.
Recent MakSPH-led initiatives, including national HIV impact surveys and digital health system expansion, demonstrate how academic institutions increasingly function as implementation partners to the government rather than observers.
Over the past five years, MakSPH has supported the national scale-up of electronic medical records through the CDC-funded Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Support (MakSPH-METs) programme, and led the Third Uganda Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA 2024–2025), the first fully Ugandan-implemented national survey of its kind.
Launched in 2020, the METs program has supported the nationwide scale-up of UgandaEMR+, transitioning thousands of facilities to secure electronic medical records and deploying critical ICT infrastructure. In March 2026, these systems will be formally transitioned to the Ministry of Health, reflecting sustainable national ownership.
KAMPALA—Three faculty members from Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) have been recognised at the Makerere University Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Awards 2026, highlighting the School’s expanding contribution to research leadership, scientific productivity, and policy-relevant scholarship across Africa.
Associate Professor Peter Kyobe Waiswa, Associate Professor David Musoke, and Juliana Namutundu received honours during the University’s 76th Graduation Ceremony at Freedom Square, where Makerere celebrated scholars whose work has demonstrated exceptional research achievement and impact beyond academia.
The annual awards, coordinated by the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Partnerships (DRIP), recognise faculty and staff whose scholarly output and leadership advance Makerere University’s ambition to become a research-led institution.
“This recognition celebrates sustained excellence in research productivity and contributions to knowledge that advance both national and global discourse,” Vice-Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe said. “We are strengthening a culture where research does not remain confined to journals but translates into solutions for society.”
Among the university’s top researchers was Assoc. Prof. Peter Kyobe Waiswa, a health systems scientist whose work focuses on maternal, newborn, and child health. Waiswa ranked among Makerere’s overall top researchers after publishing 43 peer-reviewed papers in 2025, tying with three-time award winner Prof. Moses Kamya of the School of Medicine in the College of Health Sciences.
His research examines how health systems function at their most fragile moments, including childbirth, early life, and community-level care, addressing questions of equity, service delivery, and health system performance across Africa.
Also recognised was Dr. David Musoke, an Associate Professor of Disease Control, whose 25 publications earned distinction among senior career researchers. His work spans environmental health, community health systems, and implementation research, areas increasingly viewed as critical to preventing disease before it reaches hospitals.
In the early-career category, Juliana Namutundu received recognition for emerging research leadership, reflecting Makerere’s effort to nurture the next generation of African scholars.
Together, the awards underscored MakSPH’s growing influence within Makerere’s research ecosystem, particularly in fields linking science directly to population wellbeing.
The Research Excellence Awards were established to encourage publication in high-impact journals while reinforcing Makerere’s ambition to become a globally competitive research university. Nominations are reviewed by the Board of Research and Graduate Training, chaired by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) Prof. Sarah Ssali.
Awardees were honoured during a graduation luncheon organised by the Makerere University Convocation, the institution’s alumni and staff association, which described the event as a celebration of “excellence and inspiring impact.”
The ceremony also recognised forms of scholarship extending beyond traditional academic publishing.
Dr. Geofrey Musinguzi, a research associate at the School of Public Health, was honoured for his book My Journey with Rectal Cancer, an account of diagnosis, treatment, and recovery that blends personal testimony with public health advocacy.
Diagnosed at age 44 while a visiting scholar at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, Musinguzi sought medical care after experiencing persistent symptoms, including rectal bleeding and back pain. His treatment involved surgeries, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and a year living with a colostomy bag.
Rather than keeping the experience private, he documented it publicly to challenge cancer stigma and encourage early screening. The book, launched at the School of Public Health in August 2024, highlights how lived experience can shape public health awareness alongside scientific research.
The recognition reflects a broader understanding of research impact, one that includes scholarship capable of influencing behaviour as well as policy.
Makerere’s emphasis on research excellence comes as African universities face increasing pressure to produce locally grounded evidence while competing globally for visibility and funding. For MakSPH, whose work spans disease surveillance, environmental health, and health systems research, publication output increasingly serves as both academic currency and development infrastructure.
“These awards are part of our broader effort to position Makerere as a truly research-led institution,” Nawangwe said, adding that scholarship must remain aligned with national and regional priorities.
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