Health
Makerere-Yale Collaboration (MUYU) Celebrates Two Decades
The Makerere University–Yale University (MUYU) partnership is celebrating two decades of collaboration in health education, clinical care, and applied research. What began in 2006 as a focused connection between Yale’s Department of Internal Medicine and the Makerere University College of Health Sciences (CHS) has transformed into a broader relationship that significantly enhances training and patient care in both Uganda and the United States of America.
To commemorate this milestone, co-directors; Dr. Tracy Rabin from Yale University and Prof. Harriet Mayanja-Kizza from Makerere University, paid a courtesy call on Prof. Sarah Ssali, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs (DVCAA), on 27th August, 2026. They shared a summary of their two decades of work and explored opportunities to expand the partnership beyond its original clinical focus.
Reflecting on the Past and Future
Prof. Ssali welcomed the co-directors, expressing gratitude for a partnership that has thrived through successive agreements. The initial Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006 has since been renewed in 2011 and 2019, with a significant update in 2025 that broadened the collaboration to cover both universities beyond just health sciences.
She thanked the co-directors for keeping the partnership dynamic and aligning their training programs with the key needs of Makerere and Mulago National Referral Hospital. She also mentioned new areas where Makerere seeks support, including Speech and Language Therapy, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Neurosurgery, and creating a Medical Museum to highlight Uganda’s contributions to global health. Dr. Rabin expressed enthusiasm for these suggestions, noting that alumni from their exchanges are now leading local initiatives.
Origin of a Collaborative Effort
The idea for this partnership emerged in the early 2000s when faculty from Yale and Makerere began brainstorming ways to enhance care at Mulago as the hospital developed specialty wards. From the start, the partnership was designed to be reciprocal. Ugandan clinicians would receive specialized training at Yale in areas of local need, especially non-communicable diseases, while Yale students and faculty would learn from their Ugandan counterparts working under challenging conditions.
This equitable approach has been a cornerstone of the collaboration. Training at Yale usually lasts from six weeks to a year and is determined collectively by both institutions’ leadership. The aim has never been to foster dependence on education abroad, but to build local capabilities so that Makerere and Mulago can train their own specialists.
Expanding Skills Across Borders
According to the summary of activities from 2006 to 2026, MUYU has trained thirty-two (32) faculty members, physicians, and postgraduate students, along with two (2) advanced practice nurses at Yale, and supported three (3) additional senior faculty on short administrative visits. Fifty (50) Makerere fourth-year medical students have completed four-week internal medicine clerkships at Yale New Haven Hospital, presenting their experiences to peers upon returning and submitting written reports. Many of these students now begin their training at the African Community Centre for Social Sustainability (ACCESS) in rural Nakaseke, backed by the Balamu project focused on community-based care for non-communicable diseases.
Conversely, one hundred and eighty (180) trainees sponsored by Yale have participated in clinical work and research in Uganda. Mulago has also hosted participants from the Yale/Stanford Global Health Scholar Program, where one hundred and ninety-two (192) residents and seventy-five (75) physicians have gained experience since 2006, collaborating with Makerere’s senior house officers, interns, and students.
Participants from Uganda have represented multiple specialties, including infectious diseases, pulmonology, cardiology, and more.
Enhancing Clinical Infrastructure and Specialties
The capacity-building efforts extend beyond individual fellowships. The Rainer Arnhold Senior House Officers’ Teaching Support (RASHOTS) initiative has provided thirteen (13) years of independent support for postgraduate education within the Department of Medicine. The collaboration in emergency medicine has featured joint mentorship, simulation training, and a long-term educator placement through SEED Global Health.
One notable success story is the Interventional Radiology (IR) program, backed by a SPARK Award from the Yale Institute for Global Health and supported by industry partners and visiting faculty. Makerere/Mulago has graduated five IR fellows, with five more currently in training. Over the past year, the program has seen around 1,800 consultations and over 900 procedures, with consultations increasing by about 27 percent annually. Local faculty and technologist support typically occurs for two weeks each month.
Dr. Eva Nabawanuka, the program’s local leader, first visited Yale as a student through MUYU. She later became a radiologist at Mulago Hospital and played a crucial role in establishing Uganda’s first public-hospital IR service and fellowship. Dr. Rabin highlighted her journey during the courtesy call as a perfect example of the collaboration’s goal: producing alumni who foster sustainable training locally instead of relying solely on opportunities abroad.
Other initiatives include maternal health work that connects Makerere‘s obstetrics and midwifery teams with Yale’s health programs, as well as a 2025 award recognizing innovative interdisciplinary approaches in global health education.
Research, NCDs and Public Health Reach
MUYU has played a vital role in advancing applied research. The Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Non-Communicable Diseases (UINCD), established in 2013 as a spin-off, brings together Makerere University, Yale University, the Ministry of Health, and various civil-society organizations. It has welcomed students and researchers from both universities and Toronto, co-hosted the Uganda NCDI Poverty Commission, and has become the Ministry’s primary partner for the PEN-Plus pilot and the National Hypertension Control Programme. Dr. Rabin and Prof. Mayanja-Kizza are members of the UINCD board.
Additional initiatives include NIH Fogarty funding for Makerere’s Master of Midwifery program (2017–2023), an NIH R21 grant focused on HIV and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases led by Dr. Mark Kaddu Mukasa and Dr. Evelyn Hsieh, and translating the Ministry of Health’s Ebola FAQs into 15 local languages, alongside a WHO Marburg fact sheet in Kiswahili.
Beyond Health Sciences
At a recent meeting, Prof. Ssali highlighted MUYU’s role within the larger network of partnerships at Makerere University. The university maintains numerous institutional relationships and has established a Partnerships Lead function under the Advancement Office to ensure that memorandums of understanding remain active even after individual projects conclude. She pointed out challenges in areas like speech and language therapy, where recruiting locally has proven tough, and she highlighted the potential for existing oral and maxillofacial surgery training to attract more international support. She also noted that Neurosurgery remains a historically and currently underserved area.
The DVCAA underscored the importance of the Makerere University Library as a national reference library and legal deposit center, housing Africana collections, university archives, and the history of medicine in Uganda at the Albert Cook Medical Library. Prof. Ssali advocated for a dedicated medical museum to preserve early medical instruments, document diseases first identified or studied in Uganda, and showcase both indigenous knowledge and the complex history of missionary and colonial medicine, including early successful cesarean sections and practices that were later suppressed. Dr. Rabin, who was unaware of the library’s national significance, expressed a desire to reconnect Yale librarians who had visited in the past with their Makerere counterparts.
A Milestone Celebration Planned for 2027
Dr. Rabin noted that the twentieth anniversary in 2027 warrants a prominent celebration. She mentioned that Yale’s Vice Provost for International Affairs, Sunil Amrith, is interested in attending an event that would reaffirm the university’s commitment to the partnership and encourage conversations about collaboration beyond health sciences.
Dr. Rabin indicated that the list of trained faculty will help her brief Yale colleagues in relevant specialties and explore new connections now that the MoU fully encompasses both institutions. Prof. Ssali mentioned that the Makerere team would assess additional needs in areas like linguistics and language sciences and consider how a broader celebration might shape the agenda for the next decade.
Photos by Benite Uwase, Volunteer, Public Relations Office, Makerere University
Agriculture & Environment
Makerere Hosts Inaugural Falling Walls Lab Competition as Innovators Pitch Solutions to National Challenges
Students and researchers from Makerere University and other institutions pitched 12 innovations addressing challenges in healthcare, clean energy, agriculture, waste management and community resilience during the inaugural Falling Walls Lab Kampala, held at the School of Public Health Auditorium, Makerere University.
The competition brought together emerging innovators to present solutions to practical challenges through a three minute pitch, followed by questions from a panel of judges.
Modelled on the Falling Walls format that originated in Berlin, the event required each participant to identify a “wall” a problem or barrier, and demonstrate how their innovation seeks to break it down.
Mudhasi wins with newborn jaundice screening device
Andrew Mudhasi of Makerere University emerged as the overall winner with a score of 90 per cent for a low cost medical device designed to improve newborn jaundice screening across different skin tones.
Mudhasi explained that the device uses optical sensor technology and a skin tone targeting algorithm to provide a rapid reading, with the aim of helping nurses and clinicians identify jaundice more efficiently.
During questions from the jury, Mudhasi said the device had not yet been tested on actual babies but had undergone laboratory testing using simulated skin tones.
He reported an accuracy rate of 94 per cent when the device was compared with laboratory spectrophotometers.
The innovation is intended initially for use in clinics and hospitals, with Mudhasi saying the team is also considering a version that could eventually allow mothers to screen babies at home.
Mudhasi’s innovation has previously received recognition at the African Business Concept Challenge and the iF Design Student Award, according to his presentation.
Rhonda’s innovation tackles diaper waste
Rhoda John of the University of Nairobi emerged in second place with 89.6 per cent for an innovation addressing the problem of used diaper waste.
Under the theme “Breaking the wall of diaper waste and drug soils,” Rhonda explained that her team extracts sodium polyacrylate, the absorbent polymer found in diapers, and replaces the sodium with potassium.
The resulting potassium based superabsorbent material is designed to act as a “water battery” in soil by absorbing and retaining water for plants during dry periods.
John said testing showed a 99 per cent increase in germination and a 23 per cent increase in drought resistance.
The innovation also seeks to reduce the amount of used diapers ending up in landfills and the environmental effects associated with their decomposition.
During the question and answer session, John explained that her team was working with government environmental officials in Nairobi on a pilot collection system to address the challenge of gathering used diapers at scale.
Mahera takes third place with herbal peptic ulcer treatment
Stuart Mahera of Makerere University finished third with 86.2 per cent for a herbal formulation targeting peptic ulcers.
Presenting under the theme “Breaking the wall of Nature and Modern Medicine,” Mahera argued that conventional treatment for peptic ulcers can involve multiple medicines and may be associated with side effects and antimicrobial resistance.
His proposed formulation, MARAC capsules, is intended as a monotherapy, combining properties required for peptic-ulcer treatment in a single capsule.
Mahera said his team had carried out quality control work, including characterisation and dose quantification, and had conducted preclinical trials on laboratory mice.
He also told the jury that an application had been submitted to the National Drug Authority as the team awaits the next stage of the regulatory process.
According to Mahera, the proposed seven day treatment would cost about Shs21,000, compared with the existing 14 day treatment approach.
Innovators present solutions to practical challenges
The remaining presentations covered a wide range of challenges.
Esther Nakungu of Utamu University presented Agri-Track, a digital record keeping solution intended to improve visibility, accountability and management of farm operations and financial information.
Dr. Jimmy Chachiga, a Makerere University participant, presented a solar photovoltaic cooker with a heat storage system designed to provide a cleaner and more reliable cooking option during both sunny and non sunny periods.
His presentation focused on reducing dependence on biomass fuels and addressing the challenges associated with intermittent solar energy.
Abdul Noor Luttamaguzi, a PhD student and senior government fisheries officer, presented a mobile application aimed at helping fish farmers and extension officers report, track and manage disease outbreaks.
Henry Duke Tamale presented a herbal cream targeting antibiotic resistant biofilm infections associated with diabetic foot ulcers.
Marvin Seruwu proposed adapting existing near infrared brain monitoring technology to help detect extra-axial brain bleeds in health facilities where access to CT and MRI equipment is limited.
His proposal seeks to repurpose existing technology towards a diagnostic need that could be particularly important in settings where advanced imaging facilities are not readily available.
Kennedy Kisame presented a poultry alert and diagnosis system combining satellite weather information with computer vision disease detection. The proposed system could be accessed through a smartphone application, SMS or USSD, making it potentially usable by farmers with limited internet access.
Frank Atwiine proposed a solar powered mobile diagnostic van designed to bring ultrasound and other diagnostic services closer to rural communities.
Johnson Makmot, a software and blockchain developer, presented a platform that combines GPS tracking and blockchain-based tokens to incentivise and verify plastic-waste collection in Kampala.
Dr. Nelson Ndugu, from a partner university, presented an artificial intelligence tool designed to translate agricultural research publications into local Ugandan languages and generate voice notes for radio-based extension delivery.
The final presentation came from Dr. Juliet Akola, a Ugandan post doctoral researcher at Mangosuthu University of Technology in South Africa.
Akola presented a community digital resilience initiative focused on mapping risks in Kampala’s informal settlements, including flooding, fire, poor sanitation, waste management and inadequate infrastructure.
Her proposal seeks to combine local community knowledge with geographical information systems and link identified risks to action plans involving municipalities and other stakeholders.
Nawangwe calls for more investment in innovation
Closing the event, Prof. Nawangwe congratulated all the participants and described their presentations as an important beginning for Makerere University, Uganda and the wider region.
Drawing on his experience attending the Falling Walls conference in Berlin, the Vice Chancellor said initiatives of this nature are important because innovation will play a major role in determining the future of countries.
He encouraged participants to make their pitches more precise by clearly identifying the problem they are addressing, explaining their proposed solution and demonstrating what they have already achieved.
Prof. Nawangwe also welcomed the participation of innovators from other universities and countries, noting that the Kampala event had attracted participants beyond Makerere.
He thanked the Africa Office of the Falling Walls Foundation for its role in bringing the initiative to Makerere and encouraged continued support for innovation.
The Vice Chancellor further linked innovation to Uganda’s growing youth population and the need to develop home-grown solutions to address challenges such as youth unemployment.
The inaugural Falling Walls Lab Kampala ultimately provided a platform for innovators to move ideas beyond the classroom and laboratory and demonstrate how research, technology and creativity can be applied to challenges affecting communities.
| Position | Winner | Institution | Score |
| 1st | Andrew Mudhasi | Makerere University | 90% |
| 2nd | Rhoda John | University of Nairobi | 89.6% |
| 3rd | Stuart Mahera | Makerere University | 86.2% |
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