Who are the PhD graduates from Makerere University?

Dr Elizabeth Ayebare (PhD in Health Science)She studied Birth Asphyxia in northern Uganda. She investigated birth suffocation in northern Uganda with a focus on the associated factors, practices during labour and childbirth and the predictive value of umbilical artery lactate. The prevalence of birth suffocation was high at 5.3 percent. 

She found that birth asphyxia was more likely to occur if the newborn mother was an adolescent or unemployed. Other factors included referral, a raised maternal white blood count, syphilis infection and complications of labour and childbirth.

Dr Annet Kutesa Mutebi (PhD in Health Sciences)Her study was on Forensic age estimation based on third molar eruption and development for Ugandan adolescents and young girls. 

She explored the current practice of age estimation for adolescents and young adults undergoing criminal proceedings and developed age estimates standards for third molar eruption and development specific to the Ugandan population aged 10-22 years. 

The findings indicate that third molar eruption and tooth counting were among the routinely used methods by the health professionals. 

Although these were not applied uniformly and do not fully comply with international guidelines. Third molars were fully erupted as early as 13 years and by 18 years only half were fully erupted.

Dr Emmanuel Seremba (PhD Medicine)

He studied Hepatitis B in Uganda: Transmission and prevention strategies among infants and HIV-infected Adults. He examined the transmission and prevention strategies of this infection in two Ugandan populations (infants and HIV-infected adults) that are at a high risk for grave consequences of this infection -scarring of the liver, liver failure and cancer.

His study revealed that disease transmission prior to 6 weeks of age when the first HBV vaccine dose is currently administered to infants in Uganda is rare. It revealed ongoing disease transmission among HIV-infected adults contrary to the traditional thinking that this disease is mainly transmitted in early childhood.

Dr Jacintha Nayebare Gumoteyo (PhD in Geology)She examined Loading and Mobility of Faecal and Chemical Contaminants to Shallow Groundwater: Evidence from Lukaya Town, Central Uganda. 

Dr Nayebare studied the movement of faecal contaminants from pit-latrines to shallow groundwater in Lukaya Town .

The key findings indicated that 55 percent of the ground water sources were contaminated by faecal micro organs. 

The biggest challenge was that the construction of water sources and sanitation facilities was inadequate and not well maintained. 

She also established that public awareness of basic hygiene is high but is not commonly practiced. Community hygiene is inadequate and may contribute to reported incidence of diarrhoea diseases. 

She asked policy makers to concentrate much on supervising and maintaining sanitation facilities and water sources.

Dr Barbra Nanteza Majorine (PhD Epidemiology and biostatistics)She examined Correlates of Safe Male Circumcision uptake in Gulu District. She established that slightly more than a quarter of respondents were found to have inadequate comprehensive knowledge although service providers had it. 

Myths, beliefs and misconceptions were found to be associated with circumcision status. The study sought to understand if people in Gulu district perceived themselves to be at increased risk for HIV infection and if so whether they knew that SMC could reduce that risk.

Dr Pierre Zogo Ongolo (PhD Health Policy)He evaluated initiatives to support evidence-informed health system policy-making in Cameroon and Uganda.He documents two pioneering Knowledge Translation Platforms (KTPs) hosted in government-affiliated institutions in Cameroon and Uganda since 2006.

His work presents development of a framework combining health policy analysis, political science and knowledge translation and changes in climate for evidence informed health system policy making in both countries over 12-years before and after establishment of the KTPs.

Dr Samuel Okurut (PhD Immunology and Infectious Diseases)He examined B cell responses, immune modulation, and survival among patients with HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis. 

He interrogated the B cell compartment and the stimulated immune responses in the central nervous system in collaboration with clinical and microbiologic factors. 

Using bayesian and spatial regression models, the study found more cases of HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis reported among males, but more case fatality reported among females. Bio-logical gender-influenced survival-specific activated neuroimmune signatures.

Dr Ekwaro Obuku (PhD in Health Science)Production and use of Postgraduate students’ research to inform health policies; a multiple methods study of universities in Uganda and other low- and middle-income countries. 

He studied the numerous research projects completed by masters’ students at Makerere University that simply ‘gathered dust’ in shelves, despite investing time and resources. 

More than 1,000 dissertations were produced between 1996 and 2010 at the College of Health Sciences, with only 20 percent published. Ekwaro systematically reviewed 27,000 dissertations in 10 countries in Africa, Asia, and South America, and confirmed this problem. 

Also, only one of every 70 dissertations (1.5 percent) were cited (used) in policy related documents. Noteworthy, research from masters’ students at Makerere University was used at international level, including by the World Health Organization, to solve medical/public health problems (AIDS, TB, and Malaria).

Dr Richard Muhindo (PhD Public Health)He studied Regular STI and HIV screening intentions and practices among sex workers in Uganda. He investigated the influences of regular STI and HIV screening intentions and practices among sex workers, and whether text message reminders and peer education would improve uptake of facility-based STI testing.  He observed that relative to female sex workers, heterosexual male sex workers had low syphilis and HIV testing intentions and practices owing to negative testing attitudes, low self-efficacy, and non-accepting norms.

Dr Juliet Mwanga Ampaire (PhD in health policy)She examined the quality of care for common childhood infections in low level private health facilities in Mbarara District, western Uganda.  Majority of childhood deaths in Uganda result from preventable conditions. About 50 percent of sick children are managed by lower level private health facilities yet the quality of healthcare they provide is not known.  She found poor quality of healthcare for common child-hood infections at facilities.

While first-line medicines for treatment of the health conditions were available and the clinical conditions often identified correctly, wrong treatments were given in over 50 percent of the consultations.

Dr Mwesigwa Savannah (PhD Genomics and bioinformatics)He examined the whole exome sequencing uncovers genetic predisposition to pediatric HIV disease progression and hyperhemolysis syndrome. 

He used Whole-exome sequencing (WES) to investigate two disease pheno-types; the first was Pediatric HIV Long Term Non- Progression (LTNP) and hyper-hemolysis syndrome (HHS) in sickle cell disease (SCD) .The study found that Anelloviridae co-infection was associated with an extended AIDS-free period. 

Additionally, there was some evidence for reduced mitochondrial DNA copy numbers with increased highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) duration and participant age.

Dr Samuel Ojelel (PhD of Botany).Ethnobotany, nutritional value and floristic diversity of wild edible plants in selected central forest reserves of north eastern Uganda. 

He studied the value of wild edible plants and floristic diversity in selected central forest reserves. 

The study recorded 100 plants people eat from the central forest reserves and analysed their nutritional value. 

He established that these plants from the forests are superior to the known species such as cabbage and cassava and also established that the forest reserves harbour 7.7 percent of plants found in Uganda.  He recommended that the government should protect the forest reserve to protect the 7.7 per cent species they harbour as well as do trials to raise planting materials of edible wild plants.

Dr Ivan Philly Kimuli (PhD in Mathematics)He examined the morphic property in modules and near-rings. He introduced and studied the classes of left-morphic near-rings and weakly-morphic modules. His research was about creating new knowledge in Mathematics and as a result, he developed two new sets which were not known before. The two new sets included the weakly morphic modules and left morphic near-rings. He shows that these sets are natural and they exist and interact with other known sets of counting. All these sets provide a good platform for carrying out geometry. 

The results prove that, under some special conditions, weakly-morphic property combined with reduced sub modules determines the kind of regularity a module will have. Lastly, the study characterises the left-morphic near-ring elements.

Dr Hindum Lanyero (PhD Biomedical Sciences)She conducted a study on monitoring antibacterial use in children under five years in rural communities of northern Uganda .She found out the prevalence of antibacterial use among the under-fives to be high. The determinants of antibacterial use included getting treatment from a health facility, households located in peri-urban areas, having cough, fast breathing and having diarrhea with ARIs.

 She also reported a low validity of care-givers’ reports on intake of antibacterial by their children prior to health care facility visit. She recommends sensitisation of healthcare workers and care-givers on appropriate use of antibacterial and the risks of self-medication.

Dr Loy Nakinga (PhD in Mathematics)Developed a stage structured mathematical model to determine the optimal harvest size of African catfish and Nile Tilapia.

She developed a stage-Structured mathematical model to determine the optimal harvest size of African catfish. She found that harvesting juveniles of size (10-29.9cm) and adults of size (30-170cm) under equal harvesting rates, gives the maximum sustain- able yield. 

Nile Tilapia was included in the model, to compare financial profits and biomass outtake in a single and two species systems. 

Her findings showed that harvesting in a two species system yields more biomass outtake and financial profits than harvesting in a single species system. 

The study recommends that juveniles of size (1-9.9cm) and adults that have reached a maximum size of 170cm should not be harvested for sustainability of both African catfish and Nile Tilapia.

Dr Paul Katongole (PhD in Medicine)He studied the role of the gut microbiome in prostate cancer disease pathogenesis among prostate cancer patients at the Uganda Cancer Institute. 

He found out that specific bacteria phyla and species were associated with prostate cancer disease. He also explored the association between inflammatory cytokines and immune checkpoint inhibitor molecules as potential biomarkers in Ugandan men with prostate cancer. 

The study also reviewed the clinical characteristics of prostate cancer patients at the Uganda cancer institute and found out that more than 90 percent of prostate cancer patients reporting to UCI had advanced disease.

Dr Ester Lilian Acen (PhD Biomedical Sciences)She studied the effect of vitamin D binding protein gene polymorphisms and vitamin D bio-availability on cathelicidin expression in tuberculosis infection and disease. She explored the involvement of vitamin D pathways in the immune system.

The reason for the set back of TB elimination is the latent TB infection individuals that create a large pool who may convert to active TB disease when the immune-system is compromised. The study assessed how the vitamin D binding protein gene controls vitamin D levels which in turn regulate the expression of an antimicrobial peptide molecule cathelicidin (LL-37),responsible for killing pathogens.