Our Team

Meet the researchers and analysts behind MESC

Dr. Bashir Ssuna

Dr. Bashir Ssuna

MBChB, MSc (Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics), MSc (Data Science), ImS

Medical doctor, Epidemiologist, and Data Scientist with interdisciplinary expertise in clinical research, biostatistics, and AI-driven health analytics. His work focuses on developing and validating predictive models using longitudinal clinical, proteomic, microbiome, and ultrasound data, particularly in maternal and fetal health. He has contributed to large-scale implementation science and epidemiological studies across HIV, tuberculosis, and non-communicable diseases.

ORCID  ·  GitHub

Dr. SSekyanzi Bob

Dr. SSekyanzi Bob

MD, MPH

Medical Doctor and Public Health Specialist with experience in epidemiology, health systems strengthening, and population-level interventions. His work focuses on infectious disease control, surveillance, and implementation of scalable public health strategies in resource-limited settings.

Thomas Katairo

Thomas Katairo

Epidemiologist

Epidemiologist and research scientist specializing in study design, statistical analysis, and population health research. His work focuses on epidemiological modeling, field data systems, and evaluation of health interventions to inform evidence-based policy and practice.

Dr. Shakira Babirye

Dr. Shakira Babirye

PharmD

Pharmacist, Epidemiologist and Biostatistician, clinical researcher with expertise in Data Science, pharmacotherapy, medication safety, and health systems research. Her work focuses on optimizing treatment outcomes, improving medication adherence, and supporting evidence-based clinical practice in low-resource settings.

Dr. Faruk Dube

Dr. Faruk Dube, PhD

Bioinformatician

Bioinformatician specializing in high-dimensional biological data analysis, including genomics, proteomics, and microbiome research. His work integrates computational and statistical methods to identify biomarkers and uncover molecular mechanisms of disease, supporting precision medicine and translational research.

Website / GitHub

Philip Orishaba

Philip Orishaba

Multidisciplinary Health Researcher

Multidisciplinary health researcher with expertise spanning medical laboratory science, epidemiology, and biostatistics. His work focuses on infectious diseases, health systems research, and advanced analytical methods, including outbreak investigations, malaria and HIV studies, and statistical modeling for public health decision-making.

ResearchGate

Dr. Zubair Lukyamuzi

Dr. Zubair Lukyamuzi

MBChB, MPH

Researcher with over 6 years of experience in clinical research, with a focus on infectious diseases — particularly HIV management and prevention. Since 2015, he has worked as a medical research officer and coordinator on the IMPAACT network, PEPFAR non-network, Gilead Health Science, and NIH-funded studies including the large PROMISE, PROMOTE, and BONE-STAR trials.

He has served as principal investigator on NIH-funded grants including HEPI-SHSSU (Grant no. IR25TW11213) and a Fogarty-NIH grant (D43TW009340) evaluating the role of community health workers in supporting HIV disclosure among adults in heterosexual relationships. He holds a WHO certificate in implementation science and a certificate in advanced epidemiology from the University of California, San Francisco.

ResearchGate

Dr. Josephine Tumuhamye

Dr. Josephine Tumuhamye, PhD

Research Laboratory Scientist & Postdoctoral Fellow

Research laboratory scientist and postdoctoral fellow at Makerere University with expertise in immunology and microbiology. Her research focuses on disease pathogenesis, including pathogen-host interactions and biomarker discovery in syndromes such as neonatal sepsis. She is principal investigator on two ongoing microbial genomics studies and has a keen interest in point-of-care diagnostic tools for early disease detection to enable timely and effective treatment.

She is currently working on the Wellcome Leap In Utero Program-funded iTECH and VITAL HMB projects, validating Olink Focus panels for pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction in a Ugandan cohort of over 6,000 participants, in collaboration with Cambridge University, UK.

ResearchGate