Professor Charles Mark Lwanga Olweny, MBChB, MMed, MD, FRACP, is a Ugandan

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, oncologist, academic and

medical researcher Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

. Currently he is a professor of medicine and Immediate past

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

at Uganda Martyrs University, based at Nkozi, Mpigi District, in Central Uganda.

Background

He was born in 1940, in

Tororo Tororo is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Tororo District. History Tororo was garrisoned by the Uganda Army's Air and Sea Battalion during the Uganda–Tanzania War ( ...

, Tororo District, in Eastern Uganda.

Education

Professor Olweny attended St. Peter's College Tororo, for his O-Level education (S1-S4). He attended

St. Mary's College Kisubi St. Mary's College Kisubi (SMACK) is a private, boarding middle and high school located in Wakiso District in the Central Region of Uganda. Established in 1906. Location The school is in Kisubi along the Kampala–Entebbe Road, approximately , ...

for his A-Level classes (S5-S6). In 1961, Olweny entered

Makerere University School of Medicine The Makerere University School of Medicine (MUSM), also known as the Makerere University Medical School, is the school of medicine of Makerere University, Uganda's oldest and largest public university. The medical school has been part of Makerer ...

, the oldest medical school in Uganda and East Africa, which was founded in 1924., graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery ( MBChB), in 1966. Later, he obtained the degree of Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine ( MMed). He followed that with the degree of

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

(MD), all from

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

. Olweny's chosen speciality is

medical oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

Career

Charles Olweny served as the director of the Uganda Cancer Institute, from 1972 until 1982. Under his stewardship, the team of Ugandan medical researchers that he led were the first group to demonstrate that

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

could be successfully treated with chemotherapy using the drug doxorubicin, which is still the mainstay of treatment for liver cancer today. They were also able to confirm that

Burkitt lymphoma Burkitt lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, particularly B lymphocytes found in the germinal center. It is named after Denis Parsons Burkitt, the Irish surgeon who first described the disease in 1958 while working in equatorial Africa. ...

could be cured with a high dose of chemotherapy and showed that the same was true for childhood

Hodgkin disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

. They documented the incidence of endemic

Kaposi sarcoma Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a type of cancer that can form masses in the skin, in lymph nodes, in the mouth, or in other organs. The skin lesions are usually painless, purple and may be flat or raised. Lesions can occur singly, multiply in a limite ...

in children and conducted clinical trials on how to treat it. During the same timeframe, Olweny served – first as a lecturer, then senior lecturer and later as professor of Medicine – in the Faculty of Internal Medicine, at

, serving as head of department, from 1979 until 1982. While in Australia, during the 1980s, he served as clinical professor at the Department of Medicine & Surgery,

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia. He also served as senior director for Medical Oncology, Cancer Control Programme, Royal Adelaide Hospital. In the 1990s, Dr. Olweny migrated to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Manitoba, Canada, to take up appointment as medical oncologist at St. Boniface General Hospital, in Winnipeg. He also served as coordinator, Section of

Hematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

at CancerCare Manitoba, and as an associate staff at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. He was appointed to his present position in 2006 and assumed office in September of that year. Professor Charles Olweny has written over 20 books and over 120 professional articles. On 1 January 2015, Professor Olweny retired as the Vice Chancellor of Uganda Martyrs University, handing over to Prof. Dr. John Chrysostom Maviiri, formerly Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Personal details

Professor Charles Olweny is married, with five adult children.

References

External links