Nelson Kawulukusi Sewankambo,

MBChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

MMed Master of Medicine (MMed) is a postgraduate professional clinical degree awarded by medical schools to physicians following a period of instruction, supervised clinical rotations, and examination. The degree usually takes three years to complete, ...

, MSc, FRCP, LLD (Hon), sometimes spelled as Nelson Ssewankambo, is a

Ugandan }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

physician,

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

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 ...

, and medical administrator. He is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of medicine and former principal of the

Makerere University College of Health Sciences Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) is a constituent college of Makerere University, Uganda's oldest university. The schools of the college offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the biomedical sciences, health science ...

, a semi-autonomous constituent college of

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 n ...

Background

He was born at

Mulago Hospital Mulago National Specialised Hospital, also known as Mulago National Referral Hospital, is a component of Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching facility of Makerere University College of Health Sciences. It is the largest public hospital in U ...

, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital city, in 1952.

Education

Sewankambo was educated at

Namilyango College Namilyango College is a boys-only boarding middle and high school located in Mukono District in the Central Region of Uganda, whose history and excellence in sports and academics have made it one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda. It is ...

, an all-boys residential middle and high school (grades: eight to thirteen) located in

Mukono District Mukono is one of the districts in the Central Region of Uganda. The town of Mukono is home to the district's main commercial center and district headquarters. Location Mukono District is bordered by Kayunga District to the north, Jinja Distri ...

, from 1965 until 1970. In 1971, he entered the Makerere University School of Medicine, where he obtained the degree of

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United K ...

, graduating in 1976. He went on to obtain the

Master of Medicine Master of Medicine (MMed) is a postgraduate professional clinical degree awarded by medical schools to physicians following a period of instruction, supervised clinical rotations, and examination. The degree usually takes three years to complete, ...

degree, specializing in Internal Medicine, also from Makerere in the early 1980s. He later obtained a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree in Clinical Epidemiology, from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He is a

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. He was later awarded an honorary degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

by McMaster University.

Work experience

In the early 1980s, Sewankambo was one of the earliest physicians in Uganda to recognize the new disease that caused patients to lose weight and "slim" down to abnormal cachectic sizes. The new disease, at first called ''Slim Disease'', became known as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

/ AIDS. He has been at the forefront of research about the disease, specializing in HIV clinical drug trials. He has extensively published the finding of his research in

medical journals Medical literature is the scientific literature of medicine: articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of medicine. Many references to the medical literature include the health care literature generally, including that of denti ...

and other peer publications. In the late 1990s, he was appointed

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Makerere University School of Medicine. He served in that position until 2007 when he was promoted to the position of Principal,

, a position he still occupies. He has been engaged in a number of international boards, one of them is the Board of the Norwegian Global Health and Vaccination Research for 2011 to 2014.

Other considerations

Sewankambo is a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences.

References

External links