Willy Ssengooba
Dr. Willy Ssengooba is an infectious diseases expert with a focus on pathogenesis, diagnostics and program implementation using both conventional microbiological methods and modern molecular approaches. He has acquired the necessary skills, and established laboratory-based research capacity in Uganda. In addition, he has acquired advanced skills in Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics. He holds an Erasmus Mundus PhD in Molecular Microbiology from Universities of Amsterdam (Academic Medical Centre), Netherlands and Barcelona, Spain with laboratory training at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp, Belgium. He has over 15 years’ experience working on projects and training grants relating to TB and HIV in Africa.
He has participated in several international clinical trials and studies including: AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), Tuberculosis Vaccine trials group, Tuberculosis Clinical Diagnostic Research Consortium (TBCDRC), International Maternal, Paediatric, and Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network. He has also participated in Diagnostic validation studies including; LAM, Epistem/MolBio True-NAAT, LAMP, ULTRA, BDMax, SMF, etc. Clinical trials including; PROMPT, NC-005, NC-006, NC-008, STREAM2, ACTG/IMPAACT trials [P1108, IMPAACT 2020, A5300B, IMPAACT 2003B / A5300B (PHOENIx), A5349, A5274], SHINE trials among others as a key person in different positions ranging from technical supervision to principal investigator.
Since 2018 to date, he has offered consultancy service to the World Health Organization and USAID as a senior international TB laboratory expert on different aspects. He has offered several invited speeches as well as over 15 international abstract presentations on TB/HIV including general aspects of infectious diseases. During his career development, he won a number of academic awards/ scholarships including research grants and gained experience which he continues to pass on to his mentees. He has contributed to the establishment of the BSL-3 facility at Makerere University with acceptable international standards in a resource limited setting. This BSL-3 facility is College of American pathologists (CAP) accredited since 2014 and it is the laboratory of choice for most TB research groups. He has contributed to 46 peer-reviewed publications and 5 book chapters in top-rated peer-reviewed journals.