Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire: An Inspiring Model for Women in the Medical Field in Uganda
Under the direction of Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire, the Mbarara Research Center has steadily expanded and established its position within the academic and hospital world in Uganda and more widely in East Africa. The Center collaborates with renowned institutions such as the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) and the Ministry of Health and the UVRI/MRC/LSHTM Uganda Research Unit. Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire has fostered the development of partnerships to stimulate research and innovation.
The center has thus contributed to changes in public health policy, notably through the pioneering AQUAMAT trial, which demonstrated that artesunate significantly reduces mortality in African children with severe malaria. The center also took part in the evaluation of the 4-in-1 treatment, a combination of 4 drugs in a single solid, easy-to-use, heat-stable and tasteless capsule, for children living with HIV. This treatment developed by DNDi is now approved in several countries, including Uganda.
Current projects focus on improving diagnosis and therapies for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, as well as vaccine trials against Ebola and yellow fever.
"In the case of yellow fever, we were the driving force behind the clinical trial proving that a fifth of a vaccine dose offers effective protection against the disease," enthuses Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire. This is a source of great pride, as it provides a solution to vaccine shortages in epidemic situations. Today, we're looking to evaluate the minimum effective dose of vaccine, and we also plan to continue monitoring children for 5 years after vaccination, which would provide additional data on the vaccine's longer-term protection."
The Mbarara Center: A reference in the fight against tuberculosis
As far as tuberculosis is concerned, Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire and the center have been one of the most active sites in the TBSpeed trial. This project, coordinated by a large multidisciplinary consortium under the leadership of the University of Bordeaux, with funding from Unitaid and Initiative and support from ANRS|MIE, aimed to reduce infant mortality due to tuberculosis by improving diagnostic approaches and tools, care models and systematic early detection of tuberculosis in young children with severe pneumonia. And the results are in, as Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire explains:
"The TB-Speed HIV and SAM projects have developed and evaluated diagnostic algorithms to guide rapid treatment decisions in vulnerable children living with HIV or suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The TB-Speed Pneumonia study demonstrated that tuberculosis can be rapidly detected and treated in children admitted with severe pneumonia. The TB-Speed Stool Processing study, meanwhile, confirmed the good performance of a simplified stool sample preparation method for the molecular diagnosis of tuberculosis."
The center is or has also been at the heart of other tuberculosis clinical trials, such as DATURA, which is evaluating the impact of an intensified initial phase of tuberculosis treatment on mortality, and the Contact study, which revealed the efficacy and economic impact of a community-based tuberculosis screening and preventive treatment intervention for children living in contact with a patient suffering from the disease... These initiatives establish the center and Dr. Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire as pivotal figures in the realm of tuberculosis.
Alongside her unwavering commitment to improving people's health, Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire gives top priority to the professional development of her team. She certainly remembers her academic and professional career, during which she was guided and supported by esteemed mentors and supervisors: from Prof. Celestino Obua, the Vice Chancellor of Mbarara University, Prof. Grace Ndeezi and Associate Prof. Joan Nakayaga Kalyaango at Makerere University to Prof. Tobias Alfvén and Associate Prof. Karin Källander at Karolinska Institutet. She speaks very fondly about her mentors from Epicentre: Dr Emmanuel Baron, Dr Rebecca Grais, Prof. Yap Boum, Prof. Maryline Bonnet just to mention a few.
"Epicentre's success is based on its exceptional team of healthcare professionals, scientists, technicians and administrators, each of whom contributes his or her expertise to guarantee the quality and impact of the center's research efforts," recalls Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire.
As proof of this, the center's laboratory recently had its Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) accreditation renewed. By adhering to these rigorous standards, studies conducted at the center adhere to the highest levels of quality and integrity.
Fresh from her PhD in science, Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire is keen to continue along this path alongside the dynamic team she has built up at Mbarara.
"My aspiration is to continue designing innovative programs aligned with the imperatives of medical research, focusing on prevalent infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV, but also on less frequent pathologies and pediatric cancers. Through our studies, we hope to transform healthcare policies and enhance patients' quality of life, paving the way for better medical care and renewed hope. " She explains.
Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire embodies a model of leadership and innovation as Director of the Epicentre Research Centre in Uganda, and is an inspiration to many future doctors, researchers and practitioners involved in medical research in East Africa.
