Biography

I am the head of the biochemistry department of the Faculty of Medicine Mbarara University of science and technology. I have B. Sc. in Chemistry/ Biochemistry from Makerere University where my undergraduate research project was based on the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of peptic ulcers. In 2002 I joined Mbarara University as a research assistant. After two years of teaching, I was enrolled at Liverpool school of tropical medicine which is under the University of Liverpool for a master of science in Molecular biology of parasites and disease vectors. My project at the University of Liverpool was based on the genetic variability of Anopheles funestus vectors. In this study, we show that selected insecticides could be used to limit genetic variability and thus insecticide resistance. These findings are important for the successful design of mosquito control programs as a means of managing malaria spread in the community.
In 2010, I joined Dr. Kehinde Ross laboratory for a research project on microRNAs as biomarkers of breast cancer disease. To further my studies on microRNAs I joined Marie Arsenian-Henriksson at the department of microbiology Tumor and cell biology KalorinskaInstitutet where we studied the role of microRNAs in regulating the expression of the c-MYC gene during the development of neuroblastoma.
I continued with my Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Bergen under prof. Karl JohhanTronstad where we studied metabolic rewiring in cancer. My research interests are in diagnostics, metabolism, biomarkers, and the linkage between disease states and their regulatory mechanisms. I have a specific interest in the nexus that connects drivers of the metabolic defect and associated biomarkers and their role in the prevention of disease. I have previously investigated metabolic rewiring in physiological states where we show that upregulation of Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4) leads to increased fatty acid metabolism and thus could be targeted for the development of therapy or other interventions.
Variation in expression of PDK4 is a potential biomarker of many diseases across a lifespan due to its proposed contribution to metabolic rewiring association with disease and physiological processes such as aging.
I passionately value translational research especially as applied to the 'One Health' approach in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes. I am interested in working with a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists in solving societal challenges. I have other interests in community-based scientific innovations for both disease prevention and awareness. In this vein, I have been working with the Uganda National Council of science and technology and the Biochemical Society of the United Kingdom for promoting sciences to young people.

Bsc. Chemistry/ Biochemistry Makerere Univerity Kampala Uganda -2001
Msc Molecular Biology of Parasites and disease vectors Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine University of Liverpool( United kingdom)-2005
Ph.D.- Biomedicine University of Bergen- Bergen Norway-2019.