Makerere University College Of Health Sciences

Makerere University College of Health Sciences, a non-profit research institution headquartered in Kampala, Uganda, operates as a recipient of federal research grants and as a sub-recipient on federally funded research training and capacity-building initiatives, with all work performed in Uganda. The institution does not hold federal contracts and does not compete for procurement; its federal footprint is exclusively grant-based, concentrated in international health research training and global infectious disease research capacity development.

Makerere's grant portfolio centers on biomedical research training, epidemiological research infrastructure, and health workforce development in low- and middle-income country contexts. Representative prime grant awards include a $137,008 D43 award from the Fogarty International Center (CFDA 93.989, International Research and Research Training) to build research training capacity in schistosomiasis, targeting at least 50 trainees and establishing master's-level, PhD, and postdoctoral fellowships through April 2031; a $603,754 D43 Fogarty HIV Research Training Program award to establish health data science training for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, delivered in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, running through March 2030; and a $137,600 D43 award for research training in biomedical, epidemiological, and health data science focused on epidemic-prone emerging infections, delivered in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University through April 2031. The institution also holds prime awards in rheumatic heart disease research training, sickle cell disease and non-communicable disease research capacity, oral health research, tuberculosis and emerging infectious disease data science, and malaria diagnosis using mobile microscopy and artificial intelligence.

Customer concentration is acute and centered on the National Institutes of Health. The top five funding agencies account for 81 percent of recent awards: the Fogarty International Center leads with 56 awards, the National Institute of Mental Health holds 45 awards, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases carries 13 awards, the NIH parent agency accounts for 9 awards, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention holds 6 awards. The Fogarty International Center and the National Institute of Mental Health anchor Makerere's grant activity; recent awards indicate a significant concentration in HIV/AIDS research training, mental health intervention research for vulnerable populations, and infectious disease research capacity building.

Makerere operates predominantly as a sub-recipient on NIH-funded grants managed by major U.S. research universities. Named prime grantees include The Washington University (which hosts multiple subawards for HIV research training, family economic empowerment intervention studies, and behavioral health programs), New York University (Addressing the Research Capacity Gap in Global Child, Adolescent & Family Health Disparities), Rutgers The State University of New Jersey (tuberculosis and emerging infectious disease training consortia), Duke University (laparoscopic technology feasibility for sub-Saharan Africa), Baylor College of Medicine (Pediatric HIV/AIDS and Infection-Related Malignancies Research Consortium), The Johns Hopkins University (hepatocellular carcinoma research infrastructure), and The Broad Institute (genetics of post-traumatic stress disorder in African ancestry populations). Sub-award work comprises approximately 62 percent of the recent award portfolio and involves research implementation, field training coordination, cultural adaptation of assessment instruments, data collection and quality assurance, and co-leadership of research cores and demonstration projects, typically under the direction of in-country principal investigators such as Dr. Noeline Nakasujja (psychiatry and mental health research) and Dr. Fred Ssewamala (child, adolescent, and family health disparities).

Activity peaked in 2023 with 55 awards and has moderated to 16 awards in 2025 and 4 awards in the first eight months of 2026, reflecting either award consolidation or longer gaps between grant cohorts. Thirteen awards are approaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete opportunity for funders and potential renewal or pipeline risk for Makerere's research teams. The institution's grant footprint spans from 2009 to the present, with combined dollars obligated across all federal awards reaching $175.2 million. Service Contract Inventory data capture only one sub-recipient record in FY2025 with 0.8 FTEs, reflecting the institution's research-centric profile and lack of federally billable service contract work above the $150,000 reporting threshold; this SCI figure does not represent total federal activity or enterprise revenue and masks the institution's grant-driven operational scale.

Makerere University College of Health Sciences functions as Uganda's leading research-intensive health sciences institution and a critical platform for global health research conducted in collaboration with U.S. federal funders, particularly the NIH. The institution leverages its access to large patient cohorts, endemic disease populations, longitudinal clinical data, and health delivery models unavailable in the United States to advance U.S. public health objectives—particularly early-warning pandemic research infrastructure, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment innovation, and capacity building for African research leadership in infectious disease and global mental health.