Sewankambo Scholarship Program

Developing African Medical Leadership

Accordia Global Health Foundation is committed to building the next generation of academic medical researchers in Africa. Mentoring and fellowship programs are strengthening the faculty for training and research at Makerere University and other African institutes of higher education. One initiative, the Sewankambo Scholarship Program, couples outstanding African clinicians with at least one internationally recognized investigator who commits to providing five years of substantive on-going mentorship. Within five years, young investigators are expected to have contributed at least five peer-reviewed papers and to have become principal investigators on at least one internationally recognized grant. During this process, scholars also develop their own research teams and in-turn mentor another generation of young Ugandan investigators. This fellowship program allows African institutions to expand the level of “in-country” clinical and applied research, without significant assistance or guidance from Western institutions.

The Sewankambo Scholarship Program was designed to transition the brightest young Ugandan clinicians into internationally-recognized, independent scholars and researchers. The program creates protected research time, resources, and intensive mentoring opportunities for competitively selected individuals with high potential for success, enabling ambitious candidates at various stages of their career to succeed to degrees not often possible in resource-poor settings.

The Sewankambo Scholarship Program is currently funded by the Gilead Foundation as part of the Gilead Infectious Disease Scholarship Program.

For a list of research publications by the Sewankambo Scholars, click here.