Daudi Jjingo
Director

Dr. Daudi Jjingo serves as the Director of the African Center of Excellence (ACE) in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Sciences within the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), whose mandate involves providing cutting-edge computational platforms for biomedical research. He is a Principal Investigator of the NIH/Fogarty Bioinformatics training grant in Uganda and Co-Investigator of the Ugandan H3BioNet node. He is a Senior Scientist and Lecturer at Makerere University in the College of Computing. He earned his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics as a Fulbright Scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta USA, preceded by an MSc in Bioinformatics from the University of Leeds, UK, and a BSc in Biochemistry from Makerere University, Uganda.

He previously served as a bioinformatics consultant for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta and holds research interests in the molecular epidemiology of TB/HIV and cancer epigenetics.

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Grace Kebirungi
Project Coordinator

Grace Kebirungi is the acting lead for the emerging technologies, performs administrative activities as well as coordinates health innovation projects at the ACE. She possesses a Masters degree in Microbiology & Quality Control (Virology and Bacteriology) and a BSc in Fundamental and Applied Microbiology, from the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene Algiers, Algeria through an Algerian government scholarship in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Uganda. She is passionate about innovations in health and was part of the team that pioneered training of frontline health workers in COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control using virtual reality technology.

She takes on VR ideation and content creation, writes scripts and works together with the technical team at ACE to transform health science courses into virtual reality training courses. Grace is a strong advocate for virtual reality which she portrays through virtual reality application training. She also has competences in bioinformatics, unix programming language and basic understanding of python programming.

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Gerald Mboowa
Principal Investigator

Dr. Gerald Mboowa is a Principal Investigator at the ACE, involved in bioinformatics and genomics initiatives at Makerere University and the region. He graduated as a laboratory technologist from Makerere University in 2009 and later completed a degree as a clinical microbiologist in 2014. During the same year, he began a genomics and bioinformatics fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas till December 2016. He helped establish the Bioinformatics graduate programs at Makerere University and many other bioinformatics initiatives.

He completed his PhD in Bioinformatics and Human Genomics in 2019 and he also completed a bioinformatics fellowship at the department of genetics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

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Galiwango Ronald
Bioinformatics Scientist

Ronald Galiwango is the lead Bioinformatics Scientist at the ACE who oversees ACE day-to-day activities and teaches on the MSc/PhD Bioinformatics program. He also guides the big data science (BDS) and modelling working groups where they write research grants, perform research and write publications. He is a Postdoc fellow - NIH funded BRecA program, holds a PhD in Computational Epidemiology from the University of Georgia - Fogarty NIH PhD Fellowship, MPhil in Computational Biology from the University of Cambridge, UK - Commonwealth Scholarship and Trust Scholarship, BSc in Mathematics, Statistics (First Class Hons) - Government Sponsorship Scheme.

He is the co-founder Center for Computational Biology at the Uganda Christian University, Reviewer International Journal of Infectious Diseases, and the co-lead of the COAST project Modelling Workstream.

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Diana Kisakye Kabbale
Research Associate

Dr. Diana is a Research Associate that coordinates linkages between the ACE, CCM Clinical research team and the Genomics group from the University of Minnesota and Mbarara Univeristy. She formulates analytical approaches for NGS data generated from the Cryptococcal Meningitis (CCM) group and participates in Genomics proposal & grant writing. She is a Medical Doctor with over 8 years of clinical experience in the management of HIV/TB and other infectious diseases at three centres of excellence in HIV Care in Uganda (Mildmay Uganda, Baylor Children's Foundation and the Infectious Disease Institute). She has 2 years of experience in conducting clinical research trials.

She was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship in 2019/2020 to pursue a Master's Degree in Genomic Medicine from Kings College London and St George's University of London and graduated with a Distinction.

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Mike Nsubuga
Bioinformatics & Data Scientist

Mike Nsubuga is a Bioinformatics & Data Science Research fellow at the African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Sciences (ACE) within the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI), where he is undertaking an MSc in Bioinformatics as an EANBIT fellow supported by NIH(Fogarty) with focus on evaluating Machine Learning approaches in the prediction & identification of Antimicrobial Resistance(AMR) in Uganda. He is also a Research fellow with the NIH-funded(NHLBI) Sickle In Africa Consortium, the largest multinational consortium facilitating research in Sickle Cell Disease and translation of this research into healthcare and health outcomes in Africa. 

 

He specializes in Data Science, Virtual Reality, Web, and Mobile application development and has worked on numerous software education solutions in the region. He has a keen interest in cloud computing, open-source computing, machine learning, big data analysis, and immersive learning. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Makerere University(First Class Honors.) He has previously worked & undertaken training as a Fullstack developer at Stats4SD based in Reading, UK.  He is passionate about educational technologies and currently supports charity works with NGOs that improve access and education across Africa(Supporting African Maths Initiatives(SAMI), African Maths Initiative(AMI), Innovations in Development, Education, and the Mathematical Sciences(IDEMS International)

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Rodgers Kimera
Senior ICT Systems Engineer

Rodgers Kimera is a Snr ICT Systems Engineer at the African Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Science, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH under the NETE Contract Support Team (RDCT). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from Busitema University (First Class Honors) and is currently in the last year of his Master’s degree in Data Communication and Software Engineering at Makerere University.

Rodgers previously worked as an ICT Specialist providing support to the ICER Sites in Uganda, Mali, and India. He currently leads the ICT technical section at ACE and has experience working with Virtual Reality, Federated Identities, Linux Systems Administration, open-source tools, Server technologies, and End User support.

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Patricia Nabisubi
Bioinformatics Scientist

Patricia Nabisubi is a teaching assistant and Masters student of Bioinformatics at ACE. She began her career gaining unparalleled experience in the bioinformatics and Virtual Reality content development. Driven by her love for genomics and technology, she takes pride in providing the best bioinformatics services possible. As a Bioinformatician, her goals include eradication of Tuberculosis and fighting breast cancer. In addition to her primary job functions, Patricia has been recognized by MUIIPLUS as a strategic intern for immunology and bioinformatics in 2019/2020 and Eastern Africa Network for Bioinformatics Training for her extraordinary commitment to work and she was awarded with a scholarship for a master’s in science in bioinformatics at Makerere University.

She has worked in the bioinformatics industry for more than a year, gaining experience in data management, data analysis, big data, and genomics. As a seasoned Bioinformatics specialist, she is passionate about advancing in research and technology and is now a EANBiT and EDCTP fellow.

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Mugume Twinamatsiko Atwine
Data Scientist

Atwine provides a wealth of expertise from the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Visual Analytics to projects at ACE since 2019. He is a Computer Scientist by profession and holds a Bachelors of Computer Science, Masters in Computer Science, Certification in Data Science, Data Engineering, as well as Certification in Big Data Analytics and Computational Thinking.

He is currently working towards a PhD in Data Science with specific interests in Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning applications.

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Richard Sserunjogi
Data Scientist

Richard Sserunjogi is a data scientist affiliated to ACE and contributes to numerous projects. He holds great experience in the field as he possesses both a Bachelor's degree and Masters of Science in Computer Science.

He is a co-instructor for the Big-Bio Data Analysis class under the Bioinformatics graduate program at Makerere University.  He also offers consultancy and contributes towards various data science and AI (Artificial Intelligence) research projects.

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Stephen Kanyerezi
Bioinformatics Research Fellow

Stephen Kanyerezi is  a teaching assistant as well as Masters student in Bioinformatics at ACE. He offers both online and physical teaching support in different Bioinformatics courses offered by H3ABioNet.

He holds a BSc in Biomedical Laboratory Technology from Makerere University(2019). He has been awarded 3 study fellowships (EANBiT, ADDRF, EDCTP) under his masters program and is also one of the 2021 RSTMH small grants winners.

 

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Ivan Sserwadda
Bioinformatics Research Fellow

Ivan Sserwadda is a teaching assistant as well as Masters student in Bioinformatics at ACE. He carries out bioinformatics-related research on different pathogens and participates in bioinformatics training and mentorship programs.

He holds a BSc in Medical Laboratory Science from Makerere University and has been awarded a MUII Plus-BReCA fellowship under his masters program. He takes time to write articles on his research and experience in the bioinformatics field.

 

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Ibra Lujumba
Bioinformatics Scientist (Early-Career)

Ibra Lujumba is a graduate student at the ACE pursuing a Master of Science in Bioinformatics. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry & Chemistry (First Class Hons) from Makerere University(2019) and is a beneficiary of the BRecA graduate scholarship award. He is a member of two H3Africa Genome Analysis Working Groups (GAWG): The Repeat Expansion GAWG where he is part of the analysis team, and the Transcriptomics GAWG where he is co-lead.

He is also a teaching assistant for the Master of Science in Bioinformatics program while carrying out research on how indigenous cattle are adaped to trypanosomiasis-endemic environments by using whole-genome and RNA sequence data.

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Tusiime Allan Muhanguzi
VR Developer

Allan is a Virtual Reality developer at ACE and he contributes to projects that are solving real-world dilemnas. He holds a BSc. in Software Engineering from Makerere University (2022), as well as a Certificate in Graphics Designing and 3D Character Animation. He has worked on an Award Winning African in-house TV Serie Mukago ,led a Game Development team to produce Computer Games (Kamati and Gastro Trek) that were used to teach Ugandan Primary Children Mathematics and Science.

He is currently finalising a VR Application that tackles Vaccination hesitancy in a Uganda.

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Busigu Faith Daka
Software Engineer

Faith Daka is a Software Engineer at the ACE that contributes to systems & application development projects. She has 2+ years of experience and holds a BSc. Computer Science (First Class Hons) from Makerere University(2022) through sponsorship from the Ugandan government, as well as a Certificate of Orientation in Data Science. She is proficient in frontend JavaScript technologies and has worked with projects that seek to fuel the benefits of emerging technologies in Uganda.

She is passionate about joining the eco-system of Big Data Analysis with Software Development, and is being nurtured into that career path.

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Mutegeki Henry
Software Engineer

Henry Mutegeki contributes to the System administration, Software development and Virtual Reality development at the ACE. He is actively involved in tech support during Virtual Reality (VR) trainings and system support for Bioinformatics masters students that involves monitoring and maintenance of the High Performance Computing (HPC) environment. He holds a BSc. in Software Engineering (First Class Hons) from Makerere University(2022).

He has 3+ years of software development experience having worked with cloud computing technologies like Kubernetes & Docker. He considers himself a backend engineer(using Python) with proficiency in building robust REST APIs that integrate with relational database systems like MySQL and Postgres. He has a growing interest in the Virtual Reality and Data science fields that he is actively pursuing.

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Davis Kiberu
Junior Data Analyst

Davis Kiberu is a junior data analyst at the ACE, carrying out mathematical modeling of infectious diseases and designing interactive dashboards for the models. He pursued Biochemistry & Chemistry for his Bachelor's degree at Makerere University and is completing a Master of Science in Bioinformatics, where he is a BRecA fellow.

He is also a teaching assistant for the Disease dynamics and modeling module on the Master of Science in Bioinformatics.

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Mukisa John
Bioinformatics PhD student

John Mukisa is a medical doctor and PhD student of Bioinformatics at ACE.

He holds a Master of science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics , currently pursuing a PhD in Bioinformatics with a focus on imputation accuracy and killer cell immunoglogulin receptor genotype diversity and association with HIV disease progression within cohorts in Botswana and Uganda.

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Okwir Julius
Bioinformatics Graduate Trainee

Julius Okwir is a graduate student at the ACE pursuing a Master of Science in Bioinformatics. He holds a Bachelor's of Science in Biotechnology from Makerere University. He is also an EANBiT fellow.

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