Catherine Kyobutungi | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Ugandan |
Alma mater |
Makerere University Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg ( master's degree in community health) ( doctoral degree in epidemiology ) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Mbarara University of Science and Technology |
Thesis | Ethnic German Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: Mortality from External Causes and Cancers [1] (2008) |
Catherine Kyobutungi (born 1972) is an Ugandan epidemiologist who currently serves as the Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Center(APHRC). [2] [3] and a Joep Lange Chair at the University of Amsterdam. [4] [5] She was elected to the African Academy of Sciences in 2018. [6]
Kyobutungi was born in 1972 in Gulu in Uganda. [7] She started her medical course at Makerere University in 1990. [8] After graduating in 1996 she worked as a medical officer at Rushere Community Hospital. [9] Kyobutungi moved from clinical medicine to public health because she felt she could save more lives by correcting the African healthcare system. [10] She earned a master's degree in community health and a doctoral degree in epidemiology from the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg in 2002. [8] Her doctoral research was based in the Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health supervised by Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Heiko Becher. [7] [11] In 2006 Kyobutungi joined the African Population and Health Research Center as a postdoctoral fellow, and was eventually selected as the Head of the Challenges and Systems research program. [9] [12] After graduating Kyobutungi began to teach at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology. [9]
In October 2017, Kyobutungi was made the Director of Research at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). [13] [14] In this capacity she evaluated maternal health and well being challenges in African cities. [12] [15] Kyobutungi looked to strengthen governance in local health services, as well as providing training, infrastructure and equipment. [16] Whilst African researchers in these local health centers can generate large amounts of useful health data, they often do no have the capacities to analyse it. [17] Kyobutungi has described unused African research data as being like a hippo, "at the moment we can only see and access a very small amount – like the ears of a hippo in water – but we know there is a huge potential lying just below the surface". [17]
She was made of Executive Director of the APHRC in 2017. [18] Here her work has considered the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, prevalence of diabetes in poor urban communities and ways to prevent cardiovascular diseases in Nairobi slums. [13] [19] She was the inaugural Chair of the Kenya Epidemiological Association. Kyobutungi has made efforts to improve girls' access to education, including the development of community resources and trained mentors. [20]
In 2019 Kyobutungi was announced as the Joep Lange Chair, a position in which she investigates non-communicable diseases in African countries. [8] Non-communicable diseases are rising in African countries, and current healthcare systems are not equipped to treat populations affected by them. [8] The focus of foreign money and training to date has been on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, which means that simple medical tests such as measuring blood pressure often get overlooked. [8] Kyobutungi supported health workers to visit local communities with blood pressure cuffs to monitor for Hypertension. [21] She found that to encourage patient and doctor participation she had to include an economic incentive, offering 100 schillings for every screened patient who visits the clinic. [21] Alongside establishing a research program investigating the management of chronic diseases and ways to strengthen healthcare systems, Kyobutungi is exploring the role of digital technology in connecting patients with their healthcare systems. [8] She has studied the influence of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on tobacco legislation in Sub-Saharan Africa. [22]
Kyobutungi serves on the council of the United States International University Africa. [23] She also serves as director of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), an organisation which looks to rebuild and strengthen the capacity of African universities. [24] [25] She was elected to the African Academy of Sciences in 2018. [9] [26]
Since 2019, Kyobutungi has been a member of the Lancet–SIGHT Commission on Peaceful Societies Through Health and Gender Equality, chaired by Tarja Halonen. [27]