Dr. Edith Nakku-Joloba
Chairperson of the Board. Clinical epidemiologist and Senior Lecturer at Makerere University, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee.
Governance and Leadership
How MRCU is structured and held to account
Mildmay Research Centre Uganda (MRCU) is an autonomous entity under the Mildmay Uganda Group, governed by a Board of Directors, run by a management team and staffed by researchers and research support professionals. Ethics and scientific review sit deliberately outside this line of authority.
Institutional standing
An autonomous research entity
MRCU was incorporated as an autonomous entity under the Mildmay Uganda Group in 2020 and began full institutional operations in 2024, inheriting the research legacy of the Research and Strategic Information Directorate.
Autonomy matters for research partners. It means MRCU can hold grants directly, contract in its own name, sit as a consortium partner in multi-country studies, and be accountable for scientific and financial conduct as an institution in its own right, not as a department of a service provider.
Part of the Mildmay Uganda GroupAlongside Mildmay Hospital Uganda and the Mildmay University of Health Sciences.
Structure
Three layers of responsibility
Governance, management and delivery are separated, so oversight is genuine and not nominal.
1
Board of Directors
Sets strategic direction, appoints and holds the Director to account, approves policy, and oversees financial stewardship, risk and institutional integrity.
2
Management
The Director and management team run the centre day to day: research delivery, grants, laboratory and data operations, staffing, compliance and partnerships.
3
Staff and study teams
Investigators, coordinators, research associates, laboratory, data and administrative staff who design and deliver the studies.
Board of Directors
Governance and oversight
The Board has six members, bringing together clinical epidemiology, health systems, finance, investment and technology expertise. It works through two committees: the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Finance and Resource Mobilisation Committee.
Dr. Kengeya Jane Kayondo
Board member and Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee. Founder of Rounding Up the Edges International.
Ms. Juliet Negesa Gizamba
Board member and Chairperson of the Finance and Resource Mobilisation Committee. Managing Director, Eden Scholars Shield (U) Ltd.
Mr. Michael Niyetegeka
Board member, serving on both the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Finance and Resource Mobilisation Committee. Executive Director, Refactory Limited.
Dr. Olivia Kituuka
Board member and the Board representative to the Mildmay Uganda Group board.
Dr. Robert Bortolussi
Board member and a member of the Finance and Resource Mobilisation Committee. Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Canada.
Management
The Director and the management team
The Director is accountable to the Board and leads four functional areas, each with a named lead. The structure is aligned to MRCU's three strategic objectives: research excellence, capacity building, and sustainability.
Scientific Programme
Biomedical research, the biorepository, data science, the data repository, surveillance and communications.
Research Development
Proposal development, research networks and partnerships, manuscripts, mentorship and capacity building.
Grants and Regulatory Coordination
Grants management, study compliance and coordination of regulatory submissions. MUREC belongs to the Mildmay Uganda Group and makes ethics-review decisions independently of MRCU.
Finance and Operations
Financial management, enterprise resource planning, procurement, human resources, administration and governance support.
Dr. Ronald Mulebeke
Director. Accountable to the Board for the annual operational plan, the grant portfolio and institutional performance.
Mellisa Aloyo
Biomedical Research Lead and Biorepository. Leads biomedical science, diagnostics and biorepository development.
Dr. Joseph Mwaka
Research Development Lead. Leads proposal development, research networks, manuscripts and capacity building.
Roy Alia Asiku
Data Science Lead. Leads the data repository, surveillance data systems, communications and dissemination.
Racheal Dedibo
Grants Management and Research Ethics Committee Administrator.
Pamela Kwagalakwe
Administrative Officer. Board and management meeting support, human resources, procurement and workplan tracking.
Victor Nanono
Ethics and Regulatory Officer. Study coordination, GCP compliance and participant management.
Solomon Agaba
Data Officer. Data repository governance, surveillance data and participant data integrity.
Independent review
What governance deliberately does not control
Research integrity depends on review bodies that management cannot overrule. At MRCU, ethics review, scientific review and study monitoring operate independently of the management line.
MUREC
The Mildmay Uganda Group Research Ethics Committee reviews protocols and protects participants. It is separate from MRCU governance and management.
Scientific Advisory Committee
Independent appraisal of scientific merit, design and feasibility before a protocol proceeds to ethics review. Chaired by Dr. Kayondo Jane Frances Kengeya.
Study monitoring
On-site, remote and risk-based monitoring, source data verification and community advisory board engagement.
Scientific Advisory Committee
A committee of the Board
The Scientific Advisory Committee has seven members and is chaired by Dr. Kengeya Jane Kayondo. It appraises the scientific merit, design and feasibility of a protocol before a study proceeds, and it reports to the Board, not to management. Scientific review is a separate step from ethics review, which is provided by MUREC, the Research Ethics Committee of the Mildmay Uganda Group.
Dr. Kengeya Jane Kayondo
Chairperson. Founder of Rounding Up the Edges International and a member of the MRCU Board.
Dr. Edith Nakku-Joloba
Member. Clinical epidemiologist, Senior Lecturer at Makerere University and Chairperson of the MRCU Board.
Mr. Michael Niyetegeka
Member. Executive Director, Refactory Limited and a member of the MRCU Board.
Dr. Maxwell Onapa
Member.
Dr. Christine Nalwadda
Member. Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, Community Health and Behavioural Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences School of Public Health.
Dr. Leviticus Mugenyi
Member.
Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze
Member.
What the committee assesses
Scientific merit and originality, appropriateness of design, statistical power and analysis plan, feasibility against site capacity, and whether the study can realistically recruit and complete.
Why it comes first
A scientifically weak protocol cannot be made ethical by good consent procedures. Reviewing merit first spares investigators from ethics revisions on a design that needs rethinking, and spares participants from studies that cannot deliver.
What investigators get
Written scientific feedback before ethics submission, methodological and statistical input from senior investigators, and a clearer route through MUREC once the design is settled.
Finance and Resource Mobilisation Committee
Stewardship of funds and sustainability
A committee of the Board with three members, chaired by Ms. Juliet Negesa Gizamba. It oversees financial stewardship, resource mobilisation and the long-term sustainability of the centre.
Ms. Juliet Negesa Gizamba
Chairperson. Managing Director, Eden Scholars Shield (U) Ltd and a Finance and Operations Management consultant.
Mr. Michael Niyetegeka
Member. Executive Director, Refactory Limited and investment consultant.
Dr. Robert Bortolussi
Member. Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Canada.
Accountability
How we account for our work
Finance and Resource Mobilization Committee
A Board committee chaired by Ms. Juliet Negesa Gizamba, overseeing financial stewardship, resource mobilisation and sustainability.
Financial stewardship
Audited financial management, expenditure tracking against approved budgets, procurement control and donor reporting against funder terms.
Research integrity
Independent scientific and ethics review, GCP-aligned practice, documented data management and publication of results regardless of direction.
Participant protection
Informed consent standards, human subjects protection training, community advisory board engagement and active study monitoring.
Data governance
Documented data access review, data-sharing and material transfer agreements, and data protection for clinical and research datasets.
Contact
Questions about governance, grants or compliance?
We are happy to provide institutional documentation to prospective sponsors, funders and consortium partners.
Get in touch