Dr Jane Kangeya was the first woman epidemiologist in Uganda. She has a 40-year career in infectious and tropical diseases research and capacity strengthening. She is globally known for pioneering and leading Implementation Research. She served as the special adviser for Africa for the Wellcome Trust. She is the founder of a rapidly growing company, Rounding Up the Edges International (ROUTE) which focuses on training, mentoring, and coaching in soft skills for Employability, Business and Life. She has authored many scientific publications and her autobiography, THE HERO WITHIN is highly sought after.
Dr Jane worked with the UK Research and Innovation, was a part-time Senior Science Program Manager for the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) where she led an initiative to develop grants writing skills in early health research career post-docs through training and mentorship. She also served as the Special Adviser for Africa to the Welcome Trust.
For over 15 years she held senior-level managerial, coordination and leadership positions in Implementation Research and Research Capacity Strengthening in the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) at the World Health Organization in Geneva. Worked at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) where she served as a Principal Research Office, Head of the Epidemiology Department but the one she is mostly known for is her co-leadership role (alongside an expatriate) to start the MRC/UVRI Program on HIV/AIDS which is one of the largest AIDS Research Programs in Africa utilizing a multidisciplinary team of research scientists, administrators, field and support staff to produce results of national, regional and global relevance and utility.
She has served on the board of the University of Buffalo Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS) – since 2016 and the IDRC’s Gavi Full Country Evaluation and Global Fund Prospective Country Evaluation for Uganda – since 2017. Dr Jane has led or contributed significantly to the publication of seven books and over 35 peer-reviewed papers. Her autobiography “The Hero Within” published in 2013 is highly sought after in Africa and globally.