| Is |
Scientist Physician |
| From | Uganda |
| Type |
Healthcare Science |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
1960, Uganda, Uganda |
| Age | 61 years |
Pontiano Kaleebu is a Ugandan physician, clinical immunologist, HIV/AIDS researcher, academic and medical administrator, who is the executive director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).
He also concurrently serves as the director of the joint clinical research unit owned by the Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) (MRC-UK), UVRI and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), located in Entebbe, Uganda, carrying on research in infectious, non-communicable and neglected diseases.
Background and education
Pontiano Kaleebu was born in Uganda, circa 1960. He attended Jinja Kaloli Primary School, in Wakiso District, where he obtained his Primary Leaving Certificate. He then transferred to St. Mary’s College Kisubi, where he undertook his O-Level studies. He completed his A-Level education at Kampala High School, where he obtained his High School Diploma.
He was admitted to Makerere University School of Medicine, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree in the mid 1980s. He interned at St. Francis Hospital Nsambya, under Dr. Merriam Duggan.
In 1988, Kaleebu was awarded a scholarship to study immunology at
the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, at Hammersmith Hospital, in West London, in the United Kingdom. He graduated with a Diploma in Immunology.
While in London, he was offered the opportunity to pursue a doctorate in immunology, by the University of London, on scholarship, under Professor Jonathan Weber, at St Mary’s Hospital, London. He completed his PhD program in the mid 1990s.
Career
1987, Kaleebu was recruited as a medical research officer at UVRI, by the then institution’s director, Dr. Sylvester Sempala. Following the completion of his PhD studies, Kaleebu returned to UVRI and was appointed as the head of the immunology department. The following year, he joined the joint MRC/UVRI research programme.
Over the years, Dr Kaleebu has become a leading international researcher in the areas of immunology and virology and is a member to the international team under the World Health Organization that developed the first vaccine against HIV/AIDS. Sometime in the late 2000s, he became the director of UVRI in an acting capacity. He was confirmed in that position in the mid 2010s. He is a Honorary Professor of Medicine at both the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at Makerere University College of Health Sciences.
Other considerations
His main research interests are HIV vaccine research especially understanding HIV diversity and resistance to antiretroviral drugs, as well as the protective immune responses. He is the recipient of numerous Awards including (a) the Scientific Achievement Award from Rotary International, awarded in 2003 (b) the Presidential Science Award 2005/2006 and (c) the Fellowship of Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine, awarded in 2010. He has co-authored more than 220 publications in peer reviewed journals, a partial list appears at the bottom of this reference.