Fred Ssewamala

Fred Ssewamala leads innovative, interdisciplinary research that informs, develops and tests economic empowerment and social protection interventions aimed at improving life chances and long-term developmental impacts for children and adolescent youth impacted by poverty and health disparities in low resource communities. He holds a joint appointment in the Washington University School of Medicine, and directs the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD) and SMART Africa Center.

Currently, Ssewamala is conducting eight large-scale, NIH-funded longitudinal randomized control trials across sub-Saharan Africa: Bridges-R2, Kyaterekera Project, M-Suubi, Obuvumu (Discrete Choice Experiment), Suubi+Adherence-R2, Suubi+Adherence4Youth (MOST), SuubiMHealth and Suubi4Stronger Families. In addition, he is a co-principal investigator on several NIH funded training programs including the D43 ACHIEVE R25 RRT, T37 LEAD, and D43 CHILD-GRF that focus on training early-career researchers committed to careers in child behavioral health.

Ssewamala has over 190 peer-reviewed articles in journals including the Lancet, American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, Journal of Adolescent Health, PLOS One, Prevention Science, and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Adolescent Health and co-edits the Global Social Welfare journal. He is a member of the Society for Social Work and Research, American Public Health Association, and the Siteman Cancer Center, as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

Fred Ssewamala

  • William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor
  • Associate Dean for Transdisciplinary Faculty Research
  • PhD, Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
  • Office Phone: 314-935-8521
  • Email: fms1@wustl.edu
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Areas of Focus:

  • Microfinance
  • Asset-based social programs
  • Disadvantaged children
  • Social and economic development policy
  • Children and adolescent health