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 at 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 ten large-scale, NIH-funded longitudinal randomized control trials across sub-Saharan Africa: Suubi4Her-R2, Bridges2Scale, Bridges-R2, Kyaterekera Project, M-Suubi, Obuvumu (Discrete Choice Experiment), Suubi+Adherence-R2, Suubi+Adherence4Youth (MOST), SuubiMHealth and Suubi4Stronger Families. He is also the co-director of the developmental core of the NIH-funded Midwest Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR). In addition, he directs four NIH funded training programs – D43 ACHIEVE, R25 RRT, T37 LEAD, and D43 CHILD-GRF– that focus on training early-career researchers committed to careers in child behavioral health.
His work has been used to inform policy and programming in Uganda and several African countries, including the DREAMS Project currently being implemented in ten African countries. Ssewamala has also consulted for international development organizations including the World Bank in Nigeria, Oxfam in East and Central Africa, UNAIDS-Geneva, USAID and ChildFund International.
Ssewamala has over 200 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.
Ssewamala has mentored over 50 individuals at various stages of their research careers. To read more about his work and watch the documentary film Offering Hope, visit Washington Magazine.
Recent Media Coverage
Health minister commends ICHAD for promoting children, adolescents’ welfare
July 02, 2024
Janet roots for more research on diseases affecting children
Monday, June 24, 2024
This Wash. U. professor helps families in Africa find stability. He’s applying the lessons to St. Louis
February 20, 2023
Fred Ssewamala
- William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor
- Assistant Vice Provost for Global Research
- PhD, Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
- Office Phone: 314-935-8521
- Email: fms1@wustl.edu
- Download CV
Areas of Focus:
- Microfinance
- Asset-based social programs
- Disadvantaged children
- Social and economic development policy
- Children and adolescent health
In The News
Faculty members awarded $3 million NIMH grant for HIV prevention in Africa
January 24, 2025
Ssewamala, Nabunya named 2025 SSWR Fellows
January 7, 2025
NIH funding to build research capacity among refugee youth in Uganda
September 20, 2024
Study to focus on support for young adults in Uganda
August 26, 2024
Ugandan Women’s Autonomy Key to Safer Sex
August 14, 2024
Gurnett, Ssewamala to Receive Faculty Achievement Awards
July 10, 2024
Ssewamala Awarded $3.5M to Study Interventions in Uganda
September 12, 2023
ICHAD Celebrates its 10th Anniversary, and the Lives it Has Changed in Sub-Saharan Africa
April 10, 2023
Ssewamala Awarded $3.2M to Study Strategies for HIV Treatments Among Ugandan Youth
September 12, 2022
Brown School Dean Search Committee Appointed
September 9, 2022
A Cross-Continental Collaboration
August 11, 2022
NIMH Awards $2.4 Million for HIV/AIDS Research with Orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa
April 2, 2022
ICHAD Receives $5 Million NIH Grant for Global Health Research
April 1, 2022
Faculty Co-Edit Book on Child Behavioral Health in Sub-Saharan Africa
January 24, 2022
Brown School Presentations at APHA 2021
October 25, 2021
Ssewamala Awarded $3.2 Million by NIMH to Address HIV Stigma in Ugandan Boarding Schools
September 27, 2021
The Brown School’s International Center for Child Health and Development Builds a Pipeline of Researchers from Underrepresented Backgrounds
April 8, 2021
Savings Accounts, Financial Counseling Benefit Adolescents Orphaned by AIDS
February 21, 2021
$3.4 million NIH Grant Funds Research for HIV-Positive Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa
August 25, 2020
Ssewamala Nabunya to lead NIHfunded study on ways to reduce the stigma of HIVAIDS among adolescents in Uganda
July 13, 2020
Ssewamala receives NIH grant to train HIV AIDS Ugandan researchers
May 29, 2020
Brown School Recognizes Faculty Authors and Editors
May 7, 2020