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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 170 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
  • Download CV download

Areas of Focus:

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

In The News

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