Head of Office
Dr. Ismael Kawooya
As the Senior Research Scientist and Head of Office at ACRES, Dr. Ismael Kawooya leads our technical operations. With over a decade of experience, Dr Ismael bridges the gap between research and policy by building the permanent structures that keep that bridge standing. His work is defined by a combination of clinical rigour and operational strategy, ensuring that ACRES delivers high-impact evidence with efficiency.
Dr Ismael’s expertise is recognized internationally, most notably as the recipient of the Africa Evidence Leadership Award 2024 by the African Evidence Network (AEN). This prestigious honour recognizes his career-long commitment to transforming how knowledge is used across the continent. His leadership extends from the local level to global initiatives, including serving as a consultant for Witwatersrand University and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, where he authored seminal work on Primary Care Systems.
Building a pan-African network
Dr Ismael is the lead architect of our Evidence to Policy (E2P) Training Programme. He is a capacity multiplier who has trained over 100 researchers and policymakers across Zimbabwe, Malaysia, and India. By teaching others how to conduct rapid evidence reviews, he ensures that the ACRES methodology is a global standard for health systems strengthening. Whether he is mentoring National TB and Leprosy Programme staff or coordinating the SORT-IT initiative in Uganda, Dr Ismael’s focus is always on empowering others to lead with data.
Holding both a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Makerere University, he speaks the language of both the clinician and the statistician. This dual perspective allows him to oversee the technical teams at ACRES that ensures every brief we produce is as scientifically sound as it is politically relevant.
Selected publications
- Kawooya, I., Ddumba, I., Kayongo, E., & Mijumbi-Deve, R. (2020). Rapidly responding to policy queries with evidence: Learning from rapid response services in Uganda. In Using evidence in policy and practice(pp. 133-151). Routledge.
- Mijumbi-Deve, R. M., Kawooya, I., Kayongo, E., Izizinga, R., Mamuye, H., Amog, K., & Langlois, E. V. (2022). Paper 1: Demand-driven rapid reviews for health policy and systems decision-making: lessons from Lebanon, Ethiopia, and South Africa on researchers and policymakers’ experiences. Systematic Reviews, 11(1), 154.
- Kawooya, I., Kayongo, E., Munube, D., Mijumbi-Deve, R., Elliott, S., Vandermeer, B., & Sewankambo, N. (2022). Point‐of‐care diagnostic tests for sickle cell disease.The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2022(9), CD014584.
- Robson, R. C., Thomas, S. M., Langlois, É. V., Mijumbi, R., Kawooya, I., Antony, J., … & Tricco, A. C. (2023). Embedding rapid reviews in health policy and systems decision-making: impacts and lessons learned from four low-and middle-income countries. Health Research Policy and Systems, 21(1), 45.
- Nangendo, J., Obuku, E. A., Kawooya, I., Mukisa, J., Nalutaaya, A., Musewa, A., … & Kalyango, J. N. (2017). Diagnostic accuracy and acceptability of rapid HIV oral testing among adults attending an urban public health facility in Kampala, Uganda. PloS one, 12(8), e0182050.
- Nangendo, J., Obuku, E. A., Kawooya, I., Mukisa, J., Nalutaaya, A., Musewa, A., … & Kalyango, J. N. (2017). Diagnostic accuracy and acceptability of rapid HIV oral testing among adults attending an urban public health facility in Kampala, Uganda. PloS one, 12(8), e0182050.
- Mukasa, J., Kayongo, E., Kawooya, I., Lukoye, D., Etwom, A., Mugabe, F., … & Mijumbi-Deve, R. (2020). Adherence to the MDR-TB intensive phase treatment protocol amongst individuals followed up at central and peripheral health care facilities in Uganda-a descriptive study. African Health Sciences, 20(2), 625-632.
- Kawooya, I., Lubanga, T., Muwanika, A., Muhumuza, E., & Mijumbi-Deve, R. (2020). The influence of local ownership and politics of the use of evaluations in policy making: The case of the public procurement evaluation in Uganda. In Using evidence in policy and practice(pp. 115-132). Routledge.
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