For more than 30 years, Dr. Cissy Kityo Mutuluuza has stood at the forefront of HIV/AIDS research in Uganda and around the world with one primary goal: Find a cure.
An award-winning physician, epidemiologist and medical researcher, Kityo Mutuluuza is receiving an honorary degree from Western at the 325th convocation ceremony on June 10. The ceremony celebrates graduates from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and the Faculty of Science.
"We can find a cure for HIV/AIDS. In Uganda, we are not short of brains, we are not short of ideas, we are just short of funding. We're always limping. And it needs to stop," said Dr. Kityo Mutuluuza, who has served as executive director of the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) in Kampala, Uganda since 2017 after 15 years as the deputy executive director.
The JCRC, a joint venture between the Uganda Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defense and Makerere University College of Health Sciences, was established in 1991 to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which peaked across Africa in the early 1990s.
"What we do in Uganda, and what affects people in Uganda, will eventually affect you, no matter where you live. If you have a long vision, you should be able to see this, but some people don't," said Kityo Mutuluuza. "HIV/AIDS is a global concern, not only an African problem."
Kityo Mutuluuza, along with her collaborators at JCRC, pioneered the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa as early as 1992 through a research project to determine the lowest effective dose of the drug Zidovudine. This rollout served as a case study for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, securing JCRC the first USAID/PEPFAR grant in the world to expand access to life-saving ART in public sector facilities across Uganda. This funding was obtained in 2003 and implemented for seven years.
Over the past three decades, under the guidance of Kityo Mutuluuza and her predecessor, Peter Mugyenyi, JCRC has developed and delivered a sustainable health-care network to successfully increase access to ART and other measures to prevent new HIV infections across Uganda.
Schulich Medicine & Dentistry students have benefitted greatly from this standard of excellence as the JCRC has supported international experiential learning placements for more than 200 medical, dental and global health systems learners, as they gain clinical training experience, conduct research and deliver community outreach and health care.
Cissy Kityo Mutuluuza and Eric Arts have worked in close partnership for nearly two decades. (Jeff Renaud/Western Communications)
"It is no exaggeration to say that Dr. Kityo, through her work with the Joint Clinical Research Centre, has saved hundreds of thousands of lives across Africa," said Dr. John Yoo, dean of Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. "We are tremendously proud - and grateful - to be working alongside such a visionary health care leader, in such an impactful education and research partnership. Together, we will continue to improve lives on both continents."
Never stopped innovating
Kityo Mutuluuza has worked on more than 100 trials for treatment of HIV and related conditions. A true pioneer, she has also been closely involved in a number of HIV vaccine and prevention studies, many with Western microbiology and immunology professor Eric Arts, which have informed policy and practice in low- and middle-income countries.
"I've worked with Cissy for 30 years and we've made a lot of progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS. So much of the progress is a direct result of Cissy's leadership, her passion for the cause and an unbridled hunt to find a cure," said Arts, who leads a clinical and molecular virology laboratory at JCRC.
Arts has collaborated with researchers at JCRC, including Kityo Mutuluuza, since 1998.
"JCRC, under Cissy's guidance, has never stopped innovating and doing things that other people tell them they cannot do. What's she done throughout her life is nothing short of extraordinary." - Western microbiology and immunology professor Eric Arts
For many years, Arts and Kityo Mutuluuza have worked in close partnership, advancing shared educational, clinical and research missions. The collaboration led directly to a now decade-long relationship between Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and the JCRC.
"Western's partnership with JCRC stands as a testament to shared values, strategic alignment and sustained commitment," said Arts.
Model for HIV prevention
Kityo Mutuluuza leads the first long-acting ART trial in Africa and catalyzed the alliance of experts in gene therapy to support bridging the gaps in HIV cure research between high- and low-income countries.
As a member of the AIDS Task Force in Uganda and previously a Chair for the AIDS Clinical Care Subcommittee, she was involved in planning and writing the first strategic plan for a national program to increase access to care and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), as well as the resulting national ARV policy.
She has also published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
In his 2024 autobiography On Call, Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote about his early visit to JCRC and how it could serve as template for an African-first solution to a global crisis: "Peter, Cissy and their team were making the most of the scarce amount of money that they received from philanthropic sources to purchase and successfully administer antiretroviral drugs to a small number of patients.
"I remember thinking that if we could give these health-care providers more resources, their operation could serve as an excellent model for HIV prevention, treatment and care in southern Africa," wrote Fauci.
Resources, specifically financial funding, remain critical to the continued excellence of JCRC, says Kityo Mutuluuza. She believes her honorary degree, and the benefits of being associated with a prestigious institution like Western, not only boosts the credibility and visibility of JCRC but she hopes it may also attract more funding.
"Without any doubt, this honorary degree will increase the visibility of the work that we are doing at JCRC," said Kityo Mutuluuza. "This is an individual honour, but I don't work alone. I work with a team and so this will exponentially increase the visibility of what we are doing to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic."
As part of the RGE Murray Seminar Series, Kityo Mutuluuza will deliver a public lecture titled "Ending the HIV Epidemic: Next Steps and Innovations" on Thursday, June 12 at 11 a.m. in Dental Sciences Building (DSB), Room 1002. The lecture will also be presented via Zoom.
