Dr. Allen Kabagenyi, a Lecturer in the Department of Population Studies, College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) has today October 29, 2021 been inducted as a fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) in the category of Physical Sciences. The induction took place during the 2021 Annual Scientific Conference under the theme Uganda’s Health: Transcending Sectors, Looking to the Future.
Dr. Kabagenyi is a demographer/ Population scientist with over ten years of working experience in population and reproductive health, specifically maternal health, focusing on family planning, HIV/Aids, fertility and related reproductive health issues. Allen is a member of the Ministry of Health Maternal and Child Health Technical Working Group and the National Demographic Dividend Steering Committee. She recently led the development of an Operations Manual for integrating Gender and Demographic Dividends into National Plans, Policies and Programmes for African countries. She was also a Lead Editor of The Roadmap for Harnessing Uganda’s Demographic Dividend Report. Dr. Kabagenyi has led multiple research projects, published widely, and mentors students at both Masters and PhD levels. She is a KISH Fellow and an academic affiliate of the University of Michigan. She is a Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge and a Policy Communication Fellow of Population Reference Bureau (PRB). Dr. Kabagenyi was the 2019 winner in Demography top 40 under 40 for exceptional work awarded by Vision Media Group; 2017 award winner of the 120 Under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders, awarded by Bill and Gates Foundation and Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. She was also the 2017 American Psychological Foundation (APF), Henry P. David Reproductive Health award winner. Currently, she is leading efforts to establish a Research Ethics Committee at CoBAMS. She is the Principal Investigator of; “Accelerating Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Uptake in Uganda: Snapshot Study” and “Adolescent Motherhood, Vulnerability Assessment and Newborn care practices, in Eastern Uganda (AMNEP)”.
Quoting Sir Isaac Newton, in her acceptance speech, Dr. Kabagenyi was grateful to God and went on to thank her nominators, mentors, colleagues, family and friends for supporting her, saying “We stand tall on shoulders of Giants”. She said becoming a fellow of the distinguished UNAS has inspired her to commit to contribute to the wealth of knowledge. She affirmed her commitment to foster the values of UNAS.
About UNAS
The Uganda National Academy of Sciences is an independent, non-profit, non-political, and membership-based service organization. UNAS was created to provide credible, balanced, and evidence-driven advice to the nation on matters of science and development.UNAS draws its membership from the Fellowship of the Academy who are recognized for their lifetime achievements in the sciences and humanities. Fellows are active contributors to the national and international academic community. The UNAS Fellowship is composed of scholars from disciplines including the natural and social sciences, as well as the arts and humanities—all of whom have been selected through a rigorous vetting process.