Biography
Fred Ssewamala directs the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD) and SMART Africa Center at Washington University. He holds a bachelor’s in Social Work and Social Administration from Makerere University in Uganda, and an MSW and PhD from the Brown School at Washington University. He 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.
Currently, Ssewamala is conducting five large-scale, NIH-funded trials across sub-Saharan Africa: Kyaterekera Project, Suubi+Adherence-R2, Suubi4Her, SMART Africa, and Suubi4Stigma. Another project, Suubi4Cancer, explores care for children living with HIV with suspected cancers. He is co-principal investigator on several training programs including the R25 RRT, T37 LEAD, and D43 CHILD-GRF that focus on training early-career researchers committed to careers in child behavioral health.
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, Siteman Cancer Center, and a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.
Faculty page & CV: https://brownschool.wustl.edu/Fred-Ssewamala