Dr Jennifer Serwanga is the Assistant Director of Research, Immunology and Head of the Department of Immunology at the Uganda Virus Research Institute. She joined the Immunology Department in 1998 and has served as Head of Department since 2009, leading its transformation into a high-impact, globally connected centre for vaccine immunogenicity and epidemic preparedness.

She is a Principal Scientist and Strategic Area Lead for both the Viral Pathogens Theme and the Vaccine Research Theme, providing scientific leadership across discovery, clinical translation, and policy-facing research. Under her leadership, the Department has established advanced, end-to-end immunology platforms that support vaccine development, clinical trials, and outbreak response for priority pathogens.

Dr Serwanga has secured and leads a portfolio of internationally competitive research programmes exceeding £11 million, including serving as Principal Investigator of the £5.1 million CEPI Wellcome-funded Marburg correlates of protection programme, a flagship multi-national study generating immune biomarkers to support vaccine licensure and global regulatory pathways. Her work has positioned UVRI as a regional immunology reference centre within the CEPI Centralised Laboratory Network.

She holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) and a PhD in Immunology, with extensive expertise in immune correlates of protection, vaccine immunogenicity, and systems immunology. Her research integrates binding, functional, cellular, and single-cell platforms, including ELISA, ELISpot, neutralisation assays, Fc effector function profiling, and single-cell immunogenomics to define protective immune mechanisms across SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Marburg, Mpox, and HIV, and to ensure preparedness for diseaseX.

She has led the establishment of single-cell immunogenomics and monoclonal antibody discovery platforms in Uganda, enabling in-country, high-resolution immune profiling and discovery science. Through mentorship and regional training programmes, she has built a strong pipeline of African scientists and strengthened epidemic preparedness capacity across East and Central Africa.

Dr Serwanga contributes to global health strategy through the WHO R&D Blueprint initiatives and serves on the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations Global Centralised Laboratory Network Advisory Council, advancing assay standardisation, regulatory readiness, and outbreak-responsive research systems.

Her work is defined by scale, precision, and impact, bridging discovery science, clinical translation, and public health to position Uganda as a leader in global vaccine research and epidemic preparedness.

Her greatest motivation is to drive science that saves lives, by unlocking the mechanisms of protective immunity, accelerating vaccines to licensure, and positioning Africa at the forefront of global epidemic preparedness and innovation.