Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu (born 1974) is a Ugandan psychiatrist, psychiatric epidemiologist, and academic based at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda.

She earned her MBChB (Medicine) from Makerere University in 1998, an MMED in Psychiatry in 2006, and later completed a PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in 2012.

SEEK-GSP: The Innovation

She is the founder of SEEK-GSP (Social, Emotional, and Economic Empowerment through Knowledge of Group Support Psychotherapy), a WHO-Africa–endorsed mental-health innovation. SEEK-GSP empowers communities by training lay health workers to recognize and address mild to moderate depression using culturally sensitive group support psychotherapy.

Her research demonstrated that this intervention—delivered by non-specialists—leads to dramatic reductions in depressive symptoms, improved HIV treatment adherence, and enhanced viral suppression.

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Research Breakthroughs & Scale-Up

At Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital, she observed high rates of depression among people living with HIV, coupled with poor medication adherence. She pioneered pilot interventions using group therapy versus standard education among HIV-positive adults, showing lasting reductions in depression even post-intervention.

In 2016, she expanded the intervention across northern Uganda: over 1,140 patients at more than 40 health centers received the therapy from trained lay workers over eight weeks, resulting in significant decreases in depression and PTSD symptoms, and improvements in medication adherence and reduced alcohol abuse.

She continues working with Uganda’s Ministry of Health to scale up the SEEK-GSP program nationally.

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Recognition & Impact

Prof. Nakimuli-Mpungu’s pioneering work has earned her numerous national and international accolades:

AstraZeneca/APIRE Young Minds in Psychiatry Award (2005)

Fulbright Science & Technology Award (2007)

Presidential National Independence Medal of Honor (Uganda, 2016)

Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career Women Scientists in Developing Countries (2016)

Named among BBC’s 100 Most Influential Women (2020)

In 2023, she was elected to the Executive Committee of the World Psychiatry Association’s Psychotherapy Section and joined the World Federation for Psychotherapy Council representing Uganda.

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Summary

Prof. Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu is a visionary clinician-researcher who transformed mental health care for people living with HIV in Uganda through the SEEK-GSP model.

By training lay workers to deliver group psychotherapy, she created a scalable, culturally adapted, and resource-sensitive intervention that improved mental health outcomes and HIV treatment success.

Her work continues to influence global mental health policy and practice, and she remains a leading voice in expanding access to care across Africa.