About

Prof. Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Makerere University and Founder of SEEK-GSP – a WHO African Mental Health Innovation that trains lay health workers to recognize mild to moderate depression and respond by providing group support psychotherapy in the villages.  Over the past decade, she has evaluated this psychotherapy among people with HIV using randomized clinical trials and demonstrated dramatic reduction in depression symptoms and improvement in anti-viral medication adherence and viral suppression.

She now works collaboratively with the Ministry of Health of Uganda to create a scaling pathway for the SEEK-GSP Program.

Her research has earned her national and international recognition such as The 2016 Elsevier Foundation Award and a Presidential National Independence Medal of Honor. In 2020, she was listed among the BBC 100 most inspiring and influential women. In 2023, she was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the World Psychiatry Association (WPA) Psychotherapy Section and later appointed a Council Member representing Uganda on the World Federation Psychotherapy Council. 

She completed her medical degree and Master of Medicine in Psychiatry at Makerere University in 1998 and 2006 respectively. In 2012, she attained a doctoral degree in psychiatric epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University, USA.