Francis Kakooza is the Deputy Head of the Global Health Security Programme at the Infectious Diseases Institute. He joined IDI in 2011 and worked in different IDI programmes with the past five years focused on conceptualizing, designing and implementing GHSA projects.He has served in different capacities in the GHS programme as a Senior Project Officer for Biosafety and Biosecurity, Project Coordinator for WHO Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme, Technical Advisor for Antimicrobial Resistance Thematic Area and recently as the Programme Manager for the UK-funded Fleming Fund Country Grants.

Francis Kakooza has a Masters in International Infectious Diseases Management and a PhD candidate in Pathogen Genomics and Molecular Epidemiology at Makerere University.

He has been involved in the building of teams that support research in Especially Dangerous Pathogens and CDC-funded nation-wide GHSA capacity building projects. He is passionate about molecular diagnostics, emerging infectious diseases and public health interventions.