Dr. Deusdedit Tusubira
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Dr. Deusdedit Tusubira, BSc (Mak), MSc, (Liverpool), PhD (Bergen) Norway, has been re-appointed as acting Head of Department starting September 2021. He has a strong team of 1 Associate Professor, 3 Lecturers, 2 Teaching Assistants, 1 senior lab technologist, one Laboratory Technician and 2 laboratory assistants. While he started his career in research based on Molecular Biology of parasites and disease vectors, his most recent work is on diseases of life span and interaction between aging and multi-morbidity.

As a department we operate an open-door policy to ensure that we give personalized attention to each and every student. Students can either directly go to office of the Head of Department within working hours for help with their career/academic development or contact any of the departmental staff.

Biochemistry department of Mbarara University of Science and Technology is one of the pioneers’ departments in the Faculty of Medicine. Due to its role, biochemistry is mandatory course for all students in the faculty. There are basically two medical biochemistry courses; a (Two) 2 semester course for programs such as: Bachelors of Nursing Science, Bachelors of Medical Laboratory Science, Bachelors of Physiotherapy, Bachelors of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a (three)3 semester course for Bachelors of Pharmacy and Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery. We also have Postgraduate course including Masters degree and Doctor of Philosophy.

For anyone to truly understand the scientific basis of life, he/ she must be exposed to Biochemistry. Biochemistry gives us tools to explore life from its basic building blocks defined by its chemical constituents. It is a relatively new scientific field having been developed towards the 19th century when scientists discovered that living things were composed of inanimate particles similar to those in nonliving things. It is the bedrock for generating answers to complicated problems in a wide range of areas, from medicine to industry. The skills and tools of biochemistry are necessary not only in creating new consumer products but also in generating tools for fighting emerging and re-emerging diseases.

Biochemists have played a pivotal role in development of modern medicine through elucidating molecular basis of disease and health, developing new vaccines and therapies. The role of biochemists in medicine is evident from the many nobel prizes in medicine and physiology awarded to biochemists.