Phionah Kibalama Ssemambo is a public health specialist and clinical researcher with a special interest in maternal and child health. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree (MBChB) from Makerere University Kampala, Uganda, and a master’s degree in public health (Msc PH) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) United Kingdom. She is employed at Makerere University Johns Hopkins University (MU-JHU) Research Collaboration, where she has gained tremendous experience through the ranks of medical officer, study coordinator and investigator. Phionah has more than a decade of experience in paediatrics, maternal, adolescent and youth HIV/AIDS care and research.

As a public health specialist, Phionah has dedicated much of her career to advancing the field of HIV prevention initially through prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and currently through engaging in research aimed at availing different HIV prevention modalities among adolescents and women to promote sexual and reproductive health. She has worked on various multi-site National Institute of Health (NIH) supported HIV prevention and perinatal randomized clinical trials at MU-JHU. She is currently the Co-Investigator on the IMPAACT 2009 study, which evaluates the Pharmacokinetics, Feasibility, Acceptability, and Safety of Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for Primary HIV Prevention during Pregnancy and Postpartum in Adolescents and Young Women and their Infants and a study coordinator on the MTN-042 and MTN-043 studies which evaluate oral Truvada/Dapivirine vaginal Ring in Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and their infants.

Phionah is also a proud Division of AIDS (DAIDS) HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) Scholar for the year 2023/2024 on a study evaluating correlations between contraceptive use and PrEP adherence to inform integrated service delivery among young women in Southern Africa from the HPTN-082 study.