GCHS Recognized as New Collaboration Expands Health Training in Northern Uganda

The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security (GCHS) has been recognized for its support of health care professionals in Uganda as it begins a phase in its ongoing collaboration in the country.

Pipeline Worldwide, a nonprofit founded in 2010 to support communities living in extreme poverty in Northern Uganda, presented the GCHS with its 2025 Non-profit Unseen Champion Award at a conference in October.

The recognition follows the summer deli very of a simulation container lab -- equipped with medical equipment donated by Nebraska Medicine -- that now supports training for health care professionals at Pipeline Worldwide’s Lonyi Village Innovation Learning Center in Moyo, Uganda.

Key members in that initiative included James Lawler, MD, associate director of international programs and innovation at GCHS, and Vicky Nakibuuka, international program manager for GCHS.

Pipeline Worldwide also hosted a screening on November 24th of its short documentary film, “Now You See Us,” during an event at The Catalyst. The film spotlights the organization’s work in the Moyo District, transporting viewers to one of the world’s most remote regions, where limited infrastructure and proximity to the South Sudan border and refugee settlements shape daily life. Featuring local voices and sweeping footage of the landscape, the documentary portrays a community marked by resilience amid longstanding neglect.

Following the screening, Dr. Lawler and Nakibuuka joined a panel discussion moderated by John Lowe, PhD, director of the GCHS.

Lawler explains  “Local health security and global health security are intertwined. If we want to protect our communities from emerging infectious diseases like Mpox and we want to stop future pandemics, we need to be present on the front lines of emerging infections, in strategic locations where pathogen, environmental, and population factors create the highest risk. Northern Uganda is one of these places.”

The event also marked the launch of a new collaboration between the GCHS and Makerere University’s Infectious Disease Institute. Together, the partners will develop the first training course in basic labor and delivery skills -- including infection prevention and control --for delivery at a new training center under construction in Moyo.