Dr Louis Mukwaya Leaves Behind 61-Year Legacy in Mosquito Research

What the report says

Dr Louis Godfrey Mukwaya, a long-serving Ugandan entomologist, has died at the age of 87, leaving behind a scientific record closely tied to mosquito research at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). According to Nile Post, he joined the then East African Virus Research Institute in 1965 as its first Ugandan graduate entomologist after studying zoology at Makerere University, later completing a PhD in medical entomology in 1971.

His career at UVRI stretched for 61 years, including service after retirement in 1999, when he continued to support research and later worked as a consultant. UVRI Director Prof Pontiano Kaleebu said Mukwaya was especially known for work on mosquito feeding behaviour and genetics, including research suggesting that feeding preferences are shaped more by heredity than by environment. That work helped explain why some mosquitoes bite humans while others prefer animals or rodents.

Nile Post also reported that Mukwaya played an institutional role during the 1970s, when political instability and staff losses left UVRI short-handed. He served as acting director from 1977 to 1979 and helped safeguard specimens and keep research running. His scientific contributions were later recognized internationally when a mosquito subgenus was named after him in 2009, and he received a presidential medal in 2018 for work linked to malaria control.

Family members and colleagues remembered him as disciplined, ethical and quietly generous, especially in supporting children’s education. He is set to be buried in Semuto, Luwero District.