Gulu University signs an MOU with the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy

Gulu University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding-MOU with the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy for staff exchange visits in the field of medicine with main focus on pediatrics for the next three years.

The Gulu University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Openjuru George Ladaah, and Prof. Pietro Invernizzi, the Dean School of Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, signed the agreement on Tuesday 16th April 2024 in the presence of officials from the two education institutions and St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor which renewed its MOU with Gulu University recently in joint research.

Prof. Openjuru said the relationship between Italians and Northern Uganda dates back during the time of missionaries and this is a continuation of the long-lasting cooperation.

He cited examples of developmental programs implemented by the missionaries including building of schools such as St. Joseph’s College Layibi founded in 1953 by the Verona Fathers, an Italy-based Catholic missionary society.

The VC expounded more on the missionaries’ footprint in the region which was not only spreading Christianity but also building health facilities among which includes St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor founded in 1959 by the Comboni Missionaries, and the first surgeons at the hospital were Italian Dr.Piero Corti, who also served as the Hospital Director from 1961 till his death in 2003, and his wife Lucille Teasdale-Corti.

Prof. Openjuru also recognized the late Fr. Dr. Giuseppe Anbrosoli for transforming Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital formerly Kalongo Hospital into a fully-fledged health facility in 1957 after it was originally founded in 1934 by Sister Eletta Mantiero, a Comboni Missionary Sister, as a dispensary.

Prof. Invernizzi on the other hand pledges his commitment to see that the good relationship and collaborations between the two universities produces results benefiting both institutions.

Dr. Anthony Ocaya, the Deputy Dean School of Medicine, Gulu University says the team is developing more proposals to carry out exchanges not only in the field of Pediatrics but also other medical fields in the near future.

This is not the first time Gulu University is signing an MOU with Italian medics. In January 2024, the university signed MOU with the University of Florence, Italy for cultural and scientific cooperation that includes staff exchange programs targeting Gulu University Faculty of Medicine, and the Department of Experimental Clinical Medicine of the University of Florence for exchanges in Anaesthesiology, pathological anatomy, and general surgery.