Fidel Rubagumya
| Fidel Rubagumya | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Rwandan |
| 🏫 Education | MB ChB, National University of Rwanda (2013); MMed, Muhimbili University (2018); MPH, Queen's University (2023) |
| 💼 Occupation | Oncologist, medical educator, researcher |
| Known for | Choosing Wisely Africa; cancer care equity in LMICs |
Fidel Rubagumya (MD, MMed, MPH) is a Rwandan clinical and radiation oncologist, global health researcher, and medical educator. He is the Founding Program Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship at the University of Rwanda and a Consultant Clinical and Radiation Oncologist at Rwanda Military Hospital in Kigali. He holds adjunct academic appointments at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Queen's University in Canada.
Rubagumya is recognised for his research on cancer care equity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), his leadership of the Choosing Wisely Africa initiative, and his contributions to building oncology capacity across Sub-Saharan Africa.[1][2] He has authored or co-authored 61 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in The Lancet Oncology, JAMA Network Open, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. He is the founder of Rwanda Cancer Relief and founding chair of the Young African Leaders in Oncology Special Interest Group of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC).
Education and training
Rubagumya completed his secondary education at Lycée de Kigali, Rwanda, graduating with a focus in biology and chemistry. He earned a Bachelor of General Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) from the National University of Rwanda in Huye in 2013.
Following graduation, he undertook a medical internship (2013–2014) at Butaro Hospital in Burera, Rwanda, with a focus on oncology. He completed a Master of Medicine (MMed) in Clinical Oncology (2015–2018) at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His MMed thesis examined thyroid function following supraclavicular lymph node irradiation in breast cancer patients.
In 2021, Rubagumya was awarded a Clinical and Research Fellowship in Medical Oncology at Kingston Health Sciences Centre and Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada), specialising in gastrointestinal cancers, alongside a Research Fellowship in cancer epidemiology. He completed a Master of Public Health (MPH) at Queen's University in 2023. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Rwanda (2023–present).
He has undertaken observer and training rotations at leading international centres including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, the University of Virginia Cancer Center, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (Ghana), and Princess Marina Hospital (Botswana).
Career
Clinical practice
Rubagumya has been a Consultant Clinical and Radiation Oncologist at Rwanda Military Hospital in Kigali since 2021, having joined as Junior Consultant in 2019. He also serves as a Consultant Researcher with Research and Development Rwanda (2021–present).
Academic positions
Rubagumya is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda (2022–present). In 2023, he was appointed Founding Program Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship at the University of Rwanda — the first fellowship of its kind at the institution. He holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment at Queen's University (2022–present) and an Adjunct Associate Professor appointment at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (2026–present). He previously served as Lecturer at the University of Global Health Equity (2018–2022) and the International Cancer Institute in Eldoret, Kenya (2019–2023).
Policy and consultancy
Rubagumya served as Primary Consultant for Rwanda's National Cancer Treatment Guidelines (2021) and the Rwanda National Cancer Control Plan (2024–2025).[3] He contributed to Tanzania's National Cancer Treatment Guidelines (2020) and multiple iterations of the Rwanda National Cancer Control Plan.
Research
As of 2025, Rubagumya has 61 peer-reviewed publications, with an h-index of 17 and over 1,300 citations (Google Scholar). His research spans global oncology, health systems strengthening, cancer policy, radiotherapy access, clinical trial equity, and patient outcomes in LMICs.
Choosing Wisely Africa
Rubagumya is a founding contributor to the Choosing Wisely Africa initiative, which adapts the global Choosing Wisely framework to the resource-constrained realities of oncology in Sub-Saharan Africa. He was first author on the 2020 paper "Choosing Wisely Africa: Ten Low-Value or Harmful Practices That Should Be Avoided in Cancer Care" in JCO Global Oncology.[4]
Cancer policy and health systems
Rubagumya contributed to the Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa (2022)[5] and co-authored the 2023 Lancet Oncology paper "Common Sense Oncology: outcomes that matter."[6] His research has documented authorship inequity in global clinical trials,[7] financial toxicity of cancer care in Rwanda,[8] pharmaceutical industry relationships with Sub-Saharan African oncologists,[9] and global barriers in access to oncology drugs.[10]
Clinical research
Rubagumya is Principal Investigator on multiple grant-funded studies, including an NIH-funded Rwanda CASCADE Clinical Trials Site for cervical cancer prevention (2023–2027), a Global Bridges Oncology/Pfizer study on radiotherapy quality improvement in Sub-Saharan Africa,[11] and studies on HPV-associated head and neck cancers, financial toxicity, and mobile health applications for cancer detection.[12]
Philanthropy and civil society
Rubagumya founded Rwanda Children's Cancer Relief (RCCR) in 2012, serving as its Executive Director until 2015 and Founding Chair of its Board of Directors until 2021. In 2021, he founded Rwanda Cancer Relief (RCR). He co-founded breast cancer support groups at the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence and the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (Tanzania), and co-founded ONCares Inc. Since 2019, he has chaired the Young African Leaders in Oncology Special Interest Group within AORTIC.
Honours and awards
- 2023 — Dartmouth Cancer Center Inaugural Global Oncology Visiting Research Scholar
- 2022 — ASCO Career Development Award[13]
- 2020 — ASCO Long Term Fellowship Award
- 2018 — Massachusetts General Hospital POETIC Fellowship Award
- 2018 — UICC African Cancer Fellowship Award
- 2017 — African Cancer Leader Institute (ACLI) Award
- 2017 — ASCO International Development and Educational Award
- 2016 — UICC International Cancer Technology Transfer Fellowship Award
- 2015 — American Cancer Society Global Scholar Award
- 2014 — International Health Initiative Inc. "Caring Soul Award for Humanitarianism"
Editorial roles
Rubagumya serves as Associate Editor of JCO Oncology Advances and Academic Editor of PLOS Global Public Health. He is a member of the editorial boards of JCO Journal of Global Oncology and ecancer journals, and is an ad hoc reviewer for JAMA Network Open, Nature – Communication Medicine, Cancer, and Journal of Cancer Policy.
Selected publications
- Booth CM, et al. (incl. Rubagumya F). Common Sense Oncology: outcomes that matter. Lancet Oncol. 2023;24(8):833–835. PMID 37467768.
- Ngwa W, et al. (incl. Rubagumya F). Cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: a Lancet Oncology Commission. Lancet Oncol. 2022;23(6):e251–e312. PMID 35550267.
- Rubagumya F, et al. Allocation of authorship and patient enrollment among global clinical trials in oncology. Cancer. 2023. PMID 37382190.
- Barrios C, et al. (incl. Rubagumya F). Barriers in access to oncology drugs — a global crisis. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2022.
- Rubagumya F, et al. Increasing global access to cancer care: models of care with non-oncologists as primary providers. Lancet Oncol. 2017;18(8):1000–1002. PMID 28759361.
- Rubagumya F, et al. Choosing Wisely Africa: Ten Low-Value or Harmful Practices. JCO Glob Oncol. 2020;6:1192–1199. PMID 32735489.
- Dee EC, et al. (incl. Rubagumya F). Growing the global cancer care system. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024;116(8):1193–1197. PMID 38663853.
- Hammad N, Rubagumya F. Radiotherapy and conflict: from disruption to expansion and hope. Lancet Oncol. 2024;25(11):1397–1399. PMID 39362230.
References
- ↑ Rubagumya, F; et al. (2017). "Increasing global access to cancer care: models of care with non-oncologists as primary providers". Lancet Oncology. 18 (8): 1000–1002. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30519-3. PMID 28759361.
- ↑ Dee, EC; et al. (2024). "Growing the global cancer care system: success stories from around the world and lessons for the future". Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 116 (8): 1193–1197. doi:10.1093/jnci/djae087. PMC 11308163 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 38663853 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Manirakiza, AVC; et al. (2023). "The current status of National Cancer Control Plans in Africa: Data from 32 countries". Journal of Cancer Policy. 37. doi:10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100430. PMID 37392842 Check
|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ Rubagumya, F; et al. (2020). "Choosing Wisely Africa: Ten Low-Value or Harmful Practices That Should Be Avoided in Cancer Care". JCO Global Oncology. 6 (6): 1192–1199. doi:10.1200/GO.20.00255. PMC 7392774 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32735489 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Ngwa, W; et al. (2022). "Cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: a Lancet Oncology Commission". Lancet Oncology. 23 (6): e251–e312. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00720-8. PMC 9393090 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 35550267 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Booth, CM; et al. (2023). "Common Sense Oncology: outcomes that matter". Lancet Oncology. 24 (8): 833–835. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00319-4. PMID 37467768 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Rubagumya, F; et al. (2023). "Allocation of authorship and patient enrollment among global clinical trials in oncology". Cancer. 129 (18): 2856–2863. doi:10.1002/cncr.34919. PMID 37382190 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Rubagumya, F; et al. (2023). "Financial Toxicity: Unveiling the Burden of Cancer Care on Patients in Rwanda". The Oncologist. 29 (3): e345–e350. doi:10.1093/oncolo/oyad291. PMC 10911921 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 37897406 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Rubagumya, F; et al. (2023). "Pharmaceutical industry relationships with oncologists in sub-Saharan Africa". The Lancet Oncology. 24 (2): e96–e101. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00639-8. PMID 36725154 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Barrios, C; et al. (2022). "Barriers in access to oncology drugs—a global crisis". Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. 20 (1): 7–15. doi:10.1038/s41571-022-00700-7. PMC 9665041 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 36380066 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Hammad, N; Rubagumya, F (2024). "Radiotherapy and conflict: from disruption to expansion and hope". Lancet Oncology. 25 (11): 1397–1399. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00493-5. PMID 39362230 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Rubagumya, F; et al. (2020). "Feasibility Study of a Smartphone Application for Detecting Skin Cancers in People With Albinism". JCO Global Oncology. 6 (6): 1370–1375. doi:10.1200/GO.20.00264. PMC 7531610 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32903120 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ "ASCO Career Development Award Recipients". American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Category:Rwandan physicians Category:Oncologists Category:Global health researchers Category:University of Rwanda faculty Category:Queen's University faculty
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