Margaret Mutumba Nakalembe
Adj Res Prof/Independ Res Req
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Adj Res Prof/Independ Res ReqEpidemiology and Biostatistics
BIO
Dr. Margaret Mutumba is a passionate global health scholar-advocate and award-winning health innovator with over a decade of experience in reproductive & fertility health in Sub-Saharan Africa. During this time, Dr. Mutumba has served as the WHO consultant for Human Reproduction and led successful initiatives focused on reduction of maternal mortality, youth impacted by the HIV epidemic, reproductive rights advocacy and more recently, addressing barriers to fertility care through awareness, research, and digital health solutions.
Dr. Mutumba is the founder of MedAtlas; a digital health start-up whose goal is simplifying access to specialist healthcare in Africa. MedAtlas aims to utilize technological advances to deliver fast, affordable, quality specialist care to the continent. Dr. Mutumba’s commitment to equitable innovation and healthcare access has been recognized by various awards including the Social Innovation Award from the University of Toronto and Startup Awards by Velocity. More recently, Dr. Mutumba has been awarded the Women in Global Health Leadership Scholarship by WomenLift Health, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Uganda Diaspora Award for Impact.
Furthermore, Dr. Mutumba serves on the Board of the Nnabageereka Development Foundation, a not-for-profit led by the Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Buganda Kingdom that leverages indigenous culture to advance the health and wellbeing of children, youth and women in Africa. Margaret has also served on the Board of the Canadian Association for Global Health where she has served as a co-chair for the 2023 Canadian Conference for Global Health, the YMCA of Three Rivers and Young People Travel USA Boards.
Dr. Mutumba also holds a position at Western University as the Director of the Frugal Biomedical Innovations Program; an innovative initiative aimed at co-developing and implementing culturally appropriate and affordable medical devices & technologies that address the healthcare needs of communities in Indigenous, remote and low-resource contexts in Africa. This program is engaged in institutional partnerships with over seven African countries including Makerere University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda.
Dr. Mutumba’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science, Pharmacology from Kings College London, a Master of Public Health from Imperial College London and PhD Public Health Sciences from the University of Waterloo, Canada.
While at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Mutumba’s doctoral research focused on access to affordable fertility care in Sub-Saharan Africa and hopes that this work will offer a roadmap for public health institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions in providing affordable specialist healthcare for the millions of people who struggle to access it.