Dr. Rhona Mijumbi is a public health policy specialist with over 20 years of experience advancing the integration of scientific evidence into policy and practice. Her work focuses on the complex interactions between research, knowledge translation, and decision-making processes that underpin effective health systems and public policy, particularly in low- and middle-income settings.

She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and serves as a Policy Analyst and Senior Research Scientist with the Regional East African Community Health Policy Initiative (REACH-PI). In addition, she is a Health Systems Specialist Consultant with the Belgium Technical Cooperation (BTC).

Her international research engagements include roles as Senior Research Fellow at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), Research Fellow at the Africa Centre for Evidence (ACE), and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences.

Dr. Mijumbi holds a PhD in Health Policy from a joint program between Makerere University and McMaster University. She also earned a Master of International Public Health from the University of Queensland and a Master of Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Makerere University.

She has contributed to numerous high-level advisory and leadership roles in global health, including membership in the Advisory Group on Gender and COVID-19 Research Agenda Setting at the United Nations University, participation in COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Taskforces, and consultancy and technical advisory roles with the World Health Organization TDR programme. Her work has also included senior and consultancy roles with Oxford Policy Management, the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR), and the Office of the Prime Minister.

Her research interests centre on health systems strengthening, evidence-informed policymaking, and the development of rapid response mechanisms to support timely decision-making. She also contributes to the field of health diplomacy, with a focus on enhancing the use of evidence in complex policy environments.

Contact details:

Email: rhona.mijumbi@lstmed.ac.uk / rmijumbi@mlw.mw