Board

A mixed group of people with invaluable experience and exceptional skills and abilities, joined together in the cause for social change that reduces inequality, strengthens family units and local communities, and seeks to enhance dignity and opportunity for people who would otherwise remain abandoned and disempowered.

Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS, FRCP – Board Chair

Annalisa Jenkins, is the president, chief executive officer, and director on the Board of Dimension Therapeutics. Prior to joining Dimension, Dr. Jenkins served as head of global research and development at Merck Serono Pharmaceuticals from 2013 to 2014, where she also served as executive vice president global development and medical from 2011 to 2013. Prior to this, Dr. Jenkins held several leadership roles at Bristol Myers-Squibb (BMS) from 1997 to 2011, most recently serving as senior vice president and head of global medical affairs. Earlier in her career, Dr. Jenkins was a medical officer in the British Royal Navy during the Gulf Conflict, achieving the rank of surgeon lieutenant commander. Dr. Jenkins is a member of the board of directors of Ardelyx, Inc., Biothera Pharmaceutical Inc., Viventia Bio, Inc., iOX Therapeutics Limited, MedCity, and Vium and previously served as a board member of Prosensa Holding N.V. (acquired by BioMarin Pharmaceutical). She also is a committee member of the Science Board to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, and a member of the European Union Commission’s Scientific Panel for Health. She also serves on the boards of Women in Bio and the Center for Talent Innovation (U.K.), is an executive committee member of Springboard Enterprises, and is on the Advisory Panel of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. Dr. Jenkins graduated with a degree in medicine from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in the University of London (M.B.B.S.) and subsequently trained in cardiovascular medicine in the U.K. National Health Service (F.R.C.P.).

Monsignor David Cappo, Co-Founder and Chief Executive

David Cappo is the co-founder and Chief Executive of YouBelong Uganda. He is an Australian citizen working in Uganda and throughout East Africa. A qualified social worker and a Catholic priest, he has many years of front line experience in family counselling, mental health care, juvenile justice rehabilitation programmes, caring for neglected children, and community development. In more recent years he has led a successful reform of the mental health system for the South Australian Government, as well as creating innovation in social policy in reducing homelessness, juvenile justice reforms, and re-engaging young people with complex needs, with innovative education programmes.

He has chaired the Social Inclusion Board and was the Commissioner for Social Inclusion for the South Australian Government. He has also served as the Vice Chair of the National Social Inclusion Board and as a member of the Federal Government’s Expert Panel on Mental Health. He holds the position of Senior Research Fellow, Flinders University, S. Australia. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Notre Dame University, Fremantle WA Campus.

Dr. Byamah Brian Mutamba, Co-Founder, and Technical Director

Dr. Mutamba has dual expertise in public health and mental health. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Deputy Director at Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital in Uganda, where he practices general adult psychiatry and serves as Clinical Head of the Alcohol and Drug Unit. His responsibilities include inpatient and outpatient care, teaching and supervising trainees, and supporting community mental health teams, with a substantial focus on individuals and families affected by alcohol and other substance use disorders.

He earned his MBChB from Mbarara University and an MMed (Psychiatry) from Makerere University (Uganda), and later completed an MPH at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a doctorate at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam. He is Co-founder and Technical Director of YouBelong Uganda. His research focuses on developing and implementing evidence-based, culturally appropriate public mental health service models in low-resource settings. His work includes the piloting of the WHO mhGAP in Uganda; leading the stigma component of the Mental Health Beyond Facilities project in Uganda, Liberia, and Nepal; serving as Principal Investigator for Family-Based Group Interpersonal Therapy for Caregivers of Children with Nodding Syndrome; and currently leading the Wellcome Trust–funded Strengthening CAre in Collaboration with People with Lived Experience of Psychosis in Uganda (SCAPE-U) project.

Dr. Shevin Jacob

Dr. Shevin Jacob is an infectious diseases physician and Reader in Sepsis Research in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), UK. He earned his Doctorate of Medicine (MD) at Oregon Health & Science University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed internal medicine residency training at the University of Virginia and infectious diseases specialty training at the University of Washington, where he later held a faculty role in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases before joining LSTM in 2017. Based in Uganda since 2006, his research focuses on improving survival for patients with sepsis in resource-constrained government hospitals.

Dr Jacob is Co-Founder and Medical Director of Walimu, a Uganda-based non-governmental organisation that supports research (primarily sepsis and tuberculosis) and health system strengthening, including building health workforce capacity for viral haemorrhagic fevers and other infectious disease outbreaks. Since 2009, he has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) through multiple working groups on the clinical management of sepsis and other severe illnesses in resource-constrained settings. During Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, he was deployed by WHO in roles including clinical management, training and mentoring health workers in Ebola Treatment Units, and advising Ministries of Health on case management strategies.

He also serves as Secretary General and Executive Committee Member of the African Sepsis Alliance, and as a Board and Executive Committee Member of the Global Sepsis Alliance. At LSTM, he currently chairs the Research Ethics Committee.

In 2018, Dr Jacob received the Leadership in Public Health Practice Harvard Alumni Award for his work in sepsis and viral haemorrhagic fevers.

Dr. James Kananura Tibenderana

James is a malaria and public health expert, bringing over 25 years of experience in the fields of epidemiology, infectious and tropical diseases, and health system strengthening. James is a trained medical doctor, epidemiologist and researcher, remaining actively involved in operational research on communicable diseases. As Chief Executive, James oversees day-to-day operational decision-making and, along with the Global Management Group, runs the organisation, managing technical and financial functions, as well as programmes at regional and country level. In 2023, James joined GiveWell’s Research Council, which comprises experts who share their insights on GiveWell’s research questions and grant investigations. James is also a member of the Access & Product Management Advisory Committee, which gives advice to Medicines for Malaria Venture’s Access team on appropriate strategies to achieve access objectives.