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Dr. Honorati Masanja is the IHI sitting Chief Executive Director. His professional background is statistics and epidemiology. He holds a PhD in Epidemiology and has extensive experience in data management, clinical trials, design, and evaluation of large maternal and child health programs.

Dr. Masanja joined the Institute in 1992. He obtained his PhD in Epidemiology from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel in 2006. Over the last 25 years, he has led the successful acquisition and implementation of national and regional projects whose direct impact on strengthening Tanzania’s health system is still seen today.

Having participated in the establishment of the Rufiji Health and Demographic Surveillance System (RHDSS), Dr. Masanja became the Principal Investigator for the SAVVY project from 2009-2014, a step in Tanzania’s shift towards evidence-based planning and enabling health-sector evaluation.

Dr. Masanja’s scientific engagement spans across borders. Having published extensively in international journals and books, he is also an editorial reviewer for the MRC Joint Health Systems Research Initiative, and member of Tanzania’s National eHealth Steering Committee and the Steering Committee for Monitoring and Evaluation.

His experience in training Post-Doctoral, Doctoral and Masters students in Tanzania led to his 2013 appointment as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Life Sciences of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology.#

Dr. Yunus Daud Mgaya is a Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Dar es Salaam. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Marine Biology from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1986. In 1989 he obtained a Masters in Fisheries Biology and Management from the University of British Columbia in Canada. In 1991 he joined the National University of Ireland-Galway and obtained his Ph.D. in Marine Aquaculture in 1995.

He has received several academic awards including one from Commonwealth and Irish Government. He has published widely in his area of specialization. His publications include 71 journal papers and 28 papers in edited conference proceedings. He has also published 3 multi-authored books and 14 book chapters. Prof. Mgaya has also supervised 17 MSc and 18 Ph.D. candidates who graduated during the period 1999-2016.

He is a member of various professional bodies including the Asian Fisheries Society and Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association. Professor Mgaya is an experienced administrator having held various administration positions at the University of Dar es Salaam, including Dean of the Faculty of Aquatic Sciences and Technology (2002-2006) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Planning, Finance, and Administration) (2006-2014).

He served as the Executive Secretary of the Tanzania Commission for Universities from December 2014 to May 2016 and currently serves as the Director-General of the National Institute for Medical Research. Prof. Mgaya has served as Chairman of the following organizations: Board of Trustees of the Marine Parks and Reserves Unit (2004-2008); Board of Directors of the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (2009-2016); Ministerial Advisory Board of the Drilling and Dam Construction Agency (2014-To date), and; Board of Directors of Sea Sense (a marine conservation NGO) (2008-To date).

It is worth noting that Prof. Mgaya has served WIOMSA as a Country Coordinator (1997-2006). He was recently appointed by the Vice President’s Office to serve as the Champion of the Northern Mozambique Channel Initiative (2016-To date) and a founding member and Vice-Chairman of the National Environment Trust Fund (2017-To date). Internationally, he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Foundation for Science (IFS) based in Stockholm, Sweden (2010-To date) of which he is also a member of its Executive Committee.#