Epidemiologist · Medical Doctor · Public Health Specialist · Digital Health Enthusiast

Dr. Mwenya
Mubanga

Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery Master of Medical Science in Nephrology Master of Public Health Doctor of Philosophy in Epidemiology

Chief Medical Officer · Manje Health

Secretary/Treasurer · Africa Chapter, International Society of Environmental Epidemiology

A physician-scientist bridging clinical medicine, population epidemiology, and implementation research — from cardiovascular disease registers in Sweden to HIV transmission hotspots in Zambia.

30+
Publications
600+
Citations
15+
Years Active
View Research → ORCID Profile ↗
Dr. Mwenya Mubanga
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// The Red Thread

A singular question asked across many contexts: How does the world we live in shape our health?

My scientific career may appear to span disparate fields — pets and cardiovascular disease, gut microbiome and asthma, HIV transmission and geospatial analysis. But the thread running through all of it is the same: the relationship between environment and human health, studied rigorously using population-level data, and translated into actionable insight.

In Sweden, I asked whether living with a dog changes your cardiovascular risk — and found that it does. I asked whether the microbial world in a child's gut shapes their immune system — and found evidence that it might. In Zambia, I am now asking where HIV is spreading fastest, who is most affected, and what can be done today. The tools change. The question never does.

01
Environment & Host Biology
From dog ownership to antibiotic exposure to maternal BMI — understanding how external exposures shape immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic health across the life course.
02
Population Surveillance & Data
Designing and running surveillance systems that turn raw clinical data into epidemiological intelligence — whether that means 3.8 million Swedish register records or real-time HIV recency testing in Zambia.
03
Evidence to Policy
Research doesn't end at publication. From creating surveillance dashboards for Zambia's Ministry of Health to translating findings into popular science, I work to close the gap between knowledge and action.
Publications

Selected research outputs

30+ peer-reviewed publications across cardiovascular epidemiology, atopic disease, infectious disease, and public health. Full list on ORCID and Google Scholar.

2026
From shock to resilience in GBV and SRH services: the role of research New
Kaunda Mwansa J, Hartmann M, Salazar M, Chibesakunda M, Vlahakis N, Ekström AM, and Mwenya Mubanga
BMJ Global Health · 2026 · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2025-021152
2025
Association between asthma and type 2 diabetes in a Swedish adult population: a register-based cross-sectional study Featured
Mubanga M, Gong T, Smew AI, et al.
Thorax · Published Online First March 2025 · doi:10.1136/thorax-2024-222819
2023
Role of mode of delivery and gestation duration on food allergy
Mubanga, M. & Almqvist, C.
Book Chapter · Reference Module in Food Science · Elsevier · doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-96018-2.00114-0
2023
Mode of delivery and offspring atopic dermatitis in a Swedish nationwide study
Mubanga M, Lundholm C, Rohlin ES, Rejnö G, Brew BK, Almqvist C
Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · doi:10.1111/pai.13904
2023
The gut microbiome and asthma in a Swedish twin study
Mubanga M, Ploner A, Schuppe-Koistinen I, Magnusson PKE, Boulund F, Debelius JW, Almqvist C
Clinical & Experimental Allergy · doi:10.1111/cea.14379
2023
Maternal body mass index in pregnancy and offspring asthma and food allergy
Mubanga M, Brew BH, Karim H, Curman P, Hedman A, Lundholm C, Almqvist C
Allergy · 78(9):2556-2558 · doi:10.1111/all.15803
2021
Early-life exposure to antibiotics and the risk of atopic dermatitis in the offspring: a Swedish register-based cohort study Featured
Mubanga M, Lundholm C, D'Onofrio, Stratmann M, Hedman A and Almqvist C
JAMA Network Open · 4(4):e215245 · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.5245
2020
The shared risk of diabetes between dog and cat owners and their pets: register based cohort study Media Coverage
Delicano RA, Hammar U, Egenvall A, Westgarth C, Mubanga M, Byberg L, Fall T, Kennedy B
BMJ · 371:m4337 · doi:10.1136/bmj.m4337
2019
Dog Ownership and Survival After a Major Cardiovascular Event: A Register-Based Prospective Study
Mubanga M, Byberg L, Egenvall A, Ingelsson E and Fall T
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes · 12:e005342 · doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.118.005342
2019
Dog ownership and cardiovascular risk factors: a nationwide prospective register-based cohort study
Mubanga M, Byberg L, Egenvall A, Sundstrom J, Magnusson PKE, Ingelsson E and Fall T
BMJ Open · 9:e023447 · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023447
2017
Dog ownership and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death — a nationwide cohort study Featured
Mubanga M, Byberg L, Nowak C, Egenvall A, Magnusson PK, Ingelsson E and Fall T
Scientific Reports · 7:15821 · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16118-6
2015
Tuberculous Pericarditis is Multibacillary and Bacterial Burden Drives High Mortality
Pasipanodya JG, Mubanga M, Ntsekhe M, Pandie S, et al.
EBioMedicine · 2:1634-9 · doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.09.040
2015
Community-Based ART Resulted in Excellent Retention and Can Leverage Community Empowerment in Rural Lesotho
Vandendyck M, Motsamai M, Mubanga M, Makhakhe S, et al.
HIV/AIDS Research and Treatment Open Journal · doi:10.17140/hartoj-2-107
Google Scholar ↗ ORCID ↗ ResearchGate ↗
Beyond the Lab

Science in the public sphere

Popular science, documentary filmmaking, public health writing, and community advocacy — because science is only as powerful as the people it reaches.

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Documentary Film
Documentary · Zambia
Kantolomba: Battling the Bottle

A documentary examining the challenges of alcohol abuse in the Copperbelt of Zambia — combining personal storytelling with public health advocacy.

Watch on YouTube →
✍️
Public Health Writing
Blog · Science Communication
The Corona Times

Public health writing and commentary during the COVID-19 pandemic — translating emerging science for a broad, non-specialist readership.

Read the blog →
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Health Advocacy
Mental Health · Zambia
Fray College Mental Health Project

Community-based mental health advocacy and resource platform for Zambia, developed through the Fray College of Communications Africa Health Communications Program.

Visit project →
Health Innovation

Building healthcare infrastructure for Africa

Where the science of population health meets the urgency of building — translating research insight into platforms that reach the people who need them most.

ManjeHealth
Find & fund healthcare across Africa — now
Chief Medical Officer manjehealth.com ↗
// Chief Medical Officer · Manje Health

Healthcare access is not a
distribution problem.
It is a financing problem.

As Chief Medical Officer at Manje Health, I bring my epidemiological lens to one of sub-Saharan Africa's most persistent structural challenges: the catastrophic cost of out-of-pocket healthcare. Manje — meaning now in several Zambian languages — is a healthcare search and financing platform built for African families at home and in the diaspora.

The platform enables people to find quality hospitals and fund healthcare for loved ones back home in an affordable, transparent, and direct way. My role bridges clinical credibility and operational strategy — ensuring the platform is grounded in how disease presents, how health systems fail, and what prevention and early detection require at the population level.

Visit Manje Health ↗ Our Story →
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Pan-African Platform
Digital Health Health Financing Diaspora Remittances Hospital Search Insurance Zambia Africa Sweden
The Mission

A fast, affordable, and secure way to find and fund healthcare across Africa — saving time, saving money, and potentially saving lives.

🩺
Clinical Leadership
As CMO, I lead the medical strategy — defining quality benchmarks for hospital partnerships, validating health content, and ensuring the platform reflects the real burden of disease patterns across African populations. My epidemiological training shapes how we think about risk, access, and outcomes at scale.
📡
Closing the Access Gap
Manje was born from lived experience: millions of diaspora members send money home for healthcare with no visibility into whether funds reach the right provider at the right time. Manje creates a direct, transparent channel between payers and care — a problem I understand intimately from Zambia's own health system data.
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Science Meets Startup
Building a health-tech company requires the same rigour as designing a surveillance study — hypothesis-driven decisions, iterative learning, and an honest accounting of what works. My research background in population health systems is a direct asset when designing coverage models and evaluating health outcomes at platform scale.
"Timing is everything in healthcare. Prevention, early detection, and treatment save lives — but only when people can actually access and pay for care. That is the gap Manje exists to close."
Dr. Mwenya Mubanga · Chief Medical Officer, Manje Health
// Get in Touch

Open to collaborations & opportunities

I welcome conversations with fellow researchers, institutions, funders, and policy partners working at the intersection of infectious disease, environmental health, and population surveillance — particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Nordic countries.

I am especially interested in collaborative grants, advisory roles, and postdoctoral or visiting researcher exchanges.

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Primary Email
[email protected]
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LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/mwenya-mubanga
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ORCID
0000-0002-6877-4307
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Google Scholar
View all publications
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ResearchGate
31 publications · 600+ citations