Mary Mwanyika Sando

Dr. Mary Mwanyika Sando is the Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is a medical doctor with a Master of Public Health in Global Health and Population from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

With over 15 years of experience, Mary’s work centers on maternal, child, and adolescent health, mental health, nutrition and sexual and reproductive health program design and implementation. At AAPH, she leads initiatives to advance research, build capacity, and translate scientific evidence into policy and practice.

She led the Being Initiative Landscape Analysis in Tanzania and Ghana and currently heads the Ecosystem Catalytic Project in Tanzania, which aims to improve young people’s mental health by strengthening leadership, coordination, and governance within the mental health ecosystem.

Mary is also the co-convener of the Africa Research Implementation Science and Education (ARISE) Network, a consortium of over 22 research and higher learning institutions across 10 sub-Saharan African countries. She is deeply committed to advancing women’s health and serves as President of the Medical Women Association of Tanzania (MEWATA). Additionally, she is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Charité Center for Global Health.