Dr Talkmore Maruta is Director of Programmes at the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM). A public health and medical laboratory professional with more than 25 years’ experience, he works at the intersection of laboratory systems strengthening, emergency preparedness and response, and biosafety and biosecurity.

He has served with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, managing programmes and projects across the Africa region, the Caribbean and East Asia.

His work in the region was recognised at the ASLM 2012 Conference with a Distinguished Leadership award, and in 2019 with the Best Employee award on the World Bank-supported Southern Africa TB Health Systems Strengthening (SATBHSS) project.

Dr Maruta holds a PhD in Public Health, a Master of Public Health, a Master of Business Administration, a Master’s in International Affairs and Diplomacy, and a BSc (Honours) in Medical Laboratory Sciences.

Mutale Mubanga is a biomedical scientist and laboratory systems leader with over 15 years’ experience in laboratory medicine, quality management, accreditation and diagnostic systems strengthening. He is Manager of Laboratory Services at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), on the Transitioning and Integrating Laboratory Services (TRAILS) Project.

He holds an MSc in Infectious Diseases from the University of London and a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Zambia, and is an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

As President of the Biomedical Society of Zambia and Chair of the Federation of Laboratory Professionals in Africa (FeLPA), he leads initiatives that strengthen laboratory systems across the continent — helping countries develop laboratory strategic plans, regulation, accreditation and quality management systems, and advancing mentorship, training, curriculum development and the digital transformation of laboratory services.

He works with Ministries of Health and public health bodies including Africa CDC, US CDC, ASLM and CLSI, and speaks regularly at national and international scientific meetings. His mission is to contribute to the growth of people and to the total transformation of laboratory services in Africa for a healthier world.

Donewell Bangure is a Senior Epidemiologist, laboratory scientist and public health leader whose two-decade career has shaped laboratory systems, biosafety and emergency preparedness across Africa. He is one of the founding cohort of ten epidemiologists who established the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), laying the groundwork for the continent’s modern public health security architecture.

Trained in Zimbabwe as a Principal Medical Laboratory Scientist and later a Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) coordinator, he built a rare dual expertise bridging laboratory diagnostics and field epidemiology — a foundation that has made him a leading voice in the One Health movement linking human, animal and environmental health.

At the Africa CDC Centre for Laboratory Diagnostics and Systems he has led continental work on quality management systems, biosafety and biosecurity policy and laboratory workforce development. He authored the widely adopted Africa CDC Laboratory QMS Curriculum, grounded in ISO 15189, SLIPTA and One Health principles, and developed the Africa CDC Laboratory Leadership Fellowship.

His emergency response leadership spans the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, Head of Mission for the 2018–2019 DRC Ebola response, and coordination of the Africa CDC Rapid Responders programme during COVID-19, which helped expand continental testing capacity from 2 to over 1,000 laboratories.

A researcher with more than 76 peer-reviewed publications, he has advised governments in Somalia, Seychelles, Tanzania, Burundi, Liberia, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda and South Africa on national laboratory policies, strategic plans and biosafety and biosecurity frameworks — work central to preventing zoonotic and cross-species disease threats.

Dr Doreen Mainza Shempela is a distinguished Zambian public health specialist, researcher and leader currently serving as Director of Public Health Policy, Diplomacy and Communication at the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI). In this role, she provides strategic leadership in advancing evidence-informed public health policy, health diplomacy, communication and stakeholder engagement in support of Zambia’s health security agenda.

Dr Shempela is an accomplished researcher with professional interests spanning public health, disease surveillance, laboratory systems, pandemic preparedness, genomic surveillance and the One Health approach. Her work has contributed to strengthening multisectoral collaboration and evidence-based responses to public health challenges in Zambia, and she has facilitated and contributed to national discussions on strengthening Zambia’s One Health systems.

She serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Health Press Zambia, a scientific and public health publication of ZNPHI dedicated to disseminating research findings, outbreak investigations and other important public health information.

Dr Shempela’s expertise in public health policy, health security, research and science communication makes her an important voice in promoting collaboration across the human, animal and environmental health sectors.