UGANDA Board Members

Prof. Celestino Obua

Professor Celestino Obua (MD, MSc, PhD) is a Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Fellow of the Uganda Academy of Sciences (FUNAS) and the current Vice Chancellor, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda. He lectured Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University for over 12 years before serving as the Deputy Principal, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University for 4 years, after which he was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of MUST to date. Prof Obua has a strong passion for research and capacity building at individual and institutional levels, yielding over 100 publications. He is the Principal Investigator/Program Director on several previous and current extramural research grants/projects at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. 

Online Profile: https://www.must.ac.ug/the-vice-chancellor/

Hon. Mary Karooro Okurut

Mary Karooro 0kurut currently a Senior Presidential Adviser / Public Relations, holds a B.A. in Literature and Mass Communication, a diploma in Education and a masters in Literature. Formerly a Literature lecturer at Makerere University, she later joined politics. She served as Press Secretary to Vice President Specioza Kazibwe then became Press Secretary to President Museveni. She later became Woman Member of Parliament for Bushenyi District and served as minister in different portfolios; Information and National Guidance, Gender and Social Development, National Security and General Duties in the office of the Prime Minister. During the covid pandemic, she was appointed Chairperson of the Covid Response Committee which was in charge of donations. She is the founder and Patron of the Uganda Association of Women Writers (Femrite) and is the most published author in the country. She has a passion for traditional medicine and was appointed as Adviser to Rukararwe Rural Development Partnership, a local NG0 that specializes in the promotion and advancement of herbal medicine. Hon. Mary Karooro Okurut is also the founder and chairperson of the Karooro 0kurut Foundation, a non-profit making organisation geared at empowering local communities in different areas.

Ajay Kumar Pal

Ajay Pal is the current CEO of Cipla Quality Chemical industries. He previously worked at Cipla South Africa as a Senior Director- Head of Manufacturing SA.

Ajay holds a Master of Business Administration in Management and Leadership from Nelson Mandela University Business School, South Africa, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the Rajiv Ghandi University of Health Sciences in India.

He has over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry spreading across South Africa, India and Uganda

Online Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apal/