Chris Bumstead
President
Chris has been an occupational therapist specializing in mental health and substance use since 1979.
He has senior manager experience as Director of Occupational Therapy (1992 – 2000),
Borough Director (London – Hounslow 2000 – 2002, and Kensington & Chelsea 2002 – 2006),
Head of Patient & Public Involvement (2006 – 2015). Currently Coordinator of the International Healthcare Partnerships Programme at Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust (2015 – present).
Special interest in empowerment and patient rights.
Peris Wambui Thuo
Executive Secretary
Experienced grants manager with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. Her experience is mainly in global health and policy. She is skilled in political communication, political science, research and government studies. She has a strong community and social services experience and has a Bachelors in Politics and Sociology and Masters of Laws in Human rights. Peris is also a co-founder of a global Woman’s rights organization called Women for Wanawake.
Innocent Mwombeki
General board member
From Dodoma, Tanzania, received a Doctor of Medicine degree in 2009 from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam. After finishing his internship, he began working as a
medical officer for the Mirembe Mental Health Referral Hospital in Dodoma. In 2014, he was appointed the head of addiction services there after completing a Master of Medicine degree in psychiatry and mental health from Muhimbili University. In 2020 he earned a master’s degree in public health from Hebrew University in Israel. Currently, Dr. Mwombeki is the head of training and research at Mirembe Hospital. Over the years, he has been actively involved in developing national treatment guidelines and the facilitation of training programs for mental health and substance use disorders. He works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, universities, and various NGOs in Tanzania.
Joseph Mbatia
General board member
Joseph is a psychiatrist, with a history of academic positions at the Department Psychiatry, Muhimbili College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) – (1988 1999) He was the Coordinator of the National Mental Health Programme -Tanzania Mainland 1996 – 2006; Assistant Director, NCD, Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Ministry of Health, (2006 – 2011); Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University (SEKOMU) (2014 – 2020) Deputy Vice Chancelor, Planning, Finance and Administration -SEKOMU, (2017 -2020)
He is committed to strengthening human resource capacity for mental health in Tanzania.
Currently, he is the
Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies and Head of Department of Medicine and Psychiatry at
Mwanza University, Tanzania.
Dorothy Mushi
General board member
Psychiatrist and a lecturer at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, since 2012. She is about to graduate with a Ph.D. in mental health Epidemiology from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. She teaches and mentors undergraduate and Post-graduate medical students, doing research and clinical work. She has been engaging and collaborating with local and International partners in research and projects on integrating mental health into existing general health services and community-based programs. She is particularly interested in research and programs on mental health with HIV, gender-based violence (GBV), violence against children (VAC), and other non-communicable diseases. Over the years, she has been actively involved in developing various national management and training guidelines for substance use disorders and the Health sector response and prevention of GBV and VAC.
Jennifer Mashaka
General board member
Resident Clinical Psychologist at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), also providing gender-affirming counseling and therapy.
With a passion for psychology ignited in 2014, she has actively contributed to various community-based initiatives with NGOs in Tanzania, including Mental Health Tanzania (MHT), Akili Platform, Eagle Wings, and Alliance for Women Children and Youth Survivors (AWCYS) in mental health awareness, outreach, and health education workshops.
Jennifer’s academic background includes a research fellowship at MUHAS and tutorial positions at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU) and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). She holds a degree in Psychology and Communication Science, with an Honours in Psychology from Wits.
She is dedicated to building her expertise and making meaningful contributions to the field.
Afra van der Markt
Advisor
Psychiatrist since 2019 with a PhD on staging models for bipolar disorder. After a residency in Tanzania in 2016/2017, she continued working on projects related to global mental health. For example, she is one of the organizers of the annual Focus on Mental Health Conference in Tanzania. She is an active member of the Global Mental Health task force of the Dutch Psychiatric Association.
In 2023, she lived in Kenya and worked for the Shamiri Institute, a non-profit that focuses on preventative mental health interventions in schools. After this, she returned to the Netherlands and is currently working as a psychiatrist and postdoc.
IMHSUS 