Meet the Team Leader: Dr. Christopher Baleke — Driving Innovation in Maternal and Child Health Research

Christopher Baleke (MSc, PhD Fellow) leads the research and innovation team at the Mayuge Institute for Global Health Research and Innovation (MIHRI), bringing strong academic training and practical experience in epidemiology, maternal and child health research, and data science to the institute’s work in Buluba and beyond.

Dr. Baleke is a founding director and organizational lead of MIHRI, where he guides the institute’s strategic vision for advancing maternal, newborn, and child health research through robust, data-driven approaches. His leadership ensures that MIHRI’s work is grounded in high-quality clinical data, real-world evidence, and methods that support health system strengthening and evidence-based decision-making.

Currently, Christopher is pursuing a PhD in Molecular, Genetic and Life-Course Epidemiology at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, with research focused on maternal and child health outcomes, postnatal care adherence, and the use of real-world clinical practice data to inform public health interventions. His doctoral work examines gaps in care and uses longitudinal data to understand health trajectories and cardiometabolic risk factors after pregnancy in low-resource settings.

Before joining MIHRI, Dr. Baleke gained extensive experience in epidemiological research, involving large cohort studies, statistical analysis, and health systems research. He has led analyses of population-based data involving thousands of participants across rural Ugandan communities and contributed significantly to public health research on maternal and child health challenges.

Under his leadership, MIHRI emphasizes ethical data collection, analytical rigor, and community engagement. Dr. Baleke champions a research model rooted in frontline healthcare practices — including midwife-led data collection — to generate accurate, actionable evidence that supports health policy, clinical quality improvements, and better outcomes for mothers and children in Uganda.