Dr Makanga is the Chief Executive Officer of the EDCTP Association Secretariat. Before joining EDCTP he was first in clinical practice and academia, and later clinical research where he served as Head of Regulatory Clinical Trials Facility and Outpatient Clinic at the Kenya Medical Research Institute – Wellcome Trust Collaborative Centre, Kilifi, Kenya, under the auspices of the United Kingdom Universities of Liverpool and Oxford. Dr Makanga joined EDCTP in 2004, where he held various management positions. He was appointed as Director of South-South Cooperation and Head of EDCTP Africa Office in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2008. During his 12 years at EDCTP, Dr Makanga has built up significant experience in global health, research for health capacity development, quality assurance, project management and evaluation, health and research management as well as diplomacy and engagement with policy makers, health and regulatory authorities in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. Moreover, he has served in various scientific and policy advisory boards for international product development and philanthropic organisations along with pharmaceutical companies involved in developing medicinal products for poverty related and neglected diseases.