Dr Femke Bannink Mbazzi is a clinical and educational psychologist, and cultural anthropologist with over 20 years of research and clinical work experience in disability inclusion and mental health in Uganda. She is passionate about the participatory development and testing of culturally appropriate health and education interventions for young persons with disabilities. She explored the importance of belonging and ‘Ubuntu’ in her PhD research and has since considered this in all research studies and interventions she designs and implements. She holds a Wellcome Career Development Award focused on making health research inclusive of children and youth with disabilities.

She is an Associate Professor at the International Centre for Evidence in Disability (ICED) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), based in Uganda, where she heads the Disability Research Group at the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit. The Disability Research Group consists of East African researchers with and without disabilities who develop and implement African disability research. The group also hosts and builds capacity of PhD and MSc students and offers internships for young graduates with disabilities.