Dr. MURINDAHABI M. Marilyn

Dr. Marilyn M. Murindahabi is the Division Manager of Pharmaceutical Inspections and Licensing since April 2024 at Rwanda FDA. Prior to this role, she served as the Division Manager for the Food and Drugs Inspection and Compliance Division starting in June 2021. Her responsibilities primarily revolve around ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of regulated products in the Rwandan market. This involves overseeing compliance with laws and regulations governing manufacturing, wholesale/distribution, and retail of these products by distributors, manufacturers, and retailers.

Before joining Rwanda FDA, Dr. Marilyn spent eight years as an assistant lecturer and lecturer at the University of Rwanda, teaching a variety of courses in the Department of Biology, including genetics, immunotechnology, developmental biology, and evolution. Her main interests lie in Molecular testing and host-pathogen interactions. Prior to this, Dr. Marilyn also worked at the National Veterinary Laboratory of Rwanda Animal Resources Development Authority as a laboratory specialist for the Avian Influenza project funded by the International Center of AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University, and later at Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Rwanda for 2 years.

She completed her Master’s degree from Wageningen University and Research in Medical Biotechnology, specializing in Gene-diet interactions and their implications in Immune responses and aging in C. elegans. Additionally, she focused on drug resistance profiles of HIV Type 1 infected patients under antiretroviral treatments using HIV Genotyping in Rwanda.

Dr. Marilyn holds a PhD in Life Sciences with a specialization in Medical Entomology from Wageningen University, focusing on Citizen science as an alternative approach to strengthen malaria vector surveillance and identify areas with malaria vector hotspots in Rwanda. Her research activities center on innovative approaches and technologies for the control of malaria vectors and other neglected tropical diseases, leveraging her expertise in molecular biology and virology.