Dr Adelard KAKUNZE is a medical doctor, an accomplished public health professional and social entrepreneur with commitment to engage in knowledge translation to improve health systems in Africa. He is currently leading the Non-communicable diseases and Mental health Unit under the Division of Disease Control and Prevention at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Before, he was supporting the office of the inaugural Director of the Africa CDC as a technical officer.

He has published for his work in public health on the fronts of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) prevention, NCDs surveillance and mobile health technologies, epidemic preparedness metrics, etc. Dr Kakunze has also marked impact on social entrepreneurship, Founder of two start-ups and as Founding Curator of the World Economic Forum Young Leaders community (Global Shapers) in Burundi. He is a 2015 Tony Elumelu entrepreneur, IVLP and YALI Alumni, and One Young World Ambassador since 2013.