Krystal Mwesiga Birungi is an Entomologist and malaria advocate at Target Malaria. She is based at Target Malaria Uganda, headquartered at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, where she served as Field Entomology Coordinator from 2015 to 2024. In 2025, she took on her current role as a Research and Outreach Associate.
Krystal holds a Double Major in Zoology and Botany from Makerere University and has been working with Target Malaria for the past decade. During this time, Krystal’s research focused on An. gambiae sl populations in Uganda, mostly population dynamics, behavior, and species composition.
Community engagement is also at the heart of Krystal’s work. Her Entomology team works closely with local communities to ensure they understand entomological collection work and support malaria research .
Beyond her scientific work, Krystal has been a malaria advocate for several years. In 2021, she was nominated by The Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) as part of their speakers’ bureau to take on global malaria advocacy. Through this role, she hopes to raise awareness of global audiences about the burden of malaria in Africa and in her home country, Uganda. In September 2022, she represented the Global Fund and spoke as a Malaria Ambassador at the Global Fund 7th Replenishment Conference in New York City. She joins regular advocacy delegations and missions in donor countries to raise awareness on the importance of investing in malaria prevention, treatment, and research.
In 2024, Krystal Mwesiga Birungi was featured in the Zero Malaria Experience, an immersion in malaria data in the world since 1960. Krystal did the voiceover of the campaign film and spoke next to British football player and malaria champion, David Beckham, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Dr Azra Ghani, from Imperial College London.
In 2025, Krystal was also featured under Zero Malaria’s Change the Story campaign where she shared her personal experience with malaria and how it inspired her to pursue a career in science.
Krystal collaborated in the authorship of the book ‘Hope for Life on Our Planet: Inspiration for Seven Generations’, published in 2025, where she wrote an essay entitled ‘Breaking the Chains: Addressing Public Health Inequities in the Fight Against Malaria’ on the impact of malaria on women and children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Krystal has been featured in several media publications such as the Washington Post, New Vision and Semafor, where she wrote an op-ed highlighting the importance of the development of gene drive technology to ensure a malaria free future.
Krystal hopes to be part of a future where the roles and contributions of more African scientists are recognized. She believes in African leadership and innovation to tackle one of the most pressing public health challenges Africa is facing.
Videos:
