Dr. Balandya is a physician-scientist with expertise in biomedical sciences encompassing Physiology, Hematology, Immunology and Vaccinology. He obtained his Medical Degree at University of Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. Doctorate Degree at Dartmouth College USA and Post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School USA. Following his return to Tanzania in 2014, he has researched on immunity and infections in Sickle Cell Disease (through the NIH-Fogarty/NHLBI/UCSF GloCal Fellowship) and is currently PI for the Sickle Pan African Research Consortium (SPARCO)-Tanzania a U01 grant funded by NHLBI with the goal to advance research as a strategy for improving health, advocacy and training for sickle cell disease in Tanzania as part of the larger Sub-Saharan Africa Network. He is also Co-Investigator in several ongoing health research and education capacity building projects. He is published and has presented his work at national and international platforms. Dr. Balandya is Member of the Organizing Committees for the MUHAS Scientific Conference and National NCD Conference. Dr. Balandya is Director of Postgraduate Studies at MUHAS Board Member of Young Scientists Tanzania (YST) a nation-wide Science Outreach Programme and consults with the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) on matters related to health research and education. He is a scientific reviewer for Tanzania Journal of Health Research (TJHR), Allergologia et Immunopathologia, Lancet Haematology, Journal of Community Genetics and PLOS ONE.