Maria M. Babirye joined the ODP as a Scientific Program Analyst in September 2020, where she provides program analyst support to activities that identify prevention research areas for investment or expanded effort by the NIH.

Before joining the ODP, Ms. Babirye worked as an Administrative Associate for a genetic research study—the Roya Kabuki Program—at Boston Children’s Hospital where she provided administrative and research support to the research study. In the summer of 2019, Ms. Babirye worked as a Health Policy Intern for the Office of Senator Julian Cyr at the Massachusetts State House and supported the development of policies/legislation aimed at increasing access and affordability of Mental Health and Substance Abuse services. She also worked as a graduate Research Assistant for a Marijuana and Alcohol Policy Study at Boston Medical Center that studied the impact of U.S state policies on individual-level alcohol use, and alcohol-related crashes and fatalities. She primarily conducted alcohol and marijuana qualitative and quantitative data extraction from nation-wide policy data systems.

From August 2016 to August 2018, Ms. Babirye worked as a Senior Program Assistant within the Board on Health Science Policy at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She supported the development and distribution of the 2017 National Academies’ consensus study report titled “Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of the Academic Biomedical Research Community: Protecting the Nation’s Investment.” She also served as a liaison between the board and federal and state government agencies for multiple public health-related projects.

Ms. Babirye earned an M.P.H. with a concentration in health policy and law from Boston University School of Public Health and a B.S. in community health from University of Maryland, College Park.