History
History
History
The formation of the African Society for Biomathematics (ASB) was driven by the rapid growth of biomathematics as an interdisciplinary field at the interface of mathematical and biological sciences across the African continent. Recognizing the increasing need for structured collaboration, ASB was founded to foster research partnerships, academic exchange, and the development of biomathematics as a key scientific discipline in Africa.
The society was formed with the vision of bringing together researchers, educators, and practitioners from diverse mathematical and biological backgrounds to advance biomathematical research and its applications to real-world problems.
The history of the African Society of Biomathematics (ASB) dates back to December 2003 in Kampala Uganda during the first Pan African Biomathematics Conference when the first interim leaders were put in place with Prof. Livingstone Luboobi as the first President. These pioneering leaders drafted the constitution by circulating the document for all to contribute; these were days before the common use of cloud computing and data sharing.
Years after these initial efforts at setting up the society, another push was made during a roundtable discussion about mathematical biology in Africa, at African Mathematics Millennium Science Initiative (AMMSI) twin events organized by Prof. Wandera Ogana in Nairobi Kenya, namely the Eastern African Mathematics Conference held from December 4-6 2006 and the Mathematical Biology Workshop held December 7-10 2006. At this event, Dr. Michel Tchuenche was assigned the task of compiling the list of African biomathematicians both in Africa and in the diaspora (the initial database is available here). It was also suggested that the Society should have representation (committee members) from all regions of Africa.
The positive acceptance of the Society, the efforts, and drive led to two other biomathematics meetings, first the Biomathematics conference held in Cape Town, South Africa in January 2007 and the Marrakech Biomathematics conference held at Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco from January 3 - 8, 2008 organized by Prof. Hassan Hbid of Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco and Prof. JYT Mugisha Makerere University Uganda. Over 150 participants from more than 40 African countries attended the meeting. During the meeting, a special session was held to discuss the draft constitution of ASB, and two committees were put in place namely the steering (Joseph Mugisha (Uganda), Hassan Hbid (Morocco), Ogana Wandera (Kenya), Edward Lungu (Botswana) and Henry Laurie (South Africa)) and a Liaison committee (Abba Gummel (Canada), Odo Diekmann (The Netherlands), Pierre Auger (France), Abdul-Aziz Yakubu, Avner Friedman and Carlos Castillo-Chavez (USA)). The Steering Committee was charged with developing the structure of ASB (officers, membership, etc.) and the Liaison Committee was to help ASB with connections and support from the international community, including other societies of mathematical biology.
In November 2009, the African Society for Biomathematics (ASB) held its inaugural conference at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa during which a new set of executive committee was elected to lead the society. The leadership included:
President: JYT Mugisha (Uganda)
Vice President (Southern Region): H. Laurie (South Africa)
Vice President (North Africa Region): Hassan Hbid (Morocco)
Vice President (West Africa Region): I. Dontwi (Ghana)
Vice President (Central Africa Region): Gideon Ngwa (Cameroun)
Secretary: Farai Nyabadza (South Africa)
Publicity Secretary: (now late, MHSRIP) Dorothy Hove-Musekwa (Zimbabwe)
Other committee members included Jaceck Banasiak (Southern Africa), Nana K. Frimpong (West Africa). Central, North, East, Editor and Treasurer were not finalized at the time.
With a strong foundation in place, ASB sought recognition and affiliation with the African Mathematical Union (AMU), aiming to function as a continental association under AMU's guidance in 2010. The society also committed to hosting joint conferences with regional mathematical associations to strengthen research networks and knowledge exchange. The first of such collaborations took place in November 2010 with the Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) in Botswana, followed in 2012 by another conference at University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
After the 2012 meeting in Ghana, there were no major activities related to ASB due in part to lack of sourcing and securing of funds and failure to widely advertise and create an online platform to house the activities of the society. However, in 2025, the resuscitation of ASB was birthed from a conversation held in 2023 during the “Ghana School of Mathematical Modeling: Where Ecology and infectious diseases intersect (GSMM2023)” organized by Dr. Folashade Agusto, hosted by Dr. Kenneth Dadedzi at the University of Ghana, Legon, and supported by Dr. Stephen Moore, Dr. Ousmane Seydi, Prof. Emmanuel Bakare, and Prof. Farai Nybadza.
The revitalization of the Society started by first bringing together in a WhatsApp group over 700 mathematical biologists across Africa and in the diaspora and the organization of the first virtual symposium from June 26-27, 2025 that also doubled to honor the service of Prof. Edward Lungu to mathematical biology across Africa as he retired, and to thank the founding fathers and the maiden executive committee members for their service.
Following the rebirth, ASB continues to grow and the society numbers continues to increase, especially with the creation of the society website, providing a platform for scholars and researchers to engage in cutting-edge biomathematical research and contribute to the advancement of science and health solutions in Africa. Through many of the envisaged initiatives, ASB remains dedicated to promoting biomathematics as a vital discipline in addressing challenges in public health, epidemiology, ecology, and various biological sciences across the continent.