Lesotho Medical School

The Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance is proud to announce that Prof. Lineo K. Thahane has been named the founding Dean of the newly established Lesotho Medical School. Prof. Thahane is currently serving as Executive Director of the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Lesotho, and will assume the position in September 2026.

The international search committee circulated the notice of the Dean position across Africa, and received 36 completed applications. The committee interviewed nine outstanding candidates and invited four world-class finalists to Lesotho to make formal presentations and meet with key stakeholders. Prof. Thahane emerged from this rigorous and competitive process as the top candidate.

Prof. Thahane received her BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, her Doctor of Medicine degree from Washington University School of Medicine, and completed specialty training in Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the United States of America. In 2005, she returned to Lesotho with the Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation Lesotho, and became its Associate Director in 2009, overseeing day to day clinical operations. In 2018, she was appointed Executive Director, assuming responsibility for the strategic leadership of all Baylor Foundation Lesotho activities, including service delivery across six clinical sites and support to Ministry of Health through donor projects implementation nationwide.

Prof. Thahane is Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and a Diplomate and Fellow of the American Board of Pediatrics. She is an experienced medical educator and scholar, publishing many peer-reviewed scientific articles in international journals describing her global health work in pediatric HIV/AIDS. Prof. Thahane is well-versed in the Lesotho health systems, and the policy and programming landscape in sub-Saharan Africa.