Dr. Oscar Kashala Lukumuena (born August 4, 1954) is a Boston-based [1][2][3] scientist,[4][5][6] clinical researcher, university professor,[7] and senior executive in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States of America (USA).

[18][19] He studied basic medical oncology and retrovirology under the guidance of Professor Myron Elmer "Max" Essex,[34] DVM, Ph.D., the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences at Harvard University, Chair of the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative, and Chair of the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute in Gaborone, Botswana.

[36][37] He has worked with governments both in Central and West Africa, South East Asia, and South America in matters related to public health, global security, education, foreign assistance, and international finance in countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, Senegal, The Gambia, Uganda, Thailand, Colombia, and the Philippines.

He consulted on trade and commerce with firms in the private sector, government and non-government organizations, and the United States Congress, European Union, and China.

[41][23] UREC ran a pre-campaign that threatened the majority party led by Joseph Kabila, the then incumbent DRC President.

In May 2006, thirty-two of Kashala's security detail members were accused of plotting to overthrow the interim Congo President.

[28][50][52][26][53] He was the only candidate from the Congolese political opposition to have been invited by President Joseph Kabila to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

[33][31][2] Son of a retired military sergeant in the Force Publique, the Congolese Army under Belgian colonization, Oscar Kashala was raised in an environment that focused on strict discipline, Christian faith, hard work, excellence in education and family values.

He initiated the first laboratory HIV-1 vaccine development studies ever conducted based on the use of virus strains that are common in Africa, with the support of the US Government, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other partners in the industry.

During his tenure, he was instrumental in developing the clinical strategy for the Gene Radar technology platform for diagnosing and treating infectious diseases and cancer and for shaping the key opinion leaders' management plans for African countries.

In 1988, while DRC had strained medical healthcare and lacked adequate diagnostic equipment and highly trained scientists/physicians, Kashala managed to raise awareness of DRC's health crisis and obtained a donation of over $200,000 in medical equipment from Abbott Laboratories - Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois (USA).

[63] As a presidential candidate, Kashala traveled to the European Union, Belgium,[64] and the United States[21] to raise awareness about the potential for violence and to advocate for conflict alertness, prevention, and intervention.

This money will be put to good use in the DR Congo to help ensure free and fair elections and will begin the process of stabilizing our country.