AFENET Conference 2023

TBA

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is Founder and CEO of an award winning NGO and non-profit founded in 2003, called Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) that set up one of the first One Health field programs in the world to protect endangered gorillas and other wildlife.

After graduating from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1996, she established Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA)’s first veterinary department. In 2000, she did a Zoological Medicine Residency and Master in Specialized Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina Zoological Park and North Carolina State University, where masters research on disease issues at the human/wildlife/livestock interface led her to found CTPH in 2003. In 2015, she founded Gorilla Conservation Coffee to support farmers living around habitats where gorillas are found. The most recent award for CTPH is the 2020 Saint Andrews Prize for the Environment.

Dr. Gladys is a National Geographic Explorer, an Ashoka Fellow and Mulago Foundation Henry Arnhold Fellow, and has been featured on CNN African Voices, Chinese Global Television Network Faces of Africa and recently on the National Geographic Women of Impact documentary. She has won the 2008 San Diego Zoo Conservation-in-Action Award, 2009 Whitley Gold Award; 2011 WINGS Women of Discovery and Exploration Humanity Award, 2017 President of Uganda’s Golden Jubilee Award for her contribution to the nation as a conservationist and veterinarian on Women’s Day, 2018 Sierra Club EarthCare Award, 2019 Finalist for the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, 2020 Uganda Veterinary Association World Veterinary Day Award focussed on One Health approaches and the 2020 Aldo Leopold Award for Mammologists.

She is on the leadership council of Women for the Environment in Africa and Vice President of the African Primatological Society and has sat on a number of Boards including Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, Wildlife Clubs of Uganda, Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Trust, Buganda Heritage and Tourism Board and The Gorilla Organization.

Est titulaire d’un doctorat en Médecine, d’un master en Science de la Santé Publique option Contrôle des Maladies et d’un master en Epidémiologie de terrain.

Originaire du Togo en Afrique de l’Ouest, elle a occupé des fonctions dans le système de santé de son pays du niveau périphérique au niveau national depuis 2008. Elle a rejoint AFENET depuis 2016 comme Coordonnateur terrain du Programme de formation en Epidémiologie de Terrain du Togo. Depuis Mai 2019 jusqu’à ce jour, elle occupe le poste Conseillère résidente dudit programme

Elle est mariée mère de 3 enfants

Dr. Ebere Okereke, is the CEO at the Africa Public Health Foundation which exists to forge partnerships and mobilize resources to support critical public health initiatives across the continent, in support of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Established in September 2019, APHF is mobilizing flexible funds to accelerate Africa CDC-led COVID-19 response and the initiatives that will follow, to strengthen public health systems. For more information, please visit http://www.aphf.africa.

Dr. Ebere Okereke is a public health physician with 28 years’ experience of practice in many countries, and expertise in epidemiology, health protection, communicable disease control, infection prevention & control, and zoonoses.

Ebere is currently leading the development & implementation of the PHE programme to strengthen capacity in low & middle income countries to comply with the International Health Regulations. Previously as a Global Health strategist, she worked to build the partnership between PHE & International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Kenya.

As an epidemiologist in emerging infections and zoonoses in the PHE National Infection Service, she led on epidemiology & policy development for Rabies and other non-foodbourne zoonoses. In that role, she developed an enhanced surveillance system for Leptospirosis.

Ebere is an expert in TB control. She chaired the PHE centres TB group in the UK from 2012 - 2015, contributing to the development of TB control strategy in England,; developed guidance, training & quality improvement processes. She was lead author for the UK Health Protection Agency’s first handbook on TB cluster investigation. Ebere chaired the Advisory Committee for TB Alert, a TB charity, from 2011-15.

As a Consultant in Communicable Disease Control & Environmental Health, Ebere led outbreak control teams managing various infectious disease outbreaks & chemical and environment.al incidents

Ebere is an experienced trainer. She co-authored an e-learning module on TB for the Royal College of General Practitioners. Ebere is an honorary senior lecturer at Leeds School of Medicine.

Dr. Ndadilnasiya Endie Waziri is the National Coordinator of the National Stop Transmission of Polio Program (NSTOP) at the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) office in Nigeria where she provides both technical and administrative oversight of the program with over 300 staff. NSTOP plays a major role in partnership with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) in polio eradication initiatives and improving routine immunization services, especially in settlements previously neglected with healthcare services, improving immunization data quality and use through the development of a routine immunization specific module on the DHIS2 platform, and strengthening surveillance and outbreak response for vaccine-preventable diseases. NSTOP mission is to provide Nigeria with high-quality and culturally competent technical field support staff in high-risk areas to implement the polio eradication emergency plan (NPEEP) and PEI accountability framework and build local capacity to improve maternal and child health indices.

Dr. Waziri holds both a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Field Epidemiology and a Master of Science (MSC) in Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine. She is a graduate of the first cohort of the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP), a program geared towards building in-country healthcare capacity and strengthening health systems. She also teaches, mentors, and supervises current residents of NFELTP.

During the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Nigeria, Dr. Waziri led the contact tracing unit of the outbreak response which was the backbone of Nigeria’s success in controlling the outbreak within a short period. Her strong leadership and effective operations of contact tracing during the Ebola virus disease outbreak response led to the reduction of tertiary cases to the barest minimum and the NFELTP winning the award for the best FETP in outbreak response by US CDC in Atlanta in April 2015.

Dr. Waziri is a member of the Gavi CSO Constituency Steering Committee for Immunization and Stronger Health Systems.

Dr. Cynthia Semá Baltazar is Program Director for the Mozambique Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP) since 2011. Cynthia has a Ph.D. in Health Science from Ghent University, Belgium, and was the head of the Surveillance Department at the National Institute of Health in Mozambique from 2010 - 2020, and the Head of the Serology Laboratory from 2006 - 2010. The Mozambique National Institute of Health is subordinated to the Ministry of Health and is dedicated to the generation of technical and scientific information in the area of Health in Mozambique.

Cynthia co-led the technical working group for the development of the National Action Plan for Health Security in Mozambique, following the recommendation of Joint External Evaluation (JEE) in 2016. Cynthia was the chair of the Scientific Committee during the 7th Conference of the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) in 2018. She was a member of the Governance Board of AFENET, the Chairperson of the Quality Assurance and Monitoring &Evaluation Committee, and also the Policy, Advocacy & Resources Mobilization Committee.

She has researched diverse topics, from infectious disease prevention and control, particularly cholera epidemiology in Mozambique and HIV among High-Risk Groups. Cynthia co-authored several scientific publications on various key public health topics.

Dr Abdulaziz Mohammed is the Head of Disease Control and Prevention of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He holds MBBS and MPH-FE degrees.

Dr Mohammed is a foundation fellow of the Africa CDC/African Union fellowship for leadership in public health in Africa and a fellow of the West African College of Physician (psychiatry). He is a graduate of the Nigerian Field Epidemiology Program and a Commonwealth fellow.

Before joining Africa CDC, He was a Chief Consultant Psychiatrist in Nigeria and worked in integrating mental health into primary healthcare and psychosocial support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kaduna, Nigeria.

He has public health experience working in West and Central Africa including being the coordinator for Africa CDC’s first health system strengthening project.

Dr. Gina Samaan is the Head, Pandemic Preparedness Global Platforms, Epidemic & Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Department at the World Health Organization. Dr. Gina is an infectious disease epidemiologist with a career focus on pandemic risk management. At WHO, she leads a global initiative to strengthen preparedness and resilience for future pandemic through a disease ‘mode of transmission’ lens. She also leads the global coordination on the Global Genomic Surveillance Strategy for Pathogens with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Samaan established a response unit focusing on country support, technical monitoring and liaison with the United Nations (UN) country teams through the UN Development Coordination Office. Samaan has been working for WHO for over 10 years at the country, regional and headquarters levels. In recent years, Samaan managed the WHO Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework Partnership Contribution for strengthening country capacities. Samaan previously worked and consulted for agencies including US-CDC, USAID, DFAT Australia, IOM, RTI International and the Australian Department of Health to design or implement disease control initiatives. Her research interests include the management of acute respiratory infections and mass gatherings.

Dr Raji Tajudeen is the Head of the Division of Public Health Institutes and Research at the Africa CDC. Dr Raji Tajudeen is a Medical Doctor with a Master of Public Health from University of the Western Cape/Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physician as well as the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs, UK.

He has over 20 years of experience in Child Health and Public Health of which 16 years is at senior level. He has worked in different settings in the developing world including Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia.

At Africa CDC, Dr Tajudeen has coordinated the establishment and strengthening of National Public Health Institutes across the 55 African Union Member States and has overseen the establishment of the five Africa CDC Regional Collaborating Centers. He coordinates the Africa CDC Institute for Workforce Development and oversees the continental public health research agenda. He heads the healthcare preparedness and countermeasures section of the Africa CDC COVID-19 response. He co-chairs the case management technical working group of the Africa Taskforce on COVID-19.

Elizeus Rutebemberwa, is a Professor of Health Systems Management in the Department of Health Policy, Planning and Management, School of Public Health Makerere University. He holds degrees MBChB and MPH from Makerere University, and PhD from Karolinska Institutet and Makerere University. He has been a field coordinator for the Masters of Public Health, visiting lecturer to the Kenya and Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training among others.

Before joining university service, he worked as a medical officer and hospital director in one of the rural districts in Uganda. He was involved in implementing the decentralization policy and was one of the first Health Sub-District Directors when the policy had just been implemented. At the School of Public Health, he has worked as a consultant for WHO, EU, USAID, CDC, Ministry of Health and other national and international organizations. He has coordinated district based research for many years and has been involved in action research on how information from research is translated into policy and practice. Prof Rutebemberwa has represented AFENET on the Global Partnership Initiated Biosecurity Academia for Controlling Health Threats (GIBACHT), a biosafety and biosecurity capacity building project led by the Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.

Prior to joining the U.S. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and serving the 2-year residency in New Orleans, LA, Dr. McNabb worked for the Oklahoma State Health Department. Most of his professional efforts focus on serving those in underdeveloped, underserved global settings. Promoted to Distinguished Consultant in 2005 and nominated for the 2005 CDC Charles C. Shepard Award, he completed the 2004 Senior Executive Services (SES) candidate development program and is certified by the Office of Personnel Management. From 2006 – 2008, he directed the Division of Integrated Surveillance Systems and Services, National Center for Public Health Informatics, CDC. Before retirement from CDC, he was Associate Director for Science; Public Health Informatics and Technology Program Office; Office for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laborato ry Services.

Now Research Professor at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, he directed the King Abdullah Fellowship Program (http://kingabdullahfellowship.com) and was Principle Investigator of the exciting, new Africa CDC Institute for Workforce Development (https://africacdc.institute). Jointly appointed in the Hubert Department of Global Health and the Department of Epidemiology at Emory, he serves as Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the University of Georgia, School of Public Health.

Teaching GH/EPI 515 Transforming Public Health Surveillance at Emory, he directs the Research Skills Development Course (www.researchskillsdevelopment.com) and the Case Study Design and Development Course (www.casestudy.com). He teaches Transforming Public Health Surveillance at the University of Georgia, School of Public Health and Columbia University Epidemiology and Population Health Summer Institute (https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/research/episummercolumbia). He also teaches Scientific Communication for Leaders at Columbia University Epidemiology and Population Health Summer Institute (https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/research/episummercolumbia) and has mentored > 100 students through their MPH or PhD, plus 14 fellows through the CDC Public Health Prevention Specialists program. He serves on the Editorial Board, Epidemiology and Global Health and in private practice at Public Health Practice, LLC (http://www.publichealthpractice.com).