Rwanda

• Professor Jean Claude BYIRINGIRO

Jean Claude BYIRINGIRO is an Associate Professor of Surgery (Orthopedics) and Dean at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Rwanda, College of Medicine and Health Science. He previously served in positions of Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Head of Accident and Emergency Department, Director of Clinical Services and Founding Head of Division of Clinical Education and Research at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK). He has also been the Vice-Chairperson and Acting Chairperson of Rwanda Medical and Dental Council between 2016 and 2022. Jean Claude has championed the development of modern injury management systems at CHUK including the establishment of a triage system, an early warning score and a reorganized patient flow in the Accident and Emergency Department, and has worked with the prehospital ambulance service, SAMU (Service d’Aide Medicale d’Urgence), to develop a data-driven quality improvement system. Jean Claude’s scientific work in the domain of global surgery, specifically in injury prevention and management systems has attracted many research grants and resulted in more than 35 peer-reviewed publications. During his tenure as Dean of the School of Medicine and Pharmacy (still ongoing), Jean Claude has led the development of more than 15 new academic programs.

Twitter @byiringirojc

Professor Abebe Bekele, Country lead

Abebe Bekele, is Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic and Research Affaires, and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE). He is a Professor of Surgery (General and Thoracic surgery) and has served as CEO of the Black Lion teaching Hospital and Dean of the School of Medicine of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He also has full professor faculty positions at the Addis Ababa University and the University of Rwanda. He has received additional fellowship in Medical Education from FAIMER and in Simulation Based Education from the University of Washington. He has vast experience in surgical education, academic leadership, and governance. He has also served as guest lecturer, international speaker and external examiner in undergraduate and post graduate education in Ethiopia, Africa, Europe and North America.

 Professor Abebe is a member of the Governing Council and Chairman of the Examinations and Credentials Committee at the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) and Editor-in Chief of the East and Central Africa Journal of Surgery.

Professor Abebe is actively engaged in Global Safe Surgery and Anesthesia Initiatives and has served as a senior advisor to the Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia in the Saving Lives Through Safe Surgery (SaLTS) initiative. His research interest include equity in global surgery, trauma care, surgical oncology, medical education, and quality in health care.     

Twitter @abebesurg

Professor Alemayehu Amberbir

Assistant Professor and Head of Research Projects at the Institute of Global Health Equity Research at the University of Global Health Equity. Dr. Alemayehu Amberbir is a medical epidemiologist with over 14 years of experience in both academia and field research settings in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and the UK. Dr Amberbir trained as a primary health care practitioner and holds a Master’s in Public Health from Ethiopia, and a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from the University of Nottingham, UK. Dr Amberbir previously worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) based overseas in Malawi. Dr Amberbir also worked as a senior scientist and epidemiologist at Dignitas International based in Malawi and was involved in various implementation research efforts and Knowledge Translation (KT) activities. Dr. Amberbir was the 2018/2019 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR); Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN), and held an Adjunct Lecturer position at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada. Dr Amberbir currently works as Assistant Professor and Head of Research Projects at the Institute of Global Health Equity Research (IGHER) at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) based in Kigali, Rwanda.     

Twitter @Aleamberbir

Irene BAGAHIRWA

Irene is a Public Health specialist with 18 years of technical experience in coordinating technical aspects of health programs, disease prevention and control. She currently leads the Injuries and Disability Unit at Non Communicable Diseases Division in Rwanda Biomedical Centre. Irene is a research-driven public health professional who has been published in different journals. A highly organised and attentive to details with strong administrative and leadership skills, Irene holds a certificate of public health Leadership from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington, where she completed a six months training in September 2021.