Rwanda

Professor Jean Claude BYIRINGIRO, University of Rwanda.  Co-Principal Investigator.

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 reorganised 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, University of Global Health Equity

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

Dr Jean Nepomuscene Sindikubwabo, Ministry of Health Rwanda/RBC

Dr. Jean Nepomuscene SINDIKUBWABO is the SAMU services Division manager. He has a long experience in  Rwanda health system. He served  as clinician in different district hospitals, and  medical director of district hospital for 14 years;
Dr. Jean Nepomuscene SINDIKUBWABO  holds a Medical Degree (MD) and a Master's Degree in public health from the University of Rwanda.
After a long experience   in Rwanda  health system, Dr Jean Nepomucene Sindikubwabo joined  the political career and served as a senator for a term of 8 years. He returned in the health sector in December 2020 upon appointment as SAMU services division manager at Rwanda Biomedical center.

Ms Jeanne d'arc Nyinawakusi, Rwanda Biomedical Centre

Mrs. Jeanne d’Arc NYINAWANKUSI is the Pre-Hospital Team Leader at the SAMU/EMS division, she is in charge of the coordination of Emergency Medical Services activities. Jeanne d’Arc has a long experience in the health system in different fields of the health sector. She has been working in the Ministry of Health and particularly within the Emergency Medical Services for 14 years as a field clinician, educator, researcher, and manager. Jeanne d’Arc is a member of the national emergency and disaster preparedness and response committee, and a member and former vice chairperson of the Rwanda Emergency Care Association. She co-authored different research projects related to emergency medical care with significant results leading to quality improvement and innovative processes within Rwanda EMS.  She holds a master’s degree in the Sciences of Epidemiology.

Rwanda Build Program

Mr Rob Rickard, Software Developer Lead                        

Rob Rickard is the Director of the tech hub, Rwanda Build Program (RWBuild), and initially composed the '912Rwanda' detailed project plans and technology architecture in 2018, relying heavily on information from the Rwanda Ministry of Health SAMU department and local Rwandan global health professionals. Rob is excited to move the 912Rwanda project forward with the mission to reduce the overall travel time of ambulances in Kigal and with the NIH & NIHR Grant partners to also help improve prehospital emergency care through research, education, and training.

Starting in the 1990s Rob was a tech consultant building communication servers for Non-Profits, SMEs, K12 schools, and a couple of higher education institutions.

Rob is currently a US 'Techpreneur' (tech-entrepreneur) residing in Kigali. He mentored tech startups in Kigali for a decade, launching five products into the Rwandan market through his tech hub, RWBuild. In addition, Rob is a public speaker on entrepreneurism, startups, technology, communication, and productivity and has sat on steering committees for innovation and regulations in Rwanda.  Aside from the 912Rwanda project, Rob is focused on the future of the Cashless Society as Founder and Interim CEO of Guhemba Ltd, an advanced payment solution in Africa.              Twitter @Rickard    

Dr Barnabas Alayande

Dr Barnabas Alayande is a specialist general surgeon and Global Surgery researcher with the Center for Equity in Global Surgery and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Global Health Equity. He has an academic background in medicine and surgery, theology, business, and global surgical care, and has been involved in surgical system strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa. He drives development and delivery of novel, equity-driven contextualized, surgical curricula at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His research focuses on sub-Saharan African surgical education, trauma care, surgical safety and human factors, and improvisation with innovation.

Miss Irene Bagahirwa, Rwanda Biomedical Centre

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. 

Mr Gilbert Rukundo, Health Innovation Opportunities Specialist, Rwanda Biomedical Centre

Gilbert Rukundo holds a degree in bio-statistics from Hasselt University in Belgium. He has an extensive background in applied statistics methods and database administration developed over the last 9 years of work in research and health informatics. He has a professional expertise in project monitoring, research tools (Protocol CRF) design, healthcare data management, development of interactive visualization dashboards, and utilization of data science techniques to analyse complex survey data. Currently, he is employed at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, where his responsibilities encompass advancing high-quality research, fostering innovation, and driving data science initiatives, among other duties.

Education: PhD Candidate, University of Rwanda, Biostatistics, Master of Science in Biostatistics, University of Hasselt, Belgium, Bachelor of Science in Applied mathematics, National University of Rwanda, Butare.

Mr Collins Inkotanyi, University of Global Health Equity

Collins Fred Inkotanyi joined UGHE in 2019, he holds a Bachelor of Biotechnology from the University of Rwanda and currently pursuing an MBA from Edinburgh University and a certificate in project management from Galilee Institute of Management. Collins has wide expertise in operations, project management, business development and hospitality for over 6 years of experience. Collins is passionate about community development, creating a campus environment where people feel welcome, and he strongly believes in social justice, empowering communities and access to quality healthcare.

Denys Ndangurura

Denys Ndangurura holds a Master’s in Public Health and the background of General Nursing. Mr. Ndangurura has more than 15 years working experience in Rwanda’s Health System and academics both in public and INGOs.  As Lecturer and Coordinator for Community Based Education. Lead the curriculum development, implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation and Research. The course content development and delivery. Mr. Ndangurura coordinated successfully community mobilization for countrywide survey on Rwanda Population HIV impact assessment (RPHIA), the first biomarker HIV survey in Rwanda.  Mr. Denys was a Family Planning Technical Coordinator with a focus on Community Based Provision of Family Planning (CBP FP). Mr. Denys leaded the implementing RMNCH and district health management through functioning of District Health Management Team.  Mr. Denys began his professional experience in a clinical public health setting where he worked as a Nurse Clinician then Line Manager, prior to his promotion as Community Health Coordinator.  Mr. Denys has strong experience and interest in Community Based Education, Community Health, Community mobilization for behaviour change, Reproductive Maternal and Child Health (RMNCH), Health System Strengthening, District Health Management and Public Health Research.

Dr Jean Claude Semuto Ngabonziza, Health Scientific Innovation Analyst, Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC)

Dr Jean Claude Semuto Ngabonziza is a Health Scientific Innovation Analyst. at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC). He received his master’s degree in Medical Microbiology from University of Nairobi, Kenya and PhD in Biomedical Sciences from University of Antwerp and Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium. Prior to his current role, Jean Claude has been working as a Researcher at the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in the Mycobacteriology unit since 2011. At the NRL, he led multiple research projects mostly focusing on (drug-resistant) tuberculosis. His PhD thesis explored the persistent challenges in the diagnosis of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis and the impact of Rwanda TB programmatic interventions. The findings from his research generated recommendations that were swiftly implemented by the national TB control programme. Ngabonziza is currently focused on understanding the transmission dynamic of RR-TB to further reduce its burden in Rwanda and beyond.

Dr Philbert MUHIRE,  Director General of Ruhengeri Level Two Teaching Hospital

Dr Philbert MUHIRE is a Medical Doctor and holder of a Masters Degree in Public Health, with an International Health Specialization. Dr Muhire Philbert is currently a Director General of Ruhengeri Referral Hospital since January 2019. He is a certified public health leader by University of Washington, School of Public Policy and Governance through International Program in Public Health Leadership. He is also pursuing a Masters in Business Administration, Global Health Care Management at UCAM University in Spain.  He has served as a Director General of Rwamagana Provincial Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018. Between June 2015 and December 2016, He was leading Pediatric HIV Program in Rwanda Biomedical Centre. With extensive experience in HIV Care and treatment, He has been a National Mentor in HIV Care and treatment for four years after serving as a Medical Officer in Different District Hospitals in Rwanda.

Dr MUHIRE Philbert is a committed Health care leader and always open for constructive ideas in terms of health planning, clinical research, disease prevention, primary health care provision and High Tech in Medical care.