Rwanda

Professor Jean Claude BYIRINGIRO, University of Rwanda

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, 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

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 organized 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 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.

Dr Theophile Dushime, Ministry of Health Rwanda

Dr. Theophile Dushime is the Chief Technical Advisor in the MoH and has been working in the health sector for 13 years. Prior to his current position, Dr. Dushime led the Clinical and Public Health General Directorate of the Ministry of Health for over 4 years and also worked in Project M&E and Health System Strengthening for the SPIU. Dr. Dushime earned both his Medical Degree and Masters of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Rwanda. Twitter: @tdushime

Mr Jean Marie Uwitonze, Ministry of Health Rwanda

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 cente

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.

Ms Noella Bigirimana, Rwanda Biomedical Centre

Noella Bigirimana is the Deputy Director General at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, a national health implementation agency in Rwanda.
Noella previously served as Division Manager of Research, Innovation and Data Science at RBC. She has also served as Precision Medicine Fellow at the World Economic Forum, where she focused on co-designing policy and governance approaches to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies in low-resource settings. Noella has also worked as consultant for WHO and USAID-funded projects in Rwanda and Guinea-Conakry in the post-Ebola period.
Noella currently serves on the Advisory Board of AI Transparency Institute, and also serves as the Advisory Board Chair of the Youth Combating NTDs. She is a World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper in the Kigali Hub, and a contributor at the Future Africa Forum.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology, Health and Society from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree in International Health Policy and Management from the Heller School at Brandeis University.

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-Prfots, 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.

Rob's favorite pastime is simply traveling around with his smarter, better-looking, more well-liked, and crazy fabulous wife, Jennifer. She is a global health surgeon supporting surgery capacity building in Rwanda.                                    

Twitter @Rickard