Staff Overview

HHR has over 164 national and international staff members, working on-site under both full-time and part-time arrangements. The professional team comprises Medical Doctors, Pathologists, Microbiologists, Molecular Biologists, Biomedical Scientists, Nurses, Midwives, Public Health Professionals, Sociologists, Psychologists, Statisticians, IT Specialists, Financial Analysts, and Human Resource Professionals.

Management and Operations

Prof. Anthony Scott

Professor of Vaccine Epidemiology, FRCP FMedSc PI at HHR

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Prof. Nega Assefa

Professor of  Maternal and Child Health, Haramaya University
PI at HHR

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DrPH. Shirine Voller

Director of Operations, LSHTM Clinical Trials Unit

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Nana Sarkodie-Mensah

Project Manager (LSHTM)

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Dr. Lola Madrid

Site Lead

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Yenenesh Tilahun

Operations Manager

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Semira Gebre

Project Manager 

 

Mr. Firaol Ammasgao Bekere

Senior Project Manager 

 

Section Leads

Beth Morrison

Project Administrator

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Dr.Usman N.ikumapayi 

Laboratory Director

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Dr. Addisu Alemu

Lead Pathologist

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Boniface Kamau Jibendi

Chief Technology Officer

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Getahun Wakwaya

Research Coordinator-SBS

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Dr. Faisel Abdi

Research Governance Coordinator

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Tadesse Dufera

Research Coordinator-Haramaya site

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Mohammad Abdulkadir
Research Coordinator-Kersa site

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Gezahegn Mengesha

Statistician

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Mohammed Jemal

Research Coordinator-Pregnancy Surveillance

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Dr. Fikeraddis Solomon

 Impact and Engagement Coordinator

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Blen Getachew

Research Coordinator-ARM-CHAMPS Project

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Dr. Meron Kebede

Clinical Research Scientist

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                             Prof. Anthony Scott

Professor of Vaccine Epidemiology, FRCP FMedSci
HHR PI, LSHTM

   

 

 

Professor Anthony Scott is a British clinician and epidemiologist with an interest in bacterial infectious diseases and vaccination. He trained in clinical medicine at Oxford University and in epidemiology at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and did post-graduate clinical training in Infectious Diseases. Since 1993 he has worked at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya. Since 2013 he has been Professor of Vaccine Epidemiology at LSHTM and co-founded HHR with Professor Nega Assefa and Anna Seale in 2016 as a programme to host the CHAMPS project and encourage research capacity development in Harar. He has worked on clinical vaccine development and impact studies of vaccines against pneumococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, non-typhoidal salmonella, COVID-19 and other pathogens. Professor Scott also has an interest in the aetiology of serious childhood illnesses (e.g. pneumonia) and childhood death. He works on vaccine policy in the policy committees of the UK (JCVI) and WHO (SAGE).

      Prof. Nega Assefa Kassa                   

Professor of Maternal and Child Health

Lead, HHR

 

 

 

Prof. Nega Assefa (PhD) is Professor of Maternal and Child Health at College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, where he has served since 1993.

He previously held senior leadership positions as Chief Executive Director of the College of Health and Medical Sciences and as Director for Research Groups and Partnerships Directorate at Haramaya University. He established and led Hararghe Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) under Haramaya University for more than 12 years.

Since 2017, Prof. Nega has led the inception and ongoing work of Hararghe Health Research (HHR), partnership between Haramaya University and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He currently holds appointments as Honorary Associate Professor at LSHTM, Consultant Associate Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and is a member of the Federal Ministry of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Advisory Group.

His research focuses on pregnancy and childbirth, family planning, child growth and development, and child survival. He has published 226 peer-reviewed articles and secured 11 research grants.

Prof. Nega has supervised 19 PhD students and more than 215 master’s students, including candidates from University of Durban (South Africa), Ghana, LSHTM, and Haramaya University. This supervisory work has been carried out in partnership with fellows from institutions including Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, LSHTM, Emory University’s Global Health Institute, Karolinska Institute, and University of Vienna.

In 2024, he received Lifetime Distinguished Professional Service Award from Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health in recognition of his significant achievements and longstanding commitment to public health.

 

    DrPH. Shirine Voller                   

Director of Operations, LSHTM Clinical Trials Unit.

 

 

 

 

Shirine has oversight of operational activities in the LSHTM Clinical Trials Unit (CTU).  This includes ensuring that trials are run efficiently, effectively and are compliant with all relevant governance requirements. She is responsible, together with the academic Directors of the CTU, for the strategic growth and development of the CTU and for clinical trials across LSHTM.

Shirine also remains a long-standing member of the Hararghe Health Research partnership management team and contributes to strategic decision-making to take the partnership forward.  She also provides programme management oversight to a portfolio of research grants at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya, where she was based from 2016-2022.

    Nana Sarkodie-Mensah               

    Project Manager (LSHTM)

 

 

 

 

LSHTM lead for project management of the HHR portfolio.  Oversee management of non-scientific research activities conducted through LSHTM, including finance, procurement, and administration.  Contribute to site planning and strategy as a member of the HHR management team.

 

 

Dr. Lola Madrid

Site Lead

 

 

Lola Madrid, is a paediatrician and epidemiologist with more than 10 years of experience working in resource-constrained settings in South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Guinea-Bissau, among other countries, as a clinician and researcher, especially focused on malaria, HIV, vertical transmission of infectious diseases, epidemiology and new diagnostic tools of bacterial invasive diseases and pneumonia, antimicrobial resistance and child mortality.

For the last eight years, she has worked as a senior staff member at HHR, a new research unit created in collaboration between the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Haramaya University. She has worked implementing research projects such as Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) and other maternal and child health projects, combining scientific leadership roles with logistical and administrative responsibilities. She knows regulatory bodies in Ethiopia and Europe well. She now leads a new research area on biomarkers (Echilibrist and Neoprecision), perinatal health, micronutrient deficiencies in pregnancy (ARM CHAMPS), and neural tube defects (SALT) in Eastern Ethiopia. She is leading the first trial conducted in HHR, as well as the first in Haramaya University.

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4034-6033

LSHTM: https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/madrid-castillo.lola

Academia profile link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lola-Madrid?ev=hdr_xprf

    Yenenesh Tilahun Asfaw                 

    Operations Manager

 

 

 

 

Yenenesh Tilahun, an operations manager at Hararghe Health Research. She is responsible for oversighting the operational activities of HHR, performances of sections and support logistic and procurement activities in collaboration. She facilitate team harmonization and in line with the various project activities in HHR and supports team development and enhancement through trainings, mentoring and coaching to excel outcomes in all aspects of HHR activities.

Most importantly, she is responsible to facilitate development of policies and procedures relevant to the sections and for overall HHR activities. Working closely with the PIs of projects in the execution and process and final evaluation of performances is another major role she has.

Yenenesh has another role of standardizing processes and procedures in all activities including resource management and staff recruitment, training and promotion.

She leases with LSHTM project office in the smooth and fast execution of activities, with community and stakeholders in the community, local, regional and national administrative bodies in the smooth work arrangement of HHR.

Yenenesh holds an MA degree in Social work and has 15 years of extensive experience in the field.

Beth Morrison

Project Administrator

Support the management and operations team and responsible for travel, expenses and help support the procurement and shipping of goods.

 

Dr.Usman N.ikumapayi

Clinical Science/Laboratory Director

 

 

 

Dr Usman Nurudeen Ikumapayi is an assistant professor in Medical Microbiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) United Kingdom. He has an extensive academic and professional experience in Medical Microbiology spanning over three decades. In 2019, he obtained a PhD degree in molecular microbiology from The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. Prior to this, he earned an MSc degree in Biomedical Science, majoring in Medical Microbiology from Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge, UK.

His background is in Medical Microbiology with a focus in bacteriology. During his fellowship programme, He was trained in both conventional and molecular characterization of bacteria from MRC unit Gambia, Staten Serum Institute Denmark and University of Virginia Children’s Hospital in the USA. He also attended short courses in Medical Statistics-Epidemiology / Infectious Disease Omics and Bioinformatics at LSHTM and The Welcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK. Additionally, he obtained certificates in Global Health, Epidemiology and Leadership & Management in Health from University of Washington USA. He is a Fellow of Institute of Medical Laboratory Science (FIMLS) Nigeria and the Institute of Biomedical Science (FIBM) in the UK.

Dr Ikumapayi has worked for 31 years, 23 of which have been spent at the Medical Research Council Unit the Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (MRCG @ LSHTM). During this period, he has served as the consultant microbiologist on the joint MRC/Gambian Government Pneumococcal Surveillance Project Steering Committee from 2008-2017. He also served as a co-investigator in many health research projects, coordinating the laboratory aspects of large-scale population-based surveillance and intervention trials. These include the five-year Global Enteric Multicenter Study (2008-2013), the ten-year Pneumococcal Surveillance Study (2008-2017), the two-year Severe Pneumonia Study (2010-2012), the three-year Vaccine Impact on Diarrhea in Africa (2015-2018) and the two-year intervention trial titled ‘A novel nano-iron supplement to safely combat iron deficiency and anemia in young children: a double-blind randomized controlled trial’ (2017-2019).

He has also led many pivotal studies, including the molecular epidemiological characterization of Salmonella serovars, investigating outbreak of hospital-acquired infections, and characterizing virulence factors in Entero-Aggregative Escherichia coli in diarrheal children using molecular approaches. In 2022, he was assigned as the Biological Safety Officer of the MRC Unit the Gambia.

Over the years, Dr Ikumapayi has applied both conventional and molecular microbiological techniques, to improve knowledge on the causes of clinical and outbreak infections. His contributions to medical research have been recognized, particularly his discovery of emerging infectious pathogens such as Salmonella enterica serovar Dingri and his efforts to stop of the spread of healthcare-associated infections. He is the lead author and co-author of over fifty scientific publications.

Additionally, Dr Ikumapayi was part of the “Consortium on Invasive Bacterial Disease Burden with Focus on Invasive Salmonellosis in sub-Saharan Africa” and has served as a resource person at World Health Organization workshops on Global Foodborne Infections Network (WHO/GFN).

Currently, his research interest includes the diagnosis and surveillance of infectious diseases and Infection and Prevention Control.

  Dr. Addisu Alemu                   

      Lead Pathologist

 

 

 

Dr. Addisu Alemu is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Head of Department at Haramaya University, College of Health and Medical Sciences. He has extensive expertise in surgical pathology, cytopathology, hematopathology, gastrointestinal, breast, perinatal, and infectious disease pathology, with special focus on maternal and child health and mortality surveillance. Since 2018, he is serving as lead pathologist for the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) program in Ethiopia.

At HHR, he provides technical pathology expertise, supports research and mortality surveillance, strengthens laboratory systems, and contributes to training and mentorship. His notable research includes minimally invasive tissue sampling through CHAMPS, studies of illness in preterm infant and cervical HPV infections. He has mentored numerous medical students and health professionals and has authored and co-authored over 20 scientific publications. His work integrates clinical practice, research, mentorship, and diagnostic capacity development to strengthen evidence-based healthcare and improve child health outcomes.

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8219-6259

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Addisu-Alemu?ev=prf_overview

  Boniface Kamau Jibendi

     Chief Technology Officer

 

 

 

 

Mr Boniface Jibendi is an experienced technology leader serving as the Chief Technology Officer and Head of IT Security at Hararghe Health Research (HHR). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. With extensive expertise in Datacenter Operations and Management,enterprise systems architecture, software engineering,network infrastructure, Technology Team and Operation Management. His career spans leadership in software development, digital transformation,Datacenter Implementation and technical advisory across diverse environments.

At HHR, Mr. Jibendi directs core technology strategy, datacenter operations, enterprise IT infrastructure, and security governance. He leads governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) efforts, aligning operations with international standards to safeguard critical research, health diagnostics, surveillance, and operational data. His technical domain encompasses hybrid cloud architectures, cybersecurity, database administration, AI/Machine Learning, REDCap, and ODK Central.

Among his key achievements, Mr. Jibendi successfully built and managed the primary HHR datacenter while recruiting, training, and retaining a high-performing technical team. Furthermore, he engineered robust information security strategies, data protection controls, and disaster recovery frameworks to ensure 99.99% operational uptime across all research platforms.

Getahun Wakwaya                   

Research Coordinator-SBS

 

 

 

Getahun Wakwaya is a Sociologist leading SBS team as a research coordinator. He coordinates activities of community engagement and formative research.

     Dr. Faisel Abdi

Research Governance Coordinator

 

 

Dr. Faisel is a medical doctor and Research Governance Coordinator at Hararghe Health Research (HHR), Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Doctor of Medicine from Haramaya University’s College of Health and Medical Science in 2021 and is currently an MSc in Epidemiology candidate at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Over the past several years, he has progressed from Research Assistant to Research Coordinator to his current role. At HHR, he leads ethical review submissions, regulatory compliance, and the end-to-end publication process across the research portfolio, while coordinating monitoring and audit activities. His research interests focus on pediatric infectious disease epidemiology, particularly conditions disproportionately affecting children in low-income settings like Ethiopia. Notable achievements include leading a competitive $1.6 million grant proposal that advanced to the top 8 of 32 organizations, co-authoring peer-reviewed publications on childhood bacteremia, rheumatic heart disease, and post-discharge mortality through the CHAMPS network, and completing advanced training in implementation science, meta-analysis, and infectious disease modeling from Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and Washington universities.

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6527-6734

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Q8oglk4AAAAJ

            

Tadesse Dufera

Research Coordinator of Haramaya site

 

 

 

Tadesse Dufera  is a chief public health expert with more than  ten years experiences in both public health and clinical areas. Tadesse Dufera  is the research coordinator of the Haramaya site. He is a passionate, visionary, hard worker and motivated researcher. Tadesse is graduated from Haramaya University in Public Health and later studied an MPH in Public Health at the same institution. He has worked as a clinician in remote areas of Western Hararghe, and his good attitude and manner have led to his promotion to head of various health offices in the area. Therefore, he has huge experience working at governmental institutions and health offices, combining clinical work and operational implementation of different health programs, and maternal and child health, as well as coordinating the health extension package program. This experience allowed him to be closer to the community and a better understanding of the main health problems in his country. His  current role is coordinating facility and community MITS activities, doing MITS, managing budgets, ensuring adherence to ethical and regulatory standards, and managing overall HHR research activities that take place at the Haramaya site. Moreover he is in supporting for different activities done under umbrella HHR and work on procurement of clinical activities.

Mohammad Abdulkadir (MPH)

 

Mohammed Abdulkadir is a senior public health expert in the field of MPH in nutrition from Haramaya University and an MSc in Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy and Programming from LSHTM. He has over 10 years of extensive experience in the maternal and child health area in different public health facilities, including research organizations.

After four years of his experience in the Kersa district, from working in the maternal and child health clinic and directing the health center to working as an expert at the woreda health office, He joined the CHAMPS Ethiopia project in the position of community fieldworker. As a community fieldworker, He facilitate community meetings and discussions to involve them in the under-five death notification system. Those experiences and his achievements helped him to upgrade his job position to a different level during six years of experience in Hararghe Health Research.

Currently, Mohammad Abdulkadir is the research coordinator of the Kersa site. His role is coordinating community MITS activities, doing MITS, managing budgets, ensuring adherence to ethical and regulatory standards, and managing overall HHR research activities that take place at the Kersa site.

                           

  Gezahegn Mengesha

Statistician

 

 

 

Gezahegn Mengesha is a Statistician, holds an MSc in Biostatistics. He coordinates the management of data and statistical analysis at the hospitals and DSS in Kersa, Haramaya and Harar, serving as HHR’s study site. Gezahegne support information technology, data administration, and data analysis for HHR, hospital, and DSS investigations. Besides, he also collaborates with statisticians and epidemiologists, maintain data quality, communicate and coordinate with local, national, and international partners.

                         

Mohammed Jemal

Research Coordinator for Pregnancy Surveillance

 

Mr. Mohammed Jemal is a public health and maternal health professional with a BSc in Midwifery and a Master of Public Health in Reproductive Health. He currently serves as Research Coordinator of Pregnancy Surveillance at HHR, a partnership between Haramaya University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In this role, he coordinates community- and facility-based maternal and child health surveillance activities across 20 health facilities and manages a multidisciplinary team of 56 staff, including research assistants, BSc midwives, and field workers.

His professional experience includes serving as Pregnancy Surveillance Supervisor for the CHAMPS Ethiopia Project, Director of a Primary Health Centre under the Government Health Office, and Junior Midwife at a hospital. His technical expertise includes pregnancy surveillance, maternal and child health, newborn and child health surveillance, mortality prevention, data quality assurance, REDCap, STATA, obstetric ultrasound, and anthropometric measurement.

Mr. Jemal contributes to research implementation, staff capacity development, program reporting, proposal development, stakeholder engagement, and manuscript preparation. He has also contributed as a co-author to peer-reviewed publications on adverse birth outcomes, obstetric ultrasound, maternal nutrition, and maternity care in eastern Ethiopia.

Dr. Fikeraddis Solomon Asfaw

Impact and Engagement Coordinator

 

 

 

 

Dr. Fikeraddis Solomon is a medical doctor and global health professional with over five years of experience across clinical medicine, health research, and evidence translation. She received her MSc in Global Health from King’s College London as a recipient of the prestigious Chevening Scholarship. Dr. Fikeraddis honed her clinical expertise as a General Practitioner and an academic staff at the Psychiatry department at Haramaya University. She then fostered her passion for research as an Associate Researcher at Hararghe Health Research (HHR) for the Maternal Immunization Readiness Network in Africa and Asia (MIRNA) initiative in Ethiopia leading the stakeholder engagement work package.

Currently, as the Impact and Engagement Unit Coordinator at HHR, she leads initiatives that bridge research, policy, and practice. Her work focuses on translating scientific evidence into actionable public health interventions that empower communities, and strengthen health systems by engaging stakeholders, and supporting evidence-informed decision-making.

Blen Getachew

Research Coordinator

 

Blen is a public health researcher with a background in midwifery, public health, and sexual and reproductive health. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Midwifery from the University of Gondar and an MPH in Nutrition from Haramaya University. She is currently pursuing an MSc in Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy and Programming at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She has also undertaken professional development and fellowship activities in gender-based violence and menstrual health.

She has four years of experience in coordinating research activities, supervising field teams and data collection, monitoring study progress, and supporting data quality assurance in Pregnancy surveillance and later on ARM CHAMPS study.

In her current role, she coordinates the ACROBAT-Newborns study and clinical surveillance activities at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital. She has expertise in REDCap and STATA, including data management, cleaning, quality assurance, monitoring, and statistical analysis, as well as developing and revising research questionnaires and electronic data systems.

A key contribution has been leading the initiation, implementation, and closeup of the ARM-CHAMPS study within HHR, contributing to research on the relationship between maternal micronutrient status and adverse fetal outcomes.

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0411-5301

Dr. Meron Kebede

Clinical Research Scientist

Dr. Meron Kebede is a pediatrician with six years of experience in CHAMPS- Ethiopia. Currently, she is serving as a clinical research scientist, primarily managing the Determination of Cause of Death (DeCoDe) case management and coordinating ongoing activities at Hiwot-Fana Comprehensive Specialized Hospital.