Country Reprisentatives
Dr. Mwanaidi Kafuye
Tanzania
Dr. Mwanaidi Y. Kafuye, holds a PhD and has completed Postdoctoral training in Immunology. She also possesses two master’s degree: one in Social Science in Health Research Ethics and another in Biochemistry. With over 23 years of experience in health research promotion and regulation at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Tanzania https://nimr.or.tz/. Dr. Kafuye has held various responsibilities and significant positions both within and outside the institute. https://tz.linkedin.com/in/mwanaidi-kafuye-45152137
Currently, Dr. Kafuye serves as the head of Laboratory Science Section at NIMR-Mabibo Traditional Medicine Research Centre, where she facilitates research and quality control of medicinal herbal products. Additionally, she also serves as Honorary Lecturer at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) teaching bioethics and supervising masters students in the same field. Dr. Kafuye is a former head of the National Health Research Ethics Committee’s Secretariat and has over decade of experience working in the National Ethics Committee,
She is presently leading several health research projects including an EDCTP funded project that aims at strengthening capacity of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), National and Institutional Ethics Committees in the East African region https://nimr.or.tz/ccrreea/. She also leads two projects on the impact of climate change in health and has published a number of papers in peer reviewed journals. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mwanaidi-Kafuye
She has been instrumental in establishing a number of Research Ethics Committees in various sectors that conduct research in the mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. She successfully facilitated development of research ethics guidelines and online National Research Ethics Information Management System, https://nimr.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GUIDELINES-FOR-HEALTH-RESEARCH-2023.pdf, http://41.221.58.65/login. She is a member of Health Research technical committee at Zanzibar Health Research Institute. She is also an expert member for the Clinical Trials Technical Committee (CTTC) of the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA), https://www.tmda.go.tz/pages/clinical-trial-committee as well as an expert reviewer of clinical research protocols submitted to NIMR for ethics clearance.
Furthermore, Dr Kafuye serves as Secretary for the Bioethics Society of Tanzania (BST). She also served as facilitator and Member of the BWH-MRCT – AVAREF – Committee for Ethics Training in Africa (CET). Dr Kafuye is a chief advisor of the Tanzania Ethical Eye for Humanity in Health Organisation. With her extensive experience, She contributes significantly to the Africa Bioethics Network . Her professional interest includes addressing bioethical issues in research, clinical care and conducting capacity building projects in bioethics and health research regulatory oversight. Dr. Kafuye upholds the core values of professionalism, integrity, honesty, service, and personal development.
Brief biography As the youngest lecturer in his department, Ousman Bajinka is the author of the book ‘The Gut Microbiota Revolution: Unveiling The Secrets of Our Second Brain’. He lectures and supervise final year medical students on their thesis. This goes along with his teaching of medical microbiology and biochemistry to students in the nursing and public health department. He gives webinars and seminars to students in Gambia and beyond. Regarding medical research, Ousman’s research profile has span on in Gambia, Africa and globally with 50 publication.
Dr Bajinka
Gambia
Dr Bajinka is Country Representative (Gambia) for Africa Bioethics Network (ABN) and also serving as Associate Editor-Critical Reviews in Microbiology. He won several awards including UNTB/TWAS/ICGEB Program of support for Least Developed Countries Project CRP, 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting and graduated as the most outstanding PhD student. He then completed 8 months post doctorate fellowship with Shandong Cancer Hospital in Jinan, China.
David Appiah
Ghana
David Appiah is the country representative of Ghana in the African Bioethics Network. He underwent graduate degree training in Bioethics at the University of Ghana. His academic journey began with his undergraduate studies in Nursing at the University of Health and Allied Sciences. Following this, he gained valuable experience as a Nursing Officer through his work with the Sanford Health-World Clinics initiative in his homeland, Ghana. His passion for bioethics stems from his belief in its profound impact on his nursing practice and the broader research realms. He is interested in research ethics, technology, and clinical ethics, where he seeks to explore and contribute significantly. He has peer mentoring experiences. He has also served as a special volunteer in bioethics in the National institute of environmental Health Sciences of the National institute of Health-United States (NIEHS-NIH), where he was mostly engaged in ethics review activities and bioethics research. He is determined to work with others to construct long-term bioethical projects, creation of awareness and garner backing for bioethics initiatives in Ghana.
Evelyn Ngandu
Zambia
Evelyn Muleba Kunda-Ng’andu is a Public Health Specialist with a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Zambia’s’ School of Public Health. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies and Philosophy and applied ethics from the University of Zambia. She is pursuing a postgraduate diploma in Global Health Research. She is a Mastercard Foundation AfOx scholar.
Evelyn’s research interests include public health ethics, bioethics, specifically ethics of Human Infection Studies and Public Health research. Her other interest is in vaccinology as a science and its related ethics.
Evelyn has received awards from Wellcome Trust Public Engagement award for developing an ethical and regulatory framework for conducting current and future controlled human infection challenge studies in Zambia. She has also received an award from the Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the National Institute for Health Research award-2020 to explore ‘Ethical dilemmas in times of COVID-19: Screening and tracing methods in the Zambian context’. She received a HIC-VAC Public Engagement Award 2020 to undertake a project titled ‘Building Trust in Human Infection Challenge Studies in Zambia through Engagement Workshops using Participatory Discovery and Creation Methods’.
Evelyn is a member of professional networks, including the Global Health Network, BactiVac Network, HIC-VAC network, the Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTHM) and the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
Evelyn has worked for WaterAid Zambia and works for the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia.
Dr. Marietjie
Marietjie has transitioned from a 20-year career as a practicing attorney in health law and biotechnology to academia focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of science, technology, law, and ethics. She holds the degrees of BProc, LLB, LLM (Intellectual Property Law), and a LLD (Biotechnology Law). Her research interests include the regulation of regenerative medicines (gene therapies and stem cell research), Health Data Governance, pandemic preparedness, digital health technologies, in particular with regard to neuro-technologies such as Brain-Computer Interfaces and their impact on fundamental rights, including online behavioural manipulation and how it shapes debates around digital constitutionalism. Marietjie published widely on these topics, both nationally and internationally, and served as co-editor for the special edition on Digital Ethics for the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Journal (Springer Nature). She is an elected member of ASSAf involved with the second consensus study on gene therapies in South Africa, and one of the invited experts and co-authors of the SA Country Reports on COVID-19 in which she addressed various legal issues regarding pandemic management.
Elhami Abdalmuti
Sudan
A Sudanese academic and researcher with a robust foundation in Bioethics, particularly in research ethics. Over a career spanning diverse roles in research and bioethics, he spent five years as Medical Coordinator and Bioethicist at the UNESCO Chair on Bioethics, Khartoum University, where he empowered the scientific community with ethical principles and methods.
He holds an MBBS from the University of Khartoum, an MPH, and an MSc in Molecular Medicine from Sudan. Currently, he is enrolled in a M.Soc.Sc in Health Research Ethics at UKZN, South Africa.
He has co-authored several publications in international journals and serves as an accredited peer reviewer for PLOS Global Public Health and Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy, ensuring the dissemination of high-quality research.
Eager to engage in collaborative endeavours and knowledge exchange, he aspires to contribute meaningfully to African and global bioethics initiatives for the betterment of human health.
Biography in Arabic Language
أ العلمي . خالل مسيته الهنية متنوعة ا ألدوار يف جمال البحث أاكدميي وابحث سوداين ذو أأساس قوي يف أأخالقيات عمل ا ألحياء، ال س امي يف أأخالقيات البحث وأأخالقيات عمل ا ألحياء، أأمىض مخس س نوات مكنسق طيب وأأخصايئ أأخالقيات عمل ا ألحياء يف كريس اليونسكو ألخالقيات عمل ا ألحياء جبامعة اخلرطوم، حيث عزز اجملمتع العلمي ابلبادئ وا ألساليب ا ألخالقية.
حيمل درجة باكلوريوس الطب واجلراحة من جامعة اخلرطوم، ودرجة ماجس تي يف الصحة العامة، وماجس تي يف الطب اجلزييئ من السودان. حاليا، هو ملتحق بربانمج الاجس تي يف العلوم الاجامتعية يف أأخالقيات البحث العلمي للعلوم الصحية جبامعة كوازولو اناتل، جنوب أأفريقيا
للصحة العامة العالية وجمل
European :Seizureشارك يف العديد من ا ألوراق العلمية اليت نرشت يف جمالت دولية، ويعمل مكراجع مع
Epilepsy of Journal، مما يضمن نرش أأحباث عالية اجلودة.
يتطلع اىل الشاركة يف مساعي تعاونية وتبادل العرفة، ويسعىللمسامهة بشلك ملموس يف مبادرات أأخالقيات عمل ا ألحياء يف أأفريقيا وعىل الس توى العالي من أأجل حتسني حصة اجملمتع وا النسان.