VODAN Africa Board
Prof. Dr. Mouhamad Mpezamihigo
Chair of Implementation Network
Prof. Dr. Mpezamihigo is the Vice-Chancellor of Equator University of Science and Technology in Uganda. Equator University and the Chair of the VODAN Africa Board
Prof. Francisca Oladipo
Executive Coordinator
Francisca Oladipo is a Professor of Computing at Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Nigeria and the Executive Coordinator VODAN Africa. She currently serves a the pioneer Director of Quality Assurance at FUL.
She had served previously at Kampala International University (KIU), Uganda as the pioneer Director of Research, Innovations, and International relations. Prof. Oladipo serves as the Chief Technical Advisor (Kogi) on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and, Facilitator, Africa Centre of Excellence in Technology and Learning (ACETEL), National Open University of Nigeria.
As the Executive Coordinator of VODAN Africa, the Initiative has given Africa a place in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic through the deployment of 10 machine-actionable COVID-19 FAIR Data Points across Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands. She is currently leading the expansion of the initiative into Liberia, Tanzania, Somalia, China, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan.
Prof. Janice Busingye
Director of Administration
Prof. Dr. Janice Desire Busingye is the Treasurer of VODAN responsible for administration and finance. She holds a Doctorate in Community Education and has experience as the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance at Kampala International University where she served for almost a decade. She is based in Uganda. She designed some learning modules and was also responsible for overseeing the quality and certification of the e-learning curricula under the DISH programme.
Dr. Araya Abrha Medhanyie
Ethiopia Country Co-coordinator
Araya Abrha Medhanyie holds a Ph.D and is an Associate Professor of public health at the School of Public Health at Mekelle University, Ethiopia. He has eighteen years of work experience in teaching, research, and community service. His research interests and professional career focus mainly on Global Health and Development. He is interested and has been building his research career in multidisciplinary and implementation research that integrates health systems, maternal and newborn health, health systems leadership and governance, health policy, Digital Health, and social transformation. Methodologically, he is interested and keen on specializing his capacity in implementation research, diffusion of innovations, and scale-up of proven health interventions. He is passionate about serving humanity through research, education, and leadership. He enjoys reading and writing about social change, leadership, and development. He is the Country Coordinator of VODAN-Africa, and leader of the Health Resilience peer group at GAIC.
Dr. Sakinat Folorunsho
Nigeria Coordinator
Lecturer, Olabisi Onabanjo University, and convener, WiDS OOU
Dr. Reginald Nalugala
Kenya Country Coordinator
Lecturer of Social Transformation at Tangaza University College, Grassroot Wellness Campaign Convener
Dr. Mariem Ghardallou
Tunisia Country Coordinator
Medical Doctor, Quality Healthcare Expert and Associate Professor, College of Medicine, University of Sousse, Tunisia
Prof. Bernard Chazovacchi
Zimbabwe Country Coordinator
Prof. Bernard Chazovacchi is the Dean, Julius Nyerere School of Social Sciences, Great Zimbabwe University.
Julia Duncan-Cassell
Liberia Country Coordinator
Julia Duncan-Cassel was the former minister of gender, children, and social protection under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. As a minister, she promoted women's engagement in politics, opposed violence against women, and oversaw the care of Ebola orphans during the West African Ebola epidemic.
Jamal Mohamed Warsawe
Somalia Country Coordinator
Jamal Mohamed Warsawe is the Dean Health School, East Africa University, Somalia.
Dr Wondimu Ayele
Ethiopia Country Co-coordinator
Assistant Professor Biostatistics and Health Informatics at School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University
Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi
Nigeria Co-coordinator
Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi serves as the Director of ICT and the Head of the Department of Computer Science at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai (IBBUL), Niger State Nigeria.
He is a Senior Member of the IEEE (SMIEEE,) a Member of the Institute of Neural Network Society (INNS), Association of Computer Machinery (ACM).
He is on the Board of the School-Based Management Committee of the Federal Ministry of Education in Nigeria, a National Secretary on the Committee of Technical Advisors of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and doubles as the Chief Technical Advisor of Niger State. He has served among the Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC) roundtable of the Academia and Industry.
