People Directory

Our team is the heartbeat of our collaborative efforts, comprising diverse experts from various fields. Each member brings unique skills and perspectives, uniting to drive innovation and impact in the health sector. Together, we are more than just a team; we are a community committed to transforming healthcare across Africa.

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People Directory

Photo of Joseph Ferenbok (PhD)

, PhD

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine MSc HENT UofT Academic Director

University of Toronto

Photo of Erica Di Ruggiero

Associate Professor of Global Health, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences Division, and the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

University of Toronto

Photo of Shaza Fadel

, PhD

Assistant Professor, Clinical Public Health Division; Faculty Co-Lead, Junior Faculty Development Program

University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Photo of Ashley Aimone

, PhD

Associate Director, Doctor of Public Health Program

University of Toronto, Office of the Vice-President International, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Photo of Elena Rosca

Senior Lecturer and Head, Engineering Department; HEMP Pillar Lead

Ashesi University

Photo of Hassan Wahab

Associate Professor in the Law, Humanities and Social Sciences department and HECO Pillar Lead

Ashesi University

Photo of Patrick Kerre

, PhD

Dean, School of Public Health

Moi University

Photo of Joseph Wong

, PhD

Vice President, International

University of Toronto, Office of the Vice-President International

Photo of Trevor Young

, PhD

Vice-President, Provost

University of Toronto

Photo of Dawit Wondimagegn Gebreamlak

, MD

Associate Professor, Addis Ababa University Consultant Psychiatrist, Tikur Anbessa Hospital Associate professor, Addis Ababa University, Co-chair and Director, Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration-TAAAC National Lead, African Health Observatory Platform- Ethiopia National Centre

Addis Ababa University

Profile

Joseph Ferenbok (PhD) , PhD

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine MSc HENT UofT Academic Director

University of Toronto

Dr. Ferenbok is an Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and the founder & faculty member of the Translational Research Program, a professional master’s that trains students to harness creative problem-solving for health sciences innovation. He is the Course Director for Projects in Translational Research and Methods in Practices and Contexts and the Instructor for the Translational Thinking module.

He also co-founded the Health Innovation Hub (H2i), an initiative that fosters translation, innovation, and commercialization of “Health Matters,” and founded the Ideation Clinic, which helps people across disciplines generate and refine innovative ideas. Dr. Ferenbok additionally serves as the UofT’s Academic Director and Instructor for the MSc in Health Entrepreneurship at KNUST in Ghana.

Driven by collaborative problem-solving, he seeks to systematically mobilize knowledge to design more effective, person-centric interventions spanning diagnostics, therapeutics, procedures, and behaviour change. Dr. Ferenbok aims to enhance health outcomes for individuals and communities by embracing diverse perspectives and unconventional approaches.

Email Address
joseph.ferenbok@utoronto.ca
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Canada
Profile

Erica Di Ruggiero

Associate Professor of Global Health, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences Division, and the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

University of Toronto

Erica Di Ruggiero (she/her), PhD is an Associate Professor of Global Health, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences Division, and the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

She is also the Director of the Centre for Global Health and Collaborative Specialization in Global Health and is the inaugural research director for the Sustainable Development Goals at U of T institutional strategic initiative. She leads and is engaged in MCF-funded programs such as the Women in Global Health Leadership Program in close collaboration with partners in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Moi University and UCT. Her program of research draws upon different theories and mixed methods to evaluate the population health, gender and equity impacts of policy and program interventions addressing health and social issues (e.g. precarious work) in diverse global settings. She studies the role of governance in global, national, and sub-national public health and health system policy agendas in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. She teaches courses in global health, global health policy and population health intervention research, and supervises and mentors several graduate and postdoctoral fellows in health and social science disciplines. She is editor in chief for Global Health Promotion. Di Ruggiero holds a PhD in public health sciences from the University of Toronto.

Email Address
e.diruggiero@utoronto.ca
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Canada
Governance
HEMP Pillar Advisory Commitee
Profile

Shaza Fadel, PhD

Assistant Professor, Clinical Public Health Division; Faculty Co-Lead, Junior Faculty Development Program

University of Toronto

Dr. Shaza Aladien Fadel is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Public Health Division at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Centre for Global Health. At the Centre, she serves as  the Faculty co-lead of the Junior Faculty Development Program co-designed with the Moi University School of Public Health. She is an epidemiologist, immunologist, and public health professional working at the intersection of health service research and vaccine preventable diseases. Her program looks at the impact of vaccination programs across the life-course in improving equitable distribution of benefits to individuals and community-engaged evaluation of interventions that improve vaccine confidence.

Email Address
shaza.fadel@utoronto.ca
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Canada
Profile

Ashley Aimone, PhD

Associate Director, Doctor of Public Health Program

University of Toronto

Ashley’s background and training include pediatric nutrition, epidemiology, and global health research.  As the Associate Director of the Doctor of Public Health program, Ashley supports the training and mentorship of the Mastercard Foundation-funded scholars from African Health Collaborative partner institutions, as well as teaches applied research methods, and supports program operations and development. In her faculty role, she is the co-lead instructor for a Planetary Health course, in partnership with the School of Public Health, Moi University, Kenya. Her research interests and engagements include planetary health education, and community-based research, particularly at the intersection of climate/environmental change and food systems (including nutrition, food security, and food sovereignty).

Email Address
ashley.aimone@utoronto.ca
Profile Types
Staff
Faculty
Country
Canada
Program
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
Profile

Elena Rosca

Senior Lecturer and Head, Engineering Department; HEMP Pillar Lead

Ashesi University

Dr. Elena Rosca is the Senior Lecturer and Head, Engineering Department and HEMP Pillar Lead

Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Ghana
Governance
HEMP Pillar Advisory Commitee
Profile

Hassan Wahab

Associate Professor in the Law, Humanities and Social Sciences department and HECO Pillar Lead

Ashesi University

Dr. Hassan Wahab is an Associate Professor in the Law, Humanities and Social Sciences department and HECO Pillar Lead

Dr. Wahab is an experienced higher education professional (in classroom and administration). Expertise in developing and managing international programs. Strong on consulting, curriculum development and grant writing. Excellent communicator.

Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Ghana
Governance
HECO Pillar Advisory Committee
Profile

Patrick Kerre, PhD

Dean, School of Public Health

Moi University

Email Address
kerrepatrick@gmail.com
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Kenya
Governance
Executive Steering Committee
Profile

Joseph Wong, PhD

Vice President, International

University of Toronto

Joseph Wong is the University of Toronto’s Vice President, International. He is also the Roz and Ralph Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, and a Professor of Political Science.

He was the Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School from 2005 to 2014, and held the Canada Research Chair in health, democracy and development for a full two terms, 2006 to 2016.

Joe is the author of many academic articles and several books, including Healthy Democracies: Welfare Politics In Taiwan and South Korea and Betting on Biotech: Innovation and the Limits of Asia’s Developmental State, both published by Cornell University Press.

He is the co-editor, with Edward Friedman, of Political Transitions in Dominant Party Systems: Learning to Lose, published by Routledge, and Wong co-edited with Dilip Soman and Janice Stein Innovating for the Global South with the University of Toronto Press.

Professor Wong’s articles have appeared in journals such as Annual Review of Political Science, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Politics and Society, Governance, among many others.

Professor Wong has been a visiting scholar at institutions in the US, Taiwan, Korea, and the UK; has worked extensively with the World Bank and the UN; and has advised governments on matters of public policy in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe.

Joe’s current research focuses on poverty and innovation. Professor Wong is the founder of the Reach Alliance at the University of Toronto (http://reachalliance.org/). He is also collaborating with Professor Dan Slater (Michigan) on a book about Asia’s development and democracy, currently under contract with Princeton University Press.

Professor Wong is also writing a book for the Cambridge University Press on the political economy of the welfare state in East Asia. Professor Wong teaches courses in the department of Political Science, the Munk One program and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. Joe was educated at McGill University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Email Address
joe.wong@utoronto.ca
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Canada
Governance
Executive Steering Committee
Profile

Trevor Young, PhD

Vice-President, Provost

University of Toronto

Trevor Young is Acting Vice-President & Provost at the University of Toronto.

Professor Young is Dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and and Vice Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions since 2015.

Previously, he was Physician-in-Chief, Executive Vice President Programs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Professor Young is a clinician-scientist who studies the molecular basis of bipolar disorder and its treatment. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and has held more than 35 peer-reviewed grants.

Email Address
trevor.young@utoronto.ca
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Canada
Governance
Executive Steering Committee
Profile

Dawit Wondimagegn Gebreamlak, MD

Associate Professor, Addis Ababa University Consultant Psychiatrist, Tikur Anbessa Hospital Associate professor, Addis Ababa University, Co-chair and Director, Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration-TAAAC National Lead, African Health Observatory Platform- Ethiopia National Centre

Addis Ababa University

Dr. Dawit Wondimagegn is the former Chief Executive Director of the College of Health Sciences (CHS), Vice President of Addis Ababa University (AAU), Chair of AAU’s, Department of Psychiatry and Director of Graduate Programs for AAU, CHS in Ethiopia. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at AAU, a Consultant Psychiatrist, Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Co-chair and Director, Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration-TAAAC and the National Lead, African Health Observatory Platform- Ethiopia National Centre.

Through his numerous activities as a clinical and health systems leader, global mental health expert, IPT expert, and researcher, he is helping to decrease stigma and improve access to mental healthcare. An Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at AAU, he co-leads with Marci Rose the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration to develop post-graduate subspecialty training programs in numerous areas of medicine, primary care and nursing in Ethiopia.

He has published in the areas of global mental health, family medicine, medical ethics, psychotherapy knowledge translation, and post-partum depression. He was a primary investigator of two Grand Challenges Canada funded projects – The Biaber Project, to scale up screening and mental health care in Ethiopian primary care settings; and to engage with Ethiopian traditional healers, using a collaborative care model to increase the identification and treatment of psychiatric disorders. He has culturally adapted IPT for Ethiopia (IPT-E) and led IPT workshops for psychiatry residents at AAU and University of Toronto. The Biaber Project enabled the training of >500 Ethiopian primary care nurses in IPT-E.

Email Address
dawit.wondimagegn@aau.edu.et
Profile Type
Faculty
Country
Ethiopia
Governance
Executive Steering Committee