Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program

Yeshoda has worked in Nepal's public health system for more than 15 years, spending the last 8 years as a government employee. After completing nursing school, she graduated with highest honor's with a Master's in Public Health. She began her career as a monitoring, evaluation and research professional in the non-governmental sector.

During her eight years in the government health system, she initially served as a chief of the District Public Health Office. Then, she was transferred to Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) as a Section Chief of Environmental Health and Climate Change, and later to Development Assistance Coordination Section. Once promoted to Chief Public Health Administrator, she served as the Director of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) TB and HIV AIDS Centre. Currently, Ms. Aryal is leading Health Coordination Division at MoHP; with specific roles on managing international cooperation, multi-sector and subnational coordination in health sector.

Ms. Aryal has been part of key policy formulation processes at MoHP and contributed in Health National Adaptation Plan on Climate Change 2017-2021, NEPAL Yeshoda Aryal, MPH yeshoda.aryal@emory.edu aryal.yeshoda@gmail.com Fifteenth Periodic Plan 2019-2024, National Health Policy 2019, Multi-sector Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2021-2025, and National Health Financing Strategy 2023. Moreover, she technically led the development of Nepal Health Sector - Strategic Plan 2022-2030, key strategic document guiding the whole health sector focused on achieving health related goals as guided by constitutional mandate, sustainable development goals, and inter-national commitments, which she believes to be a milestone to improve the health of every citizen. As a focal point of development partners, she played a crucial role at the ministry for mobilization of international assistance, including at the very difficult situation posed by COVID 19 pandemic. Her continuous and productive effort in harnessing national level health diplomacy has been well appreciated by all concerned.

Her specific areas of interest are evidence based public health policy making, health systems reform, health diplomacy, wider determinants of health and health equity. Yeshoda plans to acquire an advanced level of knowledge and skills in public health service management and leadership, and hopes that the Humphrey Fellowship program will be a stepping stone to achieving her public health career goals and even pursuing a PhD. After completing the fellowship, she hopes to contribute to the strengthening and reform of the overall health system, specifically by designing and scale up health promotion campaigns and institutionalizing screening for early detection as the most cost-effective approach to address the ever-increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. She plans to continue her current job and contribute to improving health system performances and health status of people. She will prioritize enhancing the civic space through health system accountability and adoption of healthy behaviors among people.

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery from Nishtar Medical College, Multan in 2008, Waheed worked for two years in hospitals in Lahore before joining the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS). He spent the next five years in northern part of Sindh province working on administrative assignments with disaster management being a key part of his work. In 2014, he attended Australia Awards Fellowship for studying Disaster Management from Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

In 2016, Waheed served as Deputy Commissioner of Sukkur where he and his team worked in Polio Eradication Programme to improve coverage and ensure that no child is denied access to the Polio vaccine. In 2017, he moved to London on Chevening Scholarship to study Public Policy at Queen Mary University of London. There, he studied various theories of public policy formulation and issues of policy implementation.

Between 2018 and 2019, he worked in Narowal as Deputy Commissioner where he worked on the Kartarpur Corridor project for Sikh Pilgrims coming from India. This work resulted in the hosting and facilitation of thousands of pilgrims via visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Saheb Kartarpur. He received a commendation shield from Governor Punjab, presented by the President of Pakistan. His team also received another award for improving health ranking of Narowal District in the Punjab province.

In 2020, Waheed returned to Lahore and was assigned to the Services department in HR management for the province, including senior health professionals in public sector hospitals. Waheed briefly worked on a project for sustainable water supply and sanitation in rural areas of Punjab.

Since 2022, he was serving as the Additional Secretary for the Chief Minister of Punjab to assist with development and financial matters. He also assisted the Provincial Cabinet on setting its reform agenda with special focus on the health sector.

Dr. Basit received his MBBS from Chandka Medical College. He earned a Master's degree in sociology from Shah Abdul Latif University and a certificate in communication skills from the Virtual University. After completing a one year internship, he worked as a medical officer for Agha Khan Health Services. In 2015, he served as a community medicine lecturer in medical college. During this tenure, he completed his Master’s Degree in Public Health at the Health Services Academy. Recently, he completed his Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nutrition and Lifestyle sciences in 2023.

In his most recent role, Basit served as the Provincial Area Coordinator for Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, following his tenure as Provincial Surveillance Officer for GB prior. He led the technical aspects of the COVID-19 response, resulting in lower mortality and a well-established surveillance system in the province. Additionally, was leading the World Health Organization as Acting In-charge of the Gilgit Baltistan Field Office for GB, which includes operational oversight of the Polio Eradication Initiative, COVID-19, Nutrition, and Maternal and Child Health programs. His team also provided technical expertise to improve coverage of other antigens, including Measles-Rubella and Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine.

He was also part of a team that worked to integrate other health programs, like curative medicine and nutrition, with Periodic Intensification of Routine Immunization (PIRIs) and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases to strengthen health systems. In May 2022, when Gilgit-Baltistan was devastated by flash flooding and a subsequent earthquake, he and his team supported the country office with a plan for emergency supplies, monitored weekly disease patterns, and distributed medications and essential supplies to affected areas of the province.

Lastly, he was the operational lead and point of contact for all WHO projects, where they have developed state-of-the-art nutrition stabilization centers and are currently refurbishing 12 of their state-of-the-art mother and child health centers across the province.

Roseline began her healthcare journey as a professional nurse in 2004, where she served as an Emergency Pediatric Nurse for six years. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociological and Public Administration in 2010, she worked as a health care worker and Reproductive Health Trainer, supporting women at the local level to advocate for the rights of women and girls against Sexual and GenderBased Violence (SGBV). She also served as a Health and Social Welfare Project Manager to counsel, test, and link HIV patients to care. In 2019, she completed her Master of Public Health, with a concentration in health promotion and development, at the University of the Gambia, where she gained skills to efficiently manage complex public health needs in the communities.

Roseline went on to provide technical support in multiple roles to the Ministry of Health (MoH) ensuring the distribution of the Long-Lasting Insecticide-treated Nets. As an End User Verification (EUV) Manager, she conducted surveys on the end-use of commodities (Malaria, HIV and Reproductive Health) procured by the Global Fund and USAID for Liberia. As a Technical Advisor for Family Planning, HIV/AIDS, and Maternal Newborn and Child Health, she provided health products supply chain oversight for the MoH to strengthen supply chain management in seven high HIV-burdened facilities.

In 2021, she began working with AmeriCares Foundation Liberia, where she now serves as Acting Program Director, where she spearheads strategic planning, project management, team leadership, and stakeholder engagement.

She takes pride in her innovative solutions, tenacity, and dedication to delivering outstanding results for her work in the healthcare sector and remains committed to improving health outcomes for all.

Roseline is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Empowering Women Independence, Public Health Initiative, Innovation, and Technology Inc. She is passionate about this cause and truly believes investing in women and girls is not only the right thing to do, but also one of the most effective ways to strengthen society. Their program is designed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges that women and girls face, which include economic empowerment, teenage pregnancy, and career development. By providing women and girls with access to high-quality health services, education, and support, she believes she can help them overcome some of the barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential.

Dr. Gavidia graduated from Medical School at LUZ University in her hometown of Maracaibo in 2002. She served as an intern at the University Hospital which is a major Trauma Center for 2 years and also completed a one-year Medical Teaching Course. She completed her four-year residency in otolaryngology in 2010, where she had experience working with the Influenza A H1N1 pandemic.

After completing her residency, she began a fellowship in Rhinology at the Otolaryngology and Facial Plastic Surgery Institute in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

Dr. Gavidia works as an attending physician in a public institution “Hospital Chiquinquirá”, where she treats patients with ear nose and throat related disorders, including infectious diseases, allergies, and other pathologies. Through this job, she has the opportunity to help people from underprivileged communities and teach patients to prevent conditions through education.

She also supports other departments as a lecturer regarding otolaryngology.

In addition, she has served as an associated professor for her alma mater “Universidad del Zulia”, where she teaches and supervises students during their ENT rotation.

She has worked for over 10 years in a private practice at “Clínica Paraíso” in Maracaibo where they have established a team of specialists and staff to provide the best possible care for their patients.

Dr. Gutta completed his undergraduate degree in medicine from Bahir Dar University in 2013. He served as a full-time physician and lecturer at Wachemo University (WU). At WU Hospital, he served as a Hospital Management Member and Head Doctor in the intensive care unit (ICU) for three years, where he communicated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and international collaborators to optimize the ICU’s competencies.

In September 2018, Dr. Gutta began a three-year internal medicine residency program at Saint Paul Hospital and Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa. Upon completion of residency, WU appointed Dr. Gutta as an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine. Working there for two years, he served as a department head, member of senior management, and quality-improvement leader for inpatient services. Dr. Gutta then enrolled in WU's internal medicine residency program as part of national postgraduate initiative from Ministry of Education.

Currently, he is a fellow doctor and postgraduate organizer in the intensive care medicine fellowship (competency-based subspecialty program) at Saint Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa. Here, he sets academic calendar and seminar schedule, moderates resident seminars, and teaches postgraduate respiratory therapy students. Through great effort, he hopes to be an Intensivist in a year's time.

As of May 2022, he and his wife welcomed their first child, Kiolit.

Dr. Kushnir graduated in 2004 from the Lviv National Medical University and became a pediatrician. He worked for over 10 years as a pediatrician in Western Ukraine Specialized Children’s Medical Center. In 2011, he acquired his Master of Public Administration from the National Academy of State Administration of the President of Ukraine.

His research continued in 2011 while participating in the State Department-funded Legislative Fellows Program. Hosted by the diaspora-based organization, Ukrainian Federation of America, he observed the functioning of the US Healthcare system. From the Montgomery County to the city of Philadelphia Health Department, and from the Pennsylvania State to Federal level, he learned of the policy and regulations in the context of Public Health challenges in the US.

Dr. Kushnir's career spanned from experience as an Emergency Room Physician to becoming the Founder and General Director at the Anna Mazurenko Centre in Lviv – an Outpatient pediatric care integrated with mental health and child development health services. By establishing the Center, he seeks to improve families’ access to evidence-based health services through the advancement of health practice based on a holistic approach.

Dr. Kushnir's current professional responsibility as Implementing Partner is to manage the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Mobile Clinics Project with a nearly 2,000,000 USD year budget and approximately 80 professionals involved. The Project aims at ensuring outreach lifesaving Sexual Reproductive Health consultations and integrated survivor-oriented services to Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Gender-based violence survivors, and people at risk, especially those living in most remote areas and compact settlements of internally displaced persons. The Project also provides care for pregnant women at risk during the prenatal and postnatal periods.

Since January 2023, their operation has grown to 11 mobile teams and their services have provided more than 20,000 outreach consultations to women in rural neighborhoods of 10 western regions of Ukraine, with expectations to reach another 35,000 outreach consultations by the end of the year.

Daniyar earned a Bachelor's degree in Public Health from Astana Medical University in 2012 and started his career as a quality assurance specialist, implementing the standards of the Joint Commission International in the network of clinics within the National Medical Holding. In 2015, he was awarded a prestigious grant by the Japanese Government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to pursue and later earn his Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (MHA) at Nagoya University.

Following his graduation, he was recruited by the Republican Center for Health Development, Ministry of Health, to develop national accreditation standards that meet internationally recognized practices and to improve the legislation and system of healthcare standardization across the country. In 2018, he served as the Program Specialist for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) at the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan, focusing on the HIV pandemic in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2019 he worked in the PEPFAR team, with the USAID and CDC teams, to develop the Regional Operational Plan for Central Asia to achieve the 90-90-90 goals and facilitate the self-reliant management of national HIV programs in the region.

Daniyar currently serves as the Director of the Strategic and Development Department at the Accreditation Center for Quality in Healthcare (ACQH) in Kazakhstan. He works collaboratively with the government and other key stakeholders to ensure the implementation of the principles of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare External Evaluation Association (ISQua EEA) into ACQH's processes and standards

As a surveyor for both ACQH and Accreditation Canada International, he conducts assessments and observes healthcare practices in clinics around the world. Through his role at ACQH, he provides workshops for colleagues from Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan on topics focused on enhancing processes in their hospitals and clinics and implementing recognized best practices.

In 2023, Daniyar joined the International Society for Quality in Healthcare as a surveyor. In this capacity, he evaluates accrediting organizations in different countries to ensure their alignment with international best practices and standards.

Wendy obtained her Bachelor of Pharmacy in 2012 at the University of Papua New Guinea, where she then proceeded to residency in 2013.

She began her career as a Hospital Pharmacist in 2014 at the Porgera District Hospital, in Enga Province where she was dedicated to the care of locals and for mining employees of Porgera gold mine.

During her career as Hospital Pharmacist, she also served as a volunteer, working with youth in the church who visited the sick in the community, performed medication reviews and assisted those who needed treatment.

In 2015, Wendy started at Lihir Medical Centre, a small hospital providing health care for the staff and family of Newcrest Lihir Goldmine (5,500 staff) and the general population (approximately 50,000 inhabitants) on Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea. The hospital provides primary and secondary care and about 4,000 patients are seen per month.

In Lihir apart from serving as a Hospital Pharmacist, she also served as Pharmacy Head of Department, as opinion leader, on a social committee, and as Infection Control Sheriff through March 2023.

Wendy currently serves as the Pharmacy Manager for Mukuna Healthcare Ltd in Arawa, Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG.

Dr. Park obtained her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in biotechnology at Korea University and conducted postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in USA. During her postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, her research on oxidative stress-induced skin damage discovered candidates for medicine development through understanding the action mechanism of a wide range of antioxidants including palm oil phenolics.

She has worked as a quality reviewer at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for more than 12 years and has focused on providing high quality biologics to expand therapeutic opportunities in Korea and support Korean biopharmaceutical companies. During the global COVID19 pandemic, she worked as a major quality reviewer in the specially coordinated review team for COVID-19 vaccines at MFDS to prioritize the development and marketing-authorization of the most promising vaccines.

Through the Humphrey Fellowship, she seeks to gain knowledge and skills to advance innovative technologies related to biologics, which will help to support the Korea biopharmaceutical companies to develop innovative biologics with international credibility, and also establish advanced review standard and assessment skills for innovative biologics.

Dr. Ziara obtained her MBBS in 2009 from Misr University for Science and Technology in Egypt. In 2013, she completed her Child Health and Nutrition Professional Diploma from the Islamic University of Gaza. She began her work in the academic field for 2 years as an Assistant Lecturer and then pursued clinical work to specialize in Pediatrics. Just a few months before finishing her residency program, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and within eight months, she defeated cancer and pledged to advocate for cancer patients’ right to access proper treatment with dignity and with no discrimination. She then volunteered with one of the national organizations which is devoted to supporting cancer patients.

In 2019 and after working for 3 years with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) as a part-time Medical Doctor, she worked as a Medical Coordinator Support for MSF's mission in Palestine. In her first managerial position, she helped to create patientcentered interventions and design projects that fill the gaps in the health system taking into consideration the wellbeing and the capacity of the health care providers.

In 2022, Dr. Ziara started working with Medecins du Mond (MdM) as the Consortium Projects Manager, responsible for 4 projects concerning Mental Health (MH) with 3 different grants to implement MH interventions.

In 2022, she began an online Diploma in Humanitarian Leadership Management with the American University of Beirut. Dr. Ziara also participated in a clinical training course for 2 months in one of the most prestigious hospitals in Palestine, where she worked as a Neonatal Intensivist with the most senior Neonatologists in Palestine. She also participated in clinical researches that were published locally and presented in scientific days and national conferences.