Congratulations to Misra Abdulahi, recent UiO PhD graduate, with appointment as Dean of Public Health at Jimma University in Ethiopia.
Misra Abdulahi, former UiO PhD student is the new Dean of Public Health at Jimma University in Ethiopia. Dean Misra was part of the Norad funded research and research education capacity development program, Strategic And Collaborative Capacity Development in Ethiopia and Africa (SACCADE). SACCADE ran from December 2013 - December 2020 and its major aim was to build capacity in research and research education in public health, health sciences and primary health care systems in Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular.
Last fall, Misra defended her thesis, “Effectiveness of a Community-Based Breastfeeding Intervention in Ethiopia: a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial,” for the degree of PhD. Short thesis summary:
Peer-led breastfeeding education and support provided during the antenatal and postnatal periods are known to improve optimal breastfeeding practices; however, there is a paucity of evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions in Ethiopia. The aims of this thesis were to adapt and validate existing breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes instruments, determine the levels of breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes among low literacy women and evaluate the effectiveness of a breastfeeding education and support intervention on early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding practices, and infant growth in a rural setting in Southwest Ethiopia.
Her principal supervisor, Jeanette H. Magnus, Director of the Centre for Global Health at the Sustainable Health Unit and Principal investigator for SACCADE says:
“Misra is an excellent researcher and defended her thesis in Oslo in October 2022. This demonstrates the potential and importance of advancing female faculty in the global south. I also think this opens for educational collaboration as UiO will initiate its new master program in public health this fall. Please join me in congratulating Misra with her Deanship!”
Misra also shares:
"As a Dean of the Faculty of Public Health, I strive to strengthen the UiO-JU collaborative works to achieve the faculty's goals related to teaching-learning, research and community service."
