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GLIDE Selects Inaugural Fellows for Injaz Fellowship for Disease Elimination: Advancing Global Efforts to Eliminate Infectious Diseases 

 

GLIDE is pleased to announce the selection of four fellows for the 2024-2025 Injaz Fellowship for Disease Elimination program, which aims to equip future leaders with the necessary knowledge, skills, and leadership strategies to make critical inroads in tackling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), malaria, and polio.
The winning individuals were selected based on their contribution in disease elimination, project proposals and leadership potential to address key needs within the following areas of disease elimination: 
  • Capacity strengthening: Developing a cadre of professionals well-versed in the latest disease elimination strategies and opportunities as well as the larger public health architecture that it fits into.
  • Implementation excellence: Developing the fellows’ skills in operational research, policy analysis and implementation science through both conceptual and practical experience in implementing and evaluating disease elimination programs.
  • Global health diplomacy: Fostering the skills necessary for effective global health diplomacy, advocacy, and international collaboration in disease elimination efforts.

 

The winning fellows of GLIDE’s 2024-2025 Injaz Fellowship are:
  1. Dr Waqas Ahmad, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Narowal Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
    Towards rabies elimination: ‘One Health’ approach to establish diagnostic surveillance of dog-mediated human rabies in Pakistan
    This pilot project in Narowal, Pakistan, aims to determine the prevalence of dog-bite injuries, establish a diagnostic facility and set up a ‘One Health’ reporting network. The network will quantify the impact of dog-mediated human rabies in the region and establish ways to reduce its impact.
  2. Leen Daoud, Technical Officer, Public Health Programs, Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) HQ, Amman, Jordan
    Enhancing the capacity of community health workers to actively participate in trachoma control and reporting in a high-risk district in Aden, Yemen
    This project aims to assess how targeted training to address knowledge gaps could enhance the capacity of community health workers in managing trachoma in a high-risk rural village in Aden, Yemen, given their crucial role in controlling this significant public health problem.
  3. Lucrece Eteki, Epidemiologist, WHO, Yaoundé, Centre Region, Cameroon
    Mapping of available services, gaps, and opportunities for implementation of community centered interventions to enhance of delivery of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) projects to women and vulnerable populations
    Women have a higher burden to NTDs however, NTDs projects in Cameroon do not integrate gender considerations. Therefore, this proposal aims to assess which services are available to women and vulnerable populations in Cameroon, as well as understand gaps and opportunities to increase access.
  4. Martins Imhansoloeva, PhD Candidate, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
    Bridging the entomological data gap: assessing entomological indices for onchocerciasis transmission in Bié province of Angola
    This study aims to close the critical entomological data gap in Angola through conducting an entomological survey to estimate the monthly, seasonal, and annual vector density, infectivity, and transmission potential of blackfly vectors in the Andulo/Nharea areas of Bié province of Angola.

 

About the Injaz Fellowship for Disease Elimination

The Injaz Fellowship for Disease Elimination is an innovative program designed to advance global efforts to eliminate and eradicate infectious diseases. The focus diseases for this fellowship are neglected tropical diseases, malaria and polio. The fellowship aims to enhance fellows’ expertise in disease elimination and eradication, enabling them to first contribute to their countries and then to global health through research, and policy advocacy.

“Injaz” is derived from Arabic and signifies achievement and accomplishment. The Injaz Fellowship is strategically aligned with GLIDE’s mission to address the critical demand for skilled professionals in disease elimination to achieve the ambitious elimination goals for 2030 and beyond. By concentrating efforts on diseases that significantly affect underserved populations, the Injaz Fellowship will be an important platform to promote global health equity and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.