Welcome Wami is the postdoctoral fellow under chair 4, Professor Catherine Kyobutungi since 2019.
He has a strong interest in global health research, particularly in the area of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa. As a researcher, he works closely with Dr. Constance Schultsz (AIGHD) and the Joep Lange Chair holder Catherine Kyobutungi (African Population and Health Research Centre, Kenya) to establish a research program on chronic disease management as a concept in primary health care to strengthen the responsiveness of the health system to the management of both infectious and non-infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This entails conducting research on various aspects of chronic disease management in Kenya. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Biostatistics from Center for Statistics, Hasselt University, Belgium. He holds a PhD in statistical modeling and management of infectious diseases in Africa from the University of Edinburgh, UK. His previous experience as a Statistical Research Associate and Consultant involved delivering statistical analysis and providing support in the use of statistics for decision making in several areas of public health.
Angela Ben is the postdoctoral fellow under Anna Vassall
Ângela Jornada Ben is an MD, epidemiologist, and junior health economist working as a Joep Lange Fellow at AIGHD. She works closely with the Joep Lange Chairholder Prof. Anna Vassal to investigate the economic and health burden of Long COVID in Kenya. She also works with Prof. Constance Schultsz (AIGHD), her fellow colleague Welcome Wami, and the research team conducting the Long COVID prospective cohort in Kenya.
She used to work as a GP in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) (2005-2016). She earned her master’s degree in Epidemiology (2011) after studying the performance of questionnaires to evaluate adherence to hypertensive treatment at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (UFRGS). She also worked as a faculty at the Department of Collective Health of the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil (UFCSPA) supervising medical students and teaching epidemiology, family medicine, and public health. She used to share her time working at one of the SUS telemedicine programs (TelessaúdeRS) supporting GPs countrywide with guidelines and evidence-based practices. She obtained her PhD in Epidemiology at UFRGS (2017) after evaluating the cost-effectiveness of implementing Diabetic Retinopathy Teleophthalmology screening in the SUS. To further develop her knowledge and skills on Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment, she went for a second PhD in the Department of Health Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her thesis focus on investigating methodological aspects related to health-related quality of life measures and to statistical analysis of trial-based economic evaluations.