CONTRIBUTORS
Abdhalah Ziraba
Chief of Staff
Who is Ziraba? I am a Ugandan medical doctor and research scientist, a husband, and a father of three: two daughters, Jasmin and Jada, and a son, Jamal. I am currently the Chief of Staff at APHRC, having been appointed to the position effective January 1st, 2024.
The Chief of Staff is a new role at the Center born out of an institutional effectiveness assessment report that recommended the appointment of a technical person to help follow up on the Center’s Strategic initiatives on behalf of the Executive Director. These initiatives are designed to spur more significant institutional impact. Some of these initiatives include systems thinking, signature issue approach, institutional culture shift, and other technical assignments from the Executive Director.
In addition to my primary role as Chief of Staff, I remain a researcher, overseeing a few research projects, including the just-concluded Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) Impact Evaluation in Kenya, the Kenya Multisite Integrated Surveillance of COVID-19 and Other Pathogens, the evaluation of the Blantyre Prevention Strategy for HIV, and an upcoming national Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) coverage and methods research for Senegal, Rwanda, and Liberia.
For most of my working life, I have lived in Kenya; my wife Caroline is Kenyan, my kids go to school in Kenya, and I have many Kenyan friends; therefore, for all purposes and intents, a big part of me is Kenyan 🙂. In one of the family meetings, my late father-in-law summed it up by declaring that I was not just a son-in-law but a real son! I need to put my residency papers in order.
As I grow older, I find myself picking new interests, such as reading about the global political and social order, astronomy, and history (I hated this subject in school). I have some peculiarities around what I eat and hygiene, which is the reason my good friend and colleague Shukri thinks that I have a obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), though I disagree. Another old friend, who has a form of dyslexia thinks that I too have it. That is a story for another day! Don’t start scrutinizing my handwriting.
You are among APHRC’s first trainees shaping research in Africa and beyond… Tell us about that. What has been your journey at APHRC? It has been 17 years for me at the Center! I joined APHRC in October 2003 after I defended and passed my Masters’ course at Makerere University. I came across a research traineeship advert through an emailing list, Afronets, and reluctantly submitted my application at 5 pm on the deadline. Gen Z might not know what a fax machine is 🙂but yes, I submitted my application through fax. I am not sure why that was the case since I had an email account. A few days later, I got an interview invitation. I honored the invite; that would be my first trip to Nairobi.
Shock on me! I never imagined there was any place near the equator with temperatures falling below 15 degrees, save for the mountain tops! The evening I arrived for interviews was extremely cold, by 1 am, I had failed to fall asleep and was shivering in bed. I figured I had a coat and an extra pair of trousers – you guessed right, I put on the coat and quickly drifted off to sleep. The following morning was equally cold! The combo of cold weather and interview-related anxiety didn’t help matters.
Two researchers, Dr. Elizabeth Zulu and Dr. Fred Mugisha, interviewed me, and the interview went well. Little did I know that a lady named Gloria Chep’ngeno Kiplangat was waiting for me around the corner with part II of the interviews, practicals consisting of essay questions, and two datasets for analysis! The instruction was that I had the rest of the day to do the part II interviews – from 11 am to 5 pm with a lunch break. I think I aced the essays, but by 5 pm, I hadn’t completed the data analysis, and we had a hard stop.
On my way back to Uganda, I wasn’t sure about the chances. About two weeks later, I got a notification that I was successful. I immediately developed cold feet about the offer, but after about three weeks of agonizing about it, I convinced myself to give it a try for about 6-12 months.
With my medical and newly mint Masters degree, I knew I was to morph into a top researcher, but soon I realized most researchers at the Center had PhDs. I was instantly challenged, and the desire for further education resurfaced. After one year into the traineeship program, I was offered a Research Officer position. I supported the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System program with verbal autopsies, training of field workers, and supervision. More projects came along the way, including the first HIV sero-survey by APHRC. The traineeship and research officer position helped me hone my research skills, especially in designing and managing research projects, data analysis, and scientific writing. The hands-on experience was invaluable and prepared me for my research career.
Fast forward to late 2007 there was a PhD opportunity funded by the Common Wealth. APHRC supported my application, and I was awarded a 3-year fully funded scholarship to pursue a PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). I also met my wife Caroline in 2007, and we got our first daughter in late 2008. After my PhD, Dr. Alex Ezeh, the then Executive Director, encouraged me to return to Kenya. Although my wife wasn’t so excited about it, I prevailed. Since our return, my career has evolved, and I have gone through the ranks from a Research Fellow to an Associate Research Scientist and a Research Scientist. Along the way, I have managed several projects and held leadership positions, including the Head of two Research Units – Health and Systems for Health and later Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases.
What excites you most about your work? Having lived through several epidemics- HIV/AIDS, ebola virus disease, COVID-19, and others, I take solace in knowing that scientific endeavor has come to the rescue in each of those catastrophes. Each time there is a scientific breakthrough I get thrilled, whether it is with my contribution or not. I am driven by the fact that new knowledge is critical for policy, decision-making, and action. It is thrilling knowing that the evidence that you have helped generate is positively impacting the health of many people. At a macro level, being part of APHRC’s success story keeps me going. Contributing to the wellbeing of many people on the continent as well as giving an opportunity to many young professionals to excel is an excredible story we all want to be associated with.
What is your most significant career milestone/achievement? It is difficult to sum this into one! My work in the slums of Nairobi has contributed to our understanding of the burden of HIV/AIDS, the state of health systems, and maternal and child health challenges in the informal settlements of Nairobi. I have led impact evaluations on two major HIV public health interventions in Kenya, South Africa, and Malawi. Our findings are being used to help improve HIV programming. Providing technical assistance to the East and Southern Africa and West and Central African board members of the Global Fund Board and supporting their active participation at the board was a highlight. Previously Board members from our region were reported as unable to fully engage in the board deliberations yet most decisions at the Board affected the continent with the highest burden. This work culminated in the creation of the Africa Constituencies Bureau, headquartered in Addis Ababa. I have also mentored several upcoming researchers within and outside of APHRC and it gives me immense pleasure to see colleagues grow.
How do you balance your busy professional life with your personal life? What drives you and helps you stay grounded? Tough! Professionally, I am driven by the desire to see a better and thriving African continent. Naturally research work is fast-paced and results-driven and this keeps us pushing the limits. You keep picking yourself up from the low moments. But above all, I like positively impacting people around me- family, friends, and colleagues. I remain deeply connected with my folks back in Uganda and I generally contribute time and financial resources to several causes. I find this rewarding as well. I love sports- football, boxing, motor rally – wow, the sound of racing cars just unleashes tons of adrenaline! I love nature, and more recently, I have taken an interest in learning about the history of humanity, religion, and politics.
What is that one life experience that has contributed to shaping who you are today? Making people get better from ill-health is extremely emotionally rewarding. Saving a mother with a ruptured uterus or saving a bleeding mother on Christmas are eked in my memory. Unfortunately, I quickly got disillusioned by the working conditions. I didn’t feel I was positively impacting many people. I thought I was operating downstream, addressing symptoms of a larger problem. Lots of colleagues and friends tell me that I was a good clinician. But back in 2001, being a clinician in Uganda was depressing. HIV/AIDS-related mortality on the wards with no effective treatment was high, and we felt helpless. On the other hand, doing endless cesarean sections on teenagers with all manner of complications was another experience that made me wonder whether I was making any impact in my job. At the time it dawned on me that I needed to prevent diseases rather than treat illness!
If you could share one lesson you’ve learned throughout your career that could inspire others, what would it be? Your mantra? I live by the mantra that “do whatever you do well”, and don’t always expect reward or recognition. Learn by doing, and focus on the ultimate goal in spite of distractions along the way. If you are to successfully mentor and supervise colleagues, master the key skills, it helps with your career. My other guidance is, for the little or much good that I do, I am not driven by the promise of beautiful everlasting life in heaven or the fear of hell fire. I believe, as humans, we have an innate drive and responsibility to do good and less harm.