Fundamentals of Bioethics Certificate Course

Description

Fundamentals of Bioethics covering various topics touching on Ethics

Objectives

Presenters

1. Mr. ALLAN MALECHE
   He was the 2022 Belén Ríos Health and Human Rights Scholar. He holds an LL.M. in National and Global Health Law from Georgetown Law University. Maleche is a dynamic leader, an advocate of the high court of Kenya, and a human rights defender with over fifteen years of experience in law, ethics, governance, policy, health and rights, including eight years managing rights-based programs that protect affected, marginalised, and vulnerable populations. He is currently serving as the executive director of Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS (KELIN). He sits and co- chairs the UNAIDS Human Rights Reference group and is a member of the International Advisory Board for the Global Health Centre.
   


2. Miss CAROLINE KITHINJI
   She is the head of training at the Scientific and Ethics Review Unit (SERU) of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). She has 17 years of experience in Research Ethics Committee (REC) administration and training. Sustainable growth is her passion. Training and mentoring young professionals in biomedical ethics and research ethics committee administration is her calling. Providing efficient and considered ethics review provides her with enormous gratification. At SERU, she has had the unique privilege to indulge in all the above. SERU, inaugurated in 2014, is a culmination of ten years of deliberate introduction of resources, both human and financial, into a secretariat that begun with three individuals to a team of 14 well trained professionals. Caroline has been instrumental in sourcing funds for the Unit, identifying, training and mentoring personnel employed at the Unit, developing SOPs and for committee members,researchers and secretariat in Kenya and the East and Central Africa region.
   


3. Dr. CHARLES MUGA
   He is, among other functions, the Principal Investigator as well as Co-Investigator and Social Science Advisor for a number of projects sponsored by KELIN, Kenya. Dr. Muga also offers advisory services as a Social science / Community Engagement Consultant for the Kenya Pediatric Research Consortium and the Kenya Mental Health Foundation. He has worked as a Curriculum Development Consultant for the CBEC-KEMRI Bioethics Training Initiative. Moreover, he is also affiliated with Standard Media Services and serves as a Radio Talk Show Consultant on Social, Political and Cultural related matters. He also serves as, an advisory board member for the Organic Response initiative on Mfangano Island in Suba, Homabay.
   


4. Prof. ELIZABETH BUKUSI
   Masters in Bioethics, Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, earned her general medical degree and Masters in Obstetrics and Gynaecology degree from the University of Nairobi. She then earned a certificate in international health, MPH and a PhD from the University of Washington’s Department of Epidemiology, a post graduate diploma in Research Ethics from the University of Cape Town and a Masters in Bioethics from Centre for Bioethics and Culture at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi. She is a certified IRB Professional. She is a Senior Principal Clinical Research Scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), a Research Professor at the University of Washington (Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Global health), an honorary lecturer at Aga Khan University in Nairobi and Maseno University (Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) and Volunteer Clinical faculty – Professor at the University of California San Francisco (Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Sciences). Prof. Bukusi, in collaboration with Dr. Craig Cohen at UCSF, established the KEMRI Research Care and Training Program in 1995. In addition to her substantial experience in conducting socio-behavioural and biomedical research and providing HIV care, mentoring, and training health care and research personnel to enhance local and international capacity, she has a strong interest in research and clinical ethics and the development of systems and structures for regulation of research at KEMRI and in the country.
   


5. Dr. JOHN KAMWERI
   He was the Director of the Institute of Ethics at Uganda Martyrs University until 2020, where he developed a postgraduate programme in bioethics. He was also responsible for overseeing the development and teaching of ethics programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He taught Healthcare Ethics and Law at Nsambya Hospital Nursing School and at Mother Kevin Postgraduate School of Medicine, of Uganda Martyrs University. His research areas include: the ethics of development, bioenvironmental ethics, biomedical research ethics, ethics and law-medical, ethics in clinical and population health emergencies." He was the Bio-ethics co-opted member on the Uganda National Immunization Technical Advisory Group that guided the Ministry of Health on ethical oversight for COVID-19 vaccination safety, access, acceptability, and uptake."
   


6. Dr. JOHN WERU
   He is an Assistant Professor of Palliative Medicine at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi (AKUHN). He is the leader of the Palliative Care Team at the Aga Khan University Hospital and the Chairperson of the East African Palliative Care Steering Committee charged with developing and setting up this service in the region. He is the chairperson of the board of Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA). Dr. Weru is the chairperson of the Hospital Ethics committee at AKUHN and a member of the Institutional Scientific and Ethics Review Committee (ISERC) at the hospital.
   


7. Miss MELBA KATINDI
   She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya practicing as Katindi & Company Advocates and the Founder of NEXTGEN Lawyers - Kenya. She is an active member of Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) – Scientific and Ethics Review Unit and has been a reviewer since 2014. She is the current Vice Chairperson of the Bioethics Society of Kenya. She is a highly proficient legal professional with extensive experience in health-related Human Rights and Gender. She has over 10 years combined work experience. She has a postgraduate diploma in Bioethics and is passionate about bioethics education and awareness. Within the health sector, she provides technical assistance to incorporate rights-based approaches and mainstreaming gender equality within HIV, TB, Palliative Care, SRHR and Drug Policy Reform.
   


8. Dr. PASCAL MWAKIO
   He is a Catholic priest from Mombasa Archdiocese since 2004. He holds Bachelor’s degree in Philosophical studies from Urbaniana University-Rome, Bachelor’s degree in theological studies, Masters and Doctorate degrees in Bioethics all from Regina Apostolurum University, Rome. He is the author of book “The Right to Life and African Concepts about Life: A Bioethical Approach for Kenya, 2014, an expert and committee member of the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences’ Program and a member of Bioethics Society of Kenya. Additionally, he is an external examiner at Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
   


9. Prof. STEPHEN MUHUDHIA
   He is Consultant Paediatrician in clinical practice at The Nairobi Hospital. He is an adjunct professor of bioethics, and co-director Africa Bioethics Initiative at Trinity International University in Illinois, USA. He is a part- time lecturer at Kabarak University, where he teaches bioethics to Master of Family Medicine students. Prof. Muhudhia is an adjunct faculty for the Master in Bioethics program at Amref International University, Kenya. He is the Vice Chair of the Scientific and Ethics Review Committee C of Kenya Medical Research Institute. He is the current Chair of the Bioethics Society of Kenya. In addition to qualifications as a specialist paediatrician, he has a Master’s degree in Bioethics and Health Law and a Post Graduate Diploma in Biomedical Ethics