Amref International University (AMIU) appoints new Vice Chancellor
The Amref International University Council’s global search for a suitable candidate conducted with the support of a South African based recruitment agency has been completed. After a vigorous competitive process, the Council has appointed Prof Marion Mutugi as Vice Chancellor of AMIU for a period of four years. Prof Marion Mutugi takes over from Dr Alice Lakati who has been the acting Vice Chancellor after Prof Peter Ngatia, the first interim Vice chancellor retired in September 2018. Prof Mutugi is a renowned scientist, trainer and manager who has extensive experience in management and governance in various public and private universities. She is the outgoing Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Planning, Research and Development at the University of Kabianga. She previously worked at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) among other positions as the Director, Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases (ITROMID) where she oversaw postgraduate training in Public Health, Clinical Medicine, Tropical Medicine, Epidemiology and Molecular medicine. Before that, she worked for over 25 years in public and private research institutions. Speaking during the hand over to the Vice Chancellor, Dr. Lakati said “As the faculty we are proud to be part of the setting up of this university. The next phase requires focus as we look forward to moving the university from a letter of interim authority to charter. The task at hand requires that we develop programmes, structures as well as the most important resource; the human resource. This we shall do by building on the existing firm foundation already in place such as dedicated staff and strategic partnerships with international universities.” Dr Lakati went on to say that she has full confidence in Prof Mutugi whose experience will be invaluable, as the first Vice Chancellor of Amref International University. On her part, Prof Mutugi said; “I wish to thank the University for giving me the opportunity to be part of the bright future ahead. Recognizing the challenge, I appreciate the confidence the university council has in me. In response, I wish to assure them together with staff, students and indeed all stakeholders of Amref International University that by God’s grace I will endeavour to grow the University to be a leading research and training institution for health practitioners in Africa,” said Prof Mutugi as she took over office. Prof Mutugi holds a BSc in Biology from Philippine Union College, Manila Philippines, a Master of Botany (Genetics) from University of Nairobi and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a dynamic research scientist who is widely published in her area of genetics and more recently bioethics and a trainer through whose hands many biomedical and health professionals in Kenya and the region have passed. The University which is fully owned by Amref Health Africa will build on the world renowned AMREF brand and name recognition which spans a period of over 60 years of quality and innovative public and community health interventions, training and education. In this regard, Prof Mutugi is a good fit for Amref International University (AMIU) and will lead a team that will develop the University as to be a premier specialized institution of higher learning focused on training in health sciences in order to create lasting health change in Africa.
Course For Health Journalists To Kick Off In February 2019
Amref Health Africa through the Amref International University (AMIU) and Amref Regional Programmes will jointly roll out a course for health journalists in February 2019. This was revealed by the interim Vice Chancellor of AMIU Dr Alice Lakati who said that the course had already been approved by the university’s Senate. A first-of-its-kind, the course gives journalism students, mid-level media practitioners, editors and communications specialists’ greater familiarity with public health and access to a wide range of sources and scientific resources. AMIU and Regional Programmes have already drafted a partnership agreement to jointly roll out the course. Among areas of collaboration include leveraging on the Regional Programme’s immense technical capacity and presence in Africa to market the course in the regions. Dr Alice Lakati is upbeat that the unique course will address an important health concern. “This course offers a great opportunity for both postgraduate and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) students with synergy to shape Africa’s health agenda,” she said. “It will build communicators’ understanding of scientific methods and help them communicate health stories within a broader scientific context. This will facilitate them to generate factual and non-sensational reports,” she added. With the constantly evolving news landscape, skill-based programmes and constructive journalism is an essential vehicle for communicators to gain new abilities, content knowledge and sources. The course also provides learners with a set of skills and competencies to research and analyse health-related materials for reliability, thereby improving the accuracy in reporting. Prof Joachim Osur, Amref Health Africa’s Director of Regional Programmes noted that media advocacy for health ensures that the right policies are enacted and also implemented to achieve a country’s health goals. “For this to be realised, media practitioners must have the right skills to effectively contribute to improving the health of populations,” he said.