About

Dr. Erick has a wealth of knowledge obtained from 15 years of international experience (in multiple countries including Kenya and South Africa), PHD, Medical Degree (MD), and Master of Public Health. Additional skills include; stakeholder engagement with senior Ministry of Health officials, academics from across the world including Oxford University etc., and senior and diverse public health leaders in multiple countries. He has also conducted multiple consultancies for government departments and agencies in public health. Dr. Erick's experience spans clinical practice, public health program leadership and management, research (with >20 publications and abstracts using advanced statistical analysis in STATA software). Notable experiences include leading regional public health programs such as PEPFAR- and CDC-funded HIV care and treatment programs with teams of more than 100 staff in Kenya. In this role, he led and managed a dynamic team to achieve TB/HIV epidemic control targets regionally that led to winning grants. As Principal Investigator while working for a National Public Health Institute (called KEMRI in Kenya and the University of Cape Town), he won research grants and successfully conducted research studies, analyzed and published findings in international journals. He has previously led national and regional epidemic disease control programs with the Ministry of Health (during COVID-19) and other agencies. Dr. Erick currently serves as the Country Technical Lead for Advanced HIV Disease at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. He is measured, diplomatic and a skilled communicator with a deep aptitude for psychology and emotional intelligence. He speaks English clearly, concisely and confidently and also writes English fluently too. He is self-driven, very organized and a team player.

Skills

  • Public health practitioner and An Epidemiologist
    10
  • Leadership & Project Management
    10
  • Stakeholder Management
    10
  • Quantitative and Qualitative data analysis
    10
  • Adminstrative management
    10
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
    10
  • Kiswahili
    10
  • English
    10

Experience

Erick Bunyasi

Work experience
  • Provides oversight on surveillance research on TB and HIV.
  • As part of the program management team at CDC, I successfully led development of a Monitoring and Evaluation framework for a national Advanced HIV Clinical Care program by working closely with PEPFAR Implementing Partners, CDC Technical Staff and Department of Health staff.
  • As Technical Lead for TB/HIV/AIDS program management, successfully led stakeholder engagement for workplan development, oversight and monitoring of budgets, and regular review of performance that led to meeting of set targets. This required apt communication skills and teamwork.
  • Actively participated in technical working groups (TWG) for TB/HIV guideline and policy development that led to national policy change on TB.
  • Worked closely with CDC partners and led technical development and setting up of Advanced HIV Clinical Care curriculum and established centers of Excellence for Advanced HIV Clinical Care.
  • Successfully managed stakeholder relations by working closely with officials from the Department of Health, Global Fund, UN, WHO and Non-Governmental/Nonprofit Organizations (NGOs).

Erick Bunyasi

Work experience
  • Contributed in developing systems at national level for COVID-19 surveillance and conducted advanced analysis for COVID-19 and other diseases of epidemic potential (e.g., Yellow Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Measles) to inform ministerial daily briefings and the Ministry of Health, this included spatial analysis and data management in STATA and guiding and capacity building of a team of field-based epidemiologists. This included triangulating multiple data on disease occurrence to ensure rigorous data and surveillance through preparation of daily situation reports.
  • Led and coordinated country field teams to collate, manage and conduct data analysis for the Ministry of Health and ensured timely preparation of COVID-19 ministerial advisories.
  • Successfully led Quality Improvement exercises while serving that unraveled 10% under-reporting of COVID-19 deaths by coordinating national field-based officers.
  • As a team, streamlined the national COVID-19 health management information systems (HMIS).
  • Provided training, mentorship and analytical support that led to timely daily updates by the MoH.

Erick Bunyasi

Work experience
  • Provided consultancy as a team of health experts to generate public policy and health policy advisories for the Kenyan government COVID-19 mitigation strategies. This required teamwork for quality and timely reports.

Erick Bunyasi

Education
  • 2015–2019: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD); University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Erick Bunyasi

Work experience
  • February, 2014 - December, 2019
  • Fulltime
  • Successfully collaborated with global health practitioners/researchers from multiple countries (USA, South Africa, Kenya and UK) to design protocols that won grants from the National Research Foundation (SA), NIH (USA), PEPFAR, the Wellcome Trust, etc., for infectious disease health research, international health, or public healthcare interventions (TB, HIV/AIDS).
  • Successfully led teams to design, conduct, analyze, and publish 14 peer-reviewed scientific publications in reputable international journals such as the Lancet, AJRCCM and the UNION journal, etc., by working closely with collaborators from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds.
  • Aptly presented or disseminated findings to diverse audiences including senior Department of Health officials, scientific conferences, academics and the civil society, publications, and policy briefs.
  • Successfully managed stakeholder relations with the Department of Health senior government officials, that contributed to TB epidemic control by strategically utilizing epidemiological data.

Erick Bunyasi

Education
  • January, 2012 - December, 2014
  • Fulltime
  • 2012–2014: Master of Public Health (MPH); University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Erick Bunyasi

Work experience
  • November, 2008 - February, 2012
  • Fulltime
  • Led a team of 100 staff to meet targets on HIV prevention initiatives and decentralization targets that led to renewal and increased funding from PEPFAR towards HIV prevention, care and treatment.
  • Oversaw a 50% increase in sites offering HIV prevention, care and treatment services such as male circumcision, PREP, PMTCT and PEP by working closely with senior Ministry of Health (MoH) officials.
  • Successfully led my team to successfully accomplish a rapid results initiative that resulted in scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcision and HIV testing services in a rural Kenyan region with adult HIV prevalence of >30% by working in collaboration with Ministry of Health stakeholders and senior officers.
  • Actively contributed to sustainable capacity building of Ministry of Health (MoH) staff via training and mentorship among other program development initiatives while working for a Nonprofit Organization.
  • Served as the technical lead representing my program in a National Male Circumcision Taskforce (Technical Working Group (TWG)) where I actively participated in a team in developing quality assurance (QA) mechanisms, clinical practice guidelines and collaborative support supervision strategies between PEPFAR implementing partners and senior staff from the Ministry of Health.

Erick Bunyasi

Work experience
  • January, 2007 - December, 2008
  • Fulltime
  • Successfully managed a cholera epidemic and enhanced health prevention/preventative and health promotion initiatives at district level, working closely with managers of hospitals.
  • Successfully oversaw achievement of subnational immunization targets for BCG and DPT.
  • Led a team of 35 staff to successfully introduce and scale-up specialized clinical care in obstetrics & gynaecology, paediatrics, general medicine and surgery through effective support supervision.
  • Successfully led quality improvement for PMTCT, HIV Testing Services, anti-retroviral treatment (HAART) for People Living With HIV (PLHIV) and instituted outreach teams for community ART as part of wider Community Health interventions. This required astute problem-solving skills.

Erick Bunyasi

Education
  • October, 2001 - December, 2006
  • Fulltime
  • 2001–2006: Medical Degree (MBChB); University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.

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