COMAHS – College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences – at the University of Sierra Leone is the country’s only medical and pharmacy school. COMAHS was a partner in our predecessor programme, ReBUILD, focusing on community health workers, health financing and its effect on poor households’ access to health services, the impact of policies on human resources for health, and the incentive environment for health workers. The impact of Ebola on health workers was also a major focus.
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The ReBUILD for Resilience team at COMAHS focuses on health systems research and capacity strengthening to deliver credible, relevant research for effective policy making and practice. Staff work to generate evidence to inform government policy and donor strategies for building resilient and responsive health systems.
Haja Ramatulai Wurie is the ReBUILD for Resilience project lead at COMAHS. She is also a senior lecturer in biochemistry and head of the biochemistry department. Haja is a multi-disciplinary health researcher involved in a range of health systems strengthening projects (including the ReBUILD project) and is at the forefront of research capacity building at COMAHS.
Contact Haja on haja.wurie@usl.edu.sl
Ayesha is a highly accomplished pharmacist and multidisciplinary researcher, currently serving as a lecturer at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. With a passion for public health and a drive to advance scientific knowledge, Ayesha has worked on a range of ground-breaking projects in collaboration with international partners throughout her career. Notably, she was a key member of the team that conducted the Sierra Leone Trial to introduce a vaccine against Ebola, a landmark initiative that helped to contain the outbreak of this deadly disease. Ayesha has also contributed significantly to the NIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility (RUHF) project.
Yatta is the research administrator for ReBUILD for Resilience at COMAHS (she previously worked on ReBUILD). She is also the assistant registrar for academic affairs at the college. Previously, Yatta worked on several research programmes at COMAHS including the Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola (STRIVE), RECAP–SL, Health Systems Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa (ASSET), Research Unit on Health in Fragility (RUHF) Project, and the ARISE Hub (Accountability and Responsiveness in Informal Settlements for Equity).
Yatta has a Master of Public Administration degree from Njala University.
Amara Katta worked as a teacher for ten years before moving in the finance field, working as an assistant finance officer and acting accountant. He was also the admin/finance officer for the ReBUILD research consortium from 2011-18.