Scientific Committee

Aricia is the Operations and Programming Director for The Network: TUFH. She is responsible for managing the annual conferences, virtual regional conferences, TUFH Symposiums and Workshops, TUFH Academies, ISAT, iSTEP, Digital Aspects, Social Media, Communications and Membership. In addition, Aricia is the liaison to the Student Network Organization Aricia holds a Masters in Health Education and Promotion from Ghent University and a Bachelor in Midwifery from Erasmus Hogeschool.

She works as an independent midwife in Belgium and gives prenatal lessons, prenatal care, and postnatal follow-up. Prior to The Network: TUFH Aricia worked as a midwife in Gambia, Finland, United Kingdom, and Belgium in low-risk birthing units. She co-founded and was the first president of the Student Network Organization in 2015. She has been attending TUFH annual conferences since 2012.

Prof. Basema Saddik is an Associate Professor at the College of Medicine, University of Sharjah. She is an epidemiologist and has widespread experience in public health research conducted in Australia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. She has been instrumental in the design and methodology of large epidemiological studies investigating the burden of disease in vulnerable groups and is an international collaborator for the Global Burden of Disease Study. She is also the recipient of various research grants in Australia as well as in Saudi Arabia including the prestigious KACST grants and more recently the Sheikh Hamdan Medical Research Grant in the UAE.

Dr. Basema currently chairs the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit at the University of Sharjah and is Coordinator of the “Clinical Epidemiology Research Group”. Her research interests are in the burden of disease and disability associated with tobacco and tobacco alternative products, the impact of occupational exposures on health, the effect of globalization on newly emerging health issues and the use of health information systems and technology to improving health outcomes.

Dr Mohammad H. Taha MBBS, PG Dip, MSc (HPE), PhD

Dr. Mohammad H. Taha is an Assistant Professor of Medical Education at the Medical Education Centre and College of Medicine University of Sharjah. With over 15 years of experience in Medical/Health Professions Education and educational research. He is currently the director of the Medical Education Centre and the coordinator of the Master of Leadership in Health Professions Education at the University of Sharjah, as well as the chair of the College of Medicine's curriculum committee. Before joining university of Sharjah, he served as the head Of Faculty Development Unit at college of Medicine, University of Qassim, Saudi Arabia, and director of Medical Education Unit, at Public Health Institute and Academy of Health Sciences in Sudan.

He also act as member several international organizations of The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and The Network: Towards Unity for Health TUFH and he serves as a consultant for various undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula in the region Eastern Mediterranean region (EMRO region).

Dr. Mohammad H. Taha has authored numerous articles on curriculum development, social accountability, online learning, students and residents learning environment, and residency training, and he is working as editorial board member in several medical educational journals.

Dean Faculty of Medicine, Professor and Chairman of Urology Department, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Prof. El-Sakka graduated from medical school, completed his residency-training program in Urology and Andrology and obtained master’s and doctorate degrees in Urology from Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. He was trained as a fellow at the department of Urology, University of California San Francisco. Prof. El-Sakka obtained a joint master’s of Health Professional Education "With Honors" from the university of Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Prof. El-Sakka holds several positions including Dean Faculty of Medicine, Chairman of Urology department, Director of the Technology Innovation and Commercialization Offices, and Chairman of research committee at Suez Canal university. He was also the President of Middle East Society for Sexual Medicine, President section of Andrology at Egyptian Urological Association and Vice President of the Egyptian Society for Sexual Medicine and Surgery. Prof. El-Sakka was also a member of the executive board of directors of the Egyptian Permanent Scientific Committee for promotion in the field of Urology and he is also a member of the Medical Research Council Academy of Scientific Research and Technology.

Prof. El-Sakka list of publications includes over 155 original papers, review articles and book chapters in addition to participation in more than 300 national and international conferences and meetings. Prof. El-Sakka supervised and judged several doctorate and master’s theses and evaluated more than 700 papers in more than 30 international journals. He is also a member of editorial board in several international journals and a member of numerous medical associations and societies. Prof. El-Sakka participated in several national and international projects that were funded by NIH, California Urology Foundation, Zorgniotti grant award, British Council award grant, Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education fund award and Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology fund award.

Prof. El-Sakka list of awards and prizes includes the American Urological Association “Western Section” prize three times in the years 1997, 1998, 1999. He was also the recipient of the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology prize in 1999 and Egyptian state prize in the medical science two times in the years 2002, 2008. He also received plaque and certificate for his distinguished achievement from the Egyptian Physicians General Syndicate 2004, 2010. Prof. El-Sakka also received the medical science prize for young Arab researchers from Shoman foundation, Jordan 2004. He also received Mansoura medical prize 2008 and received honorary doctorate of “Medical Science” 2008 from The Yorker International University U. P. F. Florence, Italy. Prof. El-Sakka also received the Egyptian State Award of Excellence 2018 and Medal of Sciences and Arts (First Class) 2019. His CV was presented on the front page of the International Society for Sexual Medicine as a distinguished international expert in the field. http://www.issm.info/who-we-are/member-profiles/ahmed-el-sakka

Mohamed Hany Shehata, MSc, MD, MHPE, Faimer Fellow 2015
Professor of Family Medicine and chairman of Family and Community Medicine Department- College of Medicine and Medical Sciences- Arabian Gulf University - Kingdom of Bahrain and Faculty of Medicine Helwan Univeristy - Egypt . Faculty member in EMR Ain-Shams regional FAIMER Institute.

He founded the Medical Education Unit in Helwan University. Worked as an educational consultant in the Egyptian Fellowship Board of medical specialties. In Suez Canal University - Egypt he led the school's teams of field training, Clinical teaching and OSCE. He has multiple international publications in medical education.

Prof. Manda Venkatramana, currently the Vice Chancellor Academics and Dean, College of Medicine at Gulf Medical University has been associated with the Thumbay Group for more than 16 years. He is a Clinical Professor of Surgery and Consultant Surgeon at Thumbay Hospital, Ajman. He graduated from Saurashtra University, India and is a Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons from Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, UK. Prof. Manda has more than 29 years of teaching and clinical experience as a General Surgeon and more than a decade of administrative experience in a medical university. He is the recipient of the ‘Best Teacher Awards’ conferred on the basis of popular choice by students. He introduced new student-centered pedagogy and assessment strategies considered international best-practices and innovative new programs like the ‘Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences’ and ‘Associate Degree in Preclinical Sciences’ which are the first of its kind in the country.

He was instrumental in establishing the American Heart Association Accredited Life Support Training Center offering Basic and Advanced Life Support Training Courses at GMU in his capacity as the Director of the state-of-the-art Center for Advanced Simulation in Healthcare. Prof. Manda’s areas of clinical research include ‘Diabetic foot’ and ‘Urolithiasis’ which resulted in publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals. He has also contributed to chapters in books.

His special interest in educational research is in the area of ‘Early Patient Contact (EPC) and its impact on the communication skills of medical students.’ This action research resulted in the implementation of EPC as a regular part of the medical curriculum which was much appreciated by students, and also was presented in many international medical education conferences. Under his leadership, the college has grown manifold and is well on its way to become a leading medical college in the country and the region.

Professor of Emergency Medicine, Drexel University

Physician educator and network connector in development of the global health workforce. I led the creation of the FAIMER Institute and FAIMER Regional Institutes which has helped over 2000 health professions educators in 45 countries strengthen their education, leadership, innovation, and program evaluation skills. My goal is to continue to build and support a community of health systems and health workforce innovators who can move global policy to local action.

Head, Commissioned Research & Engagement at The George Institute for Global Health

Epidemiologist, Disease detective – Using data and evidence to create real change in the world
With 20 years of experience working across the world, in both government and not for profit sector, I have been solving complex health problems – the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy, antibiotic resistance, diabetes, air pollution, and even making our complex health systems work better. I have worked in big organisations like OECD, NHS, NSW Health, and The George Institute to create change. I am a board member of TUFH – Western Pacific representative.
I work on solving the worlds pressing health problems, the big complex ones. I help people to do more good, to make better decisions and increase their impact to create real change. I work with people to create new knowledge by investigating health problems using data and evidence and build public health expertise globally by sharing knowledge and telling stories. The world is unfair and not equal. My mission is to help change it so everybody enjoys good health regardless of the colour of their skin or where they live or how much money they have.

Dr. MOHAMED M. AL-ERAKY, MBBCh, MSc, MMEd, PhD, is Associate Professor of Medical Education and Director of the Masters of Health Professions Education Program at Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE. Dr. Al-Eraky has Masters in medical education from Dundee University (UK) and PhD in health professions education (HPE) from Maastricht University (The Netherlands) on: Faculty Development for Medical Professionalism.
Dr. Al-Eraky has contributed to planning, tutoring and assessment and supervision in different Master and PhD programs in HPE in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, UK and the Netherlands over the past 11 years. Also, he acted as a project manager and a team leader of 250+ faculty members for various academic initiatives to advance the practices of: clinical teaching, field training, student support, professional exams, active learning, students’ portfolio, project-based learning and virtual patients (VP).
Dr. Al-Eraky has designed and conducted presentations, courses and workshops in international conferences over the past 15 years in the Netherlands, Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Pakistan, China and Malaysia.

Professor in Nursing, VIVES University of Applied Science, Belgium
Coordinator VIVES LiveLab: Interprofessional Education Researcher Centre of Expertise for Care Innovation, VIVES
He is the TUFH European Regional Board Member in the Board of Directors for The Network: TUFH.
He is one of the moderators of the International Student Training and Exchange Program by TUFH and VIVES.

Professor & Director Health Professions Education Liaquat National Hospital & Medical College Karachi Pakistan

Nighat Huda is Professor and Director of Health Professions Education at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College Karachi. She is the pioneer of health professions education in Pakistan and has continued her career for more than thirty years. She has been instrumental in introducing Problem-Based Learning and assessment system in medical schools. She has worked as consultant in academia and international organizations. She has special interest in community-based initiatives and women’s health. She has been associated with TUFH for nearly twenty-five years. Currently she is TUFH Board member and founding member of Women & Health Together for Future. She serves on the National Committee on Maternal and Neonatal Health (NCMNH) Pakistan as Education & Training.

Fadwa Hashim is an assistant professor of ophthalmology (MD Ophthalmology and MSc HPE) at the Faculty of Medicine, Gezira University for eleven years (2011-2022), participating in the education and training of undergraduate students of medicine, dentistry, and nursing. She has been working at Sennar University for ten years (2001-2011). She is a member of the Ophthalmology Council at the Sudan Medical Specialization Board (SMSB)for ten years (2012-2022) participating in the clinical, surgical and research training of ophthalmic residents. She is a member of the Family Medicine Council at SMSB participates in the primary eye care training. She has been the director of Gezira Education Development Center for one year (2020) and has been participating in the activities of the center for seven years (2015-2022) as a member of the curriculum development, faculty development, evidence-based practice, and student assessment committees. She is a member of Bashir Hamad Chair for Research in HPE.

FRobert F Woollard, MD, CCFP, FCFP Professor, UBC Department of Family Practice Dr. Woollard is Professor of Family Practice at UBC. He has extensive national and international experience in the fields of medical education, the social accountability of medical schools, ecosystem approaches to health, and sustainable development.

Sara Osman is a community medicine physician with 13 years of experience in strengthening the health system and medical education at the national, regional and international levels; she worked with national governments where she remained an advisor to the Ministers of Health of Sudan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan (from 2015 to 2020) and served as Director General Department of the Global Health Directorate at the Federal Ministry of Health, Sudan.
She has represented the Eastern Mediterranean Region on several boards of UN organizations, multilateral and bilateral institutions (e.g. WHO, World Bank, Global Support Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GAVI, etc.).
As for the medical education part, she served as Director of Accreditation for the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy in Sudan (from 2012 to 2022) and participated in setting the career pathway of health professions. She has been working with the World Federation for Medical Education as an assessor in the recognition program since 2019, partnering with other accreditation bodies, for example, the Jordanian and Egyptian Commissions.
She is currently the Director of Program Evaluation and Accreditation at Gulf Medical University. She also teaches medical students and postgraduate students in the Master of Public Health, Health Care Management, and Health Professions Education at the University of Khartoum, Ahfad University for Women, and Gulf Medical University.

The Advisory Board of The Network: Towards Unity for Health were also involved in the scientific agenda of TUFH 2023 https://thenetworktufh.org/advisory-board/