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Biostat student to work with Ethiopian Public Health Institute

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Marlena Norwood, 2016
Marlena Bannick

Later this month, Biostat student Marlena Bannick will travel to Addis Adaba, Ethiopia as part of an institutional knowledge exchange with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI).

Bannick and her colleague will learn about data management within the National Data Management Center at EPHI, observe primary data collection, and participate in policy translation activities from EPHI to the Ministry of Health. One of Bannick's contributions will be giving presentations on the statistical methods of the Global Burden of Disease project, including the ensemble learning model she uses on Ethiopia's cause of death data.

The trip is part of Bannick’s fellowship with UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) which she is completing alongside her MS in Biostatistics degree. Bannick will be the sole Biostatistics student. This is the first year that fellows will travel to Ethiopia and Bannick is excited to have the opportunity to shape what the relationship will look like in the future.

Awoke Temesgen Misganaw, a clinical assistant professor with the University of Washington Department of Health Metrics Sciences who lives in Ethiopia is facilitating the trip.