BIO

Dr. Ngozi Erondu-Manyonganise is an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, recognized global health security expert and public health thought leader. She was a contributor to the West African Ebola response, and has lent her knowledge and experience in health systems policy and global health governance to several governments across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia to combat infectious diseases like polio, malaria, meningitis, and HIV. Ngozi has also worked with the US Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, the UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) and the United Nations Development Fund. Her extensive body of research has focused on strengthening disease surveillance and health systems and improving data for resource allocation decision-making. Currently, her work is concentrated on examining regional leadership in pandemic preparedness and International Health Regulations and health security governance reform.  

Ngozi currently serves as a commissioner on the Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission on Preparedness for Emerging Epidemic Threats; an Associate Fellow at Chatham House; a Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown Law University; and a New Voices Fellow with the Aspen Institute and the John Hopkins University Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Programme. She is a founding member of the Decolonizing Global Health Alumni group at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where she is also a former Assistant Professor. Ngozi sits on numerous boards, including Imperial Health Charity (a top-ten UK charity) and the Lancet Race Equity Advisory Board. She is also a serial entrepreneur who enjoys creating businesses with positive social impact, and a mentor to budding scientists and public health advocates around the world, helping them to uncover their unique strengths and voices so they can excel in their careers.

Ngozi has given lectures at over fifty universities and civil society forums on the importance of equitable inclusion and partnerships in global health – including as the keynote speaker at the Institute of Tropical Medicines Colloquium before Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium. She is also co-editor of the Health Security section for PLOS Global Health and has written numerous peer-reviewed articles and opinion editorials for Scientific American; Vice; Stat; The Lancet, the Huffington Post, and other publications. She has also authored several notable articles advocating fairness in global health science and development funding, including the influential Open Letter in Nature Medicine to International Funders of Science and Development in Africa.

When she is not working, Ngozi enjoys reading, long walks in nature, and spending time with her family in St. Louis, her village in Nigeria, or in Dubai, where she currently resides with her husband. Formerly an avid surfer, she still loves the water and beautiful remote islands scattered around the world.

PAST LIFE SUMMARY

  • CDC Public Health Prevention Fellow

  • Technical Consultant for WHO-Geneva and WHO-Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office

  • Senior Epidemiologist consultant for Public Health Practice, LLC

  • Past CEO for two social enterprise ventures, The Global Bridge Group (a global public health data-focused consultancy) and Project Zambezi (a tech-enabled solution to delivering non-communicable disease medications to rural areas in Zimbabwe)

  • PhD from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine -- Epidemiology and Global Health and Development

  • MPH from University of Hawaii-Manoa (Epidemiology and Behavioural Science)

  • BSc from DePaul University, Chicago (Biology and Psychology)

Ngozi is passionate about increasing academic and employment opportunities for scientists from low-income countries, especially female scientists. She has mentored 10 Masters- and PhD- level individuals and desires to mentor more young people throughout her career. She is also interested in exchanging knowledge between Francophone and Anglophone countries. If you work at an institution with similar interests, please email us at ghconsulting@ngozierondu.com.