FIND Board Chair, Dr. Ayoade Alakija, Recognized with Honorary Doctor of Science for Global Health Leadership

Dr Ayoade Alakija, Chair of the Board of FIND, the leading voice in diagnostics, was today awarded Doctor of Science (DSc) of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Honoris Causa.  This award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to public health.

In accepting the DSc, Dr Alakija dedicated the award to the millions of women health workers around the world who labour, often unseen and unrecognized, to improve the health of their communities.  “ I wish to dedicate my award to the millions of women health care workers all over the world and especially in low and middle income countries who are unseen and unheard and unheralded. For our daughters in Africa and around the world, for Rukkya who escaped Chibok in northeast Nigeria to follow her dream of becoming a doctor, for my daughters and sisters in Afghanistan whose hopes of becoming doctors and midwives have been shattered last week and for women in the USA concerned about their reproductive rights and freedoms. “

This degree is awarded in recognition of Dr. Alakija’s profound leadership and impact in the field of global health for her work to rebalance power in global health, improve access to medical countermeasures and social determinants of health, including access to education. She continues to challenge inequities and hopes to serve as inspiration to the next generation of global health leaders, particularly young women who aspire to careers in medicine and public health.

Driven by a deep commitment to achieve social justice and equity through humane approaches for transformational change at the individual, community and systems levels, she has been a leading voice calling for the urgent reimagining of how the globe should respond more consciously to inequities so everyone everywhere has the chance to live their fullest life.

In her remarks, Dr Alakija also paid tribute to Elhadj As Sy the incoming Chancellor of LSTM and Chair of the Board for the Kofi Annan Foundation and Former Secretary General of the IFRC who has made significant contributions to global public health and integrated humanitarian systems coordination during the course of his decades of service.

In addition to serving as FIND’s Board Chair, Dr Alakija currently serves as World Health Organization (WHO) Special Envoy for the Access to COVID19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, Co-Chair of the G7 Impact Investment Initiative for Global Health (Triple I) and the Chair of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance (AVDA). 

About Dr Ayoade Alakija

Dr Alakija is a visionary leader, strategic thinker and vocal advocate for equity and justice with a global presence and ability to inspire and catalyse action at scale. As a medical doctor with over two decades’ experience working across Asia, the Americas, the Pacific region, Europe and Africa, she is expert in global health, development and integrated humanitarian systems coordination. She brings unique insights from working at every level of the health and development architecture- local, national, regional and global.

About LSTM

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, founded in 1898, is the first institution in the world dedicated to research and teaching in tropical medicine.