Loro James Silver Pederiko

Loro James Silver Pederiko is a public health practitioner from South Sudan and a Mastercard Foundation Scholar pursuing a Master of Science in International Health and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is a member of Linacre College and is passionate about WASH programming, HIV prevention, and the elimination of neglected tropical diseases in fragile settings.

He was born in Alere Refugee Settlement in Adjumani District, Uganda, where his parents fled South Sudan during the civil war in 1989. His education began in a refugee classroom with limited access to quality educational resources. Growing up, he witnessed severe public health challenges such as infectious diseases, malnutrition, and poor sanitation. A particularly impactful experience was witnessing a child die from rabies due to delayed treatment after a rabid dog bite. These experiences ignited his desire to address serious yet often overlooked public health issues in fragile settings.

Motivated by these challenges, Loro pursued his education and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Nkumba University, earning First Class Honours. He has worked as a Community Health Officer for Community Needs Initiative, where he focused on community mobilization, health education, and supervising volunteers to enhance sanitation and hygiene among marginalized populations in South Sudan. He has also volunteered with the Ministry of Health Uganda and Life Care Diagnostic, coordinating an HIV self-testing campaign at higher education institutions. In this capacity, he led a peer team from Nkumba University to distribute HIV self-test kits and conducted peer sensitization to reduce stigma and increase HIV testing uptake among young people.

At Oxford, Loro plans to deepen his understanding of global disease determinants and develop skills in designing context-specific health interventions, statistical analysis, and evidence-based policy development required to strengthen public health systems in underserved settings.

Outside the classroom, he engages in physical exercise, participates in religious activities that strengthen his faith, and enjoys evening walks for relaxation and reflection.