Senay Gebremichael

Senay Gebremichael Mengistu is a health professional from Eritrea, currently pursuing an MSc in Translational Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. He is a Mastercard Foundation AfOx Scholar and a member of Somerville College. Senay brings together his background in behavioural sciences and dentistry with a strong commitment to improving health services in low-resource settings.

He has extensive experience across clinical and public health sectors, alongside volunteering in COVID-19 response initiatives, vaccination campaigns, national blood donation drives, and oral health education programmes. Much of this work focused on underserved communities in remote areas, where he witnessed first-hand the challenges of healthcare delivery. Beyond dentistry, Senay has engaged in teaching English to young Africans and developed skills in programming and data science. In 2023, he was selected for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Emerging Talent Programme, earning certificates in Python programming, data science, and computational thinking, as well as an elective certificate in Collaborative Data Science for Healthcare. These experiences have strengthened his interest in using data-driven research to advance healthcare systems in Africa.

After completing his studies, Senay intends to design frameworks that improve equitable access to quality healthcare in vulnerable and marginalised communities. He aims to bridge gaps between research, policy, and practice, helping to strengthen health systems in low-resource settings across Africa.