Dr. Desalegne Degefaw is the East Africa Director for Charitable Initiatives, where he leads the development and implementation of strategic initiatives in the region. He currently serves as the Country Director for the Ohio State Global One Health program in Ethiopia, a role he has held since 2019.In his current role, Dr. Degefaw leads projects that strengthen laboratory diagnostics, workforce development, disease surveillance, and antimicrobial resistance monitoring across Ethiopia’s key health institutions. He also directs the Global One Health Summer Institute, Ohio State’s flagship training program in Ethiopia, which he has led since 2019.
Prior to this, Dr. Degefaw served Ethiopian higher education in several leadership roles. He was President of the University of Gondar from 2015 to 2019 and previously served for seven years as Vice President for Academic and Research Affairs at the same institution. Dr. Degefaw was a Fulbright Program Scholar at The Ohio State University in 2013–2014 and later served as a Global Dialogue Fellow with the NAFSA: Association of International Educators from 2015 to 2017. He earned both his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and MSc in Tropical Veterinary Medicine from Addis Ababa University.