The PhD defence will be partially digital, in Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole Johan Dahls hus, and streamed directly using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the attending audience at Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole Johan Dahls hus to ask ex auditorio questions.
Trial lecture
Time and place: March 18, 2026 11:15 AM. Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole-Johan Dahls hus/ ZOOM .
Main research findings
Malawi can strengthen outbreak detection by building a government-led digital One Health Surveillance Platform (OHSP) and aligning it with people's health-seeking behaviour. Over almost a decade, I worked with the Ministry of Health to identify what was failing, design fixes, and test them in real settings. I found three major gaps: weak community reporting, missing surveillance weekly reports, and no reliable national place to store and analyse data. I mapped adult care-seeking for respiratory illness and found that many people first go to "middle layer" providers such as community health workers, drug sellers, and traditional healers, meaning early warning signals often never reach clinics.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked with the ministry to use these lessons to rapidly build and connect practical digital tools, including a WhatsApp chatbot, to OHSP and the national health information infrastructure. Therefore, OHSP helped turn weekly reporting from non-existent into routine performance, and the weekly reporting rate is now above the national target. The impact is a more resilient surveillance system ready to tap into other One Health domain data, stronger epidemic readiness, and a transferable model for other countries by investing in basic infrastructure and a clear governance structure.
Adjudication committee
- Professor Darelle van Greunen, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
- Head of Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ulf Reidar Dahle, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
- Professor Eric Monteiro, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
Professor Jens Kaasbøll, University of Oslo, Norway
Professor Gunnar Aksel Bjune, University of Oslo, Norway
University Lecturer Yohane Nyasulu, University of Malawi
Chair of defence
- Professor Ingrid Yu, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo
Contact information at Department: Mozhdeh Sheibani Harat