January 27, 2023 – Yap Boum 2, new Executive Director of the Institut Pasteur de Bangui
After his appointment on August 1, 2022 as Executive Director of the Institut Pasteur de Bangui, Prof. Yap BOUM 2 took office on January 23, 2023. He is the thirteenth Executive Director of the Institut Pasteur de Bangui (IPB). Its mission is to contribute to the development of the diamond that is IPB as a leader in research, monitoring and training in the field of medicine in Central Africa.
Professor Yap Boum II is the former Regional Representative for Epicentre in Africa. He joined Epicentre in 2008 after obtaining his Master in Microbiology and a PhD in Biology at Université Paris-Sud. He is also an Engineer in Biology specialized in Quality management from The School of Industrial Biology. He holds a Master in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (2013) and a MBA from University of Cape Town (2022) specialized in Entrepreneurship and Leadership.
He has implemented several research projects including clinical trials on tuberculosis, malaria, NTDs, Ebola, COVID-19 in Uganda, Guinea, DRC and Cameroon among others. This work has earned him more than 130 scientific publications. For the last two years he was involved in the COVID-19 response as the Chief of Operations of Public Health Emergency Operating Center in Cameroon. He teaches Public Health and Microbiology in several Universities. He has held an array of leadership and advisory positions on national and international scale. Presently, He serves on the International Editorial Board of The Lancet Global Health with strong interest on equity in Global Health especially on the contribution of young African scientists in Global Health.
Boum is also co-founder of Kmerpad (https://www.kmerpad.org/), a nonprofit that developed washable sanitary pads to empower women, allow them to fully participate in their education and to limit the waste. He has also co-found iDocta (https://idocta.cm/) a digital platform that take healthcare services to the community.
He started Homegrown Solutions for Health (HS4Health) to promote the creation of a critical mass of Africans to find homegrown and innovative solutions toward addressing social and health challenges Africa faces. The Village digital platform is the development of HS4Health that will break the barriers and connect scientist to transform and decolonize Global Health.
As an Archbishop Tutu Fellow, He is inspired by the vision of a healthy and wealthy Africa. a continent that will develop by relying on local resources and equitable partnership.
Publications on elevating African researchers
1. Striving towards true equity in global health: A checklist for bilateral research partnerships. Hodson DZ, Etoundi YM, Parikh S, Boum Y II (2023). PLOS Glob Public Health 3(1): e0001418. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001418
2. Gender equity in health research publishing in Africa. Baobeid A, Faghani-Hamadani T, Sauer S, Boum Y 2nd, Hedt-Gauthier BL, Neufeld N, Odhiambo J, Volmink J, Shuchman M, Di Ruggiero E, Condo JU. BMJ Glob Health. 2022 Jul;7(7):e008821. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008821.
3. Africa needs local solutions to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Boum Y, Bebell LM, Bisseck AZ. Lancet. 2021 Apr 3;397(10281):1238-1240. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00719-4. Epub 2021 Mar 24. Erratum in: Lancet. 2021 Jun 19;397(10292):2336.
4. Who is telling the story? A systematic review of authorship for infectious disease research conducted in Africa, 1980-2016. Mbaye R, Gebeyehu R, Hossmann S, Mbarga N, Bih-Neh E, Eteki L, Thelma OA, Oyerinde A, Kiti G, Mburu Y, Haberer J, Siedner M, Okeke I, Boum Y. BMJ Glob Health. 2019 Oct 18;4(5):e001855. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001855. eCollection 2019
5. Stuck in the middle: a systematic review of authorship in collaborative health research in Africa, 2014-2016. Hedt-Gauthier BL, Jeufack HM, Neufeld NH, Alem A, Sauer S, Odhiambo J, Boum Y, Shuchman M, Volmink J. BMJ Glob Health. 2019 Oct 18;4(5):e001853. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001853. eCollection 2019.
6. Reaching across the linguistic divide in management and leadership education. Linnander E, Nolna SK, Mwinsongo A, Bechtold K, Boum Y. Lancet Glob Health. 2019 Sep;7(9):e1177. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30256-6.
7. Plaidoyer contre l’exclusion des francophones dans la recherche en santé mondiale. Lancet Glob Health. Roca A, Boum Y, Wachsmuth I. 2019 Jun;7(6):e701-e702. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30175-5.
8. Advancing equitable global health research partnerships in Africa. Boum II Y, Burns BF, Siedner M, Mburu Y, Bukusi E, Haberer JE. BMJ Glob Health. 2018 Aug 23;3(4):e000868.
9. Is Africa part of the partnership? Yap Boum. Medicine Anthropology Theory . Vol 5 No 2 (2018): Critical perspectives on US global health partnerships in Africa and beyond.