Ahmed Bedru joined KNCV in February 2015 as Deputy Country Director/Technical Director of USAID/Challenge TB project. In November 2018 he became country Director of USAID/Challenge TB project and KNCV Country Representative. Since October 2019 he fills the position of Country Representative, Ethiopia.
Ahmed Bedru Omer (M.D, Paediatrician, PG Dip CT( LSHTM)), born in 1967 and native Ethiopian, married and father of four children, has a longstanding national and international career in a wide range of paediatrics and child health, research and communicable disease control. He obtained his degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) at the Medical-Faculty of Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1993 and in 2001 a certificate of specialty in Paediatric and Child Health. In 2010 he received a Postgraduate Diploma on Clinical Trial at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
After a start as a general practitioner at the Relief Center Bisidimo (BISIDIMO Leprosy and TB Hospital), Eastern Harerge Ethiopia, Ahmed worked, among others, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Jimma and Addis Ababa Universities, and as guest lecturer at Gondar University in Ethiopia. He also worked as study Paediatrician (the first clinical trial) in Addis Ababa University, Medical Faculty, NIGAT Project (Nevirapine Intervention Group against Transmission of HIV) during his time in Addis Ababa University .
Ahmed Bedru has built up significant research experience in a variety of fields, but particularly in TB. This includes diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in healthy young adults in a country with high tuberculosis burden and BCG vaccination at birth, a method for simultaneous testing of first and second line drugs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a high endemic setting, early programmatic implementation of Xpert MTB/RIF testing in nine countries, Efficacy and Safety of ‘Fixed Dose’ versus ‘Loose’ Drug Regimens for Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in two High TB-Burden African Countries. Ahmed has also – in various capacities- participated in clinical trials, most extensively as a clinical trial Coordinator and Investigator at All Africa Leprosy, Tuberculosis and Rehabilitation Training Centre/Armauer Hansen Research Institute (ALERT/AHRI). During his time at ALERT/AHRI he launched and completed the WHO/TDR funded 4FDC TB drug trial and coordinated EDCTP funded TB vaccine trials and was one of the country PI of STREAM trial representing the AHRI clinical trial site during the trial preparation until he left AHRI before start up of patients enrolment started.