Professor Senait Fisseha is a globally recognized leader in reproductive health & rights. An attorney and a physician, her ability to bring the advocacy, practitioner, and policymaking communities together has fundamentally shifted global conversations around access to reproductive and maternal health services. She currently serves as Director of Global Programs at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, as well as Chief Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization.
An Obstetrician and Gynecologist specialist, previously Prof Fisseha was Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at the University of Michigan, Medical Director of University of Michigan’s Center for Reproductive Medicine and founding Executive Director of the Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT). She also co-directed the Medical School’s Path of Excellence in Global Health & Disparities.
She was included in the 100 Most Influential Africans for 2018 by New African magazine and the 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy (2019) and top forty most forward-thinking women (2020) by Athena40. She has also received the Ethiopian Ministry of Health’s highest award; University of Michigan’s Bicentennial Alumni Award; the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine; and the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award from Southern Illinois University.
