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Meet the 2017-2019NEF Fellows

JustusMasa

Uganda,Electrochemisty

Abdigani DiriyeSomalia,

Cognitive Systems

Peter NgeneNigeria,

Nanomaterials/Nanotechnology

Aminata GarbaNiger,ICT Technologiesand Policy

Chemistry

Technology&

Engineering

Hamidou TembineMali, Strategic Decision-Making

Sidy NadoSenegal,

Micro & NanoscaleThermal/Fluid Sciences

Maha NasrEgypt,

Nanotechnologyfor Cancer

Kevin DzoboZimbabwe,

Stem Cell Biology

Sanushka NaidooSouth Africa,

Plant Genetics

Rym KefiTunisia, Human Genetic Diversity

Aku KwamieGhana, Health Policy and Systems Research

VinetCoetzee

South Africa,Non-Invasive

Measures of HealthYabebal FantayeEthiopia, Cosmology

Physics

Tolulope OlugbojiNigeria, Geophysics/Seismology

JonathanEsole

Democratic Republic of Congo,

String GeometryMathematics

Geology

BiologicalSciences &

Health

MamadouKabaGuinea,Medical

MicrobiologyI www.nef.org 2

Meet the 2017-2019 NEF Fellows

The NEF Fellows is a select two-year programme

that recognizes Africa’s best young scientists and

technologists. These top rated researchers and

emerging leaders, at least 40 percent of whom

are women, have the opportunity to advance their

scientific career by among other opportunities,

presenting their work at unique NEF Spotlight

Sessions at NEF Global Gatherings. The NEF

Fellows are automatically entered into the NEF

Community of Scientists – an exclusive network

that offers members opportunities for consulting,

grants, research collaborations, speaking

opportunities and career mentorship. In return,

members participate in national and continental

policy formulation, cross-cutting research and

innovation activities, lead public engagement

around science and technology in Africa, and

provide mentorship to early-career scientists and

students. A key driver of the NEF Fellows

Programme is, through role modeling, research

collaborations and public engagement, to inspire

the next generation of African scientists and

innovators.

All Fellows are under 42 years old, have

citizenship from an African country – although

they may live and work anywhere in the world-

hold a PhD in STEM or social science fields with

outstanding academic and research qualifications

and maturity measured by publication record or

patents, prizes, leadership in independent

research groups, and raising funds from various

sources etc. Fellows have demonstrated that their

research has impact in both their field of research

and for wider society. They are passionate about

raising Africa’s scientific profile and are preparing

the next generation of scientific leaders.

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 3

Vinet was born in South Africa. She lived in variousdifferent places, from a low-cost apartment to anupmarket suburb which provided her with aunique perspective on the abundant similarities in

people of various socio-economic backgrounds. Herlove for science, and biology, were cemented by a highschool biology teacher who allowed students to figurethings out for themselves instead of only teachingwhat was in the textbook.

In terms of her academic journey, Vinet studied atthe University of Pretoria, where she completed aBachelor of Science, an Honours and Master of Sciencein Genetics. During her honours year, she becameinterested in human mate choice research, or moregenerally research aimed at understanding why wejudge people as attractive and healthy. The onlyproblem was that no one in South Africa was doingthis type of research, so she approached hersupervisor, Prof. Jaco Greeff, who convinced ProfLouise Barrett (then from Liverpool, UK) to becomeVinet’s research supervisor. She completed hermaster’s research on the role of genetic diversity inimmune associated genes on facial appearance, beforereceiving a bursary from Prof Dave Perrett at theUniversity of St Andrews, Scotland, to complete a PhDunder his supervision.

Vinet’s PhD work identified facial adiposity (orfacial fatness) as a robust, but understudied, cue tohealth and attractiveness and also identified specificfacial dimensions associated with weight. During hermaster’s and PhD, she published five peer-reviewedpapers and received several travel awards, includingthe Experimental Psychology Society Grindley Grant.Vinet returned to South Africa, where she completedtwo prestigious postdoctoral fellowships, joining theUniversity of Pretoria as Lecturer then Senior Lecturerin 2017.

Her research focuses ondeveloping fast, affordable andnon-invasive methods to screen children for nutrientdeficiencies and inborn conditions, by trainingcomputer models to recognise the links betweenphysical features and these conditions. For instance,Vinet’s team developed an affordable 3D camera atone tenth of the price of comparable commercialsystems. Her team is currently using this system toidentify the specific facial features associated withDown syndrome in African infants and plan to expandthis research to other conditions. The long term aim ofthe project is to develop a facial screening tool thatcan help doctors identify a range of conditions moreaccurately. This tool will be especially helpful insituations where doctors have insufficient expertise inthese conditions and inadequate funds for extensivetesting. The 3D camera is also used in the groundbreaking African Longitudinal Facial Appearance andHealth (ALFAH) study, which she launched in 2016. Thestudy will test the association between facialappearance, various health measures (e.g. hormones,blood pressure, body composition etc.) and geneticmarkers in 4000 African participants

Vinet applied for the NEF Fellowship to widen hernetwork of collaborators within Africa, showcase herresearch to a global audience and help move sciencefrom Africa forward.

She has thus far published 22 papers in peerreviewed journals, which have been cited over 800times. In 2015, Vinet was accepted as a member of theRoyal Society of South Africa and has since receivedvarious awards, including an exceptional YoungResearcher Award. She was also selected as a finalistfor the National Science and Technology (NSTF) South32 Emerging Researcher Award in 2016 and 2017.

Einstein Challenge:Vinet hopes to develop fast, affordable and

non-invasive methods to help doctors identifynutrient deficiencies and inborn conditions

more accurately.

Vinet Coetzee South Africa • Non-Invasive Measures of Health •University of Pretoria

www.nef.org 4

Abdigani is from Somalia and did his schooling inthe UK where his curiosity led him to thesciences. Abdigani went on to receive aBachelor’s in Computer Science and Math from

Queen Mary University London, a Masters’ inAdvanced Computing from King’s College London anda PhD in Computer Science from University CollegeLondon in 2012.

During his PhD, he started developing newalgorithms to cluster and mine documents andresearch new user interfaces for one of the largestsearch engines. During his PhD, he undertook severalinternships with Microsoft Research and Fuji-XeroxPalo Alto Labs before accepting a post-doctoralfellowship at Carnegie Mellon University to developnew approaches to combine machine andhuman-generated data to help people find and makesense of information more effectively.

Abdigani believes one of the challenges facing thedevelopment of Africa is access to financial services.The infrastructural challenges and sparsity of dataabout individuals and businesses exacerbates thischallenge. His research is driven by the opportunity toaddress this data challenge and introduce intelligentsystems that will create the necessary credit andfinancial profiles that could transform the continent.Further, this could lead to an increase of up to $400Billion (~12% GDP), and help in achieving several of theSustainable Development Goals.

Currently, as Research Manager with IBM ResearchAfrica, Abdigani’s team is developing new approachesto mine, model and score people, identifying the rightamount of credit and appropriate products.

Last year, they developed a machine learningapproach that leverages new data sources (mobilephone behavior) to evaluate the financial profile andcredit score of hundreds of millions of people inAfrica. This technology was deployed in East Africaand now is being used to credit score millions ofpeople so they can access financial services throughtheir phone.

He is also currently working on conversationalagents and deep learning techniques to personalizecontent relevant to people’s context.

Abdigani applied for the NEF Fellowship to sharehis life’s work, and to inspire young Africans to join thesciences. He believes science, technology,mathematics and engineering are fundamental toaddressing the challenges facing Africa.

He has published over 35 papers and patents.Abdigani has been the recipient of a TED Fellowship,and been named on MIT Technology Review’s 35Innovators under 35. He also co-founded Somalia’sfirst Startup Accelerator and Technology Fund andco-founded the largest professional body for Somalis,‘Worldwide Somali Students and Professionals’.

Einstein Challenge:Abdigani hopes to develop new techniquesand platforms to help people mine, analyzeand utilize the data they generate to access

services (e.g. financial services).

AbdiganiDiriye

Somalia • Cognitive Systems/FinTech • IBM Research Africa

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 5

Kevin was born and grew up in Mutare, Zimbabwe.He grew up seeing people suffering fromdifferent diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDSand this sparked a desire to find cures for these

diseases. He always knew that his career would behealth-related and he drew inspiration from his mother,who he calls his greatest teacher and motivator.

Kevin obtained a Bachelor of Science and anHonours Degree in Biochemistry with Distinction fromthe University of Zimbabwe. He was awarded theUniversity Book Prize for his efforts. He then spent thenext four years working in the private sector in apathology laboratory and a production company. Kevinthen went on to pursue a Master of Science in Molecularand Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town.

Once he completed his master’s degree, heimmediately started his PhD in Medical Biochemistry atthe University of Cape Town with his research focusingon understanding tissue growth and repair, specificallyfocusing on a specialized cell type called fibroblasts.These cells synthesize the structural scaffold of tissuecalled the extracellular matrix. The extracellular matrixand fibroblasts are important constituents of the tumormicroenvironment and influence processes such ascarcinogenesis, tumor invasion and metastasis.

As a postdoctoral fellow, Kevin then expanded theuse of the extracellular matrix into stem celldifferentiation and regenerative medicine. Much of hiswork focuses on utilizing biomaterial systems includingthe extracellular matrix to direct embryonic andmesenchymal stem cells to create functional bodytissue in the laboratory. In 2011, he was awarded thecompetitive Arturo Falaschi International Centre for

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)International Postdoctoral Fellowship to conductresearch on stem cell differentiation and cancer. In 2014,he was awarded the prestigious South African NationalResearch Foundation Research Career Award to studystem cell differentiation for use in tissue engineeringand regenerative medicine and the role of cancer stemcells in carcinogenesis.

Kevin believes the understanding and utilization ofstem cells will unlock breakthroughs in longevity andtherapeutic solutions to chronic diseases andregenerative medicine. Kevin’s research hopes toaddress fundamental questions regarding signalingmolecules in stem cell differentiation and diseaseswhich would translate into better therapies and possiblequantitative biomarkers of cancer.

Kevin is leading an inter-university collaborationbetween ICGEB/University of Cape and the Universityof Pretoria on developing a ‘stem cell-ECM’ bandage orpatch which when fully developed can be used oninjured tissue. Kevin is currently a Senior ResearchScientist (as a principal investigator on STEM Cell andCancer Biology) with ICGEB and a Lecturer at theUniversity of Cape Town in the Department ofIntegrative Biomedical Sciences.

Kevin is an Associate Editor of the BiomedicalResearch and Therapy Journal and Editorial Boardmember of the Annals of Stem Cell Research andTherapy Journal. He was also recently elected foundingVice President of the African Tissue Engineering andRegenerative Medicine International Society(ATERMIS) for three years.

Einstein Challenge:Kevin hopes to bring stem cell-based

treatments to patients. To do this, he hopes todevelop easier and cheaper methods ortechnologies to stimulate stem cells into

tissue-forming cells that can be used to treatseveral diseases and pathological conditions.

Kevin Dzobo Zimbabwe • Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine •International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology &University of Cape Town

www.nef.org 6

Jonathan was born in Kinshasa, in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC). He moved to Belgiumwhen he was three years old as his father waspursuing his PhD. After six years, he went back to

the DRC where he finished his primary and high schoolstudies. For the national baccalaureate exam, he wasthe top student in Kinshasa and second in the country.He went on to pursue a Master in Science inMathematics at Université Libre de Bruxelles where hewon the award for the Best Thesis in the Sciences.

Subsequently, Jonathan was awarded a PhilippeWiener-Maurice Anspach Foundation Grant to pursuea Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics andPhysics at the University of Cambridge. He then wenton to complete his PhD at Leiden University in theNetherlands. During his PhD, he was a visiting studentat Stanford University. He also visited the AfricanInstitute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in itsmaiden year via a grant from the Ford Foundation. Hewent on to be a Marie-Curie Fellow in LeuvenUniversity followed by another postdoctoral position atHarvard University in the Department of Physics.

Jonathan then moved to the Department ofMathematics at Harvard University where he wasmentored by Fields Medalist Professor Shing-Tung Yau.He was later named a Benjamin Pierce Fellow(Assistant Professor) in the Department ofMathematics at Harvard University. This is one of themost prestigious position in mathematics, lasting forthree academic years. In September 2016, Jonathanjoined the Department of Mathematics of NortheasternUniversity where he is on fast track for tenure. Hisresearch is supported by a grant from the US NationalScience Foundation (NSF).

His research is at theinterface of string theory andmathematics. He explores the geometry of stringtheory. String theory is an attempt to unify all thefundamental interactions of nature into a uniqueconsistent and elegant theory. Interestingly, thisendeavor has produced a lot of new ideas and insightsin many different areas of mathematics. It has builtbridges between communities of scientists.Experimental proofs of string theory have yet to beestablished but it serves as a source of inspiration formathematicians.

Specifically, Jonathan studies the geometry ofelliptic fibrations as seen from the point of view ofstring theory. Elliptic curves are some of the oldest, andmost prominent objects across mathematics withapplications in number theory, algebraic geometry,cryptography and more. His research has directapplications to gauge theories, Grand Unified Theories,and the study of topological defects in conformal fieldtheories. While at Harvard University, he introduced anew topological invariant known as the orientifold Eulercharacteristic, which is now used daily by physicistsworking in F-theory. Jonathan has also solved problemsin supergravity open for more than twenty years.

Jonathan applied for the NEF Fellowship to giveback to Africa by helping young people who arethinking of having a career in the sciences. He believesthe sciences will help Africa take its place in the world.

Jonathan has received many awards and grantsincluding the Prize for Top Academic Achievement(“Prix d’Excellence”) of the Association of CongoleseJournalists for Progress. In 2016, he was a keynotespeaker at Aframath and recently a ColloquiumSpeaker at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Einstein Challenge:Jonathan hopes to understand the

geometry of string theory, which is a doorto quantum gravity.

JonathanMboyo Esole

Democratic Republic of Congo • String Geometry •Northeastern University

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 7

Yabebal was born and raised in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. As a teenager, he spent most of his timerearing doves and playing many types of streetgames like Korki (ቆርኪ) and others. At 15, the

inability to sleep at night led him to the realization ofthe power of reading books. By studying hard in thelast two years of high school, he scored the requiredmarks to gain entry to Addis Ababa University.

He started his academic journey with a Bachelor ofScience in Physics and Mathematics from Addis AbabaUniversity (AAU). During his undergraduate time atAAU, he co-founded the AAU Experimental Group,which produced improved tools for energy productionand land ploughing. In his second year at AAU, hehelped fix a broken 8-inch telescope and managed toobserve the craters of Moon and the moons of Jupiter.This was Yabebal’s first close up interaction with theheavenly bodies. He then started studying the nightsky and reading about constellations and brightobjects on the sky. He learnt that Cepheus, Cassiopeiaand Andromeda are also known as the Ethiopian King,Queen and Princess. This gave him the inspiration heneeded to pursue a career in investigating what lies upin the cosmos - and what science knows about thebeginning, evolution and fate of the Universe we live in.

After his bachelor’s degree, he pursued anHonours and Master’s degree at the University of CapeTown through the National Astrophysics and SpaceScience Program (NASSP). Following that, he went tothe School for advanced studies (SISSA) in Trieste,

Italy, for his PhD in Cosmology. In 2013, while apostdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo, hejoined the Planck Satellite Consortium, EuropeanSpace Agencies’ experiment. After completing asecond Postdoctoral fellowship at the Department ofMathematics in the University of Rome Tor Vergata,Yabebal moved to the African Institute forMathematical Sciences (AIMS) South Africa to take upthe AIMS-ARETE Junior Chair.

Yabebal’s research investigates the statisticalproperties of the Universe using the Cosmic MicrowaveBackground (CMB) data from the Planck satellite. Hisresearch tries to address questions like, is there anyevidence in our data that is not compatible to ourassumption of a Universe without any preferreddirection or preferred time? His second research areafocuses on developing machine learning and otheradvanced statistical methods for harnessing theAfrican GIS and social Big Data for extractingactionable insights to help Africa meet the UNSustainable Development Goals.

Yabebal believes Young Africans should studyscience because it offers the best way to solve realworld problems.

He is a member of the Planck and EuclidConsortium and has spent the last two years leadingan outreach program in Ethiopia called AstrobusEthiopia that includes social scientists, fashiondesigners, artists, innovators and scientists to deliverholistic stimulation for scientific thinking.

Einstein Challenge:Yabebal wants to have a significant impact

in understanding the statistical properties ofthe Universe. He also wants to enable dataabundance in Africa by extracting usefuldata locked in satellite images and social

network structures.

YabebalFantaye

Ethiopia • Cosmology • African Institute for Mathematical Sciences(AIMS)

www.nef.org 8

Aminata was born in Niamey, Niger. Following hercuriosity for science and engineering andencouraged by her family, particularly her father,she went on to pursue a Bachelor in Electrical

Engineering at Laval University and Master and PhD inElectric Engineering at McGill University in Montreal,Canada.

Her research interests include ICT infrastructure,technologies and policies, Internet of Things (IoT)applications, cybersecurity, ICT4D, high data ratetransmission and higher education. In her researchprojects, Aminata is interested in finding key policies,technologies and applications relevant to thedevelopment of ICT, particularly in rural andunderserved areas. She is also interested in methodsthat allow for increasing the data rate ofcommunication systems by shaping and reducinginterference.

Aminata is Assistant Professor at the Departmentof Electrical and Computer Engineering at CarnegieMellon University Africa and Director of the KigaliCollaborative Research Center. She previously servedas the Director General of the Multisector RegulatoryAuthority of Niger and worked on engineering,management, research and teaching intelecommunications at Orange (Niger), the NationalInstitute for Scientific Research (Montreal), theNational Center for Scientific Research (France) andthe Telecommunication and Signal Processing

laboratory and McGill University (Montreal). Further, she served as a Director at the African

Network Information Center and Chair of the WestAfrican Telecommunication Regulatory Assembly(WATRA). She has also served as member of theExecutive Board of the African Water Association,member of the Consultative Committee of theECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulation Authority,member of the Experts Group for the Preparation ofthe 2013 World Telecommunication/ ICT Policy Forumand member of the Steering Committee for the AfricaHigher Education Centers of Excellence Project.

She applied for the NEF Fellowship to promote theintegration of ICT to different socio-economic sectorsin Africa where ICT can serve as a central lever for theregional development. She will use the NEF platformto share these ideas with a large and diverse audience,particularly policy-makers and decision-makers.

Aminata has co-authored several publicationsincluding journal and conference articles, inventiondisclosures and patents applications. She is a memberof the Global Young Academy, the Institute ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) and theAfrican Scientific Institute. She has received severalgrants and fellowships including from the NaturalSciences and Engineering Research Council of Canadaand Fonds Québecois de la Recherche sur la Nature etla Technologie. Einstein Challenge:

Aminata hopes to develop newcommunications technologies, policies,

infrastructures and applications adapted forunderserved and rural areas and to explore

the frontiers between policies andtechnologies.

AminataGarba

Niger • ICT Technologies and Policy • Carnegie MellonUniversity Africa

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 9

Mamadou was born in Boffa, Guinea. He becameinterested in fighting infectious diseases becauseof his medical training in Guinea where hewitnessed high mortality rates due to infectious

diseases. After his medical studies at the Gamal AbdelNasser University of Conakry (Guinea), he undertooktraining in biomedical research, which led to a PhD inInfectious Diseases at Aix-Marseille University, France.He completed a successful PhD research project, with10 publications on the hepatitis E virus infection. Inaddition, during his PhD training, He was awarded the“Infectiopôle Sud Scientific Foundation ResearchFellowship” as well as the prize for the best posterpresentation of the “15th Actualités du Pharo” inMarseille, France.

Currently, Mamadou is a Wellcome Trust ResearchFellow and Senior Research Officer at the University ofCape Town and the Director of the newly-establishedAfrican Microbiome and Epidemiology Research Group(AfriMERG) within the Division of Medical Microbiologyat the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

In terms of research interests, Mamadou is currentlyconducting a prospective longitudinal study on how thecomposition of the respiratory tract and gastrointestinalmicrobial communities (microbiota) influences thedevelopment of respiratory diseases in African children.His group (AfriMERG) is now at the stage where theyhave produced large microbiota datasets, associatedwith very detailed clinical data, which they will analysefor association, predictive value and to betterunderstand respiratory disease pathogenesis.

Prior to joining the University of Cape Town, heworked as a Research Associate in the Department ofMedical Microbiology, Aix-Marseille University, France.Mamadou’s research projects led to betterunderstanding of the risks of transmission of hepatitisE virus (HEV) from animals (pigs and wild boars) tohumans. Notably, the result of one of his projects was

influential that it led the Frenchauthorities to recommendpreventive measures against the transmission of HEVfrom pigs to humans.

In 2011, he returned to Africa to work as a CarnegiePostdoctoral Research Fellow in the Division of MedicalMicrobiology at the University of Cape Town. Thetwo-year postdoctoral project aimed at investigatingthe role of the nasopharyngeal microbial communities(microbiota) in the development of pneumonia inyoung children within the Drakenstein Child HealthStudy (DCHS). This work led to updatedrecommendations on sampling methods from theWorld Health Organization (WHO) PneumococcalCarriage Working Group.

Later, as part of a Wellcome Trust TrainingFellowship grant, Mamadou investigated the role offaecal microbiome in wheezing illness in children withinthe DCHS. As part of this fellowship, he published apaper that contributed to the validation of faecal DNAextraction protocols for microbiome profiling. Inaddition, the pilot data showed that meconiumsamples are not sterile and their microbiota are distinctfrom those of the infant faecal microbiota collectedlater in life, as well as those of their mothers. Primarydrivers of infant faecal bacterial profiles were early-lifefeeding practices and HIV exposure.

Since 2007, Mamadou is a board certified physicianby the Guinean Medical Council. In addition, he iscurrently a member of the African Society forLaboratory Medicine (ASLM), International Society forInfectious Diseases (ISID), African Organisation forResearch and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), and AfricanSociety of Human Genetics (AfSHG). Mamadou hasauthored 20 scientific articles and 19 conferencepapers, and he is an ad-hoc reviewer for eightinternational peer-reviewed journals.

Einstein Challenge:As a key medium- to long-term goal ofMamadou’s research group (the African

Microbiome and Epidemiology Research Group(AfriMERG)) over the coming years is thedevelopment of early diagnostic tools for

altered human microbial profiles associatedwith specific diseases, and the development of

microbial-based therapies (containing amixture of missing protective microbes) for the

prevention or treatment of diseases.

MamadouKaba

Guinea • Medical Microbiology • University of Cape Town

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 10

Rym was born in Tunis, Tunisia. Since her earlychildhood she has been fascinated by biology.She fed her curiosity through documentary films,science magazines and science fiction films. Her

parents encouraged her by buying her encyclopedias,scientific novels and taking her to visit zoos, naturereserves and scientific exhibitions. She spent her freetime catching insects, worms and small salamanders toexperiment on. Since then, her dream has been tobecome a biological scientist.

After high school, she obtained a Bachelor ofScience, with honours, in Biology from the University ofTunis El Manar in 2000. She won an "elite scholarship",a highly selective scholarship granted by the TunisianMinistry of Higher Education to the brightest studentsto pursue doctoral studies in France in scientific fieldsthat do not exist in Tunisia (Molecular Anthropology). In2001, she obtained a Master in Science at the MedicalSchool La Timone, University of the Mediterranean,(Marseille- France) – again with honours. This openedthey way for a BDI-PED scholarship granted by theCNRS (Centre National de RechercheScientifique-France) to the most talented youngstudents with masters degrees. Her thesis focused onthe study of ancient DNA obtained from Middle AgeFrench skeletons with dislocation of the hip.

Rym continued her doctoral studies in the samelaboratory where she worked on mitochondrial DNAdiversity in current and ancient Human populations(6000 to 15,000 years) in North Africa. She alsocontributed to several other studies especially,mitochondrial variability in ancient cattle from thearchaeological site of Lattara (Southern France) andmolecular analysis of neurodegenerative diseases in

the French population. Sheobtained her PhD in 2005 at theage of 26, which made her the youngest student with aPhD at the Medical School La Timone, University of theMediterranean (Marseille- France). After her PhD andpost doctoral training carried out in France, she joined,in 2006, the Molecular Investigation of Orphan GeneticDiseases Reaserch Unit in Institut Pasteur in Tunis as aResearcher. Rym is currently Associate Professor andTeam Leader in the Laboratory of BiomedicalGenomics and Ontogenetic at Institut Pasteur in Tunis.

As team leader, Rym is mainly involved in researchon human genetic disorders, genetic diversity in NorthAfrica and the impact of consanguinity on health. Sheis also responsible for the genetic typing core facilitywhere she works to enrich the portfolio of service ofInstitut Pasteur by reinforcing the research on ancientDNA and providing genetic profiling for paternity testsand human forensic identification. Indeed, themolecular diagnosis of genetic diseases leads to thereduction of the prevalence of these diseases andimproves the treatment of patients and their families.

Rym applied for the NEF Fellowship to present herwork and establish research partnerships which willcontribute to the development of scientific excellencein Africa and strengthen the capacities and skills ofyoung scientists.

She is a TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences)Young affiliate, a member of the Global YoungAcademy and a member of the Young ScientistCommunity of the World Economic Forum. She haswon several prizes at international scientific eventssuch as the prize of The African Society of HumanGenetics in 2009.

Einstein Challenge:Rym hopes to better understand the

pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes, to improve itsdiagnosis and treatment thereby reducing its

prevalence not only in Tunisia but also in Africa.

Rym Kefi Tunisia • Human Genetic Diversity and Metabolic Diseases •Institut Pasteur in Tunis

www.nef.org 11

Aku was born in Accra Ghana, grew up in Canada,and returned to Ghana where she now lives andworks. Her mother is a nurse and father a doctor,and she was always oriented towards the

sciences. Even the toys she played with were scientific,a chemistry set, a fractions kit, and a text book on thehuman brain. Her parents fed her love for books andreading and she won the primary school math prize. Inhigh school, she was determined to go to medicalschool and this drove all her academic pursuits butonce she began university, she struggled. During thistime, Aku volunteered at the Princess MargaretHospital in Toronto in the Ultrasound Department togain more exposure to clinical life. But she soon veeredinto work in a genomics lab in the pathologydepartment. During this time, the research bug bit Akuand she moved away from medical school.

Aku completed her Bachelor of Science in HumanBiology at the University of Toronto. After this, shepursued an opportunity to work in a Cancer Care UKresearch lab. The work was slightly different to whatshe had been previously exposed to, working withproteins instead of genes, and using different researchmethods and assays. She excelled in this domain, andwent on to complete a Master in Science, withDistinction, in Biomedical Science Research at King’sCollege London.

When she completed her master’s degree, Akucould not find a job. While she looked for a job, sheread a lot about broader public health issues – accessto medicines and the social determinants of health,and it piqued her interest. She applied for an internshipat the World Health Organization and that set her onthe path of international public health. After workingfor several years in different community settings acrossAfrica in women’s health, HIV, and health information

systems, Aku pursued a PhD inHealth Policy at WageningenUniversity in the Netherlands.

Aku’s current research is in the area of healthsystems governance, looking at how and where withinhealth systems decisions get made. She is interested inissues of management and leadership, accountabilityand organizational innovation, and in particularapplying complexity theory to these issues. Herresearch has led her to highlight the need for changingapproaches to training health managers, such thatnewly-learned management and leadership practicescan be sustained in highly- bureaucratizedorganizational contexts.

In the last year, Aku was the project coordinator ona West Africa-wide initiative to support thedevelopment of research and leadership capacities inhealth policy and systems research for policy-makersin ministries of health, health system managers andacademic researchers. She has previously worked withthe International Development Research Centre (IDRC)Canada, as a programme officer for an initiative inNigeria seeking to strengthen capacities forevidence-based health planning (2006-2011).

In 2012, sponsored by the Institute of TropicalMedicine (Antwerp), Aku was selected as one of 50Emerging Voices for Global Health. Aku sits on theBoard of Directors of Health Systems Global, thegoverning body of the international membershiporganization of health policy and systems researchglobally where she represents the Africa region. Shealso sits on an advisory committee for the WorldHealth Organisation Regional Office for Africa onhealth systems governance. Aku is a mentor with theYoung African Leaders Initiative (YALI). She iscurrently studying to be a lay minister.

Einstein Challenge:Aku hopes to deepen understanding of how the

governance of health systems influences their abilityto deliver appropriate health care to people at theirpoint of need, and how the overall stewardship roleof governments can be improved. She is especially

interested in issues of accountability and innovationwithin the public health sector, and how

system-wide transformation can lead to betterhealth service delivery.

Aku Kwamie Ghana • Health Policy and Systems Research • Consultant

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 12

Justus Masa grew up in Buginyanya, located at analtitude of 2044 meters on the highlands of MountElgon, in Uganda. The challenges imposed on lifeby this geography naturally helped Justus seek to

improve livelihoods in his community and beyond. Hefigured out rather early, with the strong influence ofhis parents, especially his mother, that only science,engineering and technology could offer the solutionsto most of these challenges.

Justus joined Makerere University with a statescholarship to study Physics, Mathematics andChemistry. He came second in the National Mathematicscontest in 2001, and 5th in 2002. Afraid of beingunemployed due to the under-appreciation offundamental sciences, he majored in IndustrialChemistry. In 2003, he joined the Fish Oil sub-project inthe framework of the Norwegian Programme forDevelopment, Research and Education (NUFU) supportto Makerere University. He received a prize fordemonstrating the extraction of omega-3 rich oils, whichhave potential pharmaceutical applications. In 2005, hewon a scholarship from the Germany AcademicExchange Service (DAAD) to support his Master inScience in Chemistry at Makerere University, followed bya Research Fellowship in 2006 at Ruhr-UniversityBochum. Following this, Justus earned a doctorate, witha distinction (summa cum laude), in Natural Sciences (Dr.rer. nat) from Ruhr-University Bochum in 2012.

After this, he became a visiting scholar in thePhysical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory at theUniversity of Oxford in 2013, where he worked onharmonizing mismatch between experimental andtheoretical kinetic data of nanoparticle-modifiedelectrodes in hydrodynamic voltammetry. He returnedto Ruhr-University Bochum as a Senior ResearchScientist and Group Leader of the Electrocatalysis andEnergy Conversion Group at the Center for

Electrochemical Sciences (CES)in the Department of AnalyticalChemistry. He is a co-inventor of four patents, three ofwhich won the prize for the best innovations atRuhr-University Bochum. Justus has also been aLecturer at Kyambogo University since 2013.

Justus’ research aims to use electrochemistry tocreate green and sustainable energy systems for bothportable and grid-scale energy conversion and storage,particularly, the reversible interconversion of water intohydrogen and oxygen in a solar powered waterelectrolyzer, and the recombination of hydrogen andoxygen to water in a fuel cell thereby harnessing theenergy of the reaction. The ultimate goal is to coupleharnessing of intermittent energy systems withadvanced electrochemical energy storage andconversion systems, to improve the overall efficiency ofthe energy tapped from renewable sources. To thisend, Justus leads several research projects in the fieldof electrocatalysis and energy conversion, focused onthe development of advanced low-cost catalysts andelectrode materials for electrochemical energysystems, including fuel cells, electrolyzers (power togas energy conversion), rechargeable metal-airbatteries and other modern battery systems.

Justus is a member of the International Society ofElectrochemistry (ISE) and has published more than70 peer-reviewed papers and 2 book chapters. In 2015,he was appointed as the Head of the Salt Cluster,Technical Working Group (TWG) on Mineral ValueAdditional, of the Presidential Investors Round Table(PIRT V), which is chaired by HE President YoweriMuseveni. He is also a Fellow of the African GoodGovernance Network (AGGN), which is comprised ofhighly educated African academics who are dedicatedto good governance principles.

Einstein Challenge:Justus hopes to develop functional

electrochemical energy storage and conversionsystems coupled to renewable energy sourcesfor mini-grid and off-grid applications, and to

develop efficient systems to convert CO2 right atits source of generation into hydrocarbon fuels

and commodity chemicals.

Justus Masa Uganda • Electrochemistry • Ruhr-University Bochum / Kyambogo University

www.nef.org 13

Sanushka is currently Senior Lecturer in theDepartment of Genetics at the University ofPretoria and a candidate for Associate Professor.Sanushka is President of the South African

Genetics Society (2017-2018) and was awarded aY-rating by the South African National ResearchFoundation (2015-2020).

Her research is dedicated to plant defense in theforest species, with an emphasis on Eucalyptus. Foresttrees are long-lived organisms that are challenged withmultiple pests and pathogens in their lifetime.Sanushka is focusing on mechanisms that can conferbroad-spectrum, long lasting resistance by dissectinggene families and responses to pests and pathogens.She has adopted genome editing technology (CRISPR)to develop plants with desired traits. With thedevelopment of new technologies, novel geneticallymodified crops are poised to increase yield andprotect against pests and pathogens under harshAfrican climates. Sanushka believes we are betterequipped to harness this knowledge to address one ofAfrica’s biggest challenge- that of food security.

Sanushka was born in a small community outsideDurban, South Africa. Her parents were teachers whoencouraged her to ask questions about the worldaround her. She participated in mathematics andscience Olympiads through school, and was inspiredby her science teacher to initiate a wildlife club. Theclub built a pond, establishing a complete ecosystemon the school grounds, to facilitate biology lessons.Sanushka participated in a wilderness leadershipschool organized by the South African National Parks

Board. The weeklong hike through the Umfolozi GameReserve in KwaZulu Natal cemented her love andcuriosity of natural systems and species interactions.

Sanushka’s academic journey began with aBachelor’s of Science at the University of KwaZuluNatal, where she majored in Environmental and CellBiology, subsequently specializing in molecular biologyfor her master’s degree at the University ofStellenbosch. Her research focused on the expressionpattern of a key enzyme in the sucrose pathway insugarcane. Perseverance and passion culminated in adistinction and the gene was patented. Beforecontinuing on to her PhD, Sanushka worked at theUniversity of Cape Town as a Microarray ScientificOfficer. She subsequently received the MellonFoundation Mentoring Award to complete her PhDdegree in Plant Biotechnology at the University ofPretoria receiving the award for best PhD paper,presented by the South African Society of PlantPathologists.

Sanushka applied for the NEF Fellowship toexpand her access to impactful collaboration anddeliver next generation thinking with African scientists,social scientists, schools, communities and governmentleaders. She wishes to facilitate education andacceptance leading to an increased impact of plantbiotechnology on society. She believes Africa’s youthshould study science, technology, engineering andmathematics to discover robust, tangible, naturalpatterns. Knowledge of such patterns can beharnessed to address the continent’s uniquechallenges. Einstein Challenge:

Sanushka hopes to improve understanding andacceptance of plant biotechnology as a means to

enhance crops in Africa.

SanushkaNaidoo

South Africa • Plant Genetics • University of Pretoria

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 14

Maha was born in Giza, Egypt. Despite being raisedin a family of engineers, no one forced her topursue a similar career, respecting her choice topursue the pharmaceutical sciences. She began

her scientific journey with a Bachelor and Master ofScience in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ain ShamsUniversity in Egypt. In 2011, Maha was awarded aCertificate in Pharmaceutical Bioinformatics fromUppsala University in Sweden. She went on to pursueher PhD at Ain Sham University with expertise inPharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy.

Maha’s research integrates pharmaceutical scienceand nanotechnology with other medical, biological andchemical sciences. She focuses on advancedtechnologies such as nanotechnology based drugcarriers and composite delivery systems. She iscurrently investigating the possibility of creation ofnovel carriers for treatment of diseases, mainly forcancer and Alzheimer’s.

For her work, Maha was awarded two researchtravel grants (six months each) at the University ofCentral Lancashire, United Kingdom, where she was aVisiting Scientist and Researcher in School of Pharmacyand Biomedical Sciences and Institute ofNanotechnology and Bioengineering, and the Universityof Leiden, Netherlands, where she was a PostdoctoralFellow in Division of Drug Delivery Technology. She wasalso awarded the Daniel Turnberg UK/Middle East Travel

Fellowship for initiation of a research collaboration withthe University of Bradford, funded by Wellcome Trust.

Maha has extensive teaching experience as Lecturerat the British University in Egypt, Misr InternationalUniversity and Ain Shams University. She is currently anAssociate Professor of Pharmaceutics and IndustrialPharmacy in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Ain ShamsUniversity.

She currently leads a large team of researchers inseveral projects, some non-remunerated, others fundedby agencies in Egypt, in collaboration with severalEgyptian and foreign universities as well as Egyptianpharmaceutical companies and research institutes.Maha is a peer reviewer and editor in more than 40international scientific journals. She has won severalawards from funding bodies like Fondation pourl’Universite’ de Lyon, TWAS/Biovision Unit in BibliothecaAlexandria, FIP foundation for Education and Research,the National Academy of Sciences and Robert BoschStiftung.

She sees the NEF Fellowship as an opportunity forcareer building and believes Africa’s youth must studyscience in order to meet the challenges the continent –and the world – faces.

Maha is an Africa Science Leadership ProgramFellow, a TWAS ARO Young Affiliate, a member of theGlobal Young Academy and a member of Arab-GermanYoung Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Einstein Challenge:Maha hopes to explore what lies beyond

nanotechnology in treatment of diseases,through the combination of novel biomaterials

and formulation of new delivery systems.

Maha Nasr Egypt • Nanotechnology for Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases •Ain Shams University

www.nef.org 15

Sidy was born in Dakar, Senegal, where he started hiselementary education. At the age of 16, he moved tothe United States where he graduated asValedictorian of his high school class in 2001. By

then, he was already interested in science andtechnology, even carrying a notebook with him where hedrew designs of space rockets and mechanical systems.

Sidy completed both a Bachelor and Master inMechanical Engineering from City College of New York.He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State in2010. His graduate training at RPI was in the area oftwo-phase heat transfer at the micro/nano- scale,specifically in the study of the two-phase heat transferand critical heat flux on functionalized micro/nanostructured surfaces. Before Joining the University ofNebraska-Lincoln in 2012 as a tenure-track faculty, Sidyspent about 2 years as a Postdoctoral Associate in theChemical Engineering Department and the Institute ofSoldier Nanotechnologies at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT). His research work at MITfocused on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)Thermoelectric and Thermophotovoltaics powergeneration and the development of high temperature2-D photonic crystals.

Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in theDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering atthe University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). At UNL, he isthe Director of the Nano & Microsystems Research labwith research interests in Nanotechnology andThermal-Fluid Sciences. His recent research work inHigh Temperature NanoThermoMechanica Memory andLogic Devices has garnered much interest in thescientific community because it changes what’s possibleand how we think about computing. About four yearsago, a colleague of Sidy’s from NASA Jet PropulsionLab (JPL) brought him the problem of how to record

data on the surface of planetVenus where the average surfacetemperature is about 400 Celsius? Clearly currentstate-of-the-art computing technologies could notfunction at such elevated temperatures. In the pursuit ofalternative technologies, the research community hasbeen focused on two main approaches, namely materialresearch (i.e. alternative wide bandgap semiconductormaterials), and NanoElectroMechanical memory andswitches, both of which still depend on Semiconductorproperties and/or electricity.

Taking a completely different approach, Sidy’sresearch group has recently developed the world’s firsthigh temperature thermal rectifier, a building block forfuture High Temperature Thermal Memory and LogicDevices, i.e., thermal computer. Unlike electronics, thermalmemory and logic devices use heat instead of electricityto record and process data. Basically, Sidy’s researchgroup is creating the world's first thermal computer thatcan one day unlock the mysteries of outer space, exploreand harvest our own planet's deep-beneath-the-surfacegeology and harness waste heat for more efficient energyutilization. He was awarded the UNL College ofEngineering Henry Y. Kleinkauf Family Distinguished NewFaculty Teaching Award in 2016.

One of Sidy’s major accomplishments is thecreation of the Dakar American University of Science &Technology (DAUST) in Senegal. DAUST providesinstruction and research opportunities forundergraduates and graduates in fields of engineeringand technology that are useful in developingtechnological solutions to address Africa’s societalneeds and challenges. He is also the founder ofSenEcole, an organization whose goal is to promoteSTEM education for the sustainable development ofAfrica. One of SenEcole’s main program is thePan-African Robotics Competition (PARC).

Einstein Challenge:Sidy hopes to develop the technology to

control the flow of heat at micro/nanoscale.The ability to control and manipulate heattransfer at the micro/nanoscale is of great

importance to many engineering applicationssuch as thermal management, energyconversion, and thermal computing.

Sidy Ndao Senegal • Micro & Nanoscale Thermal/Fluid Sciences • University ofNebraska-Lincoln

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 16

Peter was born in Enugu, South East Nigeria. Hisinterest in science started in elementary schoolbecause of a tutor who showed him how scienceand technology had changed the world. His interest

was then fostered by his high school physics teacherwho mentored him. From this mentorship, he was surehe wanted to be a scientist and focused his courses insubjects like physics, chemistry and mathematics. Aftersecondary school, he went on to study ChemicalEngineering at the Federal University of TechnologyOwerri (FUTO), Nigeria, where he graduated in 2002.

After his bachelor’s degree, he worked for two yearsas a Process Engineer in Dangote Sugar Refinery to gainsome practical experience. During this period, he wasfascinated by the emerging field of nanotechnology andits potential to revolutionize almost every aspect of ourlife. Based on this, he enrolled in a dual master inMicrosystems (MEMS) and Nanotechnology in 2006. Themaster’s degree program was jointly offered by ESIEE(École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Électrotechnique etÉlectronique) in Paris and Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity (NTU) in Singapore. This was a turning pointfor his scientific career because it gave him theopportunity to be engaged in cutting edge research inthe areas of nanomaterials, especially their application inrenewable energy (energy storage). After graduating in2007, he got a PhD position in the group of Prof. Krijn deJong and Prof. Petra de Jongh at Utrecht University, theNetherlands, completing his PhD in 2012.

After his PhD, Peter was a Postdoctoral ResearchFellow for 3 years in the Materials for Energy Conversionand Storage (MECS) group, Department of ChemicalEngineering, Delft University of Technology in theNetherlands. There, he continued to work onnanostructured materials for energy applications andsensing. In 2015, he returned to Utrecht Universitywhere he is currently an Assistant Professor in the

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysisgroup, Debye Institute forNanomaterials Science.

In a nutshell, Peter’s goal is to develop new materialsthat will enable the widespread use of energy fromrenewable and sustainable sources such as wind andsolar. The major problem with these energy sources isthat they are intermittent, therefore requiring some formof storage. Peter and his team are investigating severaloptions to overcome this challenge. For example, he isdeveloping novel materials that will enable energy to bestored efficiently via hydrogen or ammonia, materials fornext generation rechargeable batteries for long drivingrange electric vehicles, heat storage and catalysts forenergy conversion processes.

His work has had a high impact in the field ofenergy storage using metal hydrides. For example, Peterdeveloped a strategy which is now widely used to makecomplex hydride nanocomposite materials for reversiblehydrogen storage applications and solid-stateelectrolytes for rechargeable batteries. He was the firstto demonstrate that the kinetics of hydrogen releasefrom complex hydrides can be improved significantly byco-confinement with catalysts in nanopores of carbon.He also developed inexpensive eye-readable hydrogensensors for the diagnosis of lactose intolerance viahydrogen breath test.

He has published 28 peer reviewed articles,including in high impact journals like AngewandteChemie, Energy and Environmental Science, NanoEnergy, Advanced Functional Materials etc., with highnumber of citations. He was the Chair of the renownedGordon Research Seminar on Metal-Hydrogen Systemsin 2013, and was the recipient of the prestigious KNCV(Royal Dutch Chemical Society) prize for the best PhDthesis in 2012/2013.

Einstein Challenge:Peter is working to develop novel energy storagematerials that will enable an energy revolution .

This includes nanomaterials for efficient productionof hydrogen from renewable sources, and its

storage, so that hydrogen (in combination with fuelcells) can be used as an energy carrier for vehicles

and stationary applications.

Peter Ngene Nigeria • Nanomaterials/Nanotechnology • Utrecht University

www.nef.org 17

Tolulope was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He derived hisprimary inspiration and initial scientific trainingfrom his mother, a civil engineer, who has devotedher entire life to teaching science, mathematics,

physics, and technology to high school students inNigeria. Tolulope counts himself one of her successstories.

Regarding his education, Tolulope obtained aBachelor of Science in Computer Science andEngineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, IleIfe in Nigeria. Here he gained early exposure to themathematical and computational sciences, e.g.,Physics, Chemistry, Engineering Analysis, ArtificialIntelligence and Numerical Computation. As a result ofthis broad exposure, he decided to pursue a researchcareer in exploration geophysics because it allowedhim to retain a broad interdisciplinary interest, whilecreatively studying the most complex and excitingphysical system- the Earth.

Tolulope then applied for, and was selected to, acompetitive and fully funded doctoral graduatefellowship to study Geophysics at Yale. He completedhis Ph.D. in 2014. As a Postdoctoral Research Associateat the University of Maryland, he has gone on to studythe Earth using geophysics, seismology andcomputational statistics as his primary tools ofinvestigation.

Tolulope’s research aims at improving theunderstanding of the architecture and composition ofthe solid Earth interior – in particular, the structure ofcontinents and the cause of the transition from stableto weak behavior in the rocks that make up the outerexterior of our planet, which is what allows platetectonics to operate. To do this, he builds sophisticated

computer models and designsnovel remote sub-surfaceimaging techniques. In simple terms, seismologists likeTolulope ‘see’ into the interior of the planet, bydeveloping the ‘brains (computational algorithms)’ totranslate the data from Earth's many sources ofvibrations (e.g., earthquakes, ocean waves, ice-quakes,etc.) into images of the interior of the Earth.

He believes, like the NEF, that the next Einstein cancome from Africa and that is why he applied for theNEF Fellowship. In his experience, it is impossible toachieve real global leadership, independence, andrecognition in the area of scientific research without arobust and rigorous foundation in Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Tolulope was a recipient of the Fred Earl IngersonFellowship, which supported his doctoral education atYale University. He is a member of the AmericanGeophysical Union, with leadership experience inconvening scientific sessions.

He is passionate about promoting earth scienceamongst high school students and the general public.Most recently, he has been doing this as one of theNifty-Fifty (times 4) speakers nominated by the USAScience and Engineering Festival in the DC, Maryland,and Virginia areas. The ‘Nifty Fifty (times 4)' is aprogram of Science Spark, a group of 200 notedScience and Engineering Professionals who fan outacross the country to speak about their work andcareers at various middle and high schools.

As of July 2018, Tolulope will be taking up anAssistant Professorship in the Department of Earth andEnvironmental Sciences at University of Rochester.

Einstein Challenge:Tolulope hopes to use new advances in

computational geophysics, statistics andhigh-performance computing to image

Africa's continental interior in 3-dimensions,enabling the global earth science community

to better understand earthquake hazards,history and drivers of plate tectonics, and the

composition and evolution of the ancientcontinental core of Africa. To make thispossible, Tolulope hopes to obtain an

infrastructure grant to build and operate atruly continent wide, state-of-the-art,

geophysical observatory owned and operatedby world-class African scientists.

TolulopeOlugboji

Nigeria • Geophysics/Seismology • University of Maryland

Hamidou was born in Orsongo, Dogon Country,Mali. He was initially interested in music inelementary school. His interest in science andengineering started when his tutor offered him a

music book that explained the form, rhythm, harmonyof the notes with elementary mathematics.

From there, Hamidou obtained a Bachelor ofMathematics from the University of Grenoble, France.Hamidou then completed a Master in Science inApplied Mathematics and Economics at EcolePolytechnique, Palaiseau, France. His thesis on learningand optimization problems under uncertainty inspiredhim to switch tracks from stochastic optimization tomulti-agent strategic decision-making problems.

Hamidou completed the PhD in Computer Scienceat the University of Avignon, France. Subsequently, heaccepted the position of Assistant Professor atCentraleSupelec, France’s Institute of research andhigher education in engineering and science, where hetaught until 2013. Since 2014, he has been GlobalNetwork Assistant Professor with New York University.

Hamidou’s research investigates game theory andaims to contribute significantly to existing knowledgeon the interactive decision-making problems withincomplete information, and in the presence ofself-regarding, other-regarding, altruistic, spiteful,risk-sensitive, and irrational agents. Game theory is aninterdisciplinary area. Hamidou is working with

economists, engineers, psychologists, biologists andcomputer scientists.

He applied for the NEF Fellowship to exchangeideas around science and innovation in Africa.Hamidou has won many awards including theOutstanding Young Researcher Award by the IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)Communications Society in 2014. He has also wonseven best article awards, all in the application ofstrategic learning and game theory to wirelesscommunication networks, internet-of-everything,smart energy systems and intelligent transportationsystems.

He is the author of the book "Distributed StrategicLearning for Wireless Engineers", published by CRCPress, Taylor & Francis in 2012. He also co-authored thebook "Game Theory and Learning for WirelessNetworks", published by Elsevier Academic press, 2011.

Hamidou has more than 150 peer-reviewedpublications including books, magazines, journals,letters, and conferences that have been cited morethan two thousand times. He was recently awarded bythe US Air Force Office of Scientific Research forinvestigating foundations of mean-field-type gametheory. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Accessjournal, the Open Access Game Theory Journal, andthe AIMS Electronics and Electrical Engineeringjournal. He is a senior member of IEEE.

Einstein Challenge:Hamidou is working on the fundamental

limitations of deep learning and mean-field-typegame theory to explain complex multi-agentinteractive systems found in natural, societal

infrastructures and the environment.

HamidouTembine

Mali • Strategic Decision-Making/Game Theory • New York University

Next Einstein Forum l 2017-2019 NEF FELLOWS 18

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