Wahdae-MaiGrayProfile | ulsoph
top of page

Wahdae-Mai Harmon-Gray, MD, MSc

PROGRAM DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR OF SOCIOBEHAVIORAL RISK FACTORS LAB

unnamed (1).png
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Office Address:  AM Dogliotti Medical School Campus, Catholic Junction, Monrovia

Biography,

Wahdae-mai has over five years of experience working as a medical doctor in various health facilities with significant clinical contributions to the fight against Ebola and COVID-19 in Liberia. She is an early career health researcher but has worked in varied organizations, locally and internationally, including the Ministry of Health of Liberia, Aspen Medical Liberia, Maternity Care Coalition Philadelphia, KEMRI Wellcome Trust in Kenya, and Infectious Disease Data Observatory (IDDO), UK. She thus has a strong understanding of the health sector and context in Liberia as well as the added value of quality data in decision-making. Her professional experiences have required strong analytical skills and the ability to work both independently and on teams with members of diverse backgrounds. She has contributed to a research project at IDDO that seeks to develop a data reservoir on five hemorrhagic diseases including Ebola, Lassa fever, Crimean Congo Yellow Fever, and Rubella viruses. She is also a local consultant and country Lead for a Maternal and Neonatal Research project with the University of Oxford. She supported the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) to develop and validate the National Rapid Response Framework (nRRT) document for the preparedness and Response Plan for Liberia and provided technical support to 15 counties of Liberia to update the National Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan. Presently, she serves as Acting Director of the Masters of Public Health Program at the University of Liberia. The position demands regular demonstration of good interpersonal, organizational, and time management skills to effectively achieve the goals of the program. It also positions her—among students, faculty, and national health leadership—as a champion for high-impact public health research that can generate evidence for addressing contextually relevant questions.

QUALIFICATION

MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford MD, University of Liberia

CURRENT ENGAGEMENT 

PHLT505 Social and Behavioral Sciences

AEPI 606 Maternal and Child Health

Image by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič

Selected PUBLICATIONS

  1. Health policy development around the National COVID-19 Response in Liberia. I have contributed to the development of the national COVID-19 treatment guidelines for Case Management and Home Based Care in Liberia.

  2. Research on Malnutrition in Kilifi, Kenya. I conducted qualitative research in Kilifi, Kenya title “What can a secondary analysis of qualitative research data from families of children admitted with malnutrition (SAM and MAM) in Kilifi indicate about the likely contribution of interventions based on Cash Transfers to affected families in this setting, towards improving health outcomes?” This study sought to understand how cash transfer as an intervention can help improve malnutrition amongst children.

  3. Data-driven research on hemorrhagic fevers. I have contributed to an unprecedented data repository on five hemorrhagic diseases including Ebola, Lassa fever, Crimean Congo Yellow Fever, and Rubella viruses.

  4. Climate change vulnerability and climate risk assessments on health in Liberia: I served as the national consultant to develop a comprehensive report and policy documents on climate change risk assessment on health in Liberia. This document serves as one of the evidences that will enable Liberia to develop the knowledge base and capacity required to reduce vulnerability to climate change and to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into national development planning processes.

  5. Gray KL, Kiazolu M, Jones J, Konstantinova A, Zawolo JSW, Gray W-MH, Walker NF, Garbo JT, Caldwell S, Odo M, Bhadelia N, DeMarco J, and Skrip, L. (2022). Liberia adherence and loss-to-follow-up in HIV and AIDS care and treatment: A retrospective cohort of adolescents and adults from 2016–2019. PLOS Glob Public Health 2(3): e0000198. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000198

  6. Sinnatwah, J.D., Kenneh, H., Coker, A.A., Harmon-Gray, W., Zankah, J., Day, L., Hubbell, E., Murphy, M., Izzo, M., Kong, D., Sylwester, P., Long, Q., Bertozzi, E., and Skrip, L. (2022). Participatory design and process testing to optimize utility, usability, and acceptability of a mobile game for promoting evidence-driven public health decisionmaking in resource-constrained settings. Frontiers in Digital Health. 3:788557. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2021.788557

  7. Gray, K.L., Walker, N.F., Martineau, F., Bhadelia, N., Harmon-Gray, W.M., Skrip, L.A., DeMarco, J., Konwloh, P. and Dunbar, N. (2021). Interruption of tuberculosis detection and care during the Ebola virus disease epidemic (2014–2015) in Liberia: Time-series analyses for 2013–2017. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 112, 13- 20.

Research 

Maternal and Neonatal health research in Liberia. Dr. Harmon-Gray currently serves as a PI on a maternal and neonatal research study title “Maternal and Neonatal Health in Liberia: A synthesis of evidence and identification of gaps”. This research aims to Synthesize existing evidence on the current state of maternal and neonatal health in Liberia, national and sub-national policies, and existing interventions and assess evidence gaps, and identify research priorities in maternal and neonatal health.

Awards, Subawards and Collaborations

  • Co-PI, Assessing Social, Demographic, and Clinical Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccination Behavior in post-Ebola Liberia, a subaward on grant to Power of Nutrition, funding from Irish Aid (2021-2023).

  • Co-PI, Monitoring and Evaluation of Liberia’s Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition Program, funding from Irish Aid (2021-2023).

  • Prime recipient on grant from the Social and Behavioral Research Grants Program, Sabin Vaccine Institute (2021-2022)

  • Consortium Lead, Strengthening Capacity and Catalyzing Change for Research and Communications Partners in LMICs through the ULSOPH-Guttmacher Institute Consortium for Abortion-Related Research Collaboration led by ULSOPH, funding from the Guttmacher Institute (2021-2022)

  • Team Lead, Assessment of barriers to the uptake of the Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) services in Antenatal Care settings in Liberia, Contract awarded to ULSOPH by Jhpeigo, funding from USAID/PMI (2021-2022

  • Co-PI, Maternal and Neonatal Health in Liberia:  A synthesis of evidence and identification of gaps. Funding from Global Challenge Research Funds (GCRF) grant award (2020-2021)

  • Co-PI, Building research capacity into Liberian health institutions via a new master’s in public health programme. Funding from Global Challenge Research Funds (GCRF) grant award (2019-2020)

RESEARCH INTEREST

Non-Communicable Diseases Maternal Health

Reproductive Health

RESEARCH METHODS

Focus Group Discussion

Interview

Survey Development

bottom of page