Corrado Cancedda, MD, PhD, assoicate professor of infectious diseases at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, recently assumed the role of Director and Strategic Adviser for Academic Partnerships in Global Health at the Botswana-University of Pennsylvania Partnership (BUP). Dr. Cancedda is a seasoned global health professional and was chosen following an extensive international search. Based in Gaborone, Dr. Cancedda will spearhead an exciting new phase of BUP’s development representing BUP and Penn in concert with their partners in Botswana.
Dr. Cancedda has an extensive background in global health leading teams throughout sub-Saharan Africa. He served for four years as Partners In Health’s (PIH) Director of Training and Medical Education in Rwanda. In this role, he was one of the chief architects of the Human Resources for Health Program (HRH), an innovative health professional training initiative that successfully built the health workforce in Rwanda through coordination among 22 participating US academic institutions. Dr. Cancedda has also served as Executive Director of the PIH Ebola Response in Sierra Leone, and most recently as the principle investigator of the Resilient and Responsive Health System Initiative (RRHS) in Liberia. The RRHS seeks to support Liberian and US academic institutions during the implementation of the Health Workforce Program; a health professional training initiative inspired by the HRH Program in Rwanda. In support of these many activities, Dr. Cancedda has built an impressive record of securing grant funds as well as philanthropic contributions.