Meet the 2020 WiSA Board Members
The WiSA Board is comprised of the Chairperson, Vice Chair, Secretary General, Treasurer, Administration Officer, and Conference Officer.
Chairperson – Ms. Agneta Odera:
Ms. Agneta Odera holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from University of Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Odera is a 2012 graduate of COSECSA as well as PAACS, the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons. She received the Marie Rahima Dawood award as Best Fellow in General Surgery FCS-ECSA 2012 and was the first female Fellow in the college to win the award. She also recently completed her fellowship in Paediatric Surgery with an award as the best fellow in Paeds surgery FCS COSECSA 2018 and is currently pursuing subspecialty training of her fellowship in Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery. She is based at Tenwek Hospital, Kenya where she works and serves as faculty member training residents with COSECSA/PAACS. Ms. Odera is involved in local and International Christian Medical Dental Association, CMDA as well as Global Health Missions Conference, GHMC. She also provides surgical care to the needy and under-served, training, mentoring and capacity building of students, interns and residents. Dr. Odera is especially interested in empowering females in leadership roles at the work place while embracing their femininity, given abilities and other roles. She also passionate in empowering and driving research in Africa for Africa. Ms. Odera is a very proud member of WiSA. Her passion is to capture the essence of what it takes to be a thriving woman surgeon, to celebrate the uniqueness that allows them to successfully balance multiple roles and to challenge them to greatness and leadership with lasting legacy.
Tweet Agneta @agneta_odera
Dr. Mumba Chalwe- Vice Chair:
Dr Mumba Chalwe is a Consultant Urological-Surgeon: a surgical subspecialty focused on men’s health as well as the urinary systems in both men and women. She holds a Master of Medicine in Urology (MMED- Urol) and has vast experience working in both local and international healthcare settings. Dr Chalwe’s clinical practice spans over the last 10years and has ranged from day to day patient care, surgery as well as teaching in the academic Hospital setting.
Dr Chalwe boasts of several awards and recognition from various organizations worldwide. She is a fellow of the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, and was awarded the Gold medalist status by the same college for academic excellence in 2018. Additionally, she is recognized as an Associate Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Mumba continues to strive for academic excellence in the field of surgery, through research and data driven practice. she is passionate about championing causes that promote continued education especially for females in the STEM fields; with the overreaching aim of working towards the UN SDG 5 of promoting gender equality. Dr Mumba Chalwe is among the few female surgeons in Zambia and is the first Female Urologist in the country.
Dr. Patricia Shinondo – Secretary General:
Patricia Shinondo is a COSECSA fellow in Paediatric Surgery since 2019 and also completed her MMed Paediatric surgery with the University of Zambia in 2018. She is a proud recipient of the COSECSA-ACS grant 2019. She is the first Zambian female paediatric surgeon and head of paediatric surgery unit at Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia.
Dr Shinondo is part of the Global Initiative for Children’s surgery (GICS) seeking to improve access to children’s surgical care and provide safe surgery for children in LMICs. She is an advocate for safe children’s surgery in Zambia through her role as Secretary General of the Zambian Association of Paediatric Surgeons.
She has had roles as vice president of the Resident Doctors association of Zambia, and chairlady of the business advisory committee for the Zambia Medical Association, that have given her a strong desire to see increased female representation in key decision making roles.
Twitter Handle: @p_shins
Dr, Wairimu Ndegwa MD, FCS (ECSA) – General Surgery – Treasurer:
General Surgery faculty – JKUAT – College of Health Sciences.
A passionate, God-fearing surgeon with a hunger to help those most in need in the community. Strongly driven by a need to impact future generations of surgeons, she enjoys mentoring in and out of the operating theatre in skills pertaining compassionate patient care as well as skills to survive the changing tides of the surgical field.
Future interests are in trauma and critical care with a keen eye on curriculum development for surgical training.
Dr. Lydia Nanjula – Administration Officer:
Lydia Nanjula: MD, MBA, MCS-ECSA is a COSECSA neurosurgery resident at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda.
She was recently appointed secretary for Women in Surgery Africa for her outstanding service. Dr. Nanjula is the founder of the WiSA Uganda chapter and spear-headed a charity drive to raise funding for female medical student mentorship in Uganda. She is a winner of the Lindsay Stewart award for original research and also was fortunate to receive the 2016 research based WiSA travel grant award.
She has served as head of residents at the neurosurgery residents at Mulago national referral hospital for the past four years; during which time she also speared headed research projects on traumatic brain injury, consent and burnout among residents.
As an academician, she has published papers on resident education (the herniorrhaphy prototype), the statistical cost of life during electricity failures and traumatic brain injury across the lifespan at Mulago national referral hospital.
Over the past 5 years, she has actively organized neurosurgical camps to deliver services to those that are in hard to reach areas in Uganda.
Ms. Ronny Mollel – Administration Assistant Officer:
Competent Office Administrator with an Enthusiastic ambitious and professional individual who has a proven track record of achieving results in highly competitive environment. A true professional who is mentally resilient to push past a rejection point in order to achieve Result. Ronny is a talented individual who can enhance the performance and efficiency in any organization by using her focus, energy drive and commitment to success. Her performance is a result driven and as quick learner she is fast enough in absorbing new ideas and adapting in changing scenarios.
Dr. Busisimwe Mlambo – Education & Conference Officer:
“Dr Busi Mlambo is a Registrar in General Surgery at the University of Zimbabwe. She holds a Bachelor’s in Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics and Biochemistry from the University of Maryland in the United States and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from The University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dr Busi Mlambo’s interests are in Surgical Oncology and Minimally Invasive Surgery. She is a proud member of WISA and passionate about playing her part in empowering Women in Surgery.”
Past WiSA Board Members
2015 – 2019
Ms Faith Muchemwa – Chairperson
Dr Agneta Odera – Vice Chairperson
Dr Ainhoa Costas Chavarri – Secretary General
Dr Pamela T K Samoyo – Treasurer
Dr Chiku Clara Mpanga – Membership Officer
