Bezawit Mesfin Hunegnaw is a co-investigator in HaSET and the clinical research lead for the BIRHAN maternal and child morbidity and mortality surveillance. She comes with a wealth of experience in cross-cutting issues of clinical care and public health with more focus on maternal, child and adolescent health. In her current position, she manages overall research activities of HaSET including development of research protocols, capacity building, system design, data analysis, development of quality assurance tools as well as supervision of close to 100 field research staff.

Prior to joining HaSET, Bezawit undertook various clinical and leadership positions within the health system in Ethiopia. She is the founder of the pediatrics department in Menilik II Referrral Hospital providing general pediatric as well as newborn care services. Bezawit earned her MD and specialty certificate in Pediatrics and Child Health from Addis Ababa University, School of Medicine. She is a former Presidential Scholar at Harvard University and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.