Saqif Mustafa

Saqif Mustafa is a Researcher at the Global Health Policy Unit, University of Edinburgh, and Technical Officer (Health Systems Resilience) at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters. He holds an MB ChB BSc (Medicine & Pharmacology), MSc in Global Health Policy from Edinburgh, and is completing a PhD in Global Health Policy. His work focuses on strengthening health systems in low-resource and fragile settings, particularly emergency preparedness and response to infectious diseases like Ebola and COVID-19.

Education:

• MB ChB BSc (Hons), Medicine & Pharmacology, Edinburgh Medical School (2010-2019)
• MSc, Global Health Policy, University of Edinburgh (2019)
• PhD Candidate, Global Health Policy, University of Edinburgh (2019-present)
• Fellow, Royal Society for Public Health UK (2020-present)

Research Interests: Health policy, public health systems resilience, emergency preparedness, infectious disease control, and global health equity. His work emphasizes operationalizing health systems resilience in post-conflict and pandemic-affected regions, leveraging WHO frameworks to improve pandemic response and universal health coverage.

Key Contributions: Published over 20 peer-reviewed articles and WHO technical reports on health systems resilience, including development of resilience indicators and frameworks. Co-designed WHO training courses on community engagement and health system recovery.

Awards:

• Fellow, Royal Society for Public Health UK

Advisory & Grants: Advised on WHO initiatives in Liberia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Collaborates with USAID and the Global Resilience Partnership on health systems recovery projects.

Labs/Teams: Active in the Global Health Policy Unit at Edinburgh and WHO’s Special Programme on Primary Health Care.