Meet Amanda Wanyonyi: The Expert behind the Global Public Health Agenda.

Introduction

Amanda Wanyonyi is a Master of Public Health (MPH) student at the University of Edinburgh who is currently writing her dissertation for the Master’s programme. She is the Usher Masters Alumni (UMA) communications Lead, a Commonwealth scholar and a Public Health Major. She is skilled in developing and implementing wellness programs, mental health education, and working with at-risk populations.

A collaborator who thrives well through networks and connections.

Amanda and I met in April 2023 during the University of Edinburgh alumni gathering in Nairobi, Kenya. Our conversation during that evening made me realize that she is more than just a student – a promising world leader who would seek to tackle the emerging and re-emerging health care trends that have negatively affected Global Health Systems (GHS), through a collaborative approach.

Amanda Wanyonyi. Photo Credit: Amanda

While we talked, her brevity and prowess in knowledge relating to public health could speak volumes. The insights I developed regarding her desire to become an innovative collaborator in the GHS arena made me convinced that she would one day become a star of change on a global scale.

This article talks about Amanda’s Una-Europa’s rewarding experience and how the event transformed her perspective in the field of Public Health and GHS.

One Health Summer School 2023

During the alumni meeting, Amanda talked to me about the summer school 2023 that she was going to attend at KU Leuven in Belgium by that time.

Students during One Health summer school. Photo credit: Amanda

What was the aim of One Health Summer School?

The One Health summer school 2023 was an event that brought together students, doctoral researchers and staff from across Una Europa member universities to explore interdisciplinary One Health issues and to work towards building solutions together.

The Una-Europa Alliance

Amanda with her colleagues during the Una Europa summer school in KU Leuven, Belgium. Photo credit: Amanda

Una Europa is a unique alliance of 11 leading European research universities working together to create a truly inter-university environment - creating new opportunities for students and staff through research, joint programmes, and collaborative projects. The University of Edinburgh is proud to be a partner in this alliance.

What is the aim of Una-Europa alliance?

Una-Europa summer schools are aimed at developing an innovative, interdisciplinary programme designed by world-leading academics, creating a highly collaborative and interactive programme enabling students to work closely with peers, mentors and academics in a multicultural community and establishing a modular approach with a set of online and on-site elements, addressing different levels of expertise.

Student opportunities through Una Europa include summer schools, workshops, online challenge-based courses and more. Amanda was one of the students who was able to take part in these opportunities and benefited from both in person and virtual experience. More information about Una-Europa can be found here 

A unique blend of Leadership skills, Curiosity and Passion

Amanda first got involved with Una Europa through her short-term mobility experience in the One Health summer school 2023. During the event, she was able to demonstrate that the integration between virtual and physical components of Public Health education builds a solid framework that is suitable for tackling real-life challenges at health systems level.

The experience that Amanda acquired during the Una-Europa summer school made her even more passionate about making a positive impact on global health and inspired her to continue working towards collaborative solutions.

The European Student Assembly (ESA)

Amanda with her colleagues during the European Students Assembly (ESA) in Strasbourg, France. Photo credit: Amanda

The ESA began as an initiative by the European Universities Community (EUC) to gather over 250 student representatives from European University Alliances.

The passion and drive to develop strategies that would change the future of healthcare system resulted into Amanda being selected to represent the University of Edinburgh and Una Europa at the 2024 European Student Assembly (ESA) in Strasbourg, France. This was another milestone for her to hone her leadership skills on a global scale.

Having a chance to sit in the European Parliament, participating in recommendations and inter-panel discussions and voting for different recommendations was a dream come true for Amanda.  

One of her major deliverables was to champion student voices by debating current issues and drafting policy recommendations. This would provide her with an avenue to collaborate with students from diverse backgrounds and cultures, united by a shared goal - driving positive change.

The future of Europe’s health care system

One of the strategies that Amanda recommends, particularly in the field of health and biomedicine is Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) approach. For instance, during the 2024 assembly, the assembly organizers allocated teams that were relevant to particular academic backgrounds where each student was comfortable working in. Amanda's healthcare team was able to develop recommendations on reshaping Europe’s healthcare system.

The collaborative effort that the team established resulted into a set of comprehensive recommendations and proposed panel policies that were all voted for.  

Conclusion

Amanda’s future career aspirations in Global Health Policy have been influenced greatly after participating in ESA. The event provided invaluable practical experiences, applying public health concepts to real-world policy discussions. Amanda is an asset and a library with wealth of information on strategies required to tackle the current and future Public Health challenges.

Written by Benard Chinua.

Full documentary about Amanda can be found here:  https://global.ed.ac.uk/stories/una-europa-open-to-all