YPL alumna Duha Shellah recognised Emerging Voice for Global Health 2024

Dr Duha Shellah, alumna of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) Young Physician Leaders (YPL) programme, has been recognised as one of the 41 outstanding Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) 2024 by Health Systems Global. The announcement was made at the Health Systems Research (HSR) Conference 2024 in Nagasaki, Japan. Shellah is the first Palestinian female physician-scientist to receive this prestigious fellowship since its inception in 2010. Her impactful contributions include serving as Vice Chair of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Youth Council, Chair and Founder of The Researchist Organisation and a Board Member of the Young World Federation of Public Health Associations.

At HSR 2024, Shellah was a prominent voice, participating as a panellist to discuss the decolonial approach to addressing epistemic injustices in health systems and policy research. She passionately shared insights into the challenges facing Palestinian health systems amidst decades of occupation and recent conflicts in Gaza. Her perspectives on fragile health systems, research decolonisation and global health journals’ policies were decisive in shaping discussions at the conference.

Beyond her participation at HSR 2024, Dr Shellah's policy brief on protecting healthcare workers in war and humanitarian settings won the Best Policy Brief Award. Her outstanding work has earned her an honorary fellowship at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in the UAE where she will further her advocacy and research efforts.

Duha Shellah credits the EV4GH fellowship as a transformative experience: "the whole venture was amazing, different and insightful. I learnt so much about global health, health systems strengthening and health policy and systems research, decolonisation of health systems and research, and many more. In this venture, I was confident that global health is what I want to work on, and build my career in this field, specifically going for global surgery as I am aspiring to become a plastic surgeon! But now, I can become a global surgeon balancing between practice, research, advocacy and leadership."

The IAP YPL programme, which Duha Shellah joined in 2022, has significantly contributed in fostering leadership skills among young professionals like her. Launched in 2011, it connects emerging leaders under the age of 40 in medicine and public health, creating a global peer-support network to improve health systems worldwide.

Duha Shellah’s remarkable achievements exemplify the core mission of the IAP YPL programme – to empower young physicians to become influential leaders in global health. Her journey continues to inspire the next generation of health professionals dedicated to making a difference on a global scale.

For more information on the YPL programme, read here.