An Alumna with a Cause - Dr Enku Kebede-Francis
At ANU you are assured of joining high-calibre students with multiple interests from all over the world, which gives its alumni access to a global forum.
Since graduating from ANU in 1999 with a MS in Environment and Development, Dr Kebede-Francis has been dedicated to both advancing healthcare in her professional capacity and advancing her alma mater as an active ANU alumna.
Dr Kebede-Francis feels privileged to have studied at ANU where she knew she received a quality education. She is committed to promoting the benefits of an ANU education, having already recruited three potential graduate students. She is eager to apply her enthusiasm for ANU to help with further student recruitment.
Dr Kebede-Francis is also active in the ANU North American Alumni Group. She considers being an active alumna essential to honouring the education that she received. She says:
"We, the alumni, were nourished by ANU and it is our responsibility to acknowledge that nourishment and to never forget what was given to us. We must continuously foster that nourishment for generations to follow."
Dr Kebede-Francis also holds a MA in Education and a PhD in Agronomy. She worked for the United Nations including serving UNESO as its goodwill representative in Eastern Europe. She also worked as an Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine/Department of Public Health and Community medicine in Boston, Massachusetts where she taught Global Health Disparities and international Applied Learning Experiences. Dr Kebede-Francis is engaged in personal research on using micronutrients and plant-based enzymes to promote human health, protect the environment and prevent blindness and scurvy in developing countries. She is working on collaborative research on the impact of climate change on health, promoting primary education for all and primary healthcare for all including addressing the lack of universal access to healthcare in the USA as compared to, for example, Australia. In 2010, she published a textbook on Global Health Disparities: closing the gap through good governance.
When Dr Kebede-Francis reflects on the education, guidance and permanent affiliation she received at ANU she says:
"We are its goodwill representatives and it should be the easiest and most pleasant task to perform our alumni duties, which includes networking and speaking on behalf of our alma mater and help recruit the best and the brightest students from all over the world."
