Absera Melaku

Absera is a public health practitioner with over ten years of management experience in the nonprofit, government, philanthropy, and academic sectors. In her current role as Associate Director of Credential Programs, Absera supports the design, implementation, and evaluation of various Harris School credential and non-degree programs spanning topics in data science, public policy, and leadership development.  

Most recently, Absera served as Assistant Director of Training and Communications for UChicago’s Center for Health and the Social Sciences (CHeSS), where she managed numerous federally funded training programs spanning basic, translational, clinical, and social sciences. These programs engaged scholars across undergraduate, predoctoral, dual-degree, postdoctoral, and junior faculty career levels. Prior to joining CHeSS, Absera was Program Manager for UChicago’s Center for Global Health (CGH), where she directed its long-term strategy, developed numerous education programs, and worked closely with stakeholders to identify areas of research that have potential for interdisciplinary collaboration in global health. Absera also previously served as Research and Grants Manager for Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research (IPR), where she contributed to multiple privately and federally funded research studies examining the implementation and impact of two-generation human capital and antipoverty interventions on parents, children, and families.

Absera received her MA in medical anthropology and MPH specializing in health promotion and disease prevention from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Absera was named a 2019 Emerging Leader with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) and was most recently honored with the Early Career Leadership Award from CWRU’s School of Medicine.