Dr Abera Kenay Tura

Senior Lecturer in Maternal and Newborn Health

Abera started his career as a Bachelor Science degree Nurse in 2006 at Haramaya University, Ethiopia as a graduate assistant. He then graduated with a Master of Public Health specializing in Reproductive Health in 2010. After working as a lecturer in the same university, Abera joined University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen for his PhD in April 2015 studying on maternal near miss and maternal mortality in eastern Ethiopia. He completed his PhD in June 2019 and returned to Haramaya University where he founded and led several projects aimed at improving maternal and child health in Ethiopia.

In close collaboration with the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford and Leiden University Medical Centre, Abera is the founder of the Ethiopian Obstetric Surveillance System (EthOSS)—inspired by the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS)—adapting the system to Ethiopian context to register severe maternal outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth and conduct confidential enquiry into maternal deaths. Abera has also introduced projects like PartoMa-Ethiopia (focusing on improving intrapartum care through continuous low dose high frequency trainings and seminars), EthiOMICS (Ethiopian Pregnancy and early life microbiome to assess changes in microbiome during pregnancy and its effect on birth outcomes), and AFRICARhE (African Initiative on eradicating rhesus disease in Africa).

Prior to joining LSTM in July 2024, Abera was an associate professor of maternal and newborn health and associate director of school of graduate studies (college of health and medical sciences) in Haramaya University.

Research

Abera’s research focuses on improving global maternal and child health. Currently, Abera is the Ethiopian country lead for the NIHR Global Health Research Group on optimizing maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response (Opti-Map) project in Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda. Overall, Abera’s research focus on implementation science covering confidential enquiries into maternal deaths, maternal and perinatal death surveillance, criterion-based audit, audit and monitoring of cesarean section, obstetric early warning system, training of health workers, and health system strengthening.

PhD supervisions

  • Improving maternal health through audit of postpartum hemorrhage and confidential enquiry into maternal deaths (Nov 2021-)
  • Factors affecting implementation of maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response (Nov 2021-)
  • Improving intrapartum care through PartoMa approach (Sep 2023-)
  • Assessment of hemolytic disease of the fetus and the newborn (Sep 2023-)
  • The role of vaginal microbiome on pregnancy outcomes (Oct 2023-)
  • Mapping, understanding and addressing maternal and newborn heath inequalities in Ethiopia using geospatial analysis (Sep 2020-Jan 2025)
  • Maternal dietary practice, nutritional status and birth weights (2019-2023)