Regional Representative for Africa, Epicentre, Médecins Sans Frontières
Professor Yap Boum II is the regional representative for Epicenter Africa, the research arm of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), known also as Doctors Without Borders. He is currently based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. From 2009 to 2014, Boum headed the Epicenter’s research base in Mbarara, Uganda, leading research projects on tuberculosis and malaria among others. Most recently, in Guinea, he was in charge of laboratory Ccordination for the MSF/Epicenter phase three trial for the vaccine against Ebola, VSV-EBOV.
Boum is currently involved in setting up a Center for Diarrheal Disease research in collaboration with Mbarara University of Sciences and Technology where he has a professorship in microbiology. In addition, he teaches public health and microbiology at the Universities of Yaoundé I, Douala in Cameroon and Virginia in the US.
Boum is also co-founder of Kmerpad, a nonprofit that developed washable sanitary pads to empower women and allow for them to fully participate in their education. Kmerpad also aims to have a critical impact on the huge amount of waste generated by the use of non-reusable sanitary pads.
In all his work, Boum is inspired by the vision of a healthy and wealthy Africa. He aims to advance research and innovative solutions and to promote the creation of a critical mass of young Africans to address the social and public health challenges Africa faces.
