Saye Baawo, alumnus and public health leader in Liberia, dies of cancer at 50
July 7, 2016
Saye Dahn Baawo, MD, MSPH, alumnus of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and assistant minister for curative services in Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, died June 17 at age 50, after a courageous battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife and children.
Dr. Saye Baawo
In 2005, Baawo attended UNC as recipient of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship and earned his master’s degree in maternal and child health from the Gillings School in 2006. During that period, he worked as a graduate research assistant with MEASURE Evaluation, a Carolina Population Center-based program, where he documented evidence of sexual and gender-based violence in African countries affected by civil conflicts and monitored and evaluated adherence to antiretroviral therapy by people living with HIV in developing countries.
From 2006 to 2008, he was program manager for Medical Teams International, an organization funded by the United States Agency for International Development to improve health for children in Liberia. From 2008 to 2012, he served as director of the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s Family Health Division before his promotion in 2012 to the assistant minister position.
In addition to his service at the national level, Baawo was assistant professor of public health and pediatrics at the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine at the University of Liberia, where he had earned his Doctor of Medicine in 1994. He had more than 20 years’ professional experience as a pediatric clinician, public health specialist in maternal and child health and educator.
Baawo generously offered his time and energy as a mentor in the Gillings Global GatewayTM and made himself available to Gillings School alumni and prospective and current students who wanted to learn more about global health.
Dr. Saye Baawo (left, in cap) worked to improve the health of women and children in Liberia.
“Saye was a student in my class several years ago,” said Kavita Singh Ongechi, PhD, research associate professor of maternal and child health at the Gillings School and senior technical adviser for maternal and child health at the MEASURE Evaluation project. “He had so much knowledge and experience to share with his classmates. He was a wonderful person, who was trying to do so much to improve health outcomes in Liberia. He was also someone who kept close ties with the Gillings School over the years and who was always willing to support our students.”
“The Gillings School of Global Public Health was saddened to hear the news about the passing of our friend, mentor and alumnus, Saye Baawo,” said Margaret Bentley, PhD, associate dean for global health at the Gillings School and Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition in the Department of Nutrition.
“Saye came to the Gillings School in 2005 as one of four Humphrey Fellows evacuated from Tulane School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. He was a leader among his peers and well-loved by faculty, staff and students.”
Bentley said that after Baawo joined the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, he became a ‘Gillings Global Ambassador,’ making himself available to mentor students and others who wished to connect to him.
“During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,” Bentley said, “Saye generously joined a videoconferenced symposium organized by the Gillings School’s Student Global Health Committee. His on-the-ground perspectives from the frontlines of the epidemic gave real meaning to the seminar. Saye will be missed. We send our heartfelt condolences to his colleagues in the Ministry and to his friends and family.”
Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu
