Issiaka Sombie is a Senior Research Officer with more than 25 years’ experience in research in West Africa. His areas of interest are maternal and child health, research development, clinical trials, development of research policy and research ethics. Issiaka worked for 15 years at Centre MURAZ, a research Centre in Burkina Faso where his work focused on maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and sexual transmitted infections. Issiaka was also a member of Centre MURAZ Ethics Committee.

In 2008, Issiaka joined the West African Health Organisation and was the Head of the unit in charge of promotion of research in West Africa. He led the implementation of WAHO’s research programme and helped to set up the regional research networks of research centres and national health research ethical committees in West Africa.

Issiaka supported countries to develop their national research policy and strategic plan and coordinated the development of WAHO’s regional strategic plan for the strengthening of health research in West Africa and the development of the concept note of West African Health Observatory.

He also coordinated the implementation of regional projects to strengthen the National Health Research System, to develop and share information in the health research area and to support the use of evidence into policy and practice and knowledge translation.

Issiaka is a Medical Doctor who graduated from the Ouagadougou University (Burkina Faso) and he holds a PhD in Public Health from the Brussel Free University (Belgium). He is also a Professor of Epidemiology at the Medical School of the University of Nazi Boni in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.