Aminata Kanu is Sierra Leonean and has recently been working for the Medical Research Centre in Freetown for a program of the Royal Tropical Institute (Netherlands), managing a maternal health program focused on translating national policies for local implementation.  She is currently helping to draft a national health research policy and conduct strategic planning for the first national biomedical and research institute in Sierra Leone.  She previously worked at HealthySalone in the UK, focused on raising awareness of and support for the health sector in Sierra Leone and cultivating a partnership between the Sierra Leone Diaspora Network, Royal Society of Medicine, and PWC-Africa in response to the DFID TA bid. She holds a PhD in biochemistry and focused on science and scientific research in the UK during the first part of her career. 

Aminata will take up her role as Country Lead for Sierra Leone in July 2010.