Dr Simon Nyovuura Antara was appointed by the AFENET Board of Directors as the Director of AFENET effective February 1, 2020. Dr. Antara is a medical epidemiologist with vast experience in public health practice and applied epidemiology. Before his current appointment, he served as the Director of Programs of AFENET.

Dr. Antara has worked as Resident Advisor to a number of Field Epidemiology Training Programs in different countries in Africa. These include the Rwanda Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), Namibia FELTP and the West Africa FELTP- a regional program based in Ouagadougou for the Francophone West African Countries. Dr Antara has also previously worked as a Municipal Director of Health Service in Ghana and was a key member of the National Rapid Response Team.

Dr Antara has leadership skills and expertise in program and project management, monitoring and evaluation, surveillance, emergency preparedness & response, infectious diseases, training, mentorship, networking & collaboration. He is very focused and committed to his work and has won many awards as a student and in his work life. These include the US Ambassador’s award for exceptional dedication and technical excellence in supporting Namibia to respond to critical public health threats (2013), the University of Ghana School of public Health award for best dissertation and best field practice student (2004), The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Medicine award for best student in Medicine and Clinical Methods (2000).

Dr Antara is a member of the Ghana Medical Association and the International Epidemiological Association.