FETP resident receives an Award of Impact at the 2021 International Night Conference
Medical doctor and final year resident under the Namibian Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) with the University of Namibia, Dr Lahja Ndapewa Omagano Ipinge recently won the 2021 photo contest at the virtually held FEPT International Night Conference.
FELT International Nights’ conference is held annually by the Training Programmes in Epidemiology and Publish Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET) and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to convey the impact of epidemiology through compelling photographs that were taken in the field.
The award-winning image was captured while Dr Ipinge boarded a 1 300 ft. vessel on an unstable ladder made of rope to conduct Covid-19 swabs of illegal immigrants that were discovered in the vessel while sailing through Namibian waters.
The photograph reveals the true nature of the field of epidemiology – going the extra mile to deal with the distribution and mitigation of diseases.
Dr Ipinge is the first Namibian resident to win such an award. “It is a great honour to have my work recognised on such a big platform, especially being chosen from a pool of more than 70 nominees across the globe,” she gratefully expressed.
Dr Ipinge’s research profile
In May 2021, Dr Ipinge conducted an outbreak investigation in Walvis Bay which led to the discovery of the first COVID-19 UK variant cases (B 1.1.7 variant) in Namibia. She is currently conducting her Master of Science research around Congenital Heart Disease in Namibia.
Later this month, Dr Ipinge will be presenting an article at the 2021 Southern African FELP Conference, slated for 25-27 August. Her research interests span across cardiology, rheumatology, immunology, public health and by extension infectious diseases.
