top of page
White Structure

Dr Tefera Gezmu

Dr. Tefera has extensive experience working with an array of public and private institutions in the US and Ethiopia. A medical epidemiologist and public health professional by training, Dr. Tefera comes with an over a decade of experience in global public health, pharmaceuticals, health program management, academic research & teaching, including work on public/global health consulting focusing on strategy development, research, risk mitigation and organizational transformation.

​

He has advised, consulted, and engaged with leaders on projects in various fortune 500 companies in the US. He has consulted several academic institutions in many countries, state governments and pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, he worked as a Senior Advisor at McKinsey and Company involved in advisory and consultation projects with several Ethiopian public sector entities including ministries, agencies and state-owned enterprises. His work has focused in the Health sector on program delivery & management, COVID19 pandemic management strategy, & vaccine distribution strategy. Also worked on State Owned Enterprises Transformation, Organizational Redesign, Capacity Building, Leadership Development, Team Building and Management training/coaching.

​

Well adept with change management principles, processes, and tools, he has worked on driving operational improvements, & behavioral change solutions. A proven leader in project management, leadership development/coaching, stakeholder engagement, and strategic business insights & analytics. He has experience working on organizational readiness, recommending and/or implementing appropriate trainings, & measuring effectiveness to enhance organization, group, and individual performance.

​

Dr. Tefera has extensive prior experience in academia and research, as an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, followed by consulting work as a Senior Epidemiologist with Decisions Resources Group. Later as an Associate Director within the Business &Insights Analytics team leading a group of physicians, epidemiologist and business forecasters at Bristol Myers Squib (BMS/Pfizer/J&J/GSK) working on Cardiovascular, Oncology & Auto-immune disease space.

​

He has also worked in Global Health focusing on program planning and evaluation, especially working with the health needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in contexts of conflict or violence. In assessing  and define needed service package, delivery modes, advocacy strategies and rights issues and policy options for effectively responding to the sexual and reproductive health needs of displaced populations; as well as young children.

​

He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey & his Masters of Public Health (MPH) from the Rutgers School of Public Health;  B. Sc. Degrees in Biochemistry/Mathematics, and Chemistry from the University of Utah and Maryland, respectively. He also completed a postdoctoral PRIDE fellowship with the NIH’s National Blood, Heart and Lung Institute at SUNY Downstate in New York.

photo_2022-02-26_14-31-03_edited.jpg

Experience Summary

2022 - Current

2018 - 2022

McKinsey & Company

2015 - 2018

BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB (BMS)

2009-2014

Rutgers University

MANAGING DIRECTOR & FOUNDING PARTNER

Responsible in overseeing business operations and provide strategic leadership. Charged with developing and implementing strategic plans and company policies, maintaining an open dialogue with stakeholders, business partners and driving organizational success. Also responsible for business development, and leading expert area projects. Final quality control of all Adwa Partners, PLC (AP) project outputs. Manages all Partnerships and implementation strategies. Also overseas all trainings and leadership coaching engagements.

SENIOR ADVISOR, HEALTH EXPERT CONSULTANT & LEAD CLIENT/STAKEHOLDER MANAGER      

Responsible for developing and maintaining excellent working relationships with all stakeholders in country and abroad: the GoE officials, aid/development partners, local peer agencies and other organizations. While helping to manage consulting projects with content clarity, meeting specific project technical objectives, data integration and analytics; as well as resources, and program staff management. Also managed several strategic initiatives designed to help businesses better understand the impacts of organizational restructuring.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ENTERPRISE STRATEGY, INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS

Lead physician, epidemiologist and analyst team working at BMS and its business partners to help meet the challenges of current complex and evolving market landscape. Used the power of large data that included patient data, product and resources data to carry out analytics, patient sizing, forecasting, project management, and process reporting services. Fully engaged with internal and external stakeholders and provided deep insight into customer behavior. Quickly mastering the relevant data and helping clients transform their business performance, in designing, building, and deploying solutions so internal teams get the right products to beneficiaries faster. Worked collaboratively across several teams within the company, participated in innovative problem solving and inspiring teams to turn in quality work on time, every time. Leveraging a deep interest and expertise in enterprise strategy, helped develop strategies and led a group of experts in support of all BMS business units across value-chain. Also represented the company’s position when interacting with external experts, collaborative groups, and contract research organizations; kept abreast and leveraged business developments within government, fortune 500 companies, academia, regulatory agencies, community organizations, national representatives, professional associations, global field experts and key opinion leaders.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH & EPIDEMIOLOGY; E. J. B. SCHOOL OF PLANNING & PUBLIC POLICY    

Served as a leading team member for the national accreditation of the undergraduate Global/Public Health program. Served as a co-course/program director and oversaw the undergraduate public health program course material development, internship-placement procedures, student teaching, and development of professional courses for certificate and non-certification programs. Served on a committee that was responsible for increased enrollment rates and while ensuring capacity matched demand. Helped support the planning and implementation to achieve objectives set by the coalition of State Governments on health-related professions and played role in helping develop State-Level requirements for establishing such programs. Provided expert advice and successfully guided scholars in fieldwork and independent studies in Health and Global Public Health. In addition to instructional responsibilities, also served as the principal investigator, co-investigator, and data manager of grant-funded studies that is responsible for directed the assemblage and analysis of chart audit and utilization data for over 10 public health delivery sites within the state. Mentored and supervised several students, as well as served on faculty teams that advised student in their research for the MPH and PhD programs.

Adwa Partners, PLC

bottom of page