Dr. Sunny Ibeneme
MD, Ph.D. · Physician and Global Health Leader
Building interoperable, AI-powered health systems that save lives and strengthen surveillance capacity across 40+ low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
Physician and Global Health Leader
Across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific — in partnership with the world's leading health organisations.
My Mission
I am a physician-researcher and Global Digital Health Specialist with over a decade leading large-scale digital transformation programmes with UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank. Harvard-trained and deeply experienced in health information systems, I have designed and deployed interoperable surveillance platforms, immunization registries, and AI-powered analytics tools across 40+ low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
My work spans three pillars: architecting nationally scalable digital health infrastructure using open standards (FHIR, HL7, OpenHIE), harnessing AI and machine learning to accelerate epidemic intelligence and outbreak response, and building the governance and policy frameworks that make cross-border health data exchange both feasible and sustainable.
As a Digital Health Specialist at UNICEF's East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, I managed an $18M Japan-funded digital health portfolio, deploying electronic immunization registries and community-based information systems across 10+ countries. Previously as Digital Health & Innovation Officer at WHO AFRO, I led a $24M USAID-funded programme supporting 47 African member states in national digital health strategy and interoperability.
As a Health Specialist with World Bank, Lesotho I conducted field assessments, supported monitoring and evaluation, and developed analytical reports and implementation outputs that informed programme adjustments and policy dialogue. I worked directly with MoH and Partners to strengthen surveillance systems, improve reporting processes, and support implementation of national strategies
As a Health Specialist (Digital Health) with WHO AFRO, I supported health systems strengthening across 47 Member States, providing technical support on programme implementation, monitoring, and reporting. I contributed to regional strategies and technical documents, while supporting governments to improve data use for decision-making and strengthen programme performance.