Farah Mumin

My name is Farah Isse Mumin, I am from Somalia and a PhD student at the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences (IVES) at the University of Liverpool, and a Graduate Fellow at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.

I’m a veterinarian by training (DVM, Jimma University, Ethiopia), with master’s degrees in Vaccine Production and Quality Control (University of Ibadan, Nigeria) and in Infection and Immunity (University of Liverpool, UK).

I have taught epidemiology and immunology at Red Sea University, Somalia, and in 2020 was elected Chairman of the Puntland Livestock Professionals Association (PULPA), a position I held for three years.

Research

My work strengthens community-level One Health engagement in pastoralist settings of the Horn of Africa through three innovations: (1) a community-based zoonoses prioritisation tool using participatory epidemiology and multicriteria decision analysis, (2) a psychometrically validated Community One Health Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (OH-KAP), and (3) evaluation of Community Conversations (CC) as a participatory behaviour change approach.

These tools bridge gaps between global and national One Health strategies and (agro)-pastoralist realities, promote local ownership of health priorities, and offer scalable models for community engagement in One Health. Already in use in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, they have the potential to benefit millions of livestock dependent communities in the Horn of Africa and beyond.

This research brings One Health from policy to practice by equipping marginalised communities with evidence-based tools to identify, understand, and act on the health risks they face daily.

Next steps

After my PhD, I plan to continue working at the interface of research and community engagement, expanding participatory and One Health approaches to other low-resource settings and scaling the tools I have developed across the region. My goal is to ensure that communities are not just recipients of health interventions but active partners in shaping them.

My three-minute thesis

The 3MT experience challenged me to distil my research into a clear, engaging story that anyone could connect with. Presenting to a live audience was great fun and pushed me to think creatively about how to communicate my work in just three minutes. I learned a great deal from the coaching provided and found the whole process both rewarding and enjoyable.

Being named one of the nine University of Liverpool finalists was a privilege, and I would recommend the competition to any PhD student as a fantastic opportunity to improve communication skills and share research with a wider audience.