Maye Omar is a board member of The National Institute of Health-Somalia, holds a PhD and Master of Arts degrees in Health Management, Planning and Policy. He is a senior academic and international health systems/health management consultant, specialising in health systems development with over 40 years of low-middle income countries experience.

Prior to joining the University of Leeds in 1995 where is currently Associate Professor in International Health Systems, Maye spent five years at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita’ in Rome, Italy, where he was involved in teaching, research and consultancy work in broad areas of health systems development.  He has worked for the Ministry of Health in Somalia for 12 years, as a teacher at Health Training Institutions, Director of Post-basic Health Training Centre, the Head of Co-ordination and International Relations Division and later as the Director of the Department of Planning in the Ministry of Health where he was also responsible for the development and implementation of mental health policies and programmes in the country.

He has extensively worked in a number of countries (i.e. Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Peoples Republic of China, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Sultanate of Oman, Somalia, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe) both on long and short assignments. His professional interests and experiences range from teaching and research in health systems development and strengthening, strategic health planning, human resources and leadership, policy analysis and development, and training of health professionals – to the design and implementation of health reforms in less developed countries. He is also involved in supervising and examining postgraduate students at PhD and Master’s levels. He acted as internal examiner in Leeds and external examiner in a number of universities in UK and overseas.

Maye has served as a consultant to a number of international organisations, such as British Council, Carter Centre, DFID, European Union, Global Fund, UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, WHO. He has dedicated substantial time to establishing and developing the capacity of training institutions in a number of low-middle income countries for more than four decades. He trained hundreds of graduates and participants with innovative curricula, educational techniques and technologies, introducing post-graduate problem-based learning and pioneering continuous professional development (CPD) initiatives for doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals. His scientific production focuses on policy and planning, human resources development, community health and gender issues, mental health systems and aspects of the interaction between the health service providers and the end users.