Zinabu Bekele Tadese

Lecturer & Public Health Researcher | Health Informatics & AI Engineer

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About Me

Zinabu Bekele Tadesse

Professional Summary

I am a lecturer, AI engineer, data manager, and public health researcher with a strong background in Health Informatics. My work focuses on machine learning, deep learning, big data analysis, and risk prediction models, with practical application in real-world health systems.

Industry exprience as AI engineer
Principal Investigator for university-level research
Lecturer in Health Informatics
Project coordination experience
Undergraduate research supervision
20+ peer-reviewed publications

Current Research Focus

I am currently leading a university-level mid-scale research project aimed at developing a machine learning-based prognostic model for preterm birth among pregnant women in hospitals within Ethiopia's Afar Region.

Education

Master of Public Health Informatics

University of Gondar, Ethiopia

Nov 2021 - Aug 2023

College of Medicine and Health Science, Institute of Public Health

Thesis Grade: Excellent

Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics

Mattu University, Ethiopia

Sep 2017 - Jan 2021

College of Health Science

Awards & Certifications

AI in Health Hackathon Winner (Orbit Health)
IBM Data Science Professional (Coursera)
Systematic Review & Meta-analysis (JBI)

Professional Experience

AI Engineer

Orbit Ailabs

January 2026 - Present

  • Developing and deploying AI-powered clinical decision support systems to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient outcome prediction in health facilities.
  • Designing and implementing machine learning pipelines for health data analysis, enabling intelligent automation of disease surveillance and public health reporting.

Data Manager

dHDDS (Health Demographic and Surveillance System)

January 2026 - Present

  • Designing and implementing the data collection system to support efficient, standardized, and scalable HDSS data capture across field sites.
  • Ensuring the data quality, management, and storage of HDSS data through regular validation, auditing, and secure database maintenance protocols.
  • Performing data cleaning and preprocessing to ensure datasets are accurate, consistent, and ready for analysis and reporting.
  • Managing data documentation and metadata to maintain comprehensive records of data sources, definitions, collection methods, and processing workflows.

Project Coordinator

Capacity Building and Mentorship Project (CBMP)

August 2024 - Present Afar Region, Ethiopia

  • Responsible for monitoring and coordinating RHIS implementation and Health System strengthening in 4 woredas of Afar region
  • Plan and implement specific components of HSS interventions in the region in collaboration with central office
  • Conduct Information Revolution assessment and provide technical guidance and support to healthcare facilities

Samara University

College of Medicine and Health Science

April 2021 - Present ยท 4+ years

Head Department of Health Informatics

Full-time

October 2025 - Present

  • Beside my teaching and community service roles I am Responsible of managing and coordinating department level activities

Lecturer

Full-time

August 2023 - Present

  • Teach courses: System Analysis & Design, Health Data Analytics, eHealth and C++
  • Supervise undergraduate students in their final year research and project development
  • Coordinate academic activities in the department

Assistant Lecturer

Full-time

April 2021 - November 2021

  • Delivered courses related to information technology and public health
  • Assisted Health Informatics students with their final year projects

Research & Publications

Featured Publications

Forecasting tuberculosis in Ethiopia using deep learning: progress toward sustainable development goal evidence from global burden of disease

Tadese ZB, Arage, F.G., Tsegaw, T.K. et al. (2025)

BMC Infect Dis 25, 870 (2025) doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-11228-3

View Publication

Exploring machine learning algorithms for predicting fertility preferences among reproductive age women in Nigeria

Tadese ZB, Nimani TD, Mare KU, Gubena F, Wali IG and Sani J (2025)

Front. Digit. Health 6:1495382 doi: 10.3389/fdgh.2024.1495382

View Publication

Interpretable prediction of acute respiratory infection disease among under-five children in Ethiopia using ensemble machine learning and Shapley additive explanations (SHAP)

Tadese ZB, Hailu DT, Abebe AW, et al.

DIGITAL HEALTH, 2024:10 doi: 10.1177/20552076241272739

View Publication

Prediction of incomplete immunization among under-five children in East Africa from recent demographic and health surveys: a machine learning approach

Tadese, Z.B., Nigatu, A.M., Yehuala, T.Z. et al.

Sci Rep 14, 11529 (2024) doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62641-8

View Publication

Cervical cancer screening uptake and its associated factor in Sub-Sharan Africa: a machine learning approach.

Arage, F.G., Tadese, Z.B., Taye, E.A. et al.

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 25, 127 (2025) doi: 10.1186/s12911-025-03039-y

View Publication
View All Publications (20+)

Event Gallery

Professional events, conferences, and achievements

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Research Projects

Machine Learning-Based Prognostic Model for Preterm Birth
Principal Investigator
Afar Region Hospitals, Ethiopia

Leading a university-level mid-scale research project to develop a machine learning-based prognostic model for preterm birth among pregnant women in Ethiopia's Afar Region hospitals.

  • Utilizes Python (TensorFlow, scikit-learn) for model development
  • Focuses on improving early intervention in low-resource settings
  • Incorporates clinical datasets from regional hospitals
Capacity Building and Mentorship Program (CBMP)
Project Coordinator
Multi-institutional Collaboration

The Capacity Building and Mentorship Program (CBMP) is a collaborative initiative established in 2017 involving the Ministry of Health (MoH), six local universities and regional health bureaus. Its primary aim is to offer technical support to the Ministry of Health and regional health bureaus on health information systems, digital health, and evidence generation for various health programs.

  • Funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ministry of Health, USAID through DHA
  • Technical support on health information systems and digital health
  • Evidence generation for various health programs

Skills & Expertise

Programming & Development

Python 90%
HTML/CSS 85%
SQL 80%
JavaScript 70%

Machine Learning & AI

Scikit-learn 90%
TensorFlow 85%
Deep Learning 80%
NLP 75%

Data Analysis & Visualization

Pandas/NumPy 95%
Matplotlib/Seaborn 90%
STATA 90%
SPSS 80%

Health Informatics Tools

FHIR 85%
HL7 80%
EHR Systems 90%
GIS/Spatial Analysis 75%

Contact Me

Get In Touch

Feel free to reach out for collaborations, research opportunities, or any inquiries.

Location

Samara University, Ethiopia