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Gelila K. Goba (Ge'ez: ገሊላ ኪዳኑ ጎባ 1973)] is an Ethiopian-American physician and global women’s health leader. Dr. Goba is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Director of the Global Women’s Health Fellowship at UIC. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University (United States) and Jimma University (Ethiopia). Prior to living in the United States, Dr. Goba managed EngenderHealth’s Country Office from 2005 – 2009 and was Department Head Department Head, Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Early life
Dr. Goba was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[1] She completed secondary school at Lideta Catholic Cathedral School, one of Addis Ababa's elite primary and secondary private schools. The daughter of an Auditor in Ethiopia’s Office of the Federal Auditor General and Assistant in the Federal Prison Commission, Gelila graduated from Lideta School in 1991 with numerous accolades and distinctions. She joined Jimma University undergraduate medicine program in 1991 and graduated from the program with honors in 1998. While at Jimma, Gelila had the privilege of training under Dr. Feiruz Surur and other leaders in Obsterics and Gyncology in Ethiopia. Gelila was invited to undertake a Fellowship supported by the Gates Foundation and Packard Foundation in 2003 – 04, which led to her completion of a Masters in Public Health in 2005.

Career
Dr. Goba began her post-medical career as a General Practitioner at Ras Desta Damtew Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa. After two years practicing medicine, she transferred to the Addis Ababa Health Bureau, where she was promoted to Department Head, Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health. In this capacity, Dr. Goba worked regularly with current Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom. She led vaccination campaigns reaching millions of women and children and was an early and strong advocate for women’s health.

Dr. Goba completed a one-year fellowship at the University of Washington jointly funded by the Gates and Packard Foundations. Upon returning to Ethiopia, she worked as Team Leader at IntraHealth and then as Country Representative for EngenderHealth, where she oversaw activities in Ethiopia and Sudan. While at EngenderHealth, Dr. Goba raised millions in private foundation and USAID funding for women’s health and HIV/AIDS programming.

Dr. Goba continued in her commitment to women’s health by undertaking a second residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology from Northwestern University in Chicago, USA. Upon graduation, she was offered the position of Assistant Professor and General Practitioner at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she works currently. She is a member of ACOG Global Operations Advisory Committee and Committee for Underserved and Minority Women. She also serves on the Faculty Senate at UIC.

Research
Dr. Goba’s research is focused on human papilloma virus (HPV) and the biological and sociological pathways leading to cervical cancer. She is Technical Advisor on an MRC-funded multi-country study of the epidemiology, economic and attitudinal evidence to inform policy-making about HPV vaccine. Dr. Goba is leading novel research on the intersection between HPV and structural violence through a grant from the UI Cancer Center. As part of the study, Dr. Goba and fellow researchers are mapping HPV data onto Chicago’s 77 community areas and triangulating this with neighborhood-level data around poverty, to see if neighborhood determinants of cervical cancer exist.

Dr. Goba founded the Mela Project, a near decades-long collaboration with Mekelle University to establish a “center of excellence” in obstetrics and gynecology at the northern university. Through 2020, Mela has facilitated more than 40 bi-directional faculty visits and numerous research and training collaborations.

Awards
Dr. Gelila was selected for the inaugural Marten-Peterson Global Health Scholar award presented by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She has received numerous teaching and research awards. Dr. Goba's experience as a foreign medical graduate was featured in the Chicago Tribune.