Sema Sgaier

Sema K. Sgaier is a scientist, global health expert, and documentary photographer. Sgaier’s expertise includes molecular biology, genetics, genomics, neuroscience, epidemiology, disease surveillance, monitoring & evaluation of programs and policy development.

Sema Sgaier
Born1975 (age 47–48)
Tripoli, Libya
Occupation(s)Scientist, Global Health expert, Documentary photographer

Sema is an assistant adjunct professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health[1] and an affiliate assistant professor of global health at the University of Washington.[2]

Research

Sgaier was the first to fine tune and apply the technique of Genetic Inducible Fate Mapping (GIFM)[3] to understand how the complex 3D cerebellum develops from early-undifferentiated neuronal cells of the anterior hindbrain.[4] With Tim Yu and colleagues, she discovered that mutations in the gene WDR62 causes microcephaly.[5]

At the Center for Global Health Research, Sgaier designed and developed the Sample Registration Health Check-Up Survey to study the underlying risk factors of various diseases in India. She has published on the epidemiology of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

From 2008, Sema was a Program Officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She led a portfolio on voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention across eastern and southern Africa. As part of BMGF’s India Country Office, Sema led the scale-up of the foundation’s HIV prevention program (Avahan) in several states, managed its transition to the government of India, and developed data platforms for decision-making. She worked closely with the Indian National AIDS Control Program to assist in the design of their program and strengthen their analytic efforts.[6]

Early life

Sgaier was born in 1975 in Tripoli, Libya to a Libyan father and Turkish mother. Sgaier studied Molecular Biology and Genetics at Boğaziçi University (Istanbul, Turkey) where she graduated with her Bachelor of Science in 2005, ranking first of her class. Sgaier later obtained her Masters in Art in Neuroscience from Brown University in 1999 and Masters in Science and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Cellular and Molecular Biology (Developmental Genetics) in 2005 from New York University. She conducted her Postdoctoral training in Human Genomics in the Lab of Dr. Christopher A. Walsh at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School.

Sema is the recipient of New York University, Brown University fellowships and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center fellowships.

Sgaier studied Documentary Photography at the International Center of Photography.

List of works

Research articles
  1. Sgaier, Sema K.; Engl, Elisabeth; Smittenaar, P. (2019). "Identifying population segments for effective intervention design and targeting using unsupervised machine learning: an end-to-end guide [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]". Gates Open Research. 3: 1503. doi:10.12688/gatesopenres.13029.2. PMC 6820452. PMID 31701090.
  2. Engl, E; Kretschmer, S; Jain, M; Sharma, S; Prasad, R; Ramesh, BM (2019). "Categorizing and assessing comprehensive drivers of provider behavior for optimizing quality of health care". PLOS ONE. 14 (4): e0214922. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1414922E. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0214922. PMC 6469845. PMID 30995274.
  3. Sgaier, Sema K.; Ramakrishnan, Aparajita; Wadhwani, Alkesh; Bhalla, Aparajita; Menon, Hari; Baerg, James; Alexander, Ashok (2018). "Achieving scale rapidly in public health: Applying business management principles to scale up an HIV prevention program in India". Healthcare. 6 (3): 210–217. doi:10.1016/j.hjdsi.2017.09.002. PMID 28943225.
  4. Gumede-Moyo, Sehlulekile; Kretschmer, Steve (2017). "A case study for a psychographic-behavioral segmentation approach for targeted demand generation in voluntary medical male circumcision". eLife. 6. doi:10.7554/eLife.25923. PMC 5628013. PMID 28901285.
  5. Sgaier, S.K.; Baer, J; Rutz, DC; Njeuhmeli, E; Seifert-Ahanda, A; Basinga, P; Parkyn, R; Laube, C. (2015). "Toward a Systematic Approach to Generating Demand for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Insights and Results From Field Studies". Glob Health Sci Pract. 3 (2): 209–229. doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00020. PMC 4476860. PMID 26085019.
  6. Sgaier, S.K.; Reed, JB; Thomas, A; Njeuhmeli, E (2014). "Achieving the HIV Prevention Impact of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Lessons and Challenges for Managing Programs". PLOS Med. 11 (5): e1001641. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001641. PMC 4011573. PMID 24800840.
  7. Njeuhmeli, E; Hatzold, K; Gold, E; Mahler, H; Kripke, K; Seifert-Ahanda, K; Castor, D; Mavhu, W; Mugurungi, O; Ncube, G; Koshuma, S; Sgaier, S; Conly, SR; Kasedde, S (2014). "Lessons learned from scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcision focusing on adolescents: benefits, challenges, and potential opportunities for linkages with adolescent HIV, sexual, and reproductive health services". Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 66 (Suppl 2): S193-9. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000000179. PMID 24918595. S2CID 35785094.
  8. Sgaier, S.K.; Anthony, J; Bhattacharjee, P; Baer, J; Malve, V; Bhalla, A; Hugar, VS (2014). "Strengthening government management capacity to scale up HIV prevention programs through the use of Technical Support Units: lessons from Karnataka state, India". Glob Health Sci Pract. 2 (4): 444–58. doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-14-00141. PMC 4307860. PMID 25611478.
  9. Engl, E; Sgaier, SK (2020). "CUBES: A practical toolkit to measure enablers and barriers to behavior for effective intervention design [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]". Gates Open Research. 3 (886): 886. doi:10.12688/gatesopenres.12923.2. PMC 6601426. PMID 31294419.
  10. Arora, P.; Nagelkerke, N.; Sgaier, S. K.; Kumar, R.; Dhingra, N.; Jha, P. (2011). "HIV, HSV-2 and syphilis among married couples in India: Patterns of discordance and concordance". Sexually Transmitted Infections. 87 (6): 516–20. doi:10.1136/sextrans-2011-050203. PMID 21865404. S2CID 13820421.
  11. Sgaier, S. K.; Mony, P.; Jayakumar, S.; McLaughlin, C.; Arora, P.; Kumar, R.; Bhatia, P.; Jha, P. (2010). "Prevalence and correlates of Herpes Simplex Virus-2 and syphilis infections in the general population in India". Sexually Transmitted Infections. 87 (2): 94–100. doi:10.1136/sti.2010.043687. PMID 21059842. S2CID 8556425.
  12. Yu, Timothy W; Mochida, Ganeshwaran H; Tischfield, David J; Sgaier, Sema K; Flores-Sarnat, Laura; Sergi, Consolato M; Topçu, Meral; McDonald, Marie T; et al. (2010). "Mutations in WDR62, encoding a centrosome-associated protein, cause microcephaly with simplified gyri and abnormal cortical architecture". Nature Genetics. 42 (11): 1015–20. doi:10.1038/ng.683. PMC 2969850. PMID 20890278.
  13. Cheng, Y.; Sudarov, A.; Szulc, K. U.; Sgaier, S. K.; Stephen, D.; Turnbull, D. H.; Joyner, A. L. (2010). "The Engrailed homeobox genes determine the different foliation patterns in the vermis and hemispheres of the mammalian cerebellum". Development. 137 (3): 519–29. doi:10.1242/dev.027045. PMC 2858911. PMID 20081196.
  14. Sgaier, S. K.; Jha, P.; Mony, P.; Kurpad, A.; Lakshmi, V.; Kumar, R.; Ganguly, N. K. (2007). "PUBLIC HEALTH: Biobanks in Developing Countries: Needs and Feasibility". Science. 318 (5853): 1074–5. doi:10.1126/science.1149157. PMID 18006727. S2CID 166785291.
  15. Chen, Li; Jha, Prabhat; Stirling, Bridget; Sgaier, Sema K.; Daid, Tina; Kaul, Rupert; Nagelkerke, Nico; International Studies of HIV/AIDS (ISHA) Investigators (2007). Siegfried, Nandi (ed.). "Sexual Risk Factors for HIV Infection in Early and Advanced HIV Epidemics in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Overview of 68 Epidemiological Studies". PLOS ONE. 2 (10): e1001. Bibcode:2007PLoSO...2.1001C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001001. PMC 1994584. PMID 17912340. open access
  16. Sgaier, S. K.; Lao, Z.; Villanueva, M. P.; Berenshteyn, F.; Stephen, D.; Turnbull, R. K.; Joyner, A. L. (2007). "Genetic subdivision of the tectum and cerebellum into functionally related regions based on differential sensitivity to engrailed proteins". Development. 134 (12): 2325–35. doi:10.1242/dev.000620. PMC 2840613. PMID 17537797.
  17. Nagelkerke, Nico JD; Bernsen, Roos MD; Sgaier, Sema; Jha, Prabhat (2006). "Body mass index, sexual behaviour, and sexually transmitted infections: An analysis using the NHANES 1999-2000 data". BMC Public Health. 6: 199. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-199. PMC 1559603. PMID 16884541. open access
  18. Atit, Radhika; Sgaier, Sema K.; Mohamed, Othman A.; Taketo, Makoto M.; Dufort, Daniel; Joyner, Alexandra L.; Niswander, Lee; Conlon, Ronald A. (2006). "Β-catenin activation is necessary and sufficient to specify the dorsal dermal fate in the mouse". Developmental Biology. 296 (1): 164–76. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.04.449. PMID 16730693.
  19. Sgaier, Sema K.; Millet, Sandrine; Villanueva, Melissa P.; Berenshteyn, Frada; Song, Christian; Joyner, Alexandra L. (2005). "Morphogenetic and Cellular Movements that Shape the Mouse Cerebellum". Neuron. 45 (1): 27–40. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.021. PMID 15629700. S2CID 17199408.

Book chapters
  1. Ramakrishnan, A., Sgaier, S.K., Alexander, A. Scaling HIV Prevention through Partnerships – The Avahan Experience in India. Innovative Health Partnerships- The Diplomacy of Diversity. World Scientific Pub Co Inc, 2011.
  2. Sgaier, S.K. Berenshteyn, F., Joyner, A.L., Miller, S., Song, C. Villanueva, M.P. The Concept of Fate Through the Lens of Genetics, in Beesley, P., S. Hirosue, J. Ruxton, M. Tränkle, C. Turner Eds. Responsive Architectures: Subtle Technologies. Riverside Architectural Press, Cambridge, 2006 pp. 26–29

Articles
  1. Stanford Social Innovation Review: Time to Scale Psycho-Behavioral Segmentation in Global Development. Fall 2018.
  2. Stanford Social Innovation Review: Design Thinking Without Deep Data Will Fail Our Customers in Global Health. Feb. 14, 2019.
  3. Project Syndicate: Why So Many Newborns and Mothers Still Die. Jun 17, 2019.
  4. Stanford Social Innovation Review: Demystifying Machine Learning for Global Development. Jul. 24, 2019.
  5. Harvard Business Review: Using AI to Understand What Causes Diseases. November 8, 2019

References
  1. "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health".
  2. "University of Washington".
  3. Joyner, Alexandra L.; Zervas, Mark (2006). "Genetic inducible fate mapping in mouse: Establishing genetic lineages and defining genetic neuroanatomy in the nervous system". Developmental Dynamics. 235 (9): 2376–85. doi:10.1002/dvdy.20884. PMID 16871622. S2CID 24550187.
  4. Sgaier, Sema K.; Millet, Sandrine; Villanueva, Melissa P.; Berenshteyn, Frada; Song, Christian; Joyner, Alexandra L. (2005). "Morphogenetic and Cellular Movements that Shape the Mouse Cerebellum". Neuron. 45 (1): 27–40. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.021. PMID 15629700. S2CID 17199408.
  5. Yu, Timothy W; Mochida, Ganeshwaran H; Tischfield, David J; Sgaier, Sema K; Flores-Sarnat, Laura; Sergi, Consolato M; Topçu, Meral; McDonald, Marie T; et al. (2010). "Mutations in WDR62, encoding a centrosome-associated protein, cause microcephaly with simplified gyri and abnormal cortical architecture". Nature Genetics. 42 (11): 1015–20. doi:10.1038/ng.683. PMC 2969850. PMID 20890278.
  6. "Home". www.iasociety.org. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
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