The Medical Library Association (MLA), The International Cooperation Caucus (ICC), and the ICC Cunningham Fellowship Itinerary Committee are thrilled to welcome our 2020-2023 Cunningham Memorial International Fellows.
This year we have the extreme pleasure of hosting four fellows who are spending three weeks traveling to various libraries in Washington D.C./Baltimore, Chicago, and Ann Arbor. Our host libraries have put together a combination of engaging, thoughtful and collaborative programs based on the professional interests of our fellows, and have even built in time for them to see the sites of the beautiful cities they are visiting. Our fellows hit the ground running with days spent at The Welch Library at Johns Hopkins and the NIH Library. They are continuing their travels with stops at George Washington University, University of Chicago, Northwestern, Rush, and the University of Michigan.
Their experience will culminate at MLA | SLA 2023 in Detroit. Among other activities, they will join six others as ‘Living Book’ and ‘Virtual Book’ presenters for the International Cooperation Caucus, Social Justice and Health Disparities Caucus, and Health Equity and Global Health Living Library format Immersion Session, “Forging Ahead: Key Insights on Global Health and Health Equity from Around the World,” May 17, 10:30am - 12:00pm, Room 142C.
Please take a moment to read the Fellows' biographies and keep an eye out for them at the annual conference. Please say hello and make them feel welcome so we can all forge ahead together to experience an amazing meeting!
Anar Dautova - Kazakhstan
My name is Anar Dautova. I have bachelor's and master's degrees in library science. At Nazarbayev University School of Medicine Library, I provide services in English, Russian, and Kazakh languages, including but not limited to orientation sessions, information literacy training, weekly reference workshops, collection development, teaching online Library classes, and others. One of my major goals at the fellowship is to learn the organization of MLA, meet with its leaders, and ideally have a mentor who can guide me through the process of creating an association, interlibrary loan, and medical resources. Also, I am interested in learning how to support users in conducting a systematic review and other services, particularly for the medical field.
Khutsafalo Kadimo - Botswana
I am a well-experienced librarian (and a Ph.D. student) who served several years in agriculture information systems (2009 – 2013) and health information systems (2013 – present). Currently, I serve as a research-support librarian at the University of Botswana (UB), Faculty of Medicine, embedded in the Department of Research and Graduate Studies. I provide all the encompassing research services and coordinate the reporting of Faculty of Medicine research activities. Also, I am an alternate member of the UB Biomedical Institutional Review Board. I have published in several journals and also reviewed papers for academic journals. Apart from working for the UB, I also serve as the secretary for the Botswana Library Consortium, a Member of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) and Country Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) Copyright Coordinator. Also, a member of the Botswana Library Association, Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) – Nigeria chapter, and the Network of African Medical Librarians (NAML). Recently I have been appointed the New User Representative to Research4Life Executive Council.
Kubra Zayim Gedik - Turkey
I have been working in the field of librarianship since 2011. My career as a librarian started during my undergraduate student years. I worked as a library assistant at Istanbul University Library. After completing my graduate degree, I continued to work in different university libraries. I have been working as a specialist in the library since 2016. I took a break from my job as I will start my doctoral education this year. I continue to work as a Lecturer. My lessons include: Research Management, Health Services, Classification and Coding of Diseases, Quality Methods and Standards in Health. I take part in national and international professional associations related to librarianship. I was elected as a Council member for Turkey in EAHIL. I am a board member of the University and Research Librarians Association (URLA) in Turkey. Also, I take part in the Medicine and Health Sciences working group and Sustainable Libraries (about SDGs) working group at URLA. I like to take part in professional organizations. In EAHIL 2021 Virtual Workshop, I was a co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee. Every year I take part in an organization related to librarianship in Turkey. I continue to work to become a Creative Commons and Wikimedia volunteer in the near future.
Mercy Wamunyima Monde - Zambia
Mrs. Monde Mercy Wamunyima is the Acting Head of the Medical Library at the University of Zambia School of Medicine. She holds a Certificate in Nursing from the Lewanika School of Nursing in Zambia, with 17-year nursing experience. Mercy has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Library Information Science from the University of Zambia. She has interests in evidence-based healthcare, medicine, nursing, and systematic reviews. Mercy's motivation in EBM and systematic review is due to her background in health and the desire to enhance better health outcomes owing to the high disease burden and limited access to resources and specialists in lower resource settings. There is also a need to embed EBM/EBP Skills among clinicians, faculty, and students through the curriculum which currently is not there. Mercy is involved in various health information research and projects to enhance health information in Africa. Currently, she is an executive member of The Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) as well as a Better Evidence Champion at the University of Zambia.
International Cooperation Caucus Cunningham Fellowship Committee
Ana Corral, Sheila Green, Mary Beth McAteer, Virginia (Ginny) Pannabecker
