Biography of Dr Stella Bitanyi (PhD)

Dr Stella Bitanyi (PhD) is a doctor of  Veterinary Medicine and married mother of three children. She holds  Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) in Veterinary Medicine and Sciences, Department of Production Animal Clinical Science, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science – Oslo Norway (2008 -2012), Master in Veterinary Medicine (Veterinary Public Health) with a GPA 4.3, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania (2003 – 2005) and a  Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) Unclassified degree from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania (1996 – 2001 ). During her career development she had attended training on Risk Management Policy, PLANREP budgeting program, Methodologies for Laboratory Leaders for the Sustainment of Biorisk Management Programs and Human Capacity, Consultative workshop to design sustainable community-based Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccination program for village poultry in Ethiopia, Pretest of ND prevention and control Master Trainer Course, National Veterinary Research Institute, VOM – Plateau State – Nigeria, Retreat meeting to Develop Quality Manual for Tanzania Vaccine Institute for Intenational Standard ISO 9001: 2015, funded by FAO Tanzania, Biorisk Management, Management training to TVLA managers and Directors, Institutional Self Assessment (ISA)and Training on I-2 Newcastle Disease Vaccine production and Quality Control (Theory and Practical sessions), Workshop on Agricultural Research Connections (Livestock Research for Development). She is fluent in English and Swahili (Spoken and Written).

Dr Stella is currently a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency – from 1^st December 2020. Before being promoted  to the top postion, she was a Manager – Tanzania Vaccine Institute (TVI) – Kibaha, Tanzania, a section under Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA) (2013-2020), Veterinary Officer at Zonal Veterinary Centre (ZVC), Dar Es Salaam – Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development (2007 – 2012), Veterinarian at Kimara Vet Consult, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (2006 – April 2007) and Training Coordinator for Mogabiri Farm Extension Centre (MFEC)- Anglican Diocese of Mara, Tarime – Tanzania,  from August 2001 - August 2003. Also, she was a Secretary to the Presidents Special Technical Advisory Committee to address COVID-19 in Tanzania (April – June 2021), Secretary to Ministerial Advisory Board (MAB) of Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA) (2020 to Date) and a Board member to Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI) - by virtue of my position at TVLA (2020 to Date)

She has dedicated her time in Laboratory research using basic and advanced virology, bacteriology and immunology techniques, production, potency and efficacy tests for various bacterial and viral animal vaccines since 2013. She has done research on Molecular sequencing techniques for evaluation of the effectiveness of the designed cytochrome oxidase subunit I, COI (barcode) in identification and discrimination of various bovidae species and its usefulness in forensic related cases commonly found in illegal hunting. Furthermore, the study assessed people’s awareness and perception to illegal hunting using questionnaires in three districts of western Serengeti and Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sokoine University of Agriculture. She counts her contribution on Development and production of combined (bivalent) vaccine for Anthrax and Rlackquarter (TECOBLAX) , Determination of shelf life of Newcastle Disease Vaccine (strain I-2) using stability chambers, Lyophilization and dose standardization for Brucella S-19 vaccine, Development and production of lyophilized Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP) vaccine and Development and production of Contagious Caprine PleuroPneumonia (CCPP) vaccine as her vital lifetime career achievement.

Dr Stella is a beneficiary of awards and scholarships including the Belgian Technical Cooperation Agency (BTC) – Scholarship for Msc studies (  2003 – 2005 ), Norwegian Program for Development, Research and Education (NUFU) – Scholarship for Doctoral studies – Research fellow (2007 – 2012), Certificate of good leadership by Kenya School of Government as Class President to Management Skills Development for Veterinary Staff from the Greater horn of Africa (2015/2016) and  Evaluation and Production of CBPP vaccine - Project manager Funded by government of Tanzania, under Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (2017 to date)Principal Investigator for the research project “Upgrading of veterinary vaccine Quality Control laboratory at Tanzania Vaccine Institute, Kibaha funded by  COSTECH (2018 – 2020) and Principal Investigator for the research project “Development of vaccine against Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia for productivity of goats in Tanzania, funded by COSTECH (2019 -2021). She has successful published seven (7) scientific publications in peer reviewed journals and nine (9) conference papers.