Abraha Hailu weldegerima, MD, FACC; Associate Professor , Consultant Internist and Interventional Cardiologist, Mekelle University; Ethiopia Dr Abraha is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Mekelle University, in Mekelle, Ethiopia, where he has served since 2005. An interventional cardiologist trained in Rome, he helped establish the university’s cardiac catheterization laboratory and pioneered independent coronary interventions and pacemaker implantation in northern Ethiopia and helped organize PTMC and other interventions with his local and international collaborators at the university hospital since 2016, expanding access to these services beyond the capital Addis Ababa. He leads the Guideline-Based Prevention and Control of Rheumatic Heart Disease (PrevRHD) Program in Tigray region in northern Ethiopia in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and others on prevention, professional training, guideline development, and advocacy. Dr Abraha served as site Principal Investigator for the multinational INVICTUS trial, and is currently Ethiopia’s country PI for RIC-AFRICA clinical trial. His research includes Cardiovascular care and epidemiology in Sub Saharan Africa. His leadership roles have included: Head of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and cardiology unit, College’s academic Registrar, Head of the Dep't of Internal Medicine among others. He contributes as an associate editor of the East African Journal of Health Sciences.