Fawad Alam has worked as a Senior Data Analyst for Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (EOC) polio program since 2019, where he currently leads the joint CDC/Integral Global data team in Pakistan. Prior to this work, Fawad obtained a master’s in computer science and spent 5 years as an IT Associate at the United Nations World Food Program.
Fawad Alam, Pakistan
What is Fawad currently working on?
In his current role, Fawad’s responsibilities include conducting risk assessments, impact assessments, and running data analysis capacity building activities for the polio program’s staff. Although there is a strong centralized data system at the EOC, Fawad has specifically identified a need to strengthen the program’s approach to rapid data analysis, so that knowledge gained from their data collection can be used to inform the same campaign, as opposed to just future campaigns. To achieve this goal, Fawad has led various capacity building initiatives focusing on rapid data analytics. Now, district-level data from polio program campaigns are collected and analyzed same-day and are then presented to the district EOC in an evening review meeting so that the findings can be used to improve planning, monitoring, and decision-making for the next day’s activities.
In the future, Fawad is eager to enhance his analytical approach for the polio program by incorporating modeling and predictive analysis strategies. Currently, he is looking to use regression models in order to identify factors associated with children who were missed by the polio campaigns as well as conduct impact assessments when new interventions are incorporated into the polio campaign design.
Ultimately, Fawad, emphasizes the importance of data in decision making, especially for planning, risk assessment, and surveillance activities within Pakistan’s polio program. He is thankful for the support of his supervisor and mentors who fully trust his decision making and always recognize his work.
