Bekri Delil Mohammed, a first-year student in Heller's Master of Science in Global Health Policy and Management program, recently participated in and presented a poster at the 150th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association (ANA2025), held from September 13–16, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. This scientific symposium highlighted cutting-edge research in neurology, featured poster sessions with emerging science, and included professional development workshops to help academic neurologists and neuroscientists at all career levels connect and excel.
“I was able to attend this important event thanks to funding from Heller, which helped cover all related expenses,” said Mohammed. “I am deeply grateful for this support, as it allowed me to share our work, expand my professional network and learn from leading experts in the field.”
The research Mohammed presented focused on the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS) in Ethiopia. GBS is one of the leading causes of acute flaccid paralysis worldwide, requiring intensive care and long-term rehabilitation, and placing a substantial burden on health care systems.
GBS is a post-infectious disease that causes paralysis due to immune-mediated damage to the peripheral nervous system, resulting in varying degrees of motor dysfunction, sensory impairment, and autonomic instability. The severity of disability is often measured using the Hughes Functional Disability Scale (HFDS), which ranges from 0 (healthy) to 6 (death). Although many patients recover, about 14% experience severe disability one year after onset, and a significant proportion live with persistent deficits or incomplete recovery.
While GBS has been extensively studied in high-income countries, there is limited data from low-income regions such as Ethiopia. This study, conducted at one of Addis Ababa’s largest hospitals, aimed to fill this gap by analyzing the clinical profiles and factors associated with mortality and poor outcomes among hospitalized adults.
Researchers found a 10% mortality rate and 45% of patients with grade 3 (able to walk with help) or higher at discharge, outcomes significantly worse than those reported in high-resource settings. These findings, published in Scientific Reports, underscore how limited access to affordable treatments and critical care services, coupled with broader socioeconomic barriers, contribute to delayed care and poorer outcomes, and highlight the need to strengthen health systems and address global inequities in clinical care.
“As a current master’s student in Global Health Policy and Management at the Heller School, this research deeply connects to my academic focus on health equity and policy reform,” said Mohammed. “Studying global health systems and evidence-based policy interventions at Heller is helping me translate findings like these into policy strategies that can strengthen health systems, improve access to clinical care, and reduce global disparities in health outcomes.”