October 10, 2023, at the Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University at a meeting of the dissertation council in the specialty «Public Health» the defense of a dissertation in English took place for the first time
The dissertation of PhD doctoral student Iskakova Balnur on the topic “Measuring HIV-related stigma in healthcare settings” was completed at the Department of “Epidemiology with a course in HIV infection” of the Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University.
The official reviewers for this work were Aringazina Altyn — Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor at AlmaU Sharmanov School of Health Sciences, and Baiserkin Bauyrzhan — Doctor of Medical Sciences, Director of the «Kazakh Scientific Center for Dermatology and Infectious Diseases» of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The scientific consultant of the doctoral student is Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Epidemiology with a course in HIV infection of the Asfendiyarov KazNMU Nugmanova Zhamilya.
Foreign consultant – PhD, assосiate Professor, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. University of Michigan (USA) Elizabeth King.
Leading scientists in this field took part in the work of the council: Ospanova Dinara – Doctor of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the “Nursing” course of the Fundamental Medicine department of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University; Doskhozhaeva Saule – Doctor of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Educational Institution “Kazakhstan-Russian Medical University”, as well as foreign experts: Deryabina Anna – MD, DrPH, regional director of Columbia University ICAP Eurasia and Gustafson Deborah – PhD, Professor of the University of Medical Sciences Downstate State University of New York (New York, USA).
Doctoral student Iskakova Balnur graduated with a bachelor’s degree in “Medical and Preventive Care” at the Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University in 2012. Received a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from Newcastle University (UK) in 2017. From 2018-2021 she studied in doctoral studies in Public Health at KazNMU. To complete the scientific and educational component, Balnur conducted research work in primary healthcare organizations and completed a research internship at the AIDS Center in Almaty.
As part of doctoral studies, Iskakova B.A. took part in an academic mobility program at the State University of New York at Albany (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology), which focuses on HIV research.
The chairman of the dissertation council, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Maksut Kulzhanov congratulated his colleagues on their successful defense and noted the contribution of the doctoral student and his supervisors to the development of medical science.
