Farhana Alarakhiya, Chief Data Innovation Officer at The Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya, has been named a recipient of the 2026 HIMSS Changemaker in Health Award in the category of Global Patient Innovator. The award recognizes the steadfast and forward-thinking work Alarakhiya has done to improve patient care on a global scale by leveraging the power of data and technology.
Alarakhiya has led the way in Aga Khan University’s investment in (and use of) data. Her team spearheaded the deployment of a modern, cloud-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) system across Kenya, making it possible to turn raw data into actionable insights not just in research and policy, but in tangible patient outcomes. She believes that solutions from high-income countries often fail when they’re not thoughtfully adapted to different environments.
This Changemaker award underscores Alarakhiya’s belief that before you can start working on solutions, you must understand the scale and the nature of the problems you are trying to solve. She focuses not just on innovation, but on innovation in context, and she has used this focus to effect large-scale change that does much more than play catch-up — it pushes the delivery of excellent patient care that can become a model and an inspiration globally.
“Farhana embodies exactly what this award represents — a commitment to empowering healthcare professionals and tangibly improving the lives of patients through technology,” said MEDITECH Chief Nursing Executive Cathy Turner, RN. We find it so meaningful that our solution is part of her work driving innovation in healthcare in Africa.”
