Abera Tura started his career as a Bachelor Science degree Nurse in 2006 at Haramaya University, Ethiopia as a graduate assistant. He then graduated with a Master of Public Health specialising in Reproductive Health in 2010. After working as a lecturer in the same university, Abera joined University Medical Centre Groningen for his PhD, studying on maternal near miss and maternal mortality in eastern Ethiopia. He completed his PhD in June 2019 and returned to Haramaya University where he founded and led several projects aimed at improving maternal and child health in Ethiopia.

In close collaboration with the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford and Leiden University Medical Centre, Abera is the founder of the Ethiopian Obstetric Surveillance System – inspired by the UK Obstetric Surveillance System – adapting the system to Ethiopian context to register severe maternal outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth and conduct confidential enquiry into maternal deaths. Abera has also introduced projects like PartoMa-Ethiopia (focusing on improving intrapartum care through continuous low dose high frequency trainings and seminars), EthiOMICS (Ethiopian Pregnancy and early life microbiome to assess changes in microbiome during pregnancy and its effect on birth outcomes), and AFRICARhE (African Initiative on eradicating rhesus disease in Africa).

Prior to joining Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in 2024, Abera was an associate professor of maternal and newborn health and associate director of school of graduate studies (college of health and medical sciences) in Haramaya University.