RCSI | SURG-Africa Consortium Coordinator and Lead Research Partner
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Principal Investigator: Professor Ruairí Brugha
Head of Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine Professor Ruairí Brugha is Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at RCSI since 2005. Having qualified as a medical doctor in 1980, he spent six years working in Africa in the 1980s and 90s, where he acquired first-hand, hands-on experience of the realities of delivering hospital care including surgery to rural populations. He then trained as a public health medicine specialist; and spent 10 years at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he was Head of the Health Policy Unit and editor of Health Policy and Planning. He teaches on health systems and policy to medical and PhD students at RCSI. Ruairí’s research interests lie in global and Irish health systems and policy, with a particular focus on generating new evidence on surgical systems and the surgical workforce in Africa, as Coordinator of the COST Africa project and now of SURG-Africa. Much of his Irish research has been on the migration of doctors into and out of Ireland – see RCSI Health Workforce Research Group – and he was co-Chair of the Programme Committee of the WHO Global Health Workforce Symposium in Dublin, November 2017. Ruairi has secured four European Union grants, including the two on global surgery that he has coordinated, totaling €9 million; three large grants from Irish Aid, to support his research in Africa; and four Health Research Board (HRB) grants on Irish health workforce research. He has 125 articles indexed in Pubmed and 170 in Researchgate. In all of his research, Ruairi has demonstrated a commitment to effect positive change in policy and practice, at global and national level. Research and Project Coordinator: Dr. Jakub Gajewski
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine Jakub Gajewski is a health sociologist who has previously worked at the National University of Ireland in Galway at the Health Promotion Research Centre. Prior to this, he worked as a researcher in the Mother and Child Research Institute in Warsaw. He has been involved in several population based studies, including the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study. The aim of this study was to gain insight into young people's well-being, health behaviours and their social context. This research collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe is conducted every four years in 43 countries and regions across Europe and North America. He was the lead researcher on the COST-Africa project, which implemented on the job training of non-physician clinicians in Malawi and tested the supervision model for this cadre in Zambia. He has also worked as researcher on several studies focusing on the impact of social factors on people living with chronic illness - particularly type 1 diabetes and epilepsy. Researcher: Ms. Chiara Pittalis
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine Chiara Pittalis holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and has significant experience in analysing policy processes in the fields of health, social protection and education. Over the years she has developed a keen interest in the needs of vulnerable groups, and in accountability mechanisms and good governance practices in the provision of public services. During her professional career to-date she has collaborated closely with many universities, research institutes and NGOs in Ireland and abroad. She has worked as researcher in the academic and private sectors, as well as project manager for consulting companies and public bodies, including the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. She is currently supporting research activities under WP2 of the SURG-Africa project. Researcher: Ms. Morgane Clarke
Morgane Clarke holds a Masters of Science in Global Health from Trinity College Dublin. Her research background is in health systems capacity strengthening, and her interests lie in health equity with a specific focus on gender dynamics. Morgane has a background in preclinical neuropharmacological research, and logistics management in the non-for-profit sector. She continues to volunteer in the civil society sector with Access to Medicines Ireland (AMI). She is currently supporting research activities of the SURG-Africa project. Administrative Coordinator: Ms. Roma Acosta
Roma Acosta holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Postgraduate Diploma in both Montessori Teaching and Journalism. Roma has more than 20 years’ experience in administration at both University and Private Sector level. Her experience includes budget preparation and management, as well as assisting both internal and external auditors. She has skills in supervision and liaison with allied professionals. Roma also has excellent organisational skills and multitasking skills together with a proven ability to manage various projects simultaneously in a very busy environment and to be able prioritise accordingly. Roma currently oversees and coordinates administrative and financial activities for the SURG-Africa project in Ireland. |
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ECSA | Tanzania Partner
Principle Investigator: Mr. Edward Kataika
ECSA Health Community Edward Kataika is the Director of Programmes at ECSA-HC. He is a health systems development expert, with 20 years’ experience in health management, planning and economics. He holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in Economics, a Master of Arts in Health Management, Planning and Policy and a postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration and Civil Service Management. Mr. Kataika has worked for ECSA-HC for seven years, having starting out as Programme Manager for Health Systems and Services Development prior to assumption of his current post (2014). As Director of Programmes, he oversees the ever-growing portfolio of programmatic and project activities at ECSA-HC, and is the chief advisor to the Director General in all technical matters. Country Coordinator and Researcher: Dr. Adinan Juma
Adinan Juma is a medical epidemiologist and biostatistician with more than five years of experience in public health research projects, including planning, implementation and evaluation. Dr. Juma has worked in a number of public health projects that address different challenges: health systems, communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases. Dr. Juma is interested in health systems and non-communicable diseases. As a SURG-Africa researcher, he oversees and coordinates intervention and research activities in Tanzania for the SURG-Africa project. Project Manager: Ms. Faith Ngoi
Faith Ngoi holds a Master of Science in Finance and Investment. Faith has more than seven years experience in finance and administration of both limited companies and development projects. Her experience ranges from budget preparation and planning, running the accounts professional systems, record keeping, organising meetings, as well as assisting both internal and external auditors. Faith currently oversees and coordinates administrative activities for the SURG-Africa project in Tanzania. |
TSA | Tanzania Implementing Partner
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Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Paul Marealle
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Kondo Chilonga
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COM | Malawi Partner
Principal Investigator: Professor Nyengo Mkandawire
College of Medicine, University of Malawi & School of Medicine, Flinders University Professor Nyengo Mkandawire studied undergraduate medicine at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia and did postgraduate orthopaedic training in the Northwest / Mersey Deanery orthopaedic training programme in the UK. He has a special interest in spine surgery. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; a Foundation Fellow of the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA); and a Fellow of the Federation for Advancement In Medical Education and Research (FAIMER). In addition, he is a Past President of the Association of Surgeons of East Africa (ASEA) and served on the Council of COSECSA. Recently, he was Lancet Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. His research interests include: HIV and surgery; medical education; public health aspects of surgery; global burden of surgical disease; and human resources for health. Country Coordinator and Researcher: Mr. Gerald Mwapasa
College of Medicine, University of Malawi Gerald Mwapasa holds a Master of Science in Clinical Trials from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Malawi. He has worked in several clinical research projects covering various therapeutic areas in Quality Assurance/Quality Control and as a Clinical Research Associate. Since 2011, he has been working as Project Coordinator and Researcher in surgery-focused research projects under the College of Medicine of the University of Malawi. The project called COST-Africa helped to establish surgical training at the College of Medicine in Malawi for non-physician clinicians known in Malawi as Clinical Officers. |
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SSZ | Zambia Partner
Principal Investigator: Dr. John Kachimba
Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital & School of Medicine, University of Zambia Country Coordinator and Researcher: Mr. Mweene Cheelo
School of Medicine, University of Zambia Mweene Cheelo obtained a Master of Science degree in epidemiology from the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia in 2013. Before pursuing his Master’s degree he was national consultant for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) project with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) from April 2009 to October 2010. Between September 2014 and December 2015 he worked as Research Officer for the COST-Africa cluster randomized control trial,designed to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using medical licentiates specially trained in surgical techniques. He is currently working as Research Coordinator for Zambia in the Scaling Up Safe Surgery for District and Rural Populations in Africa (SURG-Africa) project. Project Assistant (Zambia): Ms. Ingrid Mugamya
Ingrid has 10 years experience in project management, administration, events management and experience in field work with communities. She also participated in research work which was Understanding Conflict and Cooperation in Local Water Governance in Namwala district, Southern Province, Zambia Project at the University of Zambia, Integrated Water Resources Management Centre (supported by the Danida). |
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RADBOUD | Netherlands Partner
Principal Investigator: Dr. Leon Bijlmakers
Nijmegen International Centre for Health Systems Research and Education (NICHE), Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University of Nijmegen Medical Centre (RUNMC) Leon Bijlmakers’ professional interest is in health policy and priority setting. Having worked abroad in community-based health care in Burkina Faso in the mid-1980s, as a trainer-cum-researcher with WHO, UNICEF and the Community Medicine Department of the Medical School in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, and subsequently as a freelance public health consultant in Vietnam, he was a consultant with ETC Foundation in his home country, The Netherlands, for over 14 years. In this capacity he trained health professionals in various countries in small-scale operational research and advised Governments, donor agencies and NGOs on health programme design and health sector support systems. Since 2012, Leon has been teaching global health at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands and he has been involved in implementation research in maternal health (Rwanda, South Africa), surgery (Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania) and health sector priority setting through evidence-based deliberative processes (Indonesia, The Netherlands). Researcher: Dr. Henk Broekhuizen
Nijmegen International Centre for Health Systems Research and Education (NICHE), Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University of Nijmegen Medical Centre (RUNMC) Henk is a health economist whose work focuses on how building (quantitative) models can aid to develop more sustainable policy. Henk completed a PhD at the University of Twente on the issue of uncertainty in multi-criteria decision analysis models. He now works at the Radboud University Medical Centre where he is involved in projects on (health system constraints in) HIV policy and Malaria drugs. In the SURG-Africa project Henk focuses on costing and cost-effectiveness studies, with the aim of building a case for sustainable adoption of the SURG intervention by local policy makers. Junior Researcher SURG-Africa: Mr. Martilord Ifeanyichi, MBBS, MSc.
Martilord Ifeanyichi is a medical doctor and a health economist. Since 2010, he has been actively involved in public health promotion, advocacy and strategic engagement – serving as the national president of Nigerian Medical Students’ Association (NiMSA) in 2011, and the Chairman, Standing Committee on Population Activities (SCOPA) of the Federation of African Medical Students’ Associations (FAMSA) from 2011 – 2013. He graduated from the College of Medicine of University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in 2013 following which he worked for two years as a clinician in urban and rural settings in Nigeria. Confronted with the health systems (financing/policy) challenges hampering effective care delivery in the developing countries, he proceeded to Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he obtained a master’s degree in Health Economics, Policy and Law (HEPL) in 2017. In his master’s degree thesis, he studied the cost-effectiveness of adding ixazomib to lenalidomide/dexamethasone combination in the treatment of relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma from a US payer perspective. |
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UOXF | United Kingdom Partner
Principal Investigator: Professor Chris Lavy
Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) Chris Lavy is Professor of Orthopaedic and Tropical Surgery and Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon at the University of Oxford. From 1996-2006 he worked in Malawi, where he helped to set up two orthopaedic hospitals, national orthopaedic surgical and clinical officer training, and an international clubfoot programme. He also co-founded the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA). He holds an honorary professorship at the University of Malawi College of Medicine and an honorary chair at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was an elected council member of The Royal College of Surgeons of England 2011-2016 and was chair of the International Affairs Committee. Professor Lavy was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List 2007 for services to orthopaedics. Professor Lavy was a commissioner for the milestone report Lancet Commission on Global Surgery 2015, and he has led several health partnership projects linking University of Oxford with COSECSA and other partners in Africa, to develop training and research partnerships in primary trauma care, clubfoot treatment, orthopaedic surgery, and district hospital surgical care. He is a founder of Oxford University Global Surgery Group. Professor Lavy is Principal Investigator for University of Oxford in SURG-Africa. Research Manager: Ms. Grace Le
Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) Grace manages health partnership projects that support surgical training and research in sub-Saharan Africa. These include COSECSA Oxford Orthopaedic Link (COOL) - a multi-country orthopaedic surgical training and research partnership with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa, and the Africa Clubfoot Training project, a collaboration to strengthen clubfoot treatment and training through the development of new teaching materials. Grace provides research and training support for University of Oxford in SURG-Africa. |
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COSECSA | Regional Disseminating Partner
Principal Investigator: Professor Eric Borgstein
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre & College of Medicine, University of Malawi |