Bator Mbengue

Consultant, RHInnO Ethics

Bator has a degree in business administration with 9 years of working experiences. She had working in different sectors before joining the health research field. She joined the COHRED team as a consultant for the development of RHInnO Ethics in french speaking countries in Africa and is very keen to make this project happen.

 

 

Dr Mohammed AlKhaldi

Post-Doctoral Intern

Palestine

Dr. AlKhaldi trained in Public Health Policy. Over the last 13 years, he engaged in three different sectors, serving at the government as a health policy researcher, conducting research and teaching, and leading NGO health projects and programs. In 2018, he obtained the Ph.D. from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Switzerland where he succeeded to pursue critical system analysis of the Palestinian national Health Research System. He worked with many international organizations, such as the World Health Organizations (WHO) and Swiss TPH, as a health consultant. His areas of interest are health systems, health policy and systems research, health research systems, knowledge transfer and translation, and health and development programs management. He has tremendous participation at eminent congresses and various publications published at prestigious journals in different public health fields. Shortly, he will join McGill University team to lead a two-year research project, funded by the Islamic Development Bank, in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in five settings, Canada, Switzerland, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tanzania.

Bipasha Bhattacharya, B.E.Hons, MBA

RFI Business and Marketing Manager

India

Bipasha Bhattacharya is an experienced Marketing and Business Development specialist. She has around 10 years of experience in working with multinational organizations and was taking care of various key corporates, governments and businesses in India. Bipasha has earned her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (B.E.Hons.) from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (India) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Institute of Management & Technology, Ghaziabad (India) specializing in Marketing & International Business. A thirst for learning and exploring the latest trends of analytical, digital and innovation marketing lead her pursuing advanced studies in Strategic Marketing from University of Geneva, Switzerland. She had conducted various marketing events, presentation, surveys across the business sectors aim to understand the importance of digitalization. She is always eager to learn new technologies, processes to help the business to grow. Thought leader, collaborative, good marketing skills to help COHRED in setting up the business and marketing strategy for their Research Fairness Initiative (RFI) and thereby helping the society in bridging the gap in fair research practices across the world.

Lauranne Botti, MA

Research Fairness Initiative Manager

Belgium

Lauranne Botti joined COHRED in April 2015. As the CFI Intern, she is responsible for assisting with the organisation, development and written presentation of the COHRED Fairness Index.

She has recently graduated from University College London with a Human Rights MA degree. Her great interest in human rights and international development is a direct result of her personal experiences while living in Venezuela, the USA, Denmark, Argentina, Russia and the UK. Previously, she was an intern doing advocacy work at a UK organisation for peace and human rights in Colombia. Her passion for international development has led her to actively participate and volunteer for various organisations such as UNICEF, TED and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Gabriel Caires, MSc

Web for Development Analyst

Brazil

Gabriel Silva is a Network and Systems Analyst member of the HRWeb team. In 2009 he obtained a Bachelor in Computer Science and is currently completing his Master´s degree in Computer Networks and Security, at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Gabriel has worked as a System Analyst at Syst, developing the Metasys OS in partnership with Intel, also worked at Oi, one of the largest telephone and Internet providers in Brazil, at the IT Operation Center. Gabriel has also worked as researcher on many projects, such as the Spam Mining Project, developing new methods of Spam analysis and prevention in collaboration with Cert.br, the Brazilian National Computer Emergency Response Team. His areas of expertise are Web Development and Computer Networks, Operating Systems, Virtualization platforms / Cloud Computing, Fault Tolerant Systems, Open Source Solutions and IT Security.

Arianna D’Amora, MAOffice ManagerItalyArianna D’Amora has joined COHRED in November 2012 as volunteer database organiser, and is currently employed as Office Manager.She has lived in London for six years where she has worked for OXFAM GB. She holds an Undergraduate Degree in Languages from the University l’Orientale in Italy with specialization in Arabic, English and Spanish languages and cultures. Also she has pursued a Master of Arts in International Liaison and Communications from the Westminster University of London. She has travelled to Zambia to work as a community volunteer.

Thierry Delachaux

Director of Operations

Switzerland

Thierry joined COHRED as Director of Operations in Jan 2014 and will have responsibility for providing cost effective, income generating and deliverable focused support to COHRED’s services, worldwide.

Prior to joining COHRED, Thierry was Senior Vice President with Merrill Lynch International Bank based in Geneva. He has more than 15 years hands-on experience in the wealth management business focusing on Latin American clients, based out of Geneva and Montevideo.

After his studies Thierry spent 2 years in El Salvador and Peru working for the International Red Cross Committee.

Thierry holds a BA in Law from Geneva University and a MA in Political Sciences from the London School of Economics.

 

Monica Gazzetta

Financial Officer

Austria/Switzerland

Monica is Financial Officer, responsible for the bookkeeping and financial aspects of COHRED’s business. Her duties include bookkeeping, financial reporting, budget, audit and related tasks. She has been working at COHRED since January 2010. Monica has come to COHRED to fulfill her interest in working with developing countries, after several years serving in the accounting and human resources departments of several companies in Geneva in the fields of insurance and transport. She studied Economics at the Geneva University, receiving her degree in Commercial and Industrial Sciences in 1991. She was born in Geneva and spent most of her time in Switzerland and France.

Prof Carel IJsselmuiden, MD, MPH, FFCH(SA)

Executive Director, COHRED

South Africa/Netherlands

Carel is a physician, epidemiologist, public health practitioner, academic and social entrepreneur. After spending 10 years in rural medicine, peri-urban and urban health care and environmental health services management, he switched to academic public health research, education and research ethics training. He has published widely in applied research and public health. He was appointed as professor and head of department of the department of community health at the University of Pretoria in 1995, where he became the founding Director of the School of Health Systems and Public Health in 1999. He held this position until his appointment as Executive Director at COHRED in 2004. As such, he is also ex-officio member of the COHRED Board and President of COHRED USA.

Carel has worked and lived in Africa, Europe, the United States and the Caribbean. He married Joelle in 1980 and together they have three children – who survived all of the above.

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Florine JobinPersonal AssistantSwitzerlandFlorine Jobin joined COHRED in October 2011 as the Personal Assistant to COHRED’s Director, Carel IJsselmuiden. She is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Director’s office and provides him with administrative support. She also conducts background research for the office. Florine holds a Diploma and a Masters degree in Anthropology from the Universities of Geneva and Neuchatel respectively. She has also pursued a postgraduate course in ‘African societies and development’ in Spain. She has experiences in social sciences research and events management and organisation – with particular focus on health sector.

Andrew Kanyegirire, PhDHead of CommunicationsUgandaAndrew Kanyegirire is a communication for development (C4D) specialist. Andrew joined COHRED as Head of Communications in November 2011. Prior to joining COHRED he led the communications unit at the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in South Africa. As a a media practitioner, he has experiences as a business editor at The New Vision in Kampala, Uganda. His work has also appeared in publications in East and Southern Africa and the UK. He has also done research at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. His areas of interest include: C4D, corporate communications, new media, journalism and public relations. Andrew holds a PhD in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, South Africa.

Boitumelo Mokgatla

Manager COHRED Botswana

Botswana

Boi is currently the Head of COHRED Africa office. She has worked as a clinician at Botswana’s main referral hospital – Princess Marina and as a Senior Research Fellow at COHRED – responsible for coordinating the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and Pfizer funded MARC (Mapping African Research Ethics Review and Medicines Regulatory Capacity; (www.researchethicsweb.org) project. Following being awarded a SARETI (South African Research Ethics Training Initiative) Masters scholarship in 2008 and the best scholar prize in 2009, Boi has significantly contributed to the African Health research ethics landscape and published in various areas of health research. Her research interests includes ethical issues in paediatrics clinical trials, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. She currently serves as an advisor on clinical trials oversight to the SADC secretariat.

Rafael Sahb

Manager – Web for Development Team

Brazil

Rafael Sahb is a member of the HRWeb team, he will support the continued development of HRWeb, COHRED’s website and other information technology projects. Rafael has worked as web developer for large organizations and for academic institutions in Brazil, including 5Clicks and Free Software Lab at UFMG. His areas of expertise are Server-side/Client-side Development, Web Standards, Search Engine Optimization, Free Software Solutions, Social Media Tools and IT Security.

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Emanuel Souvairan, MAMonitoring and Evaluation Officer

Switzerland / UK

Emanuel is a monitoring and evaluation specialist. He currently supports COHRED in developing monitoring and evaluation strategies and systems with the Research for Health Africa team.
Prior to joining COHRED Emanuel worked on a series of humanitarian and development projects such as disaster relief, working with farming cooperatives, water and sanitation, developing small business initiatives, construction, microfinance, and developing humanitarian training courses. Emanuel has worked for ACTED, Charities Advisory Trust, DevEd, Health Poverty Action, People’s Watch, Shelter Centre, UNHCR, UNRISD and WaterAid in Africa, Europe and South and Central Asia.
Emanuel has an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies in International Studies and Diplomacy and an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from Fordham University.

Julius MugwagwaPolicy Project Adviser

Zimbabwe

Julius Mugwagwa is a Research Fellow in the Development Policy and Practice (DPP) Unit and INNOGEN Institute at The Open University, United Kingdom. He received undergraduate and postgraduate training in biological sciences and biotechnology in Zimbabwe before attaining a PhD in science, technology and innovation policy at The Open University. His on-going research focuses on innovation systems in health and agricultural biotechnology, with a special interest in governance and adoption of technological and institutional innovations at sectoral, national and cross-national levels, using concepts such as ‘multi-layered governance’ and ‘policy gridlocks’. His recent intellectual contributions include the concept of ‘policy kinetics’. He is currently implementing a project investigating innovations in health spending in South Africa and Zimbabwe, with funding from the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council.

Jacintha Toohey, LLB

Manager, Fair Research Contracting

South Africa

Jacintha has experience in strengthening capacity for equitable contracting in international health research collaborations, particularly with low‐and middle‐ income country partner institutions. She has contributed to the development of research contracting tools and providing consultative or training workshops and consultancy advice on the equitable research contracting practices.
Presenting the importance of strengthening capacity for equitable research contracting at a number of meetings, conferences and forums. Jacintha is dedicated to supporting the COHRED’s vision of helping research partners achieve health, equity and development by optimizing research and innovation in low‐and middle‐income countries.
Her other areas of interest fall in line with her LLM Research Dissertation on the legal and policy issues relating to adolescent access to HIV prevention interventions. Here her more recent contributions to this work have been to conduct legal research into the legal and policy framework for adolescent HIV prevention in South Africa on a research grant ‘Choices for Adolescent Methods of Prevention in South Africa’ (CHAMPS). The ethical‐legal component is sub‐contracted to the HIV AIDS Vaccines Ethics Group (HAVEG, UKZN) funded through the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation by the NIH/NIAD.
Jacintha lives in small scenic country town, located in the Midlands of the KwaZulu‐Natal Province, South Africa with her husband Anthony Toohey and their two children.

Debbie Marais

Policy Project Adviser

South Africa

Debbie joined the Research and Development (R&D) group at COHRED in 2010, which later became the COHRED Think unit. As programme manager of COHRED Think, Debbie coordinated the fair research contracting approach, developing the “Where there is no lawyer: Guidance for fairer contract negotiation in collaborative research partnerships” guidance booklet. She also contributed to COHRED’s national research for health system strengthening approach and worked on developing action guides around building components of the research for health system. Her current work with COHRED builds on this work as part of the Research for Health Africa (R4HA) programme, focusing specifically on developing an approach to innovative financing strategies for national research for health. Debbie’s professional interests also focus on mental health policy development and analysis, which forms part of her PhD research. Debbie holds a Masters degree by dissertation in psychology and a second Masters degree and qualification in counselling psychology. She has extensive experience in research project management and coordination, particularly in the field of health research. She has had further experience working on various research and academic programmes in the School of Psychology at UKZN. Debbie continues to work as a psychologist in the mental health field in South Africa and conducts research into mental health systems.

Cécile Chomette

Financial Adviser

France

Cécile joined COHRED in May 2014 on a part time basis. She supports COHRED’s finance management team by taking charge of monitoring and administration of project finances and preparation of financial reports, and support to staff in project budgeting.

Prior to joining COHRED, Cécile worked 12 years at the BNP Paribas bank in Paris as financial planner, and for the last 5 years as a financial consultant for small companies around Geneva.

She has a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering and master’s degree in Business Development.

Prof John Mugabe

Associate

Kenya/South Africa

John Ouma ­Mugabe is Professor of Science and Innovation Policy at the Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) of the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Between 2002 and 2008 he was the Science and Technology Advisor to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and was the Executive Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) 1995 to 2002. He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) since 2001 and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) since 2013. He holds a doctorate degree in political economy of science and technology from the Department of International Relations of the University of Amsterdam. Prof. Mugabe is a Director of the Science and Innovation Policy Studies (SIPS) Corporation and chairperson of the Board of Directors of AfricaBio. He has published widely on science, technology and environmental policy in Africa. His current research focuses on the political economy of science and innovation policy­making in health and agriculture in Africa.

Supporting our work on a large EU-funded project: CAAST-Net Plus (http://www.caast-net-plus.org)

Harry van Schooten, MD, MPH, MscBA

Associate

The Netherlands

Harry van Schooten is currently supporting the creation of the Grand Challenges Europe foundation. He is also working as a private consultant with Euvadis in public-private collaboration for development of health technologies for poverty-related diseases and as physician in drug addiction care at Brijder/The Netherlands.
He graduated as a physician at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and did a Masters in Public Health at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam. He also received a MSc degree in Business Administration on a thesis on public-private collaboration in the production of Artemisia-Combination Therapies for Malaria.

Harry has had more than 10 years experience in primary health care projects in Peru, Belize and Rumania as a physician for Doctors Without Borders and as policy advisor and director for the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in projects in Nicaragua and Colombia, before working as senior policy advisor for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Department for Development Cooperation. His portfolio consisted of health systems strengthening, access to essential drugs, disease control programs and biomedical research for malaria, TB, and neglected and poverty-related diseases. In that capacity he was responsible for the design and organization of the subsidy framework 2007-2010 for Product Development Partnerships for Neglected Diseases. As Co-chair of the International Task Force he contributed to the creation of the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm), which is now housed at the Global
 Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). On behalf of the Netherlands he also served as member of the Boards of the Global Partnership to Stop TB, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the WHO/WB/UNDP Special Program on Tropical Disease Research (TDR) and Steering Committee of the Netherlands-African Clinical Trials Capacity Building partnership for Poverty-related diseases (NACCAP).

Janis K. Lazdins-Helds, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate

Venezuela/Italy

Physician and biomedical scientist with more than 30 years experience in the discovery and development of medicinal product for HIV, malaria, cancer, inflammation. In 1998 joined the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases leading product R&D and capacity building for NTDs and contributing to the development of the framework for private-public R&D partnerships. Was the focal point for Onchocerciasis and Chagas Disease research; member of the WHO secretariat addressing “Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property”; member of the WHO Guidelines Review Committee; editorial adviser for Bulletin of the World Health Organization; member of the WHO team that negotiated the country strategy and plans of actions in several Latin-American countries. After retirement from WHO in 2009, provides advice to NGOs, public sector and industry on technical, political and managerial issues related to R&D in developing countries.

Collaborating on the COHRED Fairness Index development

Najia Musolino, Ph.D.

Senior Specialist – Global Action

Switzerland

Najia Musolino is currently Senior Specialist-Global Action at COHRED where she leads the COHRED Fairness Index (CFI) and operates CAASTNet Plus and EU-LAC Health projects. Prior to joining COHRED, she worked as Public Health Specialist at BDN Global, where she explored opportunities in Switzerland for the expansion of maternal and new-born/child health care interventions in Afghanistan.

Najia has an extensive working experience in the pharmaceutical sector and the drug development field. She has worked at Merck Serono in Geneva and the Ludwdig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne.

Najia holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva. She is Swiss and currently resides in Geneva with her husband. Previously she has lived in India and speaks French, English, Hindi and Farsi.

Francis Kazungu Kombe, CBPPM, PGDPH, MPH

Project Manager, RHinnO Ethics Africa

Kenya

Francis is an experienced community facilitator with a keen interest in biomedical research ethics, capacity building and community engagement. He has over 20 years experience applying these skills in the field of international collaborative health research.

Francis holds a MSc in Public Health and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health both from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; did Community Based Project Planning and Management (CBPPM) studies at the Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development, received training in health research ethics (SARETI, South Africa; PRIM&R, USA; UNESCO, France), and in communication skills and Training of Trainers. He started his career as a field officer. In his current position, he coordinates training on communication skills and research ethics for nearly 300 research frontline staff at KWTRP. He is a member of the International Teachers of ethics Forum (ITF) and of the KWTRP Research Ethics Committee.

Francis’ current work involves understanding the impact of different pedagogies in strengthening the capacity of research frontline staff to address the moral and ethical dilemmas they face in their day to day activities. He plans to register for his PhD to understand more about this area.

Nivedhna Singh

Assistant Coordinator, COHRED Africa

South Africa

Nivedhna joined COHRED in July 2016 working with Ms Jacintha Toohey in establishing and development of COHRED in Africa and will provide support to COHRED in general.

She has been the Project manager at the Research Ethics and Capacity Building programme which is part of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI). This is based at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa since 2011 where she also lectures part-time for the Discipline of Psychology, UKZN.

Nivedhna consults on research project related activities for the HIV/AIDS Vaccines Ethics Group (HAVEG). She has recently been involved in the project Choices for Adolescent Methods of Prevention in South Africa (CHAMPS) where she assists with the coordination and management of externally funded grants.

Her interests lie in training and capacity building initiatives, event planning and academic development.

Jim Lavery

Associate

USA

Jim Lavery is currently the Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Global Health Ethics, at Emory University. Previously, he served as Research Scientist and Managing Director of the Centre for Ethical, Social & Cultural Risk at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, and an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Jim received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto and held a post-doctoral fellowship in applied ethics and health policy at the Queen’s University Health Policy Research Unit. Jim then spent 3 years at the Fogarty International Center and at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Jim was the co-principal investigator of the Ethical, Social and Cultural (ESC) Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative from 2005-2015 and is currently leading the development of a global “Learning Platform” for community engagement.

Jim will begin a new appointment as the inaugural Hilton Chair in Global Health Ethics in the Hubert Department of Global Health in the Rollins Schools of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Amin Matola

Legal Researcher

South Africa

Amin Matola is Zimbabwean borne, based in Pietermaritzburg, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa where he studies and lectures part-time. Amin joined the COHRED Africa team in March 2016. As legal researcher on the COHRED, Africa team, he is responsible for assisting with the development and presentation of the Fair Research Contracting (FRC) work. He has recently graduated from University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) with a Masters in Law and continues his studies with UKZN. His interests include legal complexities in global/cross-border contracting.

Hassen Ghannen MD, MSc

Associate

Tunisia

Dr Hassen Ghannem is currently Professor of Community Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse and Head of the Department of Epidemiology at the University Hospital Farhat Hached. Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, he holds a Master degree of Community Health from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Canada.

His research interests include the study of epidemiologic transition and prevention of chronic diseases and the evaluation of health research and capacity building in developing countries. Dr Hassen Ghannem is leading the “Chronic Disease Prevention Research Centre of Sousse, Tunisia” for the UnitedHealth Group & NHLBI (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/NIH) chronic disease initiative.

He was senior consultant to the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED) and to the WHO/EMRO where he was member of the Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR). He was Chairman in 2008 and 2016 of the scientific review committee for selection of research consortium in sub-Saharan Africa for The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership EDCTP and Organizer of a Bellagio Meeting in 2013 on “Boosting Research for Health in the New Arab World”.

Kirsty Klipp, MSocSci

RFI Implementation Manager

South Africa

Kirsty joined COHRED in January 2017 as a Masters Intern after completing her M1 year of the Masters in Psychology (Research) programme at UKZN. She will be working part-time with COHRED on the Research Fairness Initiative as a part of her 1 year internship in order to register as a research psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. In addition to her work with COHRED, she will be working as an intern at UKZN, being involved in various research projects and in some teaching, as well as completing her mini-dissertation in order to attain her Master’s degree.

Kirsty completed her BA in Psychology at the University of South Africa, and then completed her BA Hons in Psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Her interests lie in research ethics and fair research practice, and in social psychology.

Golbahar Pahlavan, Ph.D.

Associate

Spain

Golbahar Pahlavan has worked for over 20 years in biomedical research, management and policy in both public and private sectors across the Research, Development & Innovation value chain. During the past 10 years she has coordinated programs in sub-Saharan Africa spanning capacity building in research and public health, clinical research as well as biotechnology and bioentrepreneurship. Golbahar holds a PhD in Life Sciences from Université Paris 7, Paris, France, an MBA from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain and a Master in International Negotiation and Policy Making from the Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland.

Prof Rachid Aboutaieb

Associate

Morocco

Rachid Aboutaieb is Professor at Casablanca University, Morocco. He is MD and holds a MA in International law and human rights. His research focuses on Health Development and Human Rights. He conducted research in the field of HIV and Human Rights, the impact of awareness campaigns on the sexual behavior, the aspects of discrimination towards PLWHA; the determination of socio-anthropological factors of the sexual behavior among women. He is currently leading a research on the community medicine and its role for strengthening the health systems.

Holger Postulart, MA

Administrative Manager

Germany

A bio will be uploaded here soon.