Sierra Leone

Cynthia (Cyndy) Whitney is the Executive Director and Principal Investigator of CHAMPS. In this leadership role, she oversees Program Office functionalities and works to ensure success of the network’s strategic objectives.

Whitney joined CHAMPS as a Senior Advisor in 2018 after 25 years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she worked as an epidemiologist, team lead, and branch chief, focused on respiratory infections, surveillance, outbreak response, and vaccine policy development and evaluation. She also led CDC-wide emergency response task forces for SARS, Ebola in West Africa, and pandemic influenza. She has long been a fan and friend of CHAMPS, co-leading the CDC efforts for the initial CHAMPS grant, and supervising the group responsible for CHAMPS Taqman Array Card development. Dr. Whitney has published over 250 scientific publications on topics such as pneumococcal disease epidemiology, drug resistance, respiratory disease, neonatal sepsis, and disease outbreaks. She is a frequent consultant for the World Health Organization and other bilateral and multilateral groups.

Dr. Whitney completed medical residencies in Internal Medicine from the University of Minnesota and in Preventive Medicine through CDC. She holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Science from Iowa State University.

Rosemarie (Rosie) Henson joined CHAMPS as Chief of Staff in January 2019. She manages the CHAMPS Program office in Atlanta, GA, and oversees all work stream functions leading program performance, donor management, internal communications, and leveraging ancillary projects.

Henson previously served as the Senior Vice President for Prevention and Early Detection at American Cancer Society where she shaped the organization’s vision, strategies, and programs for HPV vaccination, tobacco control, cancer screening, obesity prevention, and health equity. Henson has worked on a number of programs to enable people and communities to make healthier choices, starting her career with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and later joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1990. Over the course of 19-years at CDC, she served in many leadership roles, including the Director of National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection, Director for the Office on Smoking and Health, and Deputy Director for the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Following her CDC tenure, Henson moved to Washington, DC to serve as Senior Advisor to the 15th Assistant Secretary of Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration.

Throughout her public health career Henson has worked to implement chronic disease prevention programs, introduce public policy approaches to address tobacco cessation, childhood obesity, and viral hepatitis, and has forged partnerships to address racial and socioeconomic disparities. Henson has been honored with a number of awards for her leadership in public health, including the Surgeon General’s Medallion, the Secretary’s Award for Meritorious Service, and the Jeffrey Koplan Award.

Henson holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in New York City and Bachelor of Science in Education from Northeastern University in Boston.

Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan was CHAMPS’s founding Principal Investigator (PI). He worked on the initial CHAMPS grant and served as PI for two years, before moving into a Senior Advisory role. He works closely with CHAMPS leadership to ensure success of the network’s strategic objectives, and recently took on the role of acting PI. In addition to his work at CHAMPS, Dr. Koplan was Vice President for Global Health at Emory University until 2021. He established and served as Director of the Emory Global Health Institute, and is co-founder and former President of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI).

Dr. Koplan began his public health career in the early 1970s as a member of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC), Epidemic Intelligence Service. Throughout his 26-year tenure at CDC, he has played a key role in a variety of domestic and global public health issues, including infectious diseases such as smallpox, SARS, polio and HIV/AIDS, environmental issues such as the Bhopal chemical disaster, and the health tolls of tobacco, obesity, and chronic disease. From 1998-2002, Dr. Koplan served as Director of the CDC.

His has lived and worked in China, Guatemala, India, and Hungary, leading projects for the World Bank, World Health Organization, and CDC. His experience in China spans more than three decades, including work on health promotion and tobacco control, and US-China bilateral partnerships. He is an Honorary Professor of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine and Honorary Advisor 001 of the Chinese CDC.

Dr. Koplan has been awarded numerous honors for his domestic and international public health efforts, written more than 240 scientific papers, and co-authored two books on childhood obesity. He is a graduate of Yale College, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Program Manager, Science, Site Strategy and Implementation

Head, Social-Behavioral Science

Sampson Adotey is the Associate Director of Communications at CHAMPS. He is an accomplished communications professional with a proven track record in international affairs and development, managing and growing strategic partnerships, programs, communications, and fundraising. He is a visionary leader and influential communicator skilled at driving high-impact results and achieving strategic initiatives. 

Before joining CHAMPS, Sampson was Head of Communications for the Global Network at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences—Next Einstein Initiative, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the Institute’s global presence and securing six-figure grants to scale impact. Sampson is an alumnus of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award for Young People and Ghana’s Head of State Award Scheme (Bronze and Silver Medal).  

Sampson is an alumnus of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community. He served in several capacities, including the first ever Community Champion – Anglophone West Africa (Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia) and reported to the Community HQ in Geneva. He was selected to attend the World Economic Forum 2019 Annual Meeting, the Africa Meeting in 2019 and the 2022 Sustainable Development Impact Summit at the UNGA77, among several other community events in South Africa, Kenya and the US.

Sampson regularly contributes to the World Economic Forum’s Agenda. He also serves on the International Advisory Board of ESDEV Foundation Africa. 

Eden Kahsay, originally from Ethiopia—home to one of the CHAMPS sites—is a Senior Finance Manager at the CHAMPS project, where she has been a key contributor since 2021. In her role, Eden oversees site financial reports, conducts budget reviews, and manages procurement processes, all while ensuring compliance with award guidelines and internal policies. Her strategic efforts have been pivotal in advancing CHAMPS’ mission across its sites.

With over 14 years of professional experience, Eden brings a robust background in audit, procurement, risk assessment, compliance, and governance. Before joining CHAMPS, she held significant roles at organizations such as US Bank, Thermo Pac LLC, and the Ethiopian Customs Authority. At US Bank, Eden led regulatory examinations and audits, ensuring adherence to stringent compliance standards. At Thermo Pac LLC, she demonstrated excellence in procurement and inventory management. Her tenure at the Ethiopian Customs Authority refined her expertise in auditing, customs operations, team leadership, and regulatory enforcement.

Renowned for her analytical acumen, meticulous attention to detail, and ability to navigate complex business environments, Eden exemplifies excellence and commitment. Her data-driven approach and dedication to supporting CHAMPS’ mission continue to make a meaningful impact on the project and its global initiatives.

Dr. Chinelo (Chiney) Ogbuanu is the Senior Health Scientist, Impact and Engagement for the CHAMPS. In this role, she provides technical support to four countries (Sierra Leone, Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria) in documenting and disseminating their data-to-action work in reducing child morbidity and mortality and improving overall maternal and child health.

Her interest in maternal and child health dates to her medical school days when she conducted an 8-year (1990-1997) retrospective study on the causes of maternal mortality in a tertiary health care setting. She has since worked with several organizations such as the Georgia and Arkansas Departments of Public Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Global Fund, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone and non-governmental organizations, on several projects. While working as the Senior Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist at the Georgia Department of Public Health, she chaired the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) steering committee, facilitated questionnaire revision for different phases of the survey, and ensured proper capture of the survey data usage. At the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, she was instrumental in developing a global practice guidance manual for the use of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in a controlled temperature chain (CTC). At the Global Fund, she coordinated the implementation of evaluations of projects on HIV/TB/Malaria in focused portfolios/countries supported by the Fund.

Chinelo has co-authored a book chapter on Health Systems in Nigeria, and more than a dozen journal articles on maternal and child health as well as other pertinent health topics such as HIV/AIDS. She is a Chevron (Medical school) and World Bank (MPH) scholar and has obtained several awards for her contribution to maternal and child health, amongst other work.  She obtained her medical degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1998 and her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Public Health from the University of South Carolina in 2006 and 2009 respectively.

Courtney Mwangura joined CHAMPS in 2015 and serves as the Senior Director of Business Operations. In this role, she oversees financial and contractual relationships and compliance across CHAMPS Program Office partners, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Task Force for Global Health, as well as all CHAMPS implementing sites. Additionally she directs human resources, Emory grant compliance, student engagement and logistics across the CHAMPS Program Office.

Mwangura has more than 17 years of international program support and grant management experience spanning three continents. Prior to joining CHAMPS, she was a grants manager at the Carter Center, supporting projects spanning across their peace programs. While at the Carter Center, Mwangura managed finances and compliance for the Election Observation project in Lebanon, Kenya and Nicaragua, the Access to Justice Project in Liberia, and Mining Transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From 2000-2005, she was based in Eastern Africa, serving as program support and partnership coordination with Living Water International, Millennium Water Alliance; she also served as the Kenya financial director and the East African regional auditor for the International Mission Board.

Mwangura earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from Mercer University and her Master of Business Administration in Global Strategy from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

Kasthuri Sivalogan, PhD(c), MS, MPH is a Research Scientist and currently serves as the Study Director for the ‘Assessing the role of nutrition in CHAMPS (ARM-CHAMPS)’ nested in the CHAMPS platform.  Kasthuri is a PhD candidate in the Nutrition and Health Sciences program at Emory University. She received a T32 predoctoral training grant to examine maternal and child nutritional biomarkers and outcomes in the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) Trial. During this time, she also received a Master of Science in Nutrition. Kasthuri previously worked at CHAMPS as Project Manager and then Associate Director for the Site, Strategy and Implementation. Kasthuri received a combined Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology and a Masters in Public Health in Global Health from Boston University. Further information on Kasthuri’s work can be found here.

Shams El Arifeen is the first Senior Director of the Maternal and Child Health Division (MCHD) at icddr,b in Bangladesh. Dr. Arifeen is also a Professor at the James P. Grant School of Public Health at the BRAC University in Bangladesh, where he teaches epidemiology. His interests are in maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition and development, where he has worked for over 30 years. His work has focused on monitoring and evaluation of community and facility-based interventions addressing common causes of maternal and child illness and death, as well as implementation research to improve delivery of health services. He actively participates in national efforts within Bangladesh to scale up evidence-based interventions. Dr. Arifeen serves on a number of Bangladesh’s technical and advisory committees as well as on global task/working groups.

He is trained in medicine, public health, nutrition, and epidemiology, and holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from Dhaka Medical College and a Master of Public Health and Doctorate in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. He has published over 260 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Emily Gurley is an Associate Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has worked in public health research in Bangladesh since 2003, and she spent 12 years at the icddr,b (International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh) where she led the Surveillance and Outbreak Investigation Unit, and served as Director of the Program on Emerging Infections. She worked closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Government of Bangladesh to establish national surveillance for meningoencephalitis, respiratory infections, acute gastroenteritis, acute hepatitis, and hospital-acquired infections, with a focus on developing junior scientists. Dr. Gurley earned her Master of Public Health from Emory University in 2002 and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 2012.

Dr. Gurley leads multidisciplinary studies on the transmission, burden, and epidemiology of a variety of emerging and vaccine-preventable diseases, taking into account the ecological context in which human disease occurs. Her interests include improving the communication and collaboration between field epidemiologists and infectious disease modelers, and the development of novel surveillance and outbreak detection strategies. She began research to develop strategies for the use of post-mortem tissue sampling as a surveillance tool in Bangladesh in 2008.

Dr. Gurley has published more than 110 peer-reviewed papers and has served on World Health Organization (WHO) committees to draft recommendations about the use of Hepatitis E vaccines and measurement of dengue infection. She currently serves on WHO’s taskforce for research and development of medical countermeasures against Nipah virus.

Dr. Nega Assefa is a public health expert in reproductive health and maternal and child health. He has supervised and mentored more than 70 Masters and 6 PhD students at Haramaya University. He has also contributed to course work on sexual and reproductive health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, child growth and survival, and nutrition and dietetics. From 2009-2012, Dr. Nega was the chair of the College of Health and Medical Sciences at Haramaya University and since 2014, he spearheads the Research Groups and Partnerships Directorate at Haramaya University.

Dr. Nega’s research focuses on the areas of pregnancy and childbirth, family planning, child growth and development, and infant and child survival, and he has published 45 peer reviewed articles on reputable national and international journals. Since 2007, Dr. Nega has established and led a Health and Demographic Surveillance under Haramaya University. He assists in monitoring demographic and health changes in 190,000 populations in rural and urban areas of Harar and Kersa in Eastern Ethiopia. He has led a Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine study, an adolescent health study, a pregnancy outcome study, and a sanitation and hygiene study.

Dr. Nega is an Honorary Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Consultant Associate Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a member of the Maternal and Child Health Advisory Group for the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in which he participated in the development of a policy brief for the Maternal and Child Health Directorate of the FMOH, which was released during the 2016 annual meeting. He is a distinguished member of several editorial boards, including the Training and Research Advisory Group for the Ethiopian Public Health Association, the East African Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences, and the East African Journal of Sciences.

Anthony Scott is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Science at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya and Professor of Vaccine Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He trained in clinical infectious diseases and epidemiology in Oxford and London before moving to Kilifi in 1993, to study the etiology of pneumonia in adults. Apart from 2 years spent at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, he has spent the last 25 years in Kenya, studying pneumococcal disease and pneumonia in children and adults, and vaccines to prevent them. He joined LSHTM in 2013 after 15 years based at Oxford University. In addition to his research he has developed a surveillance network for invasive bacterial diseases in East Africa (Netspear) and he co-directs the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System, the largest population under continuous surveillance in Africa. He works frequently with WHO and GAVI on vaccine preventable diseases and with the Ministry of Health in Kenya on the evaluation of pneumococcal vaccine.

In the UK, he is the Director of the Vaccine Centre at LSHTM, and co-director of a short course in Vaccinology. He is a member of the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) and Director of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Immunization at LSHTM which involves a portfolio of research on disease burden, vaccine effectiveness, vaccine safety, modelling, cost-effectiveness, vaccine acceptability and policy implementation in collaboration with Public Health England.

Dr. Onyango is a medical doctor with 13 years of experience working in the public health sector in Kenya. He has served in clinical positions engaged in direct patient care and as a senior epidemiologist. He has been involved in outbreak investigation, public health surveillance, and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of various health programs. In his current position as the technical lead in the County Department of Health, he works closely with CDC Kenya to implement various surveillance initiatives, including CHAMPS.

At the national level, he has been part of the leadership that developed the One Health strategy. Within the county, he has designed and implemented operational research studies and has authored and co-authored a number of scientific publications.

Dr. Victor Akelo is a public health expert with over 15 years of experience in clinical and public health practice in infectious disease and maternal and child health. He has a wide range of experience in designing, planning and implementation of disease outbreak, surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation of global health programs – both implementation and clinical trials programs. He has served previously as a Principal Research Officer and Chief of HIV Research Branch with Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Kisumu leading various NIH clinical trials. As a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Senior Public Health Advisor, he supports population-based surveillance work such as Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS), mortality and pregnancy surveillance in western Kenya. He previously served as a CDC COVID-19 response lead in western Kenya – specifically working with a team of CDC scientists to provide technical support to counties in western Kenya and remains a member of Kenya CDC COVID-19 Response team. Dr. Victor is a U.S. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Fellow, and Emory Global Health Foege Fellow. He holds a Master’s in Public Health and medical degree from Emory University and Nairobi University respectively.

Dr. Mandomando is the Senior Researcher & Coordinator of Diarrheal Disease Research Area and Laboratory Advisor in the Manhiça Health Research Center (CISM) in Mozambique. Dr. Mandomando completed his undergraduate studies in 1999 in Veterinary Medicine at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique. Shortly after graduating, he joined CISM in 2000. He completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Microbiology) in 2009 at University of Barcelona, Spain. Between 2002 and 2008, he served as Head of Laboratory at CISM and helped to establish the Biochemistry & Haematology, Immunology, Molecular Biology and Tuberculosis biosafety III laboratories. He also contributed to the establishment of a Quality Assurance System and certification of CISM’s laboratories for ISO 9001:2008.

Dr. Mandomando has worked at CISM for 19 years now, and his primary area of activities included leading the Epidemiological Studies on Measles, Salmonella, and Shigella (2001 – 2004) in the rural area of Manhiça, Mozambique. Dr. Mandomando has led a variety of applied research on infectious diseases with a focus on diarrheal disease burden and risk factor studies including the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) between 2007 and 2012, rotavirus vaccine impact evaluation (since 2015 to date) in Mozambique.

He has been extensively working on molecular characterization of enteric pathogens; and between 2010 and 2012, he devoted his research on bacterial pathogenesis by studying the structure-function of aggregative adherence fimbriae type II (AAF/II) of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli by cloning and performing site-directed mutagenesis of aafA gene and recombining the mutants in native background and score the clones for different phenotypes, at Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD & University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA, under same mentorship.

Since 2013, Dr. Mandomando has been contributing in the validation of Minimally Invasive Autopsy (MIA) and currently oversees the CHAMPS site in Manhiça, Mozambique and MITS component for Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action (COMSA) in Quelimane, Mozambique. From 2013 to 2016, he worked as Deputy Director for Science at CISM and helped to establish the Scientific Directorate at CISM.

As a pediatrician, with a special interest in infectious disease epidemiology and public health, Professor Bassat has attempted to combine his clinical work with biomedical research in those diseases that most affect the poor and vulnerable. Dr. Bassat’s research has always relied on the premise that there is no greater public health intervention than that which can reduce child mortality, particularly in poor contexts. He has worked in low and middle-income countries to understand and prevent malaria, and other infectious diseases that most impact child survival. His work on P. falciparum malaria has contributed to better characterization of the clinical disease, and assessing treatment and prevention strategies, including vaccines and new antimalarial drugs. His work on yaws disease has substantially contributed to the identification of new therapeutic and preventive strategies for this neglected infection.

He has also worked in Mozambique, Morocco and Bhutan on the epidemiology, etiology and clinical characteristics of pneumonia, diarrhea and neonatal sepsis, all major causes of premature and often easily preventable mortality. Recognizing that in the poorest areas of the world diagnostic capacities are scarce, he has studied host biomarkers as a tool to reliably differentiate viral from bacterial conditions, and thus better target antibiotic treatment.

In recent years, his research has focused on improving upon existing data on the causes of death in low-income countries, a fundamental barrier for better healthcare and policy. A significant contribution has been the validation of a radically innovative minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) sampling protocol, now well accepted as the proxy gold standard for the cause of death investigation, and routinely utilized across CHAMPS sites.

Professor Bassat completed his undergraduate at the University of Barcelona, where he also qualified as a pediatrician in 2004. He received an MSc in Tropical medicine at the University of Barcelona (2004), a second MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2008), and obtained his Ph.D. in 2009 at the University of Barcelona. He has published over 230 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and more than 15 book chapters.

Dr. Amara Jambai currently holds the position of Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone. He is the former Director for Disease Prevention and Control at the same ministry. From 2002 through 2008, Dr. Jambai was the District Medical Officer for the Western area in Sierra Leone. Dr. Jambai’s fields of professional concentration include healthcare delivery in outbreak response, epidemiology, and surveillance of infectious diseases. With regard to infectious diseases, he has conducted research on cholera, yellow fever, and viral hemorrhagic fevers. Dr. Jambai was President of the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association from 2009 to 2010 and continues to be a member of the said Association. From 2011 to 2012, Dr. Jambai represented Sierra Leone at WHO’s Regional Committee for Africa.

Dr. Ike Ogbuanu is a medical doctor and epidemiologist with more than 20 years of progressive experience in clinical medicine, academic research, global public health, vaccinology, leadership and management. In addition to peer-reviewed publications inHIV/AIDS, vaccine-preventable diseases and genetic epidemiology, he has substantial clinical and programmatic experience in the control of tropical and infectious diseases at the global, national, subnational and health facility levels.

Dr. Ogbuanu joined the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2009 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)officer with the Global Immunization Division. Over the past 10 years, he has worked for CDC at the Headquarters and as a detailee to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. During this period, Dr. Ogbuanu has advanced implementation research and policy at the global level through quantitative and qualitative health research, program design and implementation, technical policy development, and international health diplomacy. He has led or participated in multiple global multilateral working groups and sub-teams and has managed successful collaborations and direct technical support in Asia, Africa, Western Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe and the Americas. Dr. Ogbuanu is adept at managing cross-functional teams and complex relationships with key global development partners, includingUSAID, the Gavi Alliance, the Gates Foundation, US-CDC, vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, and ministries of health, with a view to reduce preventable childhood mortality and promote equitable use of health interventions. His greatest passion is in applying public health science and strategies to reduce disease morbidity and mortality in low and middle countries (LMICs).

Dr. Ogbuanu is a recipient of multiple awards, including the USC Gerry Sue Arnold Alumni Award (2019); the CDC Excellence in Public Health Service Award, (2014); CDC Award for Excellence in Public Health Protection (2010); USC Doctoral Achievement Award (2009); USC Outstanding Epidemiology Student (2008-2009 session); Michael D. Jarrett Scholarship Award in Recognition of Leadership Potential in Public Health Administration (2005-2006); World Bank Scholar (2004-2006); among others.He completed his medical training at the University of Nigeria in 1998. Following six years of clinical practice in Nigeria, he relocated to the United States to pursue a postgraduate education in Public Health, obtaining his master of public health (MPH) degree in 2006, and his PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2009, from the University of South Carolina (USC).

Dr. Shabir Madhi is a Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa. He holds the position of Research Chair supported by Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation in Vaccine Preventable Diseases and co-Director of the African Local Initiative for Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE). He is also the immediate past-Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (2011-2017) in South Africa and Current Chair of the National Advisory Group on Immunization in South Africa.

Professor Madhi has been involved in research on vaccine-preventable diseases, including in HIV-exposed children, since 1997. His research included undertaking pivotal studies on the efficacy of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) and rotavirus vaccines in Africa. These studies contributed to the WHO recommending the introduction of these life-saving vaccines into public immunization programs globally, and also prompted South Africa to be the first in Africa to introduce these vaccines in its national immunization programs. More recently, his research focus has expanded to the prevention of infectious diseases during early infancy, including studies on the role of maternal immunization in improving fetal outcomes and reducing early-infancy morbidity and mortality.
Professor Madhi has contributed to over 360 peer reviewed articles in international journals. He is recipient of a number of awards for his research, including the ESPID Young Investigators Award, the National Research Foundation President’s Award for Transformation of the Science Cohort, the TW Kambule NRF-NSTF Award: Senior Black Researcher over the past five to 10 years (2010), Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research at University of the Witwatersrand, and the South African Medical Research Council: Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also an A-rated Scientist (internationally recognized) by the National Research Foundation since 2011.

He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training at Wits, qualified as a pediatrician in 1996, obtained his PhD in 2003, and is certified in Infectious Diseases in South Africa. Since 2017, he is an elected member of the Royal Society of South Africa and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Ziyaad Dangor is the Co-Director of CHAMPS South Africa and a pediatric pulmonologist at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto. As a researcher, Ziyaad completed his doctoral thesis on Group B Streptococcal disease’s clinical and immunological epidemiology at the Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit. In addition, his research interests include childhood TB, sequelae of lung disease in young infants, and point-of-care lung ultrasound. He has undertaken investigator-initiated, original research using clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory-based techniques to establish a successful research output, including publishing cited papers in high-impact factor journals. In 2019, Ziyaad was rated as a Y1 scientist by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa.

Dr. Cyril Engmann, MD, FAAP, FAPS is the Senior Director of Quality and Program Impact, and Institutional Official at PATH. He is the senior leader accountable for providing deep scientific, medical, and public health expertise, operational excellence, oversight, and leadership across all divisions of the organization. As Institutional Official, he oversees PATH’s research and regulatory affairs. Before this, Dr. Engmann served as the Director of the Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) global program at PATH, leading a department of 140 staff working across five continents with a pipeline totaling $300M. He is also a practicing Neonatologist and Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at the University of Washington Schools of Medicine and Public Health.

Before PATH, Cyril led the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Newborn Health Strategy where he designed and oversaw a portfolio of grants totaling $200M.

Cyril has led and shaped numerous global initiatives including the Every Newborn Action Plan, and serves on numerous strategic, technical, policy or scientific advisory boards and steering committees. Currently, among others, he is on the Steering committee for the World Economic Forum, the Swiss National Foundation, and the Adara group, and is a Lancet Commissioner. Domestically he sits on the Expert Panel that advises on all US-Government sponsored COVID-19 trials, and he is frequently invited to hold briefings at the US Congress on domestic and international health challenges and solutions.

Dr Engmann has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, white papers, and abstracts. He is Board-Certified in Pediatrics and Neonatology and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the American Pediatric Society – an honor reserved for individuals who have distinguished themselves as child health leaders, teachers, scholars, policymakers and clinicians and whose important contributions are recognized nationally and internationally.

Cyril has dedicated his life to combating social injustice and health inequity, and is passionate about driving organizational impact through strategic, inter-disciplinary, purpose-driven partnerships and utilizing data evidence to improve the human condition and put bold solutions into action.

Dr. Engmann was appointed Chair of the CHAMPS Global Partners Board in 2023.

Robert E. Black, M.D., M.P.H. is Professor and Director of the Institute for International Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Black is trained in medicine, infectious diseases and epidemiology. He served as a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and worked at institutions in Bangladesh and Peru on research related to childhood infectious diseases and nutritional problems. He was Chair of the Department of International Health of the Bloomberg School of Public Health from 1985-2013.

Dr. Black’s current research includes field trials of micronutrients and other interventions, and evaluation of preventive and curative health service programs in low-and middle-income countries. In the last 25 years he led work that demonstrated the benefits of zinc supplements on child growth, and in the prevention and treatment of childhood diarrhea and pneumonia. His other interests are related to the use of evidence in policy and programs, including estimates of the causes of child mortality, the development of research capacity and the strengthening of public health training. As a member of the US National Academy of Medicine, and advisory bodies of the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) and other international organizations, he assists with the development of research and policies intended to improve child health.

Dr. Black is the recipient of the Programme for Global Paediatric Research Award for Outstanding Contributions to Global Child Health in 2010, the Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health in 2010, the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award in 2011, the Nutrition Leadership Award from Sight and Life in 2013, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award in 2016, and the Pediatric Nutrition Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Nutrition in 2018. He chaired the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative and serves on the governing boards of Nutrition International, and Vitamin Angels. He has more than 700 scientific journal publications and is co-editor of the textbook “Global Health.”

Dr.Tajudeen is a Medical Doctor with postgraduate qualifications in Pediatrics and Public Health. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians and African Public Health Leaders Fellow of the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, UK. He has years of senior-level experience in Emergency Preparedness and Response, Health Workforce Development, Public Health Research, Health System Strengthening, Health Diplomacy, Maternal and Child Health, and National Public Health Institutes.

He is currently the Head of Public Health Institutes and Research at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), African Union (AU), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He coordinates the establishment and strengthening of National Public Health Institutes across the AU Member States. He coordinates the Health Workforce Development and Public Health Research agendas of the Africa CDC.

Dr.Tajudeen leads the medical countermeasures section of the Africa CDC COVID-19 response. He co-chairs the case management technical working group of the Africa Taskforce on COVID-19. He leads the Saving Lives and Livelihoods Programme (partnership to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination in Africa) of the African Union and has several publications in peer review journals.

Dr. Tajudeen joined the Global Partners Board in 2023.

Stefan Peterson is the founding center leader of the Iganga/Mayuge HDSS in Uganda, has served as Chief, Health Section and Associate Director, Program Division of UNICEF. Stefan is a Professor of Global Health at Uppsala University and, prior to that, at the Global Health Division of Karolinska Institute. He has also been visiting professor at Makerere University in Uganda.

As a health systems researcher and medical doctor, he has done extensive field work in Tanzania and Uganda, and has worked with different ministries of health, organizations such as WHO, and implemented projects supported by Sida, the Gates Foundation, and the European Union. He was also a co-founder of Medicins Sans Frontieres Sweden and the CCM Task Force Operations Research Group. Stefan is a Swedish national, a medical doctor with degrees in medicine, Public Health and a PhD in International Pediatrics.

Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti  is the first woman World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. She aims to build a responsive, effective and results-driven regional secretariat that will advance efforts towards universal health coverage and accelerate progress toward global development goals, while tackling emerging threats. Strong partnerships will underpin every aspect of the Regional Office’s work during her tenure.

Dr. Moeti is a public health veteran, with more than 35 years of national and international experience. She joined WHO’s Africa Regional Office in 1999 and has served as Deputy Regional Director, Assistant Regional Director, Director of Noncommunicable Diseases, WHO Representative for Malawi, and Coordinator of the Inter-Country Support Team for the South and East African countries. Prior to joining WHO, she worked with UNAIDS as a Team Leader of the Africa and Middle East Desk in Geneva (1997-1999); with UNICEF as a Regional Health Advisor for East and Southern Africa; and with Botswana’s Ministry of Health as a Clinician and Public Health Specialist. At the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Dr. Moeti led the WHO Regional Office for Africa’s efforts on treatment scale-up in the context of the ‘3 by 5’ initiative, and established a regional HIV laboratory network resulting in a significant increase in the number of HIV-positive individuals accessing antiretroviral therapy in the region. She also successfully spearheaded the development of WHO Regional Strategies for public health priority areas, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, immunization, maternal and child health, and the health systems strengthening.

Dr Moeti qualified in medicine (M.B., B.S) and public health (MSc in Community Health for Developing Countries) at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London in 1978 and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1986, respectively

Dr. Muhammad Faruk Bashir is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Nigeria and a Chief Consultant in Pediatric Endocrinology at the affiliated teaching hospital, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi. With over a decade of teaching, practicing and research in Pediatrics, he has 37 peer-reviewed journal article publications in different aspects of pediatrics with particular focus on childhood diabetes, malnutrition, and vaccine preventable diseases. 

Over the past 10 years, Dr. Bashir has served as the Principal Investigator for several critical disease surveillance projects, including those on Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis Rotavirus, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome. The findings from these projects have played a vital role and supported policy changes, such as the inclusion of pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines into the routine immunization schedule in Nigeria. 

Served as the Mortality Surveillance Team Lead that helped in laying the foundation for establishing Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Project at ATBU Bauchi, and in August 2024 became the Principal Investigator of the site. In this expanded role, he now oversees all aspects of the project, from community engagement, public health advocacy to data collection and analysis as part of a global effort to better understand and reduce childhood mortality through data-driven interventions.

Dr. Omer has conducted studies in the United States, Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Australia. Dr. Omer’s research portfolio includes epidemiology of respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV, and – more recently – COVID-19; clinical trials to estimate the efficacy of maternal and/or infant influenza, pertussis, polio, measles, and pneumococcal vaccines; and trials to evaluate drug regimens to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Moreover, he has conducted several studies on interventions to increase immunization coverage and acceptance. Dr. Omer’s work has been cited in global and country-specific policy recommendations and has informed clinical practice and health legislation in several countries. He has directly mentored over 100 junior faculty, clinical and research post-doctoral fellows, PhD and other graduate students. Dr. Omer has published widely in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Lancet, British Medical Journal, Pediatrics, American Journal of Public Health, Science, and Nature. 

Dr. Omer was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and has received multiple awards – including the Maurice Hilleman Award by the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases for his work on the impact of maternal influenza immunization on respiratory illness in infants younger than 6 months- for whom there is no vaccine. He has served on the boards of trustees of Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and Sabin Vaccine Institute and advisory panels including the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Vaccines. 

Dr Abdul Momin Kazi is the site director and co-PI on the CHAMPS Pakistan site. Dr Momin is an assistant professor at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. He is a PhD candidate with the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and has an MBBS degree from Dow Medical College, Pakistan. 

Dr Momin was an AITRP Trainee (Fogarty fellow) from 2005 to 2006. His research interests include geospatial analysis, surveillance on vaccine preventable diseases, childhood routine immunization and digital health. 

Professor Martin Meremikwu is a tenured Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the College of Medical Sciences University of Calabar in Cross River State, Nigeria, where he also leads the clinical trials and evidence-based healthcare program of the Calabar Institute of Tropical Diseases Research and Prevention. He obtained an MBBCH at the University of Calabar in 1985 and a Master of Science in Mother and Child Health at the Institute of Child Health, University London, United Kingdom, in 1993. He holds a specialist fellowship from the Faculty of Pediatrics of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, United Kingdom. He has received additional training and fellowships in disease control, clinical trials, research ethics, evidence-based healthcare, research synthesis, and Project Management in Global Health. Currently, he teaches most of these topics in postgraduate programs at the University of Calabar and as short courses. He pioneered the Cross River Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Cross River HDSS), which became a member site of the INDEPTH Network in 2014. Prof. Meremikwu has served as Editor of the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group for several years and still maintains an active link with the group by providing support to systematic review authors. He is the Director of Cochrane Nigeria and the current Chair of the Nigerian National TB/HIV Technical Working Group. He sits on several boards and scientific research committees, including the EDCTP, NIMR (Nigeria Institute for Medical Research).  He was awarded the Kenneth Warren Prize for excellence in developing Cochrane systematic reviews in 2009. He has over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He has led and contributed to the development of many guidelines and policy documents, including evidence syntheses and guidelines for FGM, COVID-19 IPC, etc. Professor Martin is presently the Co-Chair of the CHAMPS Network Steering Committee.  

Jes Hand serves as one of two Senior Finance Manager in the CHAMPS program office, focusing on financial management for CHAMPS sites in South Africa, Mali, Kenya, and Mozambique. Before joining the CHAMPS team, Jes spent five years managing federal and non-federal sponsored projects for global health and epidemiology faculty at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. During this time, CHAMPS was among the key projects in her portfolio, providing her with invaluable experience in global health finance. Earlier in her career, Jes worked as an Immigration Attorney at the Latin American Association, where she specialized in supporting victims of crime. Her diverse professional background underscores her dedication to advancing impactful initiatives and supporting vulnerable populations.

Katherine Maher, MPH, is the Site Operations and Laboratory Support Manger who works collaboratively on the Science, Site, Strategy and Implementation and Informatics teams at the Program Office. For the S3I team, she oversees tracking and managing inventory and specimen shipments to and from the sites. For the Informatics team, she oversees managing the Informatics Help Desk and works as the first contact for the Site’s informatics concerns and questions. Katherine also works as a liaison between the two teams to assist with communication and collaboration.

Katherine earned her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences and Health Professions from The Pennsylvania State University in 2021 and her Master of Public Health in Global Health with a concentration in Infectious Diseases from Emory University in 2023.

Nnamdi Obumneme Orah is a histopathologist and the Network Pathologist for CHAMPS. With expertise in infectious diseases, breast cancer, and genital tract cancers, he is also a Commonwealth Scholar with numerous peer-reviewed publications, primarily on digital pathology, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer. His specialty training across Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States has shaped a distinctive global health perspective. Driven by a passion for early disease detection, Dr. Orah is dedicated to advancing digital pathology implementation in under-resourced settings.

Chelsea Cole, MPH, is a public health professional with expertise in maternal and child health, research, and program management. She holds Master’s in Public Health from Emory University and has contributed to organizations such as the CDC Foundation, Eleanor Crook Foundation, and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. Chelsea earned her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Trinity University and served as a Peace Corps community health volunteer in Peru. Passionate about transforming data into action, Chelsea is committed to advancing sustainable health interventions and policies to improve maternal and child health globally.