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Featuring guest speakers Timeo Mtenga from the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust and Naomi Walker from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, this episode looks as TB treatment challenges and future solutions- we cover topics including:
Dr Naomi Walker
Senior Clinical Lecturer in Experimental Medicine, LSTM
Consultant in Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
I am a clinical academic specialising in Tropical Medicine and Infectious diseases. My major research interest is TB immunopathology and the influence of HIV infection on TB disease. I completed my PhD at Imperial College London and at University of Cape Town. Before moving to Liverpool, I was a Clinical Lecturer at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In addition to UK, I have clinical experience working in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Australia.
Timeo Mtenga
Research Clinician, Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust
I am Timeo Mtenga based in Zomba, Malawi. I have mainly studied HIV-TB, particularly in low resource settings. Under the LSHTM project, I am currently conducting two HIV-TB clinical trials (CASTLE and ITB-TBR) with the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust research organisation. In my 5 years of research experience, the STAMP study contributed to policy formulation of HIV-TB management at the national level and internationally informed other partners like WHO. Now I am pursuing a Master's degree in Clinical Trials with the University of London.
Dr. Jacob Creswell is Head of Innovations & Grants at the Stop TB Partnership. He coordinates the TB REACH initiative which is focused on improving programmatic aspects of tuberculosis case detection and treatment outcomes. He serves as a global expert on different aspects of improving tuberculosis case detection including private sector engagement and active case finding. Jacob is currently working on the introduction of new diagnostic and screening tools for TB including artificial intelligence and how they can fit into more efficient and effective diagnostic algorithms. Jacob has published more than 80 scientific publication and has over 20 years of experience working at Stop TB, WHO and CDC on TB and HIV.
Dr Brenda Nyambura Mungai
PhD candidate, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Director of Tuberculosis and Lung Health Centre for Health Solutions-Kenya
A medical doctor Bachelor’s degree of Medicine and Surgery (University of Nairobi) with a postgraduate diploma in HIV management (Colleges of Medicine South Africa) and a Masters in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases (Liverpool, United Kingdom). She has over fifteen years national and international professional experience in clinical care and public health approaches to management of infectious diseases especially in TB/ HIV in developing countries. Currently pursuing a PhD in Global Health at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine focusing on operational modelling, and the role of chest X-ray and computer-aided detection software in tuberculosis screening in low -and lower-middle income countries.
In the first episode of this TB series, we speak to Katherine Horton from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Jeremiah Chikovore from the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. We explore the relationship between TB and gender, and discuss:
Co-host bio for Series 3
Dr. Rhona Mijumbi-Deve is a senior lecturer of public policy at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and heads the Policy Unit at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Clinical Research Programme in Blantyre, Malawi. Rhona trained as a medical doctor and later as a Clinical Epidemiologist and Biostatistician, and health policy analyst. She has spent the past decade doing health systems and policy research. Her special interest is in exploring the nexus of evidence, and policy and decision-making processes, especially in low- and middle-income countries. She especially is interested in understanding this in the contexts of emergencies, health security and health diplomacy.
Dr Katherine Horton
Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
Katherine Horton is an Assistant Professor with the TB Modelling Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She is an epidemiologist and mathematical modeller who has been studying gender differences in TB burden and care since 2014. Dr Horton is the LSHTM Programme Team Leader and cross-consortium Modelling Working Group Coordinator for the LIGHT Consortium, which aims to provide new evidence on the effectiveness of different gender sensitive pathways and approaches to health for those with TB in urban, HIV-prevalent settings.
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/w_TaCNYgBSNYO02Hm9dXg?domain=journals.plos.org
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/mJF_COPjDUAD7p6fvV643?domain=youtube.com
Dr Jeremiah Chikovore
Senior Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa and SSHIFTB
Jeremiah Chikovore is sociologist based at the Human Sciences Research Council, in Durban, South Africa. Over the last odd two decades, he has been involved in research to understand men’s location in the realm of public health, from sexual and reproductive health issues including contraceptive use, abortion, gendered violence, and adolescent wellbeing, to TB and HIV. With a grounding in qualitative and interpretive methodologies, and applying complexity-framed analytical approaches, Jeremiah has attempted to explore the intersectional gender construction and sustenance of health-related behaviours. He is a former Wellcome Trust Fellow, whose work on barriers to men’s engagement in care-seeking for TB-related symptoms in Malawi employed a seminal angle in tuberculosis research. Jeremiah is engaged as expert panellist and resource person for global agencies and funding bodies. He has worked largely in the Southern Africa region while collaborating globally, and he co-leads the newly formed Social Science and Health Innovations for TB (SSHIFTB) virtual centre.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3402/gha.v8.26292
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154103
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1053
https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/5/5/e002255.full.pdf
On today’s episode we are joined by Joan Muela from PASS-Suisse/Rovira i Virgili University and Yoriko Masunaga from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp/University of Amsterdam who share their experiences of engaging with communities to improve malaria trial implementation. Have a listen to learn about:
Joan Muela Ribera, PhD and MSc
Lecturer and senior researcher, PASS-Suisse and MARC at Rovira i Virgili University
My field of research is medical anthropology applied to Global Health projects. I did fieldwork in a variety of African, Asian and American countries, mostly in the field of infectious diseases. My area of expertise is participatory implementation research and systemic evaluation. I strongly believe that people in the communities where we work are the ultimate actors and decision-makers. Our role as Social Science experts is to provide useful and solid information for decision-making, as well as a frame and a systematic approach to co-create and co-implement the project.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joan-Muela-Ribera
https://www.antropologia.urv.cat/en/about/people/adjunct-faculty/
Yoriko Masunaga, MPH
Pre-doc, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp / University of Amsterdam
I am a PhD candidate (in medical anthropology) focusing on community participatory implementation research in malaria elimination interventions. With years of working experience in both research and implementation, I am convinced that communities play pivotal role in integrating research and implementation and in tackling global health issues in holistic and transdisciplinary manner, as a co-designer and co-implementer of research and implementation.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yoriko-Masunaga
Featuring guest speakers Lee Ching Ng from the Environmental Health Institute in Singapore and Lina Finda from Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, this episode explores how communities perceive and respond to control approaches which involve modified mosquitoes. We discuss:
Dr Ng Lee Ching
Group Director, Environmental Health Institute National Environment Agency
Assoc Prof Ng Lee Ching is the Group Director of Environmental Health Institute (EHI), a national environmental health facility at the National Environment Agency in Singapore. She has spent more than 20 years building scientific capabilities for Singapore’s environmental public health, conducting research to understand disease risk and transmission, and developing tools and strategies for mitigation of risks.
She has co-authored around 200 scientific papers and book chapters, in the area of vector borne diseases, COVID-19, food borne diseases, anti-microbial resistance, indoor air quality etc.
She serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. She is a regular temporary advisor to the WHO and the IAEA, and serves as the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research of Arbovirus and their Associated Vectors, in Singapore.
https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/research/environmental-health-institute
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34831751/
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.16.21257922v1
https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/research/ehi-journal-publications
Dr. Lina Finda
Research Scientist, Ifakara Health Institute
I am a research scientist at Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, and a postodoctoral fellow at University of California – San Diego. At Ifakara I have been working on a number of projects to investigate the magnitude and drivers of malaria transmission, to understand the interactions between malaria vectors and humans and to develop alternative tools for malaria control.
I received my BSc in Biochemistry from Western Washington University (WA, USA) in 2010, in 2014 received a Masters of Public Health with dual concentrations in Maternal and Child Health and Health Education and Promotion, from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (LA, USA, and in September 2021 I completed my PhD from University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. My PhD research, based in Tanzania, focused on developing and testing effective stakeholder engagement models for novel technologies for malaria control. I am currently doing a postdoctoral fellowship at UC-San Diego, working on research to explore and respond to gaps in stakeholder engagement for gene drive technologies for disease-vector control.
Our guests Charles Mbogo from KEMRI and Hmooda Toto Kafy from the Federal Ministry of Health, Khartoum discuss integrated vector management (IVM) and the role that communities play in this approach to vector control. Highlights from the discussion include:
Dr. Hmooda Toto Kafy, MSc, PhD
Vector Control consultant/ Advisor, Federal Ministry of Health, Khartoum - Sudan
Medical entomologist and Vector control specialist with a BSc in Public and Environmental Health from University of Khartoum 1999, MSc in Biology and Control of Disease Vectors from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine United Kingdom 2008 and a PhD in Medical Entomology from university Sains Malaysia 2019 by research titled: Impact of Insecticide Resistance in Anopheles arabiensis on effectiveness of malaria vector control in Sudan. since 2020, 2013 – 2019 headed integrated vector management department, FMoH, 2009 - 2015 Project officer of trial titled (Impact of Insecticide Resistance in Anopheles arabiensis on effectiveness of malaria vector control in Sudan supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). 2009 – 2012 Head of Integrated Vector Management Unit and Deputy Manager of National Malaria Control Programme FMoH, 2004 – 2007 head of Integrated Vector Management Unit- NMCP FMOH, 2001 – 2003 head of Vector Control Unit – NMCP FMOH and 1999 – 2001 Field supervisors, Malaria Control Programme, SMoH –Khartoum state. Since 20th May 2020 Hmooda is a Technical Support Senior Specialist; Country & Regional Support Partner Committee (CRSPC)-RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Home based with significant travel duties. Hmooda during 2000 – 2017 participated in many consultation works with WHO – EMRO and WHO – HQ such as development of vector control guidelines. Hmooda Toto Kafy published 18 papers in the subject of medical entomology and vector control in peer review journals.
Prof Charles Mbogo
Chief Research Scientist, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
I am a Chief Research Scientist and a public health entomologist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute. I have an interest in developing and strengthening research capacity and scientific leadership in Africa and have supervised over 20 research fellows and doctoral students. I am currently the President of Pan African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) where I am involved in supporting the development of a new platform for the capacity building of African entomologists. My research interests include the ecology and behaviour, and transmission dynamics of mosquitoes and other disease vectors, and development of new vector control tools. I have worked on the large-scale evaluation of insecticide-treated bednets, insecticide resistance, and integrated vector management (IVM) strategies especially community-based vector control approaches.
In this episode we talk to April Monroe and Danielle Piccinini Black from the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs about social and behavioral considerations for vector control and the human-centred design approach. We cover topics including:
April Monroe, PhD | Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
April Monroe has over a decade of experience in global health, focusing on malaria research, program implementation, and policy. Her work aims to increase the impact of malaria interventions by learning from and engaging with people most affected by the disease. This includes understanding challenges to and motivations for malaria prevention and treatment practices and how gaps in protection arise. It also includes engaging stakeholders at all levels to help ensure new malaria control approaches respond to peoples’ needs and lifestyles and are rooted within systems that support long-term success. April earned a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, an MSPH degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus in Social and Behavioral Interventions, and a certificate in Innovation and Human Centered Design from the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.
Social Media
Twitter: @AprilCMonroe
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Danielle Piccinini Black, MBA, MPH | Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
Danielle Piccinini Black is the Design Innovation Lead at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, Academic Lead for Innovation and Human-Centered Design at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School—Executive Education, and Design Thinking Adjunct Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. She leads the development and implementation of design thinking research, workshops, and co-creation internationally to address emerging public health and business needs, and uses that experience to enhance her design thinking courses. Danielle holds an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger and South Africa. Email: [email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-piccinini-black-mba-mph-76685370
https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/7/2/160
In this episode we speak with Wafa Alam and Imran Hossain Mithu from BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University about conducting remote community GIS mapping of informal settlements in Bangladesh. We hear about how:
Wafa Alam, Assistant Coordinator
BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University
Wafa Alam is currently working as an Assistant Coordinator at BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. She is currently involved in ARISE project which focuses on the health and wellbeing of marginalized communities living in urban informal settlements. Under ARISE, she works closely with community researchers and is actively engaged in various community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods. She has also worked in a research that focused on social inclusion through skills development of vulnerable population groups like persons with disabilities and transgender. Her research interests are urban health and governance, and health systems research.
She completed her Master of Public Health from BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. She has an undergraduate degree in Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology) from Monash University.
https://bracjpgsph.org/staff-members.php
https://www.ariseconsortium.org/about-us/team/
https://bracjpgsph.org/assets/pdf/Advocacy/communication%20tools/brochures/Journey_to_A_Better_Life_Stories_of_BRAC_Skills_Development_Programme_Graduates.pdf
https://covid-bracjpgsph.org/front/covid/assets/files/research/brief/Urban_%20Poor%20Lived%20Experiences%20in%20SLums%20ARISE_April%2019_final%20brief%202020-min.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl4ghkwrs5Q&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr8Czk3BvkY&t=40s
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3608577
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30162-5/fulltext
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30158-3/fulltext
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/5/e002253.abstract
https://www.ariseconsortium.org/learn-more-archive/community-health-volunteers-unsung-heroes-for-urban-informal-settlement-dwellers-during-covid-19-pandemic/
Imran Hossain Mithu; BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University
Imran Hossain Mithu is currently working as a Research Associate at James P Grant School of Public Health. He attained his master’s degree in public health from the same institution in Jan’20. He is currently involved in ARISE project and actively engaged in different participatory action research methods such as participatory GIS mapping, photo diaries. He did his Bachelor’s in Dentistry from Dhaka University, and right after his graduation, he worked as a medical officer at Dhaka Dental College. He trained six co-researchers from three study sites of the ARISE Bangladesh for conducting various participatory action research. He is also involved with different community-led youth organizations of the urban slum Bangladesh.
https://bracjpgsph.org/staff-members.php
https://www.ariseconsortium.org/about-us/team/
https://www.ariseconsortium.org/remote-gis-mapping-in-dholpur-co-production-with-co-researchers/
https://www.ariseconsortium.org/youth-associate-dholpur-slum-residents-covid-19-pandemic/
In this episode we talk to Dr. Tosin Adekeye and Wede Tate about the method ‘Photovoice’ that was used with people affected by severe stigmatising skin diseases in Nigeria and Liberia. We hear about how Photovoice can:
Wede Leoni Seekey-Tate, University of Liberia (UL-PIRE) / REDRESS, Human Resource Management, Research Fellow
Wede Leoni Seekey Tate is the Research Fellow for Human Resource Management (HRM) on the REDERESS project. In her current role, she provides support in the design of effective integrated strategies for the sustainable, acceptable, and affordable case detection, referral, and treatment of Severe Stigmatizing Skin Diseases (SSSDs). She also contributes to the development of recommendations for the scale up of quality effective interventions within the existing health system infrastructure; and guides analysis of impact of human resource management practices on case detection, referral, and treatment of SSSDs with a specific focus on performance management perspectives. She has worked with the University of Liberia - Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (UL-PIRE) on an HIV research project. She has supported the Liberian Ministry of Health through WHO, to finalize Liberia’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Master Plan including strategy, budget, and one-year operational plan. She obtained a Master of Public Health from Cuttington University in Liberia and diploma in Health Care Management in Tropical Countries from the Swiss Tropical Institute of Public Health.
www.redressliberia.org
https://www.redressliberia.org/our-approach/community-engagement-and-involvement/
Dr Oluwatosin Adekeye, Department of Psychiatry, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna State
Oluwatosin Adekeye is a social science researcher who has worked with a number of organisations especially in the area of community participation and empowerment. His initial work was a research funded by the TDR on Community Directed Interventions. This provided the basis for subsequent social science and public health work with various communities in northern Nigeria. His interests recently is research relating to health and wellbeing and how various segments of the community are able to report their lived experiences, such that it can foster engagement and translate into programmatic change.
In this episode we talk to Noela Gwani and Luret Lar about two participatory methods were used as part of the COUNTDOWN project in Nigeria to explore community structures and spaces; transect walks and social mapping. We discuss how these methods can be used to:
Dr Luret Lar, Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences
University of Jos and Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
I am a medical doctor, consultant public health physician and a masters holder in international public health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. I am currently a lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine, University of Jos; with interest in international public health. For the past six years, I was the research manager for the couNTDown project, a multi-country and multidisciplinary implementation research. We employed participatory methods to collaboratively design solutions to neglected tropical diseases programme challenges. I have been involved in local, regional and global research and networking focussed on community participation and health system’s strengthening.
https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/alumni-and-friends/alumni-profiles/dr-luret-lar
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luret-A-Lar
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/about-countdownhttps://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/about-countdown
https://www.sightsavers.org/blogs/2018/06/how-participatory-research-helps-tackle-neglected-tropical-diseases/;
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Countdown%20Learning%20Pack%20Kaduna%20State.pdf
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Countdown%20Learning%20Pack%20Ogun%20State.pdf
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Countdown%20PGP_0.pdf
Noela Gwani, COUNTDOWN Nigeria
A social scientist with experience of participatory, inclusive and qualitative research, I worked on the COUNTDOWN project as a Team Lead and collaborated with Ministries of Health to better engage communities and stakeholders in improving equitable Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) program delivery. I have been involved in the production and dissemination of research outputs such as practical tools to support participatory action planning, as well as case studies and blogs.
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Countdown%20PGP_0.pdf
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Countdown%20Learning%20Pack%20Kaduna%20State.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsoaMK67l8I&t=1s
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Developing%20Sustainable%20tools%20case%20Study%2013.11.19%20V4%20pdf.pdf
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Building%20resilience%20for%20MAM.pdf
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/Georgina%20and%20Noela.pdf
https://countdown.lstmed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/centre/A%20Day%20in%20the%20Life%20Noela_2.pdf
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