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BIT Project Briefs

Behaviourally informed two-way text messaging to improve return to HIV care in South Africa

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Alison Buttenheim

Position: Indlela Behavioural Science Technical Design Lead

Organization: University of Pennsylvania

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Prof. Alison Buttenheim is a Scientific Director of CHIBE and an Associate Professor of Nursing and Health Policy. Her research addresses persistent behavior change challenges in public and global health. Using the techniques and frameworks of behavioral economics, Alison designs, trials, and scales innovative interventions in the areas of vaccine acceptance, smoking cessation, reproductive health, cancer prevention, and vector control. A recognized evaluation expert, Alison has consulted on several impact evaluation studies in international settings, including village midwife and microfinance programs in Indonesia, school feeding schemes in Laos, and improved sanitation in urban Bangladesh.

John Blandford

Position: Country Director - South Africa

Affiliation: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - South Africa

John M Blandford, PhD is the Country Director for South Africa and was Principal Deputy Director of the Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With the director, Dr. Blandford oversees the management and implementation of CDC’s global HIV treatment, care and prevention programs and the division’s approximately 2000 staff positioned in 44 country offices and CDC headquarters in Atlanta, in support of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Dr. Blandford also serves as a PEPFAR Deputy Principal, providing overall leadership in strategy and management for PEPFAR. Previously, Dr. Blandford served as Chief of DGHA’s Health Economics, Systems, and Integration Branch after he launched the branch in 2010. His leadership was critical in elevating the role of economic research and analysis to support planning, sustainable scale-up and efficient implementation of global HIV programs under PEPFAR. He directed and was principal investigator of the PEPFAR ART Costing Project, a multicountry study of costs and cost drivers of global HIV treatment programs. Dr. Blandford pioneered the design and implementation of PEPFAR Expenditure Analysis, which has been adopted for routine implementation across PEPFAR to support program management, accountability and efficiency. For two years, Dr. Blandford was seconded to the Department of State’s Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, where he oversaw implementation science activities across multiple U.S. government agencies and guided efforts to project global resource needs for scale-up of PEPFAR programs. Dr. Blandford studied at the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Notre Dame, and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago as a Social Science Research Council Fellow.

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Jacqui Miot

Position: Indlela Strategic Advisor

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office

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Prof. Jacqui Miot is the Division Director at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO), a division of Wits Health Consortium and holds a joint appointment with the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand. She has successfully led and managed teams in clinical and economic evaluation in the public and private healthcare sector for more than 15 years. Since 2009 she has been conducting health economics and evidence-based driven research to inform policy in the public healthcare setting both in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa which has included technical advisory work with the National Department of Health. She is the Program Director of a 5-year cooperative agreement with USAID on the HIV/AIDS Economic and Research Activity as well as a Strategic Advisor for the Indlela project.

Sophie Pascoe

Position: Indlela Co-Director

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office

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Dr. Sophie Pascoe is an Epidemiologist and Principal Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO) in Johannesburg. She holds a Masters and Doctorate degree in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Sophie has 17 years experience working in the region where her work has focused on HIV and sexual reproductive health research and the implementation of randomised control trials as well as operational research evaluating health systems strengthening interventions. Currently her research focuses on linkage to care, treatment adherence and retention in care among people living with HIV and the implementation of differentiated models of care, as well as exploring the preferences of young people and men for accessing HIV programme services. She is also Co-Director of the Indlela initiative, a first-of-its-kind nudge unit focused on HIV in South Africa, that aims to build capacity in behavioural economics and the application of behavioural insights to improve the efficiency of health systems and achieve better health outcomes.

Candice M Chetty-Makkan

Position: Indlela Co- Director

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office

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Dr. Candice M Chetty-Makkan is a Principal Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO). Candice also has an honorary senior lecturer position at the School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand. She has a doctorate degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Research Psychology and has approximately 15 years’ experience in public health research. Candice’s key areas of interest include understanding the socio-behavioural factors that impact the lives of people who are at risk for HIV and TB. Candice has been involved in projects that included a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods that focussed on understanding participant preferences, barriers and motivators to accessing health care. She has experience with epidemiology, implementation science studies and clinical trials. Candice has been the qualitative lead, co-investigator and principal investigator on multiple studies. Currently, Candice is the Senior Behavioural Scientist on the Indlela project that is aimed at building capacity to design and test nudges and other behavioural solutions to improve the effectiveness of health services and achieve better health outcomes in South Africa. She is a mentor for the IAVI ITAPS UCSF scientific manuscript writing programme and a guest associate editor for Frontiers in Reproductive Health HIV and STIs.

Lungisile Vezi

Position: Indlela Programme Coordinator

Organization: Health Ecomics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

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Lungisile Vezi is a Level 2 Study coordinator at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO), and serves as a coordinater for Indlela. Her role includes project demand creation, quarterly newsletter development, website monitoring, providing technical support for virtual communications and general project coordination support.

Lungisile has been with HE²RO since 2016. During this time, she worked on the “Linkages” and “Enhance” studies based in KwaZulu Natal and was a coordinator on the “Simplified algorithm for treatment eligibility” (SLATE) study based in Gauteng. She was involved in this study from Wave 1 and Wave 2, as well as the SLATE qualitative sub study, and has contributed as a co-author to several study publications. Lungisile has a BA degree in Psychology, a diploma in project management and a Graphic Design certificate. She is very passionate about improving patient care systems, bring positive change in human behaviour and changing the societal stereotypes.

Harsha Thirumurthy

Position: Indlela Behavioural Science Scientific Director

Organization: University of Pennsylvania

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Prof. Harsha Thirumurthy is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE), where he leads global health initiatives. He is also a Research Associate at Penn’s Population Studies Center and Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI). Prof. Thirumurthy’s research interests lie at the intersection of behavioral economics and public health. His research examines the decision making of individuals, households, and health care providers in low- and middle-income countries. He has nearly 20 years of research experience in east Africa, southern Africa, and South Asia, having led numerous randomized trials of behavioral interventions to promote improved health and economic outcomes. Prof. Thirumurthy has published in leading journals in economics, public health, and medicine. His projects have routinely included inter-disciplinary teams of scientists and practitioners, while being supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and several other funding agencies. Prof. Thirumurthy completed a Ph.D. in economics at Yale University. Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, he was on the faculty at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to research activities, Prof. Thirumurthy is a member of the Population Sciences review panel at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Alison Buttenheim

Position: Indlela Behavioural Science Technical Design Lead

Organization: University of Pennsylvania

upenn/alison-buttenheim

Prof. Alison Buttenheim is a Scientific Director of CHIBE and an Associate Professor of Nursing and Health Policy. Her research addresses persistent behavior change challenges in public and global health. Using the techniques and frameworks of behavioral economics, Alison designs, trials, and scales innovative interventions in the areas of vaccine acceptance, smoking cessation, reproductive health, cancer prevention, and vector control. A recognized evaluation expert, Alison has consulted on several impact evaluation studies in international settings, including village midwife and microfinance programs in Indonesia, school feeding schemes in Laos, and improved sanitation in urban Bangladesh.

Teniola Egbe

Position: UPenn Project Manager

Organization: University of Pennsylvania

Teniola Egbe is a Project Manager at the UPenn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) where her role includes research study oversight, supporting the strategy of The Behavioral Economics and Global Health Insights Lab (BEGIN Lab), new research project development, and external and internal communication with various stakeholders. She has a Master in Public Health and a Master of Bioethics focusing on global health from the University of Pennsylvania. During her graduate studies, she conducted research examining the risk of prematurity by race, ethnicity, and nativity. She previously worked at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on child abuse studies focused around imaging as a tool to help identify cases of child abuse. Teni is interested in maternal and child health, global health, intimate partner violence, and racial and ethnic health disparities.

Noora Marcus

Position: Indlela Operations Manager

Organization: University of Pennsylvania

Behavioral economics, Sociology, Public health

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Noora has worked as a Project Manager in behavioral health research since 2015. Her research areas of focus include HIV prevention, healthcare service delivery, medication adherence, and m-health. Noora has managed projects in the United States, Kenya, South Africa and India. Her academic training is in Medical Sociology and International Development. As a Operations Manager for Indlela, Noora advises on strategy, operations and BIT projects. As a Senior Research Manager for CHIBE, Noora supervises the CHIBE global health portfolio, led by Dr. Harsha Thirumurthy. Noora is interested in the socio-behavioral factors that impact health, and through the use of effective behavioral health interventions, improving the lives of large numbers of people around the world.

Lawrence Long

Position: Indlela Behavioural Science Technical Expert

Organization: Boston University

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Dr. Lawrence Long (MCom, PhD) is a health economist and public health policy researcher. He is a Research Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and holds a joint appointment at the University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). Lawrence did his undergraduate degree in business science with a specialization in economics and finance and then went on to focus on economics and its application to public health in his graduate studies. He has more than 14 years of experience conducting applied research on the economic impact of HIV, tuberculosis and associated conditions within South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Currently he is a co-PI of a number of HIV projects under a multi-year USAID co-operative agreement in South Africa and a member of Indlela, a team building behavioral science capacity in South Africa. Lawrence is the principal investigator of a NIMH K01 award examining the potential role of behavioral science / behavioral economics in improving the uptake of and persistent on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis amongst men who have sex with men in South Africa.

Brendan Maughan-Brown

Position: Indlela Behavioural Science Technical Expert

Organization: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town

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Dr. Brendan Maughan-Brown is an interdisciplinary social scientist with expertise on: the uptake of HIV-prevention and treatment services; behavioural economics; and the social and behavioural determinants of HIV risk. He is a Chief Research Officer at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town. Brendan’s research interests include: behavioural interventions to increase demand for health services and products; HIV testing; linkage to HIV care; HIV stigma; male circumcision; and age-disparate partnerships. His current research focus is on understanding the psychosocial and structural barriers to early antiretroviral therapy initiation, and testing interventions to help people living with HIV to access care and treatment. He is also conducting research on a novel intervention to improve handwashing and health among young children, and research to advance understanding of the factors contributing to high HIV incidence rates among young women in South Africa. Brendan holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cape Town.

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Anna Grimsrud

Position: Lead Technical Advisor in the Programmes and Advocacy Department

Affiliation: International AIDS Society (IAS)

Dr. Anna Grimsrud is the Lead Technical Advisor in the HIV Programmes and Advocacy Department at the International AIDS Society (IAS) where she leads the Differentiated Service Delivery portfolio of work. Dr Grimsrud has an MPH and PhD from the University of Cape Town and is a Deputy Editor of the Journal of the International AIDS Society.Her previous work includes research and teaching positions at the School of Public Health & Family Medicine at University of Cape Town and in monitoring and evaluation at the Treatment Action Campaign. Dr Grimsrud’s research focuses on differentiated service delivery and understanding loss to follow up in antiretroviral therapy programmes in collaboration with the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation,Médecins Sans Frontières and others.

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Coceka Nogoduka

Position: Executive Manager for the National Strategic Plan (NSP)

Affiliation: South African National AIDS Council (SANAC)

Coceka Nogoduka has been with the SANAC Trust as the Executive Manager for the National Strategic Plan (NSP) Implementation since April 2019. She has also been acting as the Executive Manager for the Strategic Information Unit. She is a public health specialist with over eighteen years’ experience within the HIV and TB space. She is a graduate in medical technology and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Umea University in Sweden. Ms Nogoduka has previously served as a Director of HIV Programme in the Eastern Cape Provincial Government and has worked for various Non-Governmental Organizations inclusive of PEPFAR among others. She was seconded to SANAC by the Family Health International 360 to provide technical guidance to develop and design HIV prevention services for Key Populations (truckers, female sex workers, men who have sex with men), under a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ms Nogoduka is a seasoned practitioner in HIV & TB response, policy implementation, stakeholder management, resource mobilization, strategic information management systems and good governance.

Dino Rech

Position: CEO

Organization: Audere

Dr. Dino Rech is a recognized global health leader, published researcher, and physician with first-hand knowledge of how technology can both help and hinder health system progress and outcomes. He has dedicated his career to the advancement of global health through research and innovation, holding various leadership and technical roles at organizations such as the Centre for HIV and AIDS Prevention Studies (CHAPS), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Aurum Institute and most recently the Seattle based AI focused technology NPO, Audere. As the CEO of Audere, Dino enthusiastically drives the organization's vision and oversees the implementation of its strategy. As a proud South African, he is passionate about Audere's mission to deploy technology to find appropriate solutions to the relevant challenges facing developing world environments.

Francois Venter

Position: Head of Ezintsha

Affiliation: Ezintsha

Professor WD Francois Venter, MD, FCP, PhD is the Head of Ezintsha at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he received most of his training. He has an active interest in public sector access to HIV services. His work involves health systems research that directly translates into national programmes, most recently involving the antiretrovirals, dolutegravir and TAF. He leads multiple antiretroviral treatment optimisation studies, and is currently working on new first and second line options, as well as patient linkage-to-care interventions and self-testing projects. He has led large PEPFAR-funded HIV programmes in South Africa, focusing on men, women, children, young people, truckers, sex workers and LGBTI communities. For over 20 years he has been an advisor to bodies such as the South African government, UNAIDS and WHO, contributing to international, regional and national HIV guidelines. He was part of the South African government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee providing advice regarding a national response to the epidemic. He is currently a member of the Department of Science and Technology’s Research and Innovation Committee, advising on COVID-19 research and innovation needs. He has been involved in several HIV-related human rights cases within the Southern African region, and has an active interest in medical ethics. He supervises a large number of Masters and PhD projects. Recent work has included publications in Lancet HIV, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Communications, AIDS and PLOS Medicine.

Josef Tayag

Position: Senior private sector financing advisor

Affiliation: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Josef Tayag is a global health expert in organizational design, healthcare marketing, health systems financing, and program management in emerging markets. He currently manages a portfolio of investments dedicated toward delivering health care services to marginalized communities. Mr. Tayag advises ministries of health on health system reforms and helps entrepreneurs grow health sector businesses. Currently, Mr. Tayag is the Health Economics Advisor for USAID Mission to South Africa. He works on multisectoral and private sector approaches in the HIV and AIDS global response within PEPFAR. He earned his M.S. in health policy and management at Harvard University, and a B.A. at the University of California Berkeley.

Justine Burns

Position: Professor

Affiliation: University of Cape Town (UCT) Research Unit in Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics (RUBEN)

Prof. Justine Burns is a Professor in the School of Economics, and a research associate of the Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit. Her research interests include behavioural and experimental economics, trust and social capital, discrimination, labour markets and social networks, and intergenerational mobility. Her experimental work has focused on the effects of racial identity and income inequality on individual decision-making, as well as group co-operation in the provision of public goods. More recently, she led a project that incorporated behavioural nudge principles into the design and implementation of provincial government policy in the areas of health, safety, energy efficiency and education. She has also completed work leveraging behavioural insights to increase hand washing practice amongst children.

Kevin Volpp

Position: Director and Distinguished Professor

Affiliation: University of Pennyslvania Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics (CHIBE)

Dr. Volpp is the founding Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) and the Founders President’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics and Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine and Health Care Management at the Wharton School. He is also the Division Chief for Health Policy for the Department of Medical Ethics and Policy and a Co-Director of the Penn Clinical and Translational Science Award initiative. He is a core faculty member of the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) and a board certified practicing physician at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. Dr. Volpp’s work focuses on developing and testing innovative ways of applying insights from behavioral economics in improving patient health behavior and affecting provider performance. He worked with a variety of employers, insurers, health systems, and consumer companies in testing the effectiveness of different behavioral economic strategies in addressing tobacco dependence, obesity, and medication non-adherence. Dr. Volpp has published more than 275 papers. Dr. Volpp’s work has been recognized by a number of awards including the Matilda White Riley Award for career achievement by the Office of Social and Behavioral Science at NIH, the Association for Clinical and Translational Science Distinguished Investigator Award for Career Achievement and Contribution to Clinical and Translational Science, the Alice Hersh Award from Academy Health, the John Thompson Prize from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration; a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the British Medical Journal Group Award for Translating Research into Practice, and multiple ‘best paper of the year’ awards from different societies. Dr. Volpp is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the Association of American Physicians (AAP), and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAM).

Linda-Gail Bekker

Position: Physician-scientist

Affiliation: Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF)

Prof. Linda-Gail Bekker is a physician-scientist and infectious disease specialist with a keen interest in HIV, tuberculosis and related diseases. Her doctoral work focused on the host response to Tuberculosis both with and in the absence of HIV co-infection. As the current Deputy Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre (DTHC) at the University of Cape Town and the Chief Research Officer at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF), her research interests have expanded to include programmatic and Health Service research around antiretroviral roll-out and TB integration, prevention of HIV in women, adolescents, and men who have sex with men. She is passionate about community development and engagement; her most recent community projects have included community-based HIV treatment, peer-led community education, mobile health services (Tutu testers), a comprehensive youth centre providing recreation, education and SRH services to youth from peri-urban settings and dedicated adolescent HIV care services. Prof Bekker has served as advisor to the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Program and is a past president of the International AIDS Society. Her interest in prevention sciences and the testing of biomedical technologies including HIV vaccines, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and microbicides have given her international renown in these fields. In recent years, the DTHC & DTHF have developed expertise in a number of key populations including pregnant women, adolescents, men who have sex with men and other difficult to reach populations.

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Mosima Mabunda

Position: Medical and business professional

Affiliation: Discovery/Vitality

Dr Mabunda is the Head of Wellness at Discovery Vitality. In her capacity as the Head of Wellness, she is responsible for developing wellness solutions and initiatives that encourage member adoption of protective health behaviours. Dr Mabunda has a diverse health industry experienced gained both in South Africa and the United Kingdom. She has worked as Assistant Product Development Director at Roche UK; Head of Wellness at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings, Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company and most recently Associate Director in Accenture’s Health business. Dr Mabunda holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and an MBChB from the University of Cape Town.

Quarraisha Abdool Karim

Position: Associate Scientific Director

Affiliation: Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA)

Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim is an NRF A1-rated scientist, an infectious diseases epidemiologist and Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA. She is Professor in Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York and Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Prof Abdool Karim is the UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV and co-chairs the UNAIDS Advisory Group to the Executive Director.Her research over the past 32 years has focused on the evolving HIV epidemic and HIV infection in young women. Abdool Karim has over 200 peer reviewed publications; edited several books and contributed to several book chapters. She has played a central role in building the science base in southern Africa through the Columbia University - Southern African Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Programme.She holds Fellowships at the: The World Academy of Science, Royal Society of South Africa, Academy of Science of South Africa and the African Academy of Science and is a member of the USA National Academy of Medicine. Prof Abdool Karim’s scientific contributions has been recognised by more than 30 local and international prestigious awards. She received the African Union’s Kwame Nkrumah Prize for Science and Technology and the TWAS-Lenovo Prize from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); the ASSAf Science-for-Society Gold Medal; the South African Medical Research Council Gold Medal; the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science award for Africa and the Arab States; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Human Virology in the US; the 2018 Ward Cates Spirit Award, 2020 Chistophe Merieux Award for Infectious Diseases Research and is the co-recipient of2020 John Dirks-Canadian Gairdner Global Public Health Laureate Award.She received an honorary degree (Honoris Causa) from the University of Johannesburg for her contributions to HIV/AIDS prevention research and the African Leadership Award in the scientific category from the Movement of Senegal Companies. Prof Abdool Karim is a member of the UNAIDS 2025 target setting and resource mobilization Steering Committee; the WHO ARV Guidelines Committee; the Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health; andScientific Advisory Board of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). She is a Living Legend for the City of Durban – an honour bestowed by the city for citizens who have made an exemplary contribution to increase the profile of the city nationally and internationally. She is Executive Group Member of the WHO Solidarity Covid-19 Trials for Therapeutics and for Vaccines.

Romy Fritz

Position: Senior Technical Advisor

Affiliation: South Africa Department of Health (DOH)

Ms Fritz has worked at senior management levels in private and the public sector, with extensive experience in funded environments.She currently plays an advisory role at the South African National Department of Health (NDoH) working directly with the Deputy Director General of Communicable and Non-communicable diseases, Prevention and Rehabilitation for the last 3 years, HIV/AIDS, STI, TB, MNCWH and NCD program managers, as well as the Monitoring and Evaluation, Health Management Information Systems, District Health Services, and the Strategic Planning units at the NDoH. She is the Project Lead for Operation Phuthuma at the NDoH which is responsible for managing and driving implementation of key interventions to achieve HIV and TB program targets across South Africa.
At the NDoH, Romy has led the work on national target setting, cascade development, and operational plan development at District-level for the last 3 years. She collated and wrote the HIV section of the 2015 Antenatal Surveillance Survey report for publication and was a co-author on the 2019 District Health Barometer, published by HST.Romy led the Monitoring and Evaluation work on the implementation of the Ward-based Primary Health Care Outreach Team (WBPHCOT) Policy and Framework, which involved developing the M&E framework, indicator set and data collection tools for the program. She was the NDoH project lead for the District Implementation Plans, and the PEPFAR Surge program.Romy has worked across all provinces in this capacity and have engaged with SANAC, PEPFAR, UNAIDS, WHO, Office of the Deputy President, and other major funders and government organisations.She is a member of the global HIV Monitoring Technical Advisory Group (MTAG) coordinated by WHO and UNAIDS, as well as the core working group responsible for redrafting the WHO Strategic Information Guidelines.

Solange Baptiste

Position: Executive Director

Affiliation: International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC)

Solange Baptiste is Executive Director of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC). She leads community activists and allies across the globe to deliver ITPC’s mission to enable people in need to access optimal and affordable HIV treatment through treatment education, demand creation, community-based monitoring and interventions to make medicines more affordable. Solange has over 15 years of global program management and advocacy experience and specializes in monitoring and evaluation. She has a depth of knowledge in social epidemiology, health financing and community systems strengthening in the developing world through her work on USAID/PEPFAR health and development, bilateral and multi-county projects across Africa and Asia. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Tuskegee University and her Master of Science in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Solange is committed to ensuring that the voice of affected communities contributes to and influences the decisions and policies that affect their lives.

Sydney Rosen

Position: Research Professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health and a Co-Director of the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

Affiliation: Boston University (BU)

Prof Sydney Rosen, M.P.A., is a Research Professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health and a Co-Director of the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO) of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research addresses the economic consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and in particular the outcomes, costs, cost-effectiveness, and benefits of HIV treatment interventions and models of service delivery. She is also involved in research on tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and noncommunicable diseases. She is the principal investigator of multiple USAID-, NIH-, and foundation-supported studies and evaluations in South Africa, with other research underway in Zambia, Malawi, and elsewhere. She is also the author of policy and review papers on the business response to AIDS, the rationing of antiretroviral therapy (ART), the retention of patients in HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs, and same-day ART initiation. Professor Rosen’s technical training is in policy analysis and applied economics. She holds a BA magna cum laude from Harvard University and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Caroline Govathson

Position: Indlela Senior Nudge Associate, BE Fellowship Lead and Country Lead for Zimbabwe

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office

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Caroline joined Indlela upon its inception in 2020, as a senior nudge associate. She is a qualified pharmacist, epidemiologist and health economist with over nine years’ experience in research across Zimbabwe and South Africa. Her work has been focused on HIV/AIDS Prevention of Mother to Child transmission trials (HPTN 046 and PROMISE), costing of different health delivery models, and HIV/AIDS & TB epidemiological studies. She has also worked as a faculty member at the University of Zimbabwe School of Pharmacy and the University of the Witwatersrand School of Public Health in South Africa. Caroline is currently a researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Office (HE²RO) and holds an appointment with the University of Witwatersrand. Whilst at HE²RO, she has been a part of efforts to build capacity in health economics by working in collaboration with the World Health Organization to hold cost-effectiveness and costing workshops. One of her main interests is in the use of differentiated models of care to increase access and utilisation of HIV services. Some of her recent work has been using discrete choice experiments to quantify preferences of different groups for HIV services.

Preethi Mistri

Position: Indlela Nudge Associate, Local Technical Design Lead and Country Lead for Malawi

Organization: Health Ecomics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

Preethi Mistri has a Master's in Public Health from the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, and holds an honorary position there. She has worked across civil society, public health and multinational private organisations in various roles including research, health promotion, clinical, scientific and regulatory affairs. Her most recent work was in research at the Cancer Association of South Africa where she managed the Type A-C funding programmes that included management of grant funding and the conceptualisation, development and execution of cancer research projects. Preethi’s areas of interest include understanding the interconnectedness between personal behavioural factors, biological, social, political, economic and environmental determinants of health and strategies to help enable positive health outcomes.

Simamkele Bokolo

Position: Indlela Nudge Associate, Communications Lead and Country Lead for Zambia

Organization: Health Ecomics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

Dr. Simamkele Bokolo is a Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO). She holds a PhD in Cultural and Media Studies, with a special focus on Health Communication, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She has over 12 years’ experience in HIV prevention and treatment programmes, working in research, monitoring, evaluation, and quality improvement. She works across various projects within Indlela and has recently focused on projects addressing health misinformation in South Africa. She is the Principal Investigator on the PROTECT-HPV project, which uses the psychological inoculation theory to strengthen resilience against HPV vaccine misinformation before exposure occurs by proactively addressing misleading narratives and building resistance to misinformation. Her research interests lie at the intersection of health communication and behavioural science. She is particularly focused on understanding the socio-cultural contexts that influence behaviour change and the uptake and adoption of health interventions within communities.

Zwebuka Khumalo

Position: Strategic Information Lead

Organization: South African National Aids Council( SANAC)

Mr. Zwebuka Mzamo Khumalo is currently working for South African National Aids Council (SANAC) as a Strategic Information Lead. His current duties include providing strategic information to inform the country’s response to HIV, TB and STIs, through ensuring availability of up-to-date data to the right hands accurately and on time. He has over 10 years’ experience working within the health space mainly working with health data.

His previous experience includes Head of Monitoring and Evaluation for Shout it Now; Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for Right to Care; Technical Data Manager at the Aurum Institute, Team Lead (Technical Assistance) at BroadReach and data analyst at the National Health Laboratory Services.

Zwebuka's qualifications include Computer Science, Business Administration and Monitoring and Evaluation. He has strong passion for converting data into useful information and drive data use for the betterment of supported programs.

Neo Ndlovu

Position: Indlela Nudge Associate, B-Hub Lead and Country Co-lead for Kenya

Organization: Health Ecomics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

Dr Neo Ndlovu is a Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO). Currently, she is a NUDGE Associate for the Indlela project. She holds a Basic degree in nursing (BNSC), an Honors degree in Psychology (B Soc Sc) and a Masters degree in Psychology (M Soc Sc) from University of the Northwest. She has a Doctorate degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA). In her career advancement journey she further enrolled for the MBA with the Management College of South Africa (MANCOSA) which is in progress. She has been working in various fields of the Public Health in South Africa for over 20 years acquiring skills and expertise as a Research Nurse, Research Manager, Technical Advisor, Study Coordinator, HCT and QA Specialist, District Coordinator, Project Manager, and Programme Manager. She has experience working on HIV projects, TB Projects, and the National COVID-19 roll-out Programme, Clinical Trials, and Surveillance Studies. Her research technical skills include development of data collection tools, development of protocols, IRB submissions, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, report writing and presentation. In her professional career she has interacted with government officials at Sub-district, District, Provincial and National levels.

Ingrid Katz

Position: Chief of Evidence and Program Innovation

Affiliation: U.S. Department of State- PEPFAR

Dr. Ingrid Katz is the Chief of Evidence and Program Innovation at PEPFAR in the Bureau for Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State and the Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. In her role at the State Department, she is a Senior Leadership team and oversees a portfolio of work focused on accelerating the global HIV response and closing gaps in care. She has served as a Principal Investigator on NIH-funded research in South Africa for over 15 years, with more than 115 peer-reviewed publications. Her work focuses on person-centered, evidence-based approaches to HIV care. She received a Master’s in Health Science (MHS) from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her medical degree from the University of California- San Francisco, graduating AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society), and did her clinical training in Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where she was on faculty for over 15 years.

Lauren de Kock

Position: Regional Director

Affiliation: The Aurum Institute

Ms Lauren de Kock is a passionate and internationally recognised Quality Improvement (QI) specialist. Her unique technical and managerial experience in the field of QI, have given her the opportunity to design and lead many QI programmes at a small and large national scale. Some projects significantly improved health outcomes and some did not, but all have given her valuable insights into the science of improvement and the complexity of health systems redesign. Lauren is currently a Regional Director at Aurum Institute, overseeing all QI and clinical training programmes. She is also currently seconded to the South African National Department of Health, HIV/AIDS and STI cluster, as the Operation Phuthuma QI lead. In this role, she is responsible for designing and implementing a national QI approach to address the shortfall in the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. Her unique ability to teach, mentor and lead in the field of QI, allows her to work with all levels of government as well as facility teams across the country to drive sustainable change. She has lead QI projects in Mozambique and Lesotho and is currently a listed technical expert for International Society for Quality in Health Care as well as participates in the WHO Quality TWG. She is an accomplished speaker, having presented at numerous international QI conferences, as well as authored and co-authored several posters and publications. Additionally, she co-authored HOW TO GUIDE for Quality Improvement with the Institute for Health Care Improvement, that is widely used internationally. She is a respected thought leader with vast experience in training, mentoring and capacitating people to work within their health systems to realise better health outcomes for patients.

Mohan Balachandran

Position: Corporate Director

Affiliation: University of Pennsylvania

Mohan Balachandran is corporate director at the Center for Healthcare Transformation and Innovation (CHTI) and the chief operating officer for Way to Health at Penn Medicine. He is a passionate problem solver with nearly 25 years of experience in building, growing, and sustaining businesses mainly in the private sector. In his current role, he leads the Penn Way to Health team and is responsible for all aspects of the technology, strategy, product, finance, and sales. The team has helped design, build and support more than 300 research and clinical
programs across multiple health care conditions using behavioral science techniques as well as targeted messaging. He also serves on the internal advisory board at the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE). He has held multiple leadership roles in the private sector, founded and grown start-ups, and led product strategy, engineering as well as sales and marketing teams. Mohan holds a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and two master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Joshua Graff Zivin

Position: Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair

Affiliation: International Economic Relations at UC San Diego

Joshua Graff Zivin holds the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego, with faculty positions in the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) and the Department of Economics. He serves as director of the GPS Peter F. Cowhey Center on Global Transformation and co-director of the UC San Diego Global Health Institute. Graff Zivin is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2020, he co-founded Amplisal, a firm specializing in remote and hybrid workforce management, where he currently serves as COO.

Graff Zivin is an economist whose broad research interests include the environment, health, development, and innovation economics. He has published numerous articles on a wide range of topics in top economic, policy and science journals. Much of his current work is focused on three distinct areas of research: the relationship between the environment, health and human capital, the economics of innovation and productivity, and the design of health interventions and their economic impacts.

Professor Graff Zivin received both his Ph.D. and M.S. from UC Berkeley and a B.A. from Rutgers University. Prior to joining UC San Diego in 2008, he spent 11 years on the faculty at Columbia University, where he served as professor of economics in the Mailman School of Public Health and the School of International and Public Affairs and directed the Ph.D. Program in Sustainable Development. From 2004-05, Graff Zivin served as Senior Economist for Health and the Environment on the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Samantha Booth

Position: Indlela Behavioural Economics in country Consultant

Samantha has over 15 years of work experience in development and behavioural consultancies, including in the world’s first unit dedicated to applying behavioural insights to solve policy challenges in government (the Behavioural Insights Team). She has led the development of strategies to establish development-focused behavioural economics teams in South Africa and Nigeria, and has led the design and testing of dozens of successful behavioural interventions using experimental methods and RCTs. She has upskilled and trained hundreds of individuals in behavioural economics skills in national and local governments, development organisations, civil society organisations, and in large private sector companies. Samantha has extensive development consulting experience on the African continent and has also worked in Europe and Central Asia. Samantha has a master’s qualification from the London School of Economics in Development Management.

Laura Rossouw

Position: Indlela Data Analyst

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE2RO)

Dr. Laura Rossouw is a Senior Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE2RO), she is also a development and health economist, with a PhD in Economics from Stellenbosch University. Laura's research interests include demand-side and behavioural factors related to health outcomes and health-seeking behaviour, specifically those related to maternal, sexual, and reproductive health; gender economics focusing on the economic empowerment of women and girls; and adolescent health and well-being. She has also worked extensively on the use of fiscal policies to improve health outcomes, specifically those targeting alcohol and tobacco use, and more recently the use of fiscal policies to improve access to menstrual hygiene management. She has worked for several South African academic institutions over the past 10 years and often consults for international organisations including the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

Nomsa Mahlalela

Position: Indlela Nudge Associate

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

Nomsa is a Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO). She holds a Master's in Population Studies, Honours in Industrial Psychology, and Bachelor of Social Science in Psychology from University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. With over 7 years of experience in public health research, she has led projects funded by prestigious institutions such as NIH and USAID, focusing on a wide array of health issues including Health and Aging, HIV, dementia, Gender- based violence, and TB. Notably, Nomsa led a randomized controlled trial assessing home-based HIV testing strategies for middle-aged and older adults in Rural South Africa and managed a trial integrating economic strengthening and HIV prevention programs for vulnerable youth. Her accomplishments also include overseeing the largest district implementation of a community-based counseling and testing program funded by KFW and leading a GBV innovation project, funded by Making All Voices Count. This project developed and piloted a mobile phone intervention to enhance post-rape service delivery at Thuthuzela Care Centres in Tshwane, South Africa. Nomsa's research interests include HIV prevention and treatment, gender-based violence and its impacts, sexual and reproductive health, Health and well-being in aging populations and she has made significant contributions to peer-reviewed journals in these areas.

Hope Shateyi

Position: Indlela Data Manager

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE²RO)

Hope Shateyi is a Database Manager at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Economic Science from the University of Witwatersrand and a BSc Honours degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Venda. He has extensive experience working with managing and overseeing public health research data and databases, specifically Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) data in rural and urban settings. With two years’ experience working as a data specialist at MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Unit on the South African Population Research Infrastructure Network HDSS node. He has also worked on the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance South African site’s urban HDSS in Soweto as data specialist. He has experience with several scientific programming languages in his academic and work careers and a budding interest in Machine Learning in research.

Busisiwe Sibiya

Position: Indlela@HE²RO Fellow

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE²RO)

Ms Busisiwe Sibiya is experienced in programme and project management within the research and education sector, research administration and counselling within the mental health and disability sector. She served as an external member of the Research Ethics Review Committee of the College of Economic Management Sciences at the University of South Africa (UNISA) from 2019 to August 2022. She started her academic journey by completing a BA in Health Sciences and Community Services with the University of South Africa (UNISA), followed by an Honours degree in Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and a Master’s in Public Health degree from Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU). Presently, she is registered for a PhD in Public Health with WITS.

Onthatile Maboa

Position: Indlela@HE²RO Fellow

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE²RO)

Onthatile holds a Master’s degree in Research Psychology from the University of Pretoria and has experience in conducting sexual and reproductive health research. Specializing in studies that focused on Adolescent girls and young women, and key populations such as female sex workers, Onthatile has contributed to both clinical trials and implementation science. She has a deep interest in leveraging psychological principles to improve health outcomes, and is dedicated to advancing the sexual and reproductive health of young women in South Africa and beyond.

Sinethemba Madlala

Position: Indlela Research Assistant

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE²RO)

Sinethemba is a Research assistant at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO). She has worked on various research projects within the organization since 2015, including qualitative and quantitative research. Sinethemba holds a BA in Psychology and Linguistics from the University of KwaZulu Natal, a Certificate in Statistics for Research and Design from Wits Plus, and a BA Honours in Social Behavioral Studies (HIV-AIDS) from UNISA. She is pursuing a Masters Degree in Public Health with a focus on Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interests include behavioural change, communication strategies, and developing evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes.

Lezanie Coetzee

Position: Researcher

Organization: Health Ecomics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO)

Lezanie Coetzee is a dedicated Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Office (HE²RO)) with a Bachelor’s degree in Science and a Master of Science from Stellenbosch University. With a passion for public health, Lezanie has made significant contributions to research in South Africa, focusing on critical areas such as HIV, TB and Early Child Development.

Ashley Chitaka

Position: Indlela@HE²RO Fellow

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE²RO)

Ashley is an early-career Epidemiologist. She holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology (Field Epidemiology) from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a Bachelor of Science and Honours degree in Public Health from Monash University, South Africa. Her academic background is complemented by hands-on research and field experience across South Africa and Zimbabwe, with a strong focus on sexual and reproductive health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, COVID-19, mental health, maternal and child health, and occupational health. Ashley’s research interests lie at the intersection of epidemiology, artificial intelligence, health systems strengthening, and implementation science, with a particular passion for using evidence to advance equitable access to health services. She is the author of a peer-reviewed publication on diabetes mortality across occupational groups in South Africa, featured in the Public Health Bulletin South Africa.

Kitso Setswe

Position: Indlela@HE²RO Fellow

Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research office (HE²RO)

Kitso holds a MA in Research Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and has completed an internship training in Research Psychology at Stellenbosch University, where she gained experience in the development and implementation of research studies in the fields of public health and psychosocial well-being. She also holds an undergraduate and honours degree in Psychology. Her research interests lie in the psychosocial aspects of health, including sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and health systems strengthening. To date, Kitso has co-authored several papers and presented her work at various local conferences.

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