Dr. Laura Altobelli, Research Professor, Future Generations
Laura C. Altobelli, DrPH, MPH, has over 40 years of experience in global health evaluation and research, public policy, program planning and management, and teaching, with interests in scaling solutions through strengthening public health policy and systems in LMICs with a focus on maternal, neonatal, and child health. She promotes integrated approaches for behavior change, community empowerment, and systems strengthening for collaborative management between PHC systems, local government, and communities, with emphasis on shared government-community ownership of development processes with equity and sustainability. She helped to develop legislation in Peru for community-involved governance and citizen participation. Laura has a masters and doctorate in public health, and post-doctoral fellowship training, from The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health specialized in maternal and child health. She currently serves as Research Professor with Future Generations and Principal Professor in the School of Public Health at the Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru, as coordinator of the Master of Public Health and Global Health program and is an independent consultant.
Craig Arnold, Senior Measurement and Learning Lead, MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience, JSI
Mr. Arnold has over 17 years of experience in International Development. His work experience and interests has focused upon the nexus between measurement, information systems, digital health and data utilization. His interests are in finding creative, often digital, solutions to strengthen information systems and data utilization that drive decision-making and improve program quality and the outcomes of the underserved. He has worked on M&E and information systems across multiple countries and multiple sectors, from health to cash-based transfers to emergency response to education. Additionally, he has extensive experience in national government capacity strengthening of Health Information Systems and data utilization.
Charlotte Block, Technical Specialist for Nutrition and Resilience, NCBA CLUSA
Charlotte Block is a registered dietitian and international nutrition specialist with a focus on nutrition-sensitive approaches, food systems, and chronic disease. She serves as a co-chair for the CORE Group Nutrition Working Group. Currently, she is Technical Specialist for Nutrition and Resilience at NCBA CLUSA ensuring nutrition-sensitivity to agriculture and market system projects. Previously, she has worked at ACDI/VOCA, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Project HOPE, and Mercy Corps. She began her career as a pediatric diabetes educator and holds a MS degree in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Rachel Chaikof, Program Manager, Chemonics
Rachel has six years of international development experience with a focus on gender equality and social inclusion, inclusive education and global health. Rachel currently works at Chemonics as Program Manager for Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan Business Unit. From 2017 to 2021, she worked for USAID Global Health Supply Chain – Procurement and Supply Management project as PMU Associate and Program Manager. She is currently the Co-Chair of CORE Group’s Disability Inclusive Technical Advisory Group. She served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon from 2014 to 2016 and focused on providing access to health education for persons with disabilities. Rachel received her BA from Savannah College of Art and Design and MA from University College London. She is also a person with disability as she was born profoundly deaf but hears with cochlear implants.
Dennis Cherian, MHA, MS, BHMS, Associate Vice President Health and Nutrition, Corus International
Dennis Cherian, MHA, MS, BHMS is the Associate Vice President for Health and Nutrition at Corus International. Prior to that position, Dennis was the Senior Director of New Program Development for Jhpiego and was the Senior Director of Health for World Vision. He also served in senior advisor roles with the New York State Department of Health, Division of Tuberculosis, Medical Care Development International and Plan International. He has extensive experience designing and implementing a range of innovative public health interventions to include child survival, polio eradication, tuberculosis, HIV, neglected tropical disease, health systems strengthening, community health, and digital technologies for health in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He is the Co-Chair on the Board of CORE Group and Secretary on the Board of Christian Connections in International Health (CCIH). He is a physician with a keen interest and specialization in alternative systems of medicine.
Neal David, MBBCh, Family Physician and Senior Lecturer, Division of Family Medicine, University of Cape Town
Dr. Neal David qualified with MBBCh (medical degree) from Wits University in Johannesburg in 1985. He obtained a Diploma in Obstetrics and completed post-graduate exams in Family Medicine in 1990. Dr. David worked as a General Practitioner in private practice for 20 years (1991 – 2011) before re-entering the public sector. In the public sector, Dr. David has worked as a specialist Family Physician in 3 different clinics run by the Western Cape Government Department of Health (WCGDoH) in poor and working-class areas on the Cape Flats outside Cape Town. He currently holds a joint appointment as a Family Physician in the DoH and Senior Lecturer in the Division of Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Dr. David was seconded to the DoH’s PRIMary Care Innovation (PRIMI) project from January 2020 to June 2021. PRIMI is a joint venture between the Department and an actuarial consultancy – Percept Actuaries and Consultants – and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The aim of PRIMI is to strengthen the primary care platform in the Western Cape through service re-design initiatives. Amongst other work done during the secondment period, the VECTOR project was developed, representing the Department’s first formal telemedicine initiative. Dr. David is currently working on the next iteration of the VECTOR project to establish a telemedicine intervention to improve the management of poorly controlled diabetic patients at a primary care facility in Cape Town.
Tom Davis, MPH; Global Sector Lead, Health & Nutrition, World Vision International.
Tom is currently the Global Sector Lead for Health & Nutrition for World Vision International based in Geneva. He has more than 35 years of domestic and international field experience in planning, implementing, and evaluating MCHN and education programs, and SBC activities, in child survival, nutrition, food security, HIV and other projects in 27 countries. He was the 2018 recipient of the Dory Storms Child Survival Recognition Award, and the 2012 recipient of the APHA Gordon Wyon Award for Excellence in Community-oriented Public Health, Epidemiology and Practice. Tom was the original developer of the Barrier Analysis methodology (and co-author of the Designing for Behaviour Change manual), and the Education Cascade Group model, the Nurturing Care Group core project model, and a co-pioneer of the original Care Group approach.
Michel Dione, Senior Scientist, Animal Health, International Livestock Research Institute
Michel Dione holds a DVM and MSc in environmental sciences as well as a PhD in medical sciences with a focus on the epidemiology and control of zoonotic diseases. His research focus is on assessing animal health constraints by combining both field epidemiology and biological sampling as well as developing and testing interventions that aim to prevent and control animal diseases in livestock and humans in Sub-Saharan Africa (focusing primarily on East and West Africa). Dione has also carried out research on the improved delivery of animal health services such as vaccines and drugs. Additionally, he addresses antimicrobial resistance associated with drug use in livestock and food safety. Both he and Laura Kwong are principal investigators for an animal-inclusive Community-Led Total Sanitation (A-CLTS) intervention study in Mali.
Dr. Om Prasad Gautam, Senior WASH Manager, WaterAid UK
Dr Om Prasad Gautam is a public health expert and behavior change scientist with more than 20 years of work and research experiences in Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), health, behaviour change, child health, immunization, food safety, diseases surveillance and HIV/AIDS programme. Dr Om holds a PhD from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK and Two Master’s Degrees, one in Public Health and another in Social Sciences. Dr Om currently works at WaterAid UK as a Senior WASH Manager – Hygiene (global lead on hygiene behavior change). Dr Om is passionate about the role that sustainable behaviour change programme play through WASH and health programme in human development and brings his skills to the Health and WASH sector to improve the health, hygiene and wellbeing of the poorest and vulnerable groups in low and middle-income countries. He leads SuSanA Behaviour Change Group as well.
Katy Gorentz, Senior M&E Specialist, HRH2030, Chemonics International
Katy Gorentz is the senior M&E specialist for the USAID Human Resources for Health in 2030 Program (HRH2030). There, she has focused on collaborative and adaptive M&E as well as developing and applying evidence-based approaches to promote HRH data use for decision making in countries including Malawi, Indonesia, Colombia, Mali, Senegal, and more. Prior to HRH2030, she supported research projects including a study on reproductive health in IDP camps in Somalia and research on the availability of mental health services for refugees in the United States. She holds an MPH in global health design, monitoring, and evaluation.
Dr. Kamden Hoffmann, Technical Director, Social and Behavior Change, Corus International
Dr. Kamden Hoffmann has over 20 years of experience in health and development. Her technical areas span maternal and child health, malaria, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, mental health and physical activity, among others. She has worked with numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the U.S. Agency for international Development, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and University Research Co., LLC. She co-founded INSIGHT: Innovative Social Change in Global Health, a women-owned small business consulting firm focused on SBC capacity strengthening through technical assistance to a variety of U.S. and non-U.S. based clients. Currently as the Social and Behavior Change Lead for the MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience project, Kamden serves in a cross-cutting role supporting the project to enhance coordination between development and humanitarian actors and strengthen the resilience of individuals, families and communities. Kamden has a Ph.D. in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, with a concentration on Community-Based Participatory Research, an M.P.H. in International Health Promotion from George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, an M.A. in International Development with an International Health concentration from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, and a dual B.S. degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Tufts University.
Rhonda Holloway, Senior Technical Advisor, Food for the Hungry
Rhonda Holloway is a senior technical advisor for health and nutrition at Food for the Hungry, where she supports FH field offices with program design and implementation for health and nutrition projects with special emphasis on community based health system strengthening. She has worked at the field level in several African, Asian and Caribbean countries, including complex emergency posts, as well as headquarters positions. Rhonda served in South Sudan for two years supporting a $19 million health system strengthening contract and numerous proposals with multilateral and bilateral donors in nutrition, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, Ebola preparedness, education, and food security and livelihoods. She holds a master’s degree in Public Health from Loma Linda University and a BS in biology from Oakwood University.
Susan Igras, MPH; Senior Technical Advisor and Research Instructor, Georgetown University
Susan Igras, MPH; Senior Technical Advisor and Research Instructor, Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health. Susan currently leads the theory-based realist evaluation and scale-up practice and technical assistance stream of the Passages Project. With over 25 years of experience in Africa, LAC, and South Asia as a director, technical advisor, and evaluator doing implementation research, program design, and management, Susan’s work and interest have been in community-centered health and SBC programming, particularly sexual and reproductive health and gender. With a belief in empowerment/ participatory approaches, Susan has led and contributed to new applications of PLA to understand and address programmatically reproductive health and socially-condoned practices such as FGC. And the development and testing of CARE’s Social Analysis and Action approach and the Passages Project Social Norms Exploration Tool, among others.
Leia Isanhart, Disability Inclusion Lead, Catholic Relief Services
Leia is the lead at Catholic Relief Services for disability inclusion. With a background in global public health, Leia has worked with CRS for more than 15 years designing and implementing interventions for HIV care and treatment, malaria, and health systems strengthening. In her current role, she promotes the participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities across CRS’ relief and development programs. She previously served as a co-chair of the CORE Group’s disability inclusive health technical advisory group. Leia is based in Baltimore, Maryland and holds an MPH from Emory University.
Dr. Agnes Jacinto-Pacho, President and Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific Management and Research Group, Inc. (APMARGIN)
Dr. Agnes Jacinto-Pacho has more than twenty five years of experience in epidemiology and local health governance. She has been a Health Officer for 15 years in a municipality in the Philippines. She is the head of an NGO and managed several projects on research, monitoring and evaluation, training health staff, advocacy, social mobilization, disaster management, health program implementation and health policy . She had directly worked with National , Regional, Provincial and Local Health Offices on health programs for different international and local funding agencies. She has also helped in the development of several health manuals and training courses.
Laura Kwong, Assistant Professor, Berkeley School of Public Health
Laura (Layla) Kwong is an assistant professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health focused on global environmental health equity. An engineer by training, Dr. Kwong uses human-centered design principles to develop engineering interventions that address public health issues in low-income countries, particularly issues related to air pollution and infectious diseases, with a special focus on children.As part of her extensive fieldwork, Dr. Kwong has lived and worked with project partners in Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, Mongolia, Peru, and Uganda for 2 of the past 8 years. Recent and planned projects include a randomized-controlled trial of face masks to prevent transmission of COVID-19, an evaluation of liquid propane gas as a replacement for biomass in the Rohingya refugee camp; refugee housing, reducing respiratory disease in densely-packed, low-income neighborhoods; animal-inclusive community-led total sanitation; and container-based sanitation.
Dr. Kwong received a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. Prior to her time at Stanford, Dr. Kwong worked on water security and national water quality standards as an ORISE Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
George Lueddeke, Independent Education Advisor at GRL Education Consulting (UK)
Originally from Canada, George Lueddeke PhD Med Dipl.Aves (Hon.) is an education advisor in Higher, Medical and One Health education and leads the implementation of the international One Health for One Planet Education and Transdisciplinarity Initiative (1 HOPE-TDI). The project aims to advance the One Health & Wellbeing concept and the UN-2030 Sustainable Development Goals across global regions in association with national and global organisations. As a research associate with the Centre for the Study of Resilience (CSR) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, he contributes to the Future Africa research institute and pan-African platform as well as CSR transdisciplinary research capacity developments. In addition, he leads on the Indo-German GIZ cooperation curriculum project, ‘Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation.’ His current book is entitled Survival: One Health, One Planet, One Future.
Benjamin Masila, WASH Expert
Benjamin Masila has over 9 years of experience in WASH, health promotion and advocacy for M&E, spread over Kenya and South Sudan. He holds a BSc. Environmental Health and is an MSc. Public Health candidate, with certificates in Business Analytics and Financial Success for Non-profits and M&E Certification. Benjamin is the Secretary at the Evaluation Society of Kenya and co-chairs the WASH & Health Interest Working Group at CORE Group. Benjamin currently the School Engagement and Product Usage Specialist at Impact Water (http://www.impactwater.co/)
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmasila/
Laura McGough, Ph.D., Senior Technical Advisor, URC
Laura McGough, Ph.D., is a Senior Technical Advisor at URC, where she supports disability-inclusive health services throughout the global portfolio. Her field of expertise is reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. She previously worked at USAID’s Global Health Bureau, USAID Nigeria, Pathfinder, and the University of Ghana. She lived in West Africa for 11 years.
Patricia N. Mechael, PhD, MHS, Co-Founder, Policy Lead, HealthEnabled
Dr. Patricia (Patty) Mechael is co-founder and policy lead at HealthEnabled, a South African based non-profit focused on nationally scaled integrated digital health systems. With over 20 years working in more than 40 countries, Patty is celebrated for her roles as thought leader, writer, researcher, professor and executive director of the mHealth Alliance and executive vice president of the Personal Connected Health Alliance. She currently leads the Global Digital Health Index and Maturity Model and advises on digital health and immunization with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance as well as efforts to promote responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and the effective use of ICTs for the prevention and mitigation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Dr. Mechael has a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Masters in Health Science from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Dr. Mula Mpofu, Senior Director, Global Health Programs, Chemonics International
Dr. Mulamuli (Mula) Mpofu has over 20 years’ experience in public health. Prior to joining Chemonics, he worked as a Regional Technical Advisor for FHI 360 where he supported projects in East and Southern Africa. Previous employers included the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other international nonprofit organizations, local universities, and ministries of health of Zimbabwe and Botswana. Mula has extensive research, strategic information/monitoring and evaluation, health systems strengthening and business development experience across malaria, HIV and TB disciplines. Mula has used his data analysis skills to develop a culture of data use which helped transform the performance of several donor-funded projects in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Mula holds an MPH from the University of Zimbabwe and a PhD in Environmental Health from the University of Pretoria.
Mwende S. Muya, Chapter Development Manager, Women in Global Health
Mwende S Muya is a young feminist and a lawyer with legal background and nine years’ experience in women’s rights, advocacy, partner coordination, organizing for change, program design and implementation, gender responsive public services, and program evaluation. Her passion has propelled her career growth towards working on youth and women’s rights with both national and international organizations. Prior to joining Women in Global Health, Mwende was a Learning and Impact Coordinator at ActionAid International, Kenya. Mwende has worked in the field of organizing and activism, capacity building and rights with one basic principle: enabling women and young people to activate their own resources to develop their power to take up leadership in different spaces and seek the change they wish to see in their communities. Part of her advocacy work includes co-organizing the My Dress My Choice peaceful demonstration which led to the inclusion of stripping as an offence in the Security Act. She is a member of two Technical Working Groups: AWLN Kenya – Young Women Caucus and the Young Feminist Leadership Network. She also serves in the Board of Directors at Uthabiti Africa.
Fredrick Nyambare, Leader, Africa Partnerships SATO/LIXIL
Fredrick is a seasoned Public Health professional with over 13 years’ experience working in diverse public health projects across Africa. Currently, he is the Leader for African Partnerships at SATO/LIXIL where he coordinates all local and global stakeholder engagements to drive the SATO/LIXIL WASH solutions business in Africa.
Previously, Fredrick has worked with international NGOs (Plan International and Christian Aid UK) and has also worked with private multinational organizations (Bayer and Yara International) supporting over 16 countries in different public health projects.
Fredrick holds a Masters degree in Public Health from Maseno University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health from Moi University. He also holds a Certificate in Global Health Leadership and Management from the University of Washington
Grace Peters, Programs Associate, Smile Train
Grace joined Smile Train in 2019 and is currently a Programs Associate supporting Smile Train’s global efforts to provide comprehensive cleft care for Smile Train patients. Prior to this role, Grace was the programs and development intern at Smile Train. She also spent time living in Indonesia and Brazil, where she volunteered at local humanitarian NGOs supporting education and sustainable farming. Grace earned her bachelor’s degrees in International Studies and Cultural Anthropology from Washington College in 2019.
Mary Pittaway, MA, RDN
Mary Pittaway has worked in public health for more than 40 years, serving state and county governments, non-profit and private organizations. She graduated from Holy Names College in Spokane, completed a dietetic Internship at the University of Washington and earned her master’s in Communication Studies from the University of Montana. As a registered dietitian and public health nutritionist, she’s developed and managed state and local public health nutrition programs including Montana’s Senior Nutrition Program, WIC, the launch of community sustainable agriculture in Montana, osteoporosis prevention, population based breastfeeding promotion, obesity, osteoporosis and diabetes prevention programs and nutrition interventions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Ms. Pittaway works and public health promotion of vitamin D research with national organizations including University of California San Diego, Grassroots Health and the Vitamin D Council. She serves as a Global Clinical Advisor for Health Promotion with Special Olympics International. She serves as affiliate faculty at the University of Montana, Department of Health and Human Performance.
Andrea Pregel, Global Technical Lead for Inclusive Health, Sightsavers
Andrea Pregel is an inclusive development professional with nine years of experience in disability inclusion, Deaf culture, gender equity, intersectionality, global development, global health and inclusive education across Asia, Africa and Europe.
Andrea currently works at Sightsavers as a Global Technical Lead for Inclusive Health, and has strategic and technical oversight of the inclusive health programme portfolio across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. He also co-chairs the Inclusive Health Task Group of the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC), and is a member of the Inclusive Health Working Group of the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network.
In 2014, Andrea co-founded the Global Observatory for Inclusion (GLOBI), a non-profit organisation based in Italy, and he designed and managed the global #DrawDisability campaign on inclusive education, launched in partnership with the United Nations and several international organisations. In the past, he has conducted research in the Deaf community in Malaysia and worked in educational programmes in Iceland with AFS, in Nepal with CESIE, and in Italy with EDI Onlus and Save the Children.
Dr. Todd Nitkin, DPM, FACFAS, MPH, Global Senior Advisor, DMER for Health, World Vision.
Todd has used his expertise in the acquisition and use of data to design and implement comprehensive project plans, research projects, M&E plans, and health information systems for use in many different contexts. He has led projects in the planning, execution, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative surveys and assessments for USAID CSGP programs in Liberia and Uganda, as well as several other projects in Africa, SE Asia, and Latin America. He has authored and contributed to the CORE/MCHIP guidance documents in the use of LQAS and the RHFA. He has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, received his medical degree from Temple University, specializing in reconstructive foot and ankle surgery, and completed his surgical residency in the DC area including rotations at INOVA Fairfax Hospital and Georgetown University Hospital.
Amany Qaddour, Regional Director, Syria Relief and Development
Amany Qaddour is an associate faculty member and Doctor of Public Health student with a concentration in health equity at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Outside of Johns Hopkins, she is immersed in the Syria humanitarian response and serves as Regional Director of the NGO Syria Relief and Development. Amany is currently on the advisory group of DisasterReady; the general assembly of the Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative; and has just joined UNFPA’s research advisory group for their Arab States Regional Office through 2025. In 2020, the American Public Health Association awarded her the outstanding leadership and advocacy award for maternal and child health and she briefed the UN Security Council on populations affected by crisis in July 2020 and again in September 2021.
Dr. Nilufar Rakhmanova, Quality Improvement and Health Systems Advisor, FHI 360
Dr. Nilufar Rakhmanova led as a Chief of Party, the Enhancing Quality of Healthcare Activity (EQHA) a flagship USAID quality improvement project in Cambodia. While pandemic response was not originally envisioned, the project pivoted it’s efforts to enable success for accreditation, competency based education, quality improvement and COVID 19 response through the power of the digital technology. Currently Nilufar is a Quality Improvement and Health Systems Advisor at FHI 360. With more than 18 years of professional experience in the global health and Health Systems Strengthening (HSS), Nilufar supported numerous public health programs in over 15 countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Nilufar is an Ambassador and a Senior Fellow at the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua). Nilufar has a M.D. in Pediatrics from Samarkand Medical Institute, Uzbekistan and MPH from Boston University.
Linda Shaker Berbari PhD, IFE Core Group Facilitator | Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN)
More than 18 years of experience in the area of public health and community nutrition. Dr. Shaker Berbari has earned her PhD from the University of Dundee with a focus on Public Health Nutrition Policy and Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies. She has a Master’s degree in Nutrition from the American University of Beirut. With a number of agencies, she has been engaged in community nutrition program planning, development, monitoring and evaluation as well as policy, strategy development, and research. She is currently a consultant with the Emergency Nutrition Network; facilitator of the Infant Feeding in Emergencies (IFE) Core Group, a global collaboration of agencies committed to infant feeding in emergencies. She is a co-founder of a breastfeeding local NGO and member of technical advisory groups. She is also an independent consultant. Her research and work interests include improving the diets of infants and young children especially in emergencies, school nutrition, and public health nutrition policy.
Nancy Stroupe-Kannappan, Senior Technical Advisor: MERL, Corus International
Dedicated to improving the health and well-being of communities locally, nationally, and globally, Ms. Stroupe-Kannappan has been conducting economic, social service, and public health monitoring, evaluation and research activities for 15 years. Internationally, she has worked in DRC, South Sudan, Haiti, Tanzania, Mexico, India, Kenya, and Thailand on research and evaluation projects ranging from malaria prevention and NTDs to refugee mental health. She has specific technical expertise in infectious disease epidemiology, sexual and gender-based violence, and mental health. In her current position, she is responsible for providing country MERL support for the MOMENTUM-Integrated Health Resilience project. She has extensive experience in database development and management, qualitative and quantitative MER study/assessment design and implementation, developing MEL frameworks, strengthening MER capacity, and co-authoring scientific manuscripts for peer reviewed journals.
Shelley Walton, MPH, RD, Research Associate, Institute for International Programs, Center for Human Nutrition Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
As a nutritionist and maternal and child health specialist, Shelley Walton has a portfolio focused on food security, humanitarian policy and practice, food assistance, wasting and stunting, infant and young child feeding, and implementation science. Her research aims to improve nutrition and health outcomes among populations in low resource settings.
She is a faculty member as Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath in the Institute for International Programs and Center for Human Nutrition. Her current research focus is on 1) providing evidence for advocacy, planning, and accountability to enhance reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health & nutrition 2) improving methods, evidence, estimates, and programming to promote improved measurement of nutrition & MNCH intervention coverage.
Shelley serves as the CORE Group’s Nutrition Working Group co-chair and along with the other co-chairs, she provide technical leadership and facilitate a group of nutrition practitioners, researchers, policy leaders, and funders to further the strategic development of standards, activities and products that will advance a joint technical nutrition agenda.
Shelley is a Registered Dietitian and earned her BS in Nutrition Science from The Pennsylvania State University and her MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Adugna Kebede Yimam (MD, MPH), Technical Director Health, World Visions International
Adugna has over twenty years of experience in health, nutrition, and HIV & AIDS programs in the East and Southern Africa regions. Adugna is currently serving as a Technical Director for Health at World Vision International, Washington DC office. He worked with Tom Davis on the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy study in six countries and currently, he is leading another similar study for WV country programs in the Southern Africa Region.
