Dr. Sylvie Kwedi holds a PhD in Public Health and obtained a Masters degree in Public Health and another Masters of Science in Biotechnology from the Bloomberg School of Public Health of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr Kwedi currently works for international NGOs, where she provides technical support to the Foundation and project in Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, and Lesotho on Advanced HIV Disease (AHD) implementation and on Pediatric HIV implementation. Up to 2022, she was an Epidemiologist with the Institut de Recherche et Development pour la France (IRD). Her research focuses on engaging the community to improve tuberculosis case detection and other TB control activities. Her career is marked with spearheading internationally funded Epidemiology and Public Health projects with world-renowned organizations such as Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation (Aeras), Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte Contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, India, Cambodia, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Yaoundé I. She is the Founder of CLEAR, Inc. (Capacity for Leadership Excellence and Research), a consultancy firm that aims to build operational capacity of health programs and research activities in resource-limited settings, particularly in Africa. CLEAR, Inc. specializes in building major research systems in program set-up and management, ethics review, regulatory compliance and quality assurance, data management and information systems, and staff development and training.
Dr Sylvie Kwedi
Dr. Sylvie Kwedi holds a PhD in Public Health and obtained a Masters degree in Public Health and another Masters of Science in Biotechnology from the Bloomberg School of Public Health of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr Kwedi currently works for international NGOs, where she provides technical support to the Foundation and project in Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, and Lesotho on Advanced HIV Disease (AHD) implementation and on Pediatric HIV implementation. Up to 2022, she was an Epidemiologist with the Institut de Recherche et Development pour la France (IRD). Her research focuses on engaging the community to improve tuberculosis case detection and other TB control activities. Her career is marked with spearheading internationally funded Epidemiology and Public Health projects with world-renowned organizations such as Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation (Aeras), Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte Contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, India, Cambodia, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Yaoundé I. She is the Founder of CLEAR, Inc. (Capacity for Leadership Excellence and Research), a consultancy firm that aims to build operational capacity of health programs and research activities in resource-limited settings, particularly in Africa. CLEAR, Inc. specializes in building major research systems in program set-up and management, ethics review, regulatory compliance and quality assurance, data management and information systems, and staff development and training.
Professor Isabella Oyier
Isabella Oyier is the Head of the Biosciences Department at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Program (KWTRP), a Professor, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, a Calestous Juma Fellow, funded by the Gates Foundation and a Global Research Fellow at Reuben College, University of Oxford. Her research work focuses on integrating malaria molecular epidemiology into routine surveillance in Kenya. A project that partners with the Division of National Malaria Programme to implement malaria molecular surveillance activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the COVID-19 testing for the Coastal region. KWTRP is a regional COVID-19 genomic surveillance reference lab for Africa CDC and WHO-Afro, and she leads and coordinates this effort. In addition, she is coordinating the scale-up COVID-19 immunological surveillance in the East Africa region to determine genetic variants with immune escape potential.
Dr Evelyne Kestelyn
Dr. Kestelyn is a clinical trialist with over 20 years of experience designing, overseeing, and conducting clinical trials in LMICs. Her work covers various regions, including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, covering a range of diseases, including HIV, COVID-19, tuberculosis, and malaria. Her expertise encompasses early-phase and late-phase trials, particularly in vaccines and therapeutics, with a focus on locally led and context-appropriate research. She has a proven track record leading multi-country collaborations, establishing trial infrastructure, and building multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-impact research in low-resource settings. Committed to capacity building and mentoring, Dr. Kestelyn has supported emerging investigators and diverse research training programs. She is a strong advocate for equitable partnerships and sustainable South-South collaboration, exemplified through her lead role in the founding of the Africa Asia Alliance for Clinical Trials (A3CT). In addition to her operational expertise, Dr. Kestelyn has contributed to the development of global clinical trial guidance, including as a collaborator with the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative. She currently leads the World Health Organization’s work on a global CTU maturity framework. She has co-authored over 100 scientific publications and plays a key role in shaping national strategies, including Vietnam’s “Roadmap to the Future of Clinical Trials.”
Katrina Lawson
With 20 years of experience in research management and science communication, Katrina leads three teams at OUCRU – grants, communications, and policy engagement. As a New Zealander, Katrina’s research management career began with the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She began working with OUCRU in Vietnam in 2011, and also worked at KAUST in Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2016, before returning to her current position at OUCRU. In her work with the OUCRU grants team, Katrina focuses on building local grants management capacity and supporting researchers. Bridging with her work in communications and policy engagement, Katrina has a special interest in research impact, and is committed to developing the capacity for research management and research uptake in Viet Nam and regionally in Southeast Asia.
Sheikha Salum Mohamed
Sheikha Salum Mohamed is the African Regional MESH Coordinator, affiliated with both the Global Health Network at the University of Oxford, UK, and Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania. She holds a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Glasgow, an MBA in Corporate Management from Mzumbe University, and a BBA in Administration from St. Augustine University, Tanzania. In her role, Sheikha leads inclusive engagement between communities, researchers, and stakeholders across Africa. She promotes participatory approaches that ensure research responds to community needs while fostering trust and sustainable partnerships in global health. With over a decade of experience supporting malaria and infectious disease projects funded by UNITAID, USAID, Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, she brings strong expertise in collaboration, and strategic knowledge-sharing. Sheikha is passionate about building supportive environments for young scientists in low-resource settings and is committed to advancing Africa’s capacity for impactful, community-centered research.
Dr Ana Cehovin
Dr Ana Cehovin is Research Lead in the Epidemics & Epidemiology Team at Wellcome Trust, where she leads a diverse portfolio focused on the epidemiology of pathogenic microorganisms. Ana’s research interests centre on understanding why pathogens escape control in vulnerable populations and designing interventions to mitigate these risks. With formal training as an immunologist and molecular microbiologist, Ana specialises in human bacterial pathogens, particularly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Ana completed an MSc at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a PhD at University College London, focusing on innate immunity during tuberculosis infection. Ana’s career has included research roles at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, where Ana studied gene exchange mechanisms in bacteria and applied molecular epidemiology to explore bacterial population structure and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Ana is passionate about translating research into policy and practice, fostering global collaborations, and advancing evidence-based solutions to improve health outcomes in communities most affected by infectious diseases.
