REACHOUT is a consortium made up of the following organisations:

Click on the links above to find out more about the people who are delivering REACHOUT or visit our Partners page to read about the organisations that are participating in the project.

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the UK

Dr Miriam Taegtmeyer
Miriam Taegtmeyer is the coordinator of REACHOUT. Her interests include rapid HIV testing in outreach and community settings in the UK and Africa, home-based testing, and integrated approaches to maternal health. She is an advisor on a number of World Health Organisation working groups and is the main author of the WHO Practical Handbook for the Planning, Implementing and Monitoring Home-based HIV Testing and Counselling Services.
Read Taegtmeyer’s biography on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine website.

Professor Sally Theobald
Sally Theobald is a co-leader of the REACHOUT project. She has particular experience of researching gender equity in Africa and Asia, including work with close-to-community providers. She recently led a research programme in which 28 institutions funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) shared best practice in getting HIV and sexual and reproductive health research into policy and practice.
Read Theobald’s biography on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine website.

Kate Hawkins
Kate Hawkins supports the communications and research uptake elements of REACHOUT’s work. She is also the Director of Pamoja Communications and has a long standing interest in the processes by which evidence is translated into policy and practice.
Read Hawkins’ biography on LinkedIn.

Beth Hollihead
Beth’s responsibilities include the legal, contractual, financial and administrative management of this eight partner consortium; developing the appropriate processes and procedures for managing the project; providing smooth financial control and ensuring clear and accurate communications both within the consortium and with the European Commission.
Read Hollihead's biography on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine website

Tim Martineau
Tim Martineau is a specialist in human resource management in the health sector. He is providing call-down expertise to the REACHOUT project, as well as being the project leader on another seventh framework project and being involved with the World Health Organisation’s human resources programme, the Global Health Workforce Alliance.
Read Martineau’s biography on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine website.

Faye Moody
Faye Moody is an experienced project administrator. She has supported financial management and project reporting on many large projects at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Dr Rachel Tolhurst
Rachel Tolhurst will support REACHOUT qualitative analysis. She has a PhD in gender, health, and development; and particular experience of conducting applied qualitative research projects in Africa and Asia.
Read Tolhurst’s biography on the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine website.

Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (KIT), the Netherlands

Korrie de Koning
Korrie de Koning is one of ten REACHOUT work group managers. She is a social scientist with a particular interest in participatory and qualitative research methodologies in sexual and reproductive health, gender analysis, and quality of care. She has significant experience in project management, research, and capacity development.
Read de Koning’s biography on the KIT website .

Dr Sumit Kane
Sumit Kane is a researcher at KIT’s Department of Development Policy and Practice. His research interests include methodologies for analysing and understanding how social and political systems affect health delivery, health sector regulation, and pathways for working with the private health sector. Read Kane’s biography on the KIT website.

Maryse Kok
Maryse Kok is a health professional with experience in national and international public health policy making. She has extensive experience in managing, coordinating, and training close-to-community healthcare providers and of managing and researching primary healthcare programmes in Malawi. Read Kok’s biography on the KIT website.

Mr Hermen Ormel
Hermen Ormel is a social anthropologist and public health specialist with expertise in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights. His main areas of interest are capacity development, research and evaluation, mobile health, and gender and generational issues.
Read Ormel’s biography on the KIT website.

BRAC University, Bangladesh

Professor Sabina Rashid
Sabina Faiz Rashid is leading the REACHOUT project in Bangladesh. She has expertise in education, training and research and her current responsibilities include overseeing the Masters in Public Health Program (since 2009) at the James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. In 2006, she established a Centre for Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (GSRHR) to promote education, training, research, and advocacy. She has expertise in ethnographic and qualitative research and management of large research projects, both multi-country and national. She led a Department for International Development (DFID) funded multi-country partnership, the Realising Reproductive Research Programme Consortium, from 2005-2010.
Read Rashid’s biography on the BRAC University website.

Professor Malabika Sarker
Malabika Sarker is the Director of Research at the James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. She is a physician with a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University and a PhD in Public Health from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She has been a Population Council Fellow and Fogarty Fellow at the University of Alabama, USA. She worked as a public health physician and manager at the Marie Stopes Clinic Society, and BRAC. She has conducted research on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and quality of maternal care in  Sub Saharan African countries. She has published in several international peer-reviewed journals, authored book chapters, and specializes in mixed-methods research.
Read Sarker’s biography on the BRAC University website.

Ilias Mahmud
Ilias Mahmudis currently a PhD student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). From 2005 to 2010 he coordinated the Realising Rights Research Programme Consortium funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
Read Mahmud’s biography on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine website.

Sadia Chowdhury
Sadia Chowdhury joined James P. Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH) at BRAC University in November 2014 as a Senior Research Fellow in REACHOUT project. She has completed post graduation in anthropology from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and advanced masters in medical anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Ms. Chowdhury has more than eleven year’s professional experiences in qualitative research. Previously she worked in the field of hygiene and sanitation; urban livelihood; gender and violence against women; maternal morbidity and sexual and reproductive health rights in different organizations. At JPGSPH Ms. Chowdhury oversees qualitative component of REACHOUT research project in Bangladesh. Besides this, she also works as a teaching fellow at Anthropological Approaches to Public Health and Qualitative Research Methods modules in the MPH programme. Before joining JPGSPH at BRAC University, she worked for icddr,b as a Research Investigator. She worked with icddr,b for 10 years. She has publications as a second author in peer reviewed journals titled Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) [Vol: 42 (No. 44, page: 63-70), 2007] and Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition: [Vol: 30 (No. 2, page: 181-192), June 2012]. Ms. Chowdhury has abstract publications in the 11th Annual Scientific Conference (ASCON), icddr,b, Dhaka and in the 7th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights, Manila Philippines.
Read Chowdhury's biography on the BRAC University website

LVCT Health, Kenya

Dr Lillian Otiso
Lillian Otiso is a medical doctor and is responsible for all HIV/AIDS services programmes at LVCT, including HIV testing and counselling, quality assurance and community strategy. She has led project teams in establishing community units and implementing community strategy in various service delivery areas. She also provides technical assistance on government projects; actively supporting policy development, turning research into practice, and developing national guidelines.

Maryline Mireku
Maryline Mireku is a Medical Sociologist with more than six years of experience in research. She has experience in conducting and coordinating various research activities involving Community Health Workers including training Community Advisory Board (CAB) members, conducting household health surveillance and mobilization of communities for support and participation in research activities. As a Research Officer in LVCT she is responsible for coordinating and implementing REACHOUT project activities in Kenya.

Joshua Olang
Mr. Joshua Olang has been the Operations Director at LVCT since 2007. He has a wealth of experience in finance and administration and holds a Masters degree in Business Administration. Mr. Olang provides support in REACHOUT by overseeing the human resource, procurement and logistics, financial, legal, contractual, ICT and administration functions.

Eduardo Mondlane University (EMU), Mozambique

Dr Mohsin Sidat
Mohsin Sidat is assistant professor and dean of the medical school at Eduardo Mondlane University. He has assisted Mozambique’s Ministry of Health on its human resources for health development plan 2008-2015, and on its national programme for revitalisation of community health workers (CHWs) 2009-2010. He is a member of Mozambique’s Human Resources for Health Observatory.

Sozinho Ndima
Sozinho Ndima is a medical anthropologist with research interests in health and socio-cultural representations. He has managed two particularly relevant studies: one for improving the motivation and performance of community health workers in Inhambane Province and another for scaling up the supervision process among community health workers. He is also a former provincial office coordinator for Mozambique’s Malaria Consortium.

Celso Soares Give
Celso Soares Give has a background in Social Anthropology with five years of experience in research activities with an interest in Public Health Policies, Sexuality and Gender. Celso has experience lecturing at Eduardo Mondlane University in the disciplines of Monitoring and Evaluation of Policies, Programs and Projects of Development, Anthropology of Health and Disease, Gender and Sexuality. Celso is currently an assistant professor in the discipline of Community Health in the Pedagogical University and in his role as researcher for the Reachout Project in Mozambique is involved with project development, data management, data analysis and community health work.

REACH Trust, Malawi

Ireen Namakhoma
Ireen Namakhoma is acting director for REACH Trust. She is a social scientist with particular knowledge of the Malawi health system, and has conducted research into health services for poor communities and marginalised groups. Her main interest is the implementation of multi-disciplinary research to promote equitable access to health services in Malawi in the areas of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB. She is the heads the REACHOUT project in Malawi.

Martina Mchenga
Martina Mchenga is a Health Economist for REACH Trust and will be part of the health economics component in REACHOUT.  Martina’s main research interest focuses on economic evaluation of health programmes, impact of both communicable and non-communicable diseases on poverty and their interaction with poverty, primarily using econometric modelling.  She has vast knowledge and experience in qualitative and quantitative research, which aligns well with evaluation studies.

Kingsley Rex Chikaphupha
Kingsley Rex Chikaphupha is an experienced Malawian based mixed methods researcher with 10 years’ experience conducting health systems research. His skills include; leading successful research proposals, developing research tools, using quantitative and qualitative methods, project management, Participatory Action Research, research report writing as well as dissemination of research results. He manages a team of data collectors, transcribers, and data entry, monitors and evaluates projects and manages budgets, including production of financial reports. Kingsley has published in peer reviewed journals, made conference presentations and blogs.  He is an undergraduate with a Bachelor of Social Science in Publich Health. Currently coordinating REACHOUT project in Malawi.

Kingsley is an outstanding young professional researcher and aspiring consultant devout in service to humanity for the past 10 years. He has contributed to various key research and development processes through provision of technical assistance, consultancy and facilitation in Malawi and South Sudan. He has gained experience through national, regional and global research and development initiatives such as the REACHOUT consortium, CoBaSys consortium, EQUINET and technical working groups in Malawi.  He is passionate about: Human resources for health working with community health workers, equity, reproductive health, effectively addressing HIV and AIDS, and the promotion and protection of human rights for all. He coordinated a 3 year multicounty EU funded research project “Community Based Systems in HIV Treatment (CoBaSys) programme” in his country delivering both narrative and financial reports timely. He also worked as a consultant in South Sudan working on a reproductive health community participation project. He currently is also part of a 5 year multinational consortium (REACHOUT) project among the many projects he has worked with over the years.

HHAYM. Ethiopia

Dr Daniel Datiko
Daniel Datiko is a medical doctor with several years experience coordinating TB prevention and control efforts in Ethiopia. He is a coordinator for the Sidama Zone Health Department. He previously worked for the Ethiopian Department of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion where he was responsible for the prevention and control of blindness, leprosy, and TB in Southern Ethiopia. He has also worked on maternal and child health projects putting research into practice.

Dr Mohammed Yassin
Mohammed Yassin has significant experience in epidemiological research and programme implementation focusing on HIV and TB in Ethiopia, where he worked for the regional health bureau under the department of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. He has worked on anaemia and malaria in pregnant women to improve maternal and child health. Dr Yassin is an adviser on the REACHOUT project and will provide call-down expertise.

Aschenaki Zerihun
Aschenaki Zerihun is the head of Sidama Zone Health Department, where his focus is on improving general service delivery. Maternal health is the top priority of the health department and he is part of the department’s policy making process, and its executive committee.  Mr Zerihun is an advisor on the REACHOUT project.

Elias Michael
Elias Michael joined REACH Ethiopia, part of the REACHOUT project in August 2014 as a Research Assistant.  He completed his PhD in Public Health at Hawassa University in 2009 and his Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Hawassa University in July 2014.  He previously worked in various health centres as the Wellbeing Coordinator of Maternal and Child Health Department and as Wellbeing Coordinator of District Health Office, Department of Curative and Rehabilitative Core Process Services (Coordinating the activities of health centres).  As a Research Assistant in REACH ETHIOPIA he is responsible for implementing REACHOUT project activities in Ethiopia.

Nega Teyikie
Nega Teyikie joined REACH ETHIOPIA in July 2014 as a Research Associate in the REACHOUT project.  Nega completed post graduate studies in Applied Human Nutrition from University of Hawassa, Ethiopia.  Nega has more than 10 year’s professional experience in community and facility level health activities. Previously Nega has worked in the area of community based Management of acute malnutrition (CMAM), PMTCT, IYCF Advisor, EPI and nutrition surveillance coordinator, Fistula prevention in various organizations.  Nega’s main focus is on improving the utilization of maternal facility delivery and child under nutrition.

Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology (EI), Indonesia

Dr Din Syafruddin
Din Syafruddin is a physician with a PhD in molecular science. He is head of the malaria laboratory at the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology and is a lecturer at Hasanuddin University. He is on the scientific advisory committees for the Eijkman Institute and the National Institute of Health, Indonesia. His research into malaria drug resistance has contributed to changes in anti-malaria drug policy. Syafruddin is in charge of the project and is the country lead for REACHOUT.

Dr Rukhsana Ahmed
Rukhsana Ahmed is the REACHOUT country coordinator. She is a paediatrician with a PhD in tropical medicine epidemiology. She has studied the burden of malaria in pregnancy in India and Indonesia. She has an interest in malaria rapid diagnostic tests in pregnancy and completed a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) funded study to evaluate the use of rapid diagnostic testing for screening pregnant women; she is also one of the Prinicipal Investigators and coordinator of a large clinical trial to determine preventive therapies for the control of malaria in pregnancy in Indonesia funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome Trust and Department for International Development (DFID), UK. She has considerable experience of working with community health workers and midwives in Indonesia.

Ralalicia Limato
Ralalicia Limato is the Research Operations Manager for REACHOUT Indonesia. She is a medical doctor with a Masters in Public Health from Flinders University, South Australia. Her role on REACHOUT  is to oversee research operations and field activities, and communicate with all levels of stakeholders ranging from the ministry of Health to the community level. Her main areas of interest are research on governance, health system, capacity building; and evidence based advocacy to the local and national government.

Patricia Tumbelaka
Patricia Tumbelaka is the Research Assistant for REACHOUT Indonesia, who joined the project in December 2015. Patricia completed her Masters in Nursing (MNg), specializing in Child and Family Health, at Flinders University, Australia. She was a former lecturer and Head of the Clinical Nursing Department at De La Salle University. Her main areas of interest are maternal and child health, family health and human trafficking, specifically involving women and children.

 

This project is funded by the European Union.
This project is funded by the European Union.