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Professor and Director for the Institute for Human Development, Aga Khan University
Dr. Abubakar is a Professor and Director for the Institute for Human Development, Aga Khan University. She is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Wellcome Trust Research Programme and Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry. She is a trained Developmental Psychologist with more than 18 years research experience working in rural settings in Kenya within multidisciplinary teams. Her research interests lie in a) quantifying the neurocognitive burden of early childhood diseases; b) developing culturally appropriate psychological measures for use in Sub-Saharan Africa and; c) identifying culturally appropriate intervention strategies for at-risk children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Associate Professor at the Department of Educational Psychology, Sociology and Special Education; University of Zambia
Prof Beatrice Matafwali is an Associate Professor at the University of Zambia, Department of Educational Psychology, Sociology and Special Education. She has 18 years of experience in Special Education and Early Childhood Development. Her research work spans Early Childhood Development, Early Grade Reading, inclusive education, and Child Rights. She has contributed to various international joint research initiatives and has published book chapters and journal articles in the field of early childhood, early literacy, and Special Education. Beatrice is passionate about initiatives that promote opportunities for early identification and interventions for improved learning outcomes.
Deputy Director of the Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town
Dr Donald is a Professor in Paediatric Neurology with an interest in developmental disabilities as they manifest in resource-limited settings. She leads the Division of Developmental Paediatrics at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and is also Deputy Director of the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cape Town. Her recent and current research focuses on using multiple imaging methods to facilitate a deeper understanding of the cognitive and motor development of executive functions during early childhood, as well as pathophysiological mechanisms associated with substance exposure and other paediatric exposures prevalent in the South African setting.
Professor of Paediatrics, Child Health and Paediatric Neurology, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
A Malawian Professor of Paediatrics, Child Health and Paediatric Neurology at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (formerly, University of Malawi College of Medicine) working at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital department pf Paediatrics and Child Health, Blantyre, Malawi. Main areas of interest are central nervous system (CNS) infections and Epilepsy. Research work has also been mainly on CNS infections including the interaction between malaria and other CNS infections, including HIV, in causing severe disease and resultant high morbidity and mortality. Currently the only Malawian Paediatric Neurologist getting referrals on complicated cases from all the four regions of Malawi, covering a population of 20 million people. His research work took off when he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Training Fellowship in Tropical Diseases in 2002, looking at Central Nervous System (CNS) Infections at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Paediatric Unit, Malawi. This led to the award of a PhD in 2009 from the University of Liverpool. Since then he have also been involved in various research projects on CNS infections and neurodisability, including epilepsy. He continuesto work on malaria, viral infections, epilepsy and other neurological complications of infectious and noninfectious causes of brain injury. His funding sources have included The Wellcome , MRC, Meningitis Research Fund and NIH. Professor Mallewa is also currently the Vice Chancellor of Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Est. 2021)
Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, University of Zambia
Dr. Ravi Paul is a highly accomplished and esteemed professional, renowned for his extensive expertise in the field of Psychiatry. He is a distinguished alumnus, having earned both an MBBS and MD (Psychiatry) degree from India. Currently, Dr. Paul serves as a Consultant Psychiatrist at the prestigious UTH (University Teaching Hospital). Furthermore, Dr. Paul holds the distinguished position of Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, University of Zambia (UNZA). His profound dedication to advancing psychiatric research and clinical practice in Zambia has been instrumental in establishing various academic programs within the field. Under his able tutelage, over 50 Clinical Neuropsychologists and approximately 15 Psychiatrists have been locally trained, assuming key positions within the Ministry of Health and Education. Their contributions have significantly bolstered the development of Mental Health Services across the country. Dr. Paul’s efforts have not only popularized Psychiatry and Mental Health training in Zambia but have also garnered international attention. Students from foreign countries now seek training opportunities within Zambia, thanks to his initiatives. Notably, Zambia has become a sought-after destination for collaboration and support in Psychiatry education, with neighboring countries like Botswana, Namibia, Zanzibar, and Mozambique looking towards Zambia as a model. Dr. Paul’s unwavering commitment and exceptional contributions have significantly propelled the growth and development of the discipline of Psychiatry in Zambia, leaving a profound impact on mental health care and education both locally and internationally.
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya
Cheryl and Reece Scott Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Charles Newton was born in Kenya, qualified in Cape Town, South Africa, with postgraduate training in Paediatrics in Manchester and London, United Kingdom. As a lecturer at University of Oxford, he returned to Kilifi Kenya in 1989, to help set up a unit to study severe malaria in African children. Thereafter he spent 2 years as a Post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins, USA; studying mechanisms of brain damage in central nervous system infections. He completed his training in Paediatric Neurology at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Queens Square in London, UK. In 1998 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellowship at University College London, to return to Kilifi, to study CNS infections in children. He conducts research on CNS infections in children; epidemiological studies of epilepsy and neurological impairment; tetanus, jaundice and sepsis in neonates. In 2011 he took up a professorship in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford to concentrate on Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Epilepsy and mental illness disorders (particularly Psychosis and Depression) in Africa.
Professor in Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics and International Child Health
Department of Women and Children’s Health
Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences
University of Liverpool
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Gladstone is a professor of neurodevelopmental paediatrics at the University of Liverpool and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital with over 20 years’ experience researching child neurodevelopment in resource poor environments – particularly in Africa. Her recent research aims to understand how best to measure neurodevelopment in resource limited settings as well as to utilise this to identify the early problems that children with disabilities and developmental disorders in order to support them. She has undertaken and is presently undertaking large field studies in a number of African settings looking at the effect of health and social factors on early child development (malaria in pregnancy, nutrition, prematurity, HIV exposure) but is also interested to pursue the linkages between assessment of children’s development and behaviour with interventions which can be provided in low income settings. She has written over 90 publications and she holds several large grants with colleagues in Sub-Saharan Africa. She created a neurodevelopmental assessment tool, the MDAT, which is being utilised in over 25 countries in Africa for research and programmatic work – much of this linking early interventions in nutrition, WASH and early stimulation programmes with later outcomes in children. She has recently been working with the World Health Organization on creation of the Infant and Young Child Developmental Indicators (IYCD) and more recently, the Global Scales of Early Development (GSED). Her future plans include incorporating ways of better measuring childhood disability in the early years in multiple settings globally.
Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Assistant Professor in the Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry.
Massachusetts General Hospital Elise Robinson is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Robinson’s research focuses on the genetic epidemiology of behavior and cognition. She is interested in using genetic data to understand the biology of neurodevelopmental variation, and to study differences within and between neuropsychiatric disorders. Robinson received a Sc.D. in psychiatric epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and completed postdoctoral training in statistical genetics at MGH and the Broad Institute.
Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
University of Oxford
Prof Gaia Scerif is originally from Milan, Italy, but after an International Baccalaureate at the United World College of Southern Africa (Swaziland), she completed a BSc in Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She then read for a PhD in developmental cognitive neuroscience at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. She has been based at the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford since 2006, where she is a Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Her research focuses on the development of attentional control, from its neural correlates to outcomes on emerging cognitive abilities. Attention differences are a hallmark of early cognitive development, and many developmental conditions are characterised by attention differences and difficulties. She combines the study of typical attentional control with research on conditions that affect molecular pathways and neural circuits involved in attentional control development. This requires collaborating with individuals and families with:
Ultimately, this work is of interest both to basic neuroscience and, most importantly, to the families and individuals with whom we work.
Senior Lecturer of Psychology
University of Malawi
Limbika Maliwichi is a Senior Lecturer of Psychology and has previously served as the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Malawi. Additionally, she holds an honorary Senior Lectureship position in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. With over 15 years of experience in mental health research, teaching, and outreach, her primary areas of interest revolve around maternal, adolescent, and child mental health. Her research primarily focuses on assessing risk factors that contribute to negative developmental and neuropsychological outcomes among children in low to middle income countries. She is particularly interested in identifying and adapting culturally appropriate intervention strategies for at-risk children, including those who have been exposed to HIV. Throughout her career, She has been involved in various studies funded by esteemed organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Medical Research Council (MRC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the National Research Foundation (NRF). Notably, she served as a country lead on a project that piloted the assessment of population-level developmental indicators. This initiative ultimately led to the development of the Infant and Young Child Development Indicators tool for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Associate Professor, University of Cape Town
Associate Professor Malcolm-Smith convenes the MA professional training program in clinical Neuropsychology; and heads up the Pediatric Neuropsychology Clinic at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. Her research focuses on the development of social cognition in healthy and clinical populations. She has supervised 32 Master’s projects and eight PhD projects to completion, and is currently supervising five PhD projects.
Assistant Professor, University of Cape Town
Dr Huels is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Environmental Health and Biostatistics at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and an Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry & Mental Health at the University of Cape Town. Her research interests focus on the effects of environmental and psychosocial factors on brain health and related diseases among children (e.g., neurodevelopment and child behavior) and older adults (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease and depression). She further uses different omics techniques (e.g., epigenetics, gene-environment interactions, metabolomics) to better understand the biological mechanisms underlying the associations between environmental exposures and brain health. Dr Huels has supervised 25 Master’s projects and 15 PhD projects at Emory University, University of Cape Town and other institutions.
Clinical and Chief Research Officer, University of Cape Town
Dr Catherine Wedderburn is a clinician and Chief Research Officer in the Department of Paediatrics & Child Health and the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cape Town. Her work is focused on understanding the effects of early-life exposures on child neurodevelopment, particularly in the area of infectious diseases, for which she received a Wellcome Trust fellowship. She has over 10 years of experience in research and qualifications in Neuroscience (MA), Paediatrics (MRCPCH), and International Health (MSc) with expertise in neuroimaging and developmental assessments. She has worked with international organisations including Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization to inform policy. She is passionate about public engagement and capacity strengthening, and she is currently supervising MSc and PhD students and has successfully supervised multiple MSc projects to completion in neuroscience and epidemiology.
Associate Professor, University of Cape Town
Ursula is an Associate Professor and Wellcome Trust International Intermediate Fellow in the African Brain Child Unit in the Division of Neurosurgery and the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cape Town. Her research interests focus on unravelling the mechanisms underlying brain injury due to trauma and infection in children, both major burdens of disease in Africa and globally, by combining high level patient data (e.g. multimodality brain monitoring) and innovative research techniques (e.g. -omics analysis). Over the last 15 years she has co/supervised more than 20 post-graduate students and remains dedicated to building translational neuroscience capacity in South Africa and continentally.
Department of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town.
A/Prof. Naudé is a Wellcome International Intermediate Research Fellow in the division of Psychopharmacology. His expertise lies in understanding the function of neuroinflammatory mechanisms in brain disorders and brain development. He employs a translational research approach to identify neuro-immune targets that can serve as potential diagnostic and therapeutic markers for brain disorders in the South African context. His current work focuses on the investigation of neuroinflammation as a mechanism contributing to the negative effects of prenatal exposures to psychological adversities and HIV on the child’s brain development. He has supervised 11 Master’s projects and four PhD projects to completion, and is currently supervising five PhD projects.
ALMA Project Manager,
Institute for Human Development, Aga Khan University
Pauline Njuita is a project manager at the Institute for Human Development. She holds a Master of Public Health Degree from Moi University and a bachelor’s degree (Psychology & Sociology) from the University of Nairobi. Pauline is currently pursuing doctorate in public health at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. She has experience in Health systems, monitoring and evaluation, as well as health information management. Her interests are in program management, health promotion and implementation science to address the burden of non-communicable diseases among women, adolescents, and young adults through targeted interventions.
Project Coordinator,
Kamuzu University of Health Science
Atupele Milanzi holds a degree in Social Science, and has worked for the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences since 2019 in the Department of Psychiatry. She is supporting grants funded by the Scottish Government through the Scotland Malawi Mental Health Health Education Project; the Generation Malawi Project which is a joint UK Medical Research Council (MRC GCRF) and Wellcome funded longitudinal study of mental and physical health in families in Malawi; the WARMHEART project that is funded by the University of North Carolina and aims to train and offer support to students/fellows who seek to specialise in Mental Health related programs; and the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI) which receives funding support from the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science in Africa (DELTAS Africa). Atupele joined the ALMA team in July 2023 and is enthusiastic to support the project in Malawi.
Research Assistant,
Institute for Human Development, Aga Khan University
Ms. Ochieng is a Senior Assistant Administrator at the Institute for Human Development. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in commerce with a specialisation in Human Resources at the Kenya College of Accountancy and holds a Diploma in Human Resources from the Kenya Institute of Management. She has experience in business administration, implementation science and global mental health. Her interest is in Human Resources.
Communications Officer,
Institute for Human Development, Aga Khan University
Ms. Mukera is a Communications Officer at the Institute for Human Development, supporting the communication needs of the ALMA Program. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism Degree from the Multimedia University of Kenya. She is passionate about storytelling for social change. Mukera has over six years of experience in conservation and health communication through print and broadcast media. Her interests are in development communication, mental health, and community development initiatives that empower African communities to be self-reliant and live dignified lives.