Administration
The HIFA2015 Steering Group is responsible for implementation, with input from HIFA2015 and CHILD2015 members and with expert assistance from the HIFA2015 Advisory Panel (see below). The campaign is administered by the Global Healthcare Information Network, a non-profit organisation based in the UK.
HIFA2015 Steering Group
Ibrahima Bob works for the British Embassy in Senegal as Aid & UK Trade and Investment Officer. He has a solid experience in ICT project management as regional co-ordinator for the Open Knowledge Network (OKN) an international programme from the DOTForce process and specialises in communication for development. He was formerly president of AHILA (Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa).
Frederick Bukachi is a cardiovascular physician with a strong interest in health informatics. He previously worked as HealthNet co-ordinator and regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa. He has also served as a consultant, board member and advisor to several international organizations working to improve access to health information in Africa. He has written and spoken extensively on the subject of using information and communications technologies to access health information in Africa.
Martin Carroll is Deputy Head of the International Department, British Medical Association, London, UK. The BMA International Department runs a scheme called BMA/BMJ Information Fund, which provides educational materials for health organisations in low-income countries.
Jackie Cheeseborough is Head of Library and Information Services and Team Leader RCN Institute, Royal College of Nursing. She is Chair of PHI, Partnerships in Health Information, which fosters partnerships between health Libraries in the UK and health libraries in developing countries for mutual benefit.
Oliver-James Dyar is a medical student at Oxford University, UK. His professional interests include: Global health, intensive care, genetic research into siRNA and microRNAs.
Shane Godbolt is Director of Partnerships in Health Information. Phi is a UK-based charity contributing to improved health care in countries with few material resources. By building partnerships between health libraries, Phi supports access to reliable health information.
Vanessa Halipi is coordinator of the Zambia UK Health Workforce Alliance, a growing network of Zambia-based and UK-based organizations who work together to promote and improve health in Zambia. She is also a researcher on global health, foreign aid, climate change and maternal health.
Robert Hughes is a junior doctor working on an academic public health training programme in London, UK. He has a long-standing interest in global public health and development which he has pursed both as a medical student (through the groups Medsin-UK and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations), and since qualifying through teaching undergraduate medical students and his research. He is currently working on a qualitative research project looking at professional roles and identities of malaria treatment providers in Cameroon.
Sue Jacob is Student Services Advisor for the Learning, Research and Practice Development ( LRPD) department, Royal College of Midwives UK. Sue worked as a midwifery lecturer prior to joining the Royal College of Midwives in 1995. She is a confident nurse and a midwife with extensive experience in all aspects of midwifery education and practice at policy and planning services level. Key aspects of her teaching role include developing, delivering and evaluating pre registration and post qualification education programmes. Her international work includes organising visits for overseas visitors to the Royal College of Midwives. She was a cofacilitator of training the teachers Indonesia Safe Motherhood project. Sue is a pro active member of the Royal Medical Colleges International Forum. Sue undertook research on women and work for her masters programme. Her dissertation explored the hypothesis midwives work is socially constructed as womens work. This has given her passion to enhance the role of midwives throughout the world and she seeks to strengthen their role at every opportunity.
Nick Mifsud is an IT professional currently based in Exeter, UK. In his spare time he works voluntarily as webmaster for HIFA2015.
Wendie Norris is Editor of the Global Health & Tropical Diseases Bulletin, at CAB International, UK. CABI improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. Wendie has a background as a research scientist in developmental biology.
Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA2015 campaign and co-director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. He started his career as a hospital doctor in the UK, and has clinical experience in rural Ecuador and Peru. For the last 18 years he has been committed to improving the availability of healthcare information for health workers in developing countries. He has worked with the World Health Organization, the Wellcome Trust, and INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications).
Jonathan Parker is an independent publishing consultant with special expertise in marketing, including considerable experience in developing countries. He established and developed the Elsevier international student edition programme, and has an increasing interest in health information issues in developing countries.
Julie N Reza is a senior scientific editor at TDR, a Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, based in Geneva. TDR is an independent global programme of scientific collaboration (co-sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO)) that helps coordinate, support and influence global efforts to combat a portfolio of major diseases of the poor and disadvantaged. Julie has experience as a writer and consultant specialising in global healthcare, international health and development, and biomedical science and health (www.globalbiomedia.com). Prior to this she was medical writer and project manager at the Wellcome Trust, London, UK, where she worked on a variety of international health topics including African trypanosomiasis and trachoma. In her early career she worked as a researcher in immunology and in neuroscience. She also has several years experience of teaching immunology at postgraduate level.
Abi Smith is immediate past president of Medsin-UK, a network of healthcare students, with branches at medical schools across the UK. Medsin’s activities aim to educate about and act upon health inequalities in the UK and worldwide.
Rachel Stancliffe has a background in demography and public health and experience in medical publishing and the use of evidence. She is a co-Director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. She is the Director of The Campaign for Greener Healthcare. Rachel has extensive experience in many countries, including Georgia, Kazakhstan, India and Latin America.
Barbara Stilwell is Director of Technical Leadership for IntraHealth International, providing technical support to the Capacity Plus project as well as Intrahealth’s many country programmes.
Isabelle Wachsmuth-Huguet is manager of the EVIPNet portal. EVIPNet (Evidence-Informed Policy Network : www.evipnet.org) is a WHO initiative that encourages policy-makers in low and middle-income countries to use evidence generated by relevant research. It is a collaborative and social network of researchers, policy makers and civil society to facilitate the use of high quality research evidence.
Tony Waterston is a retired consultant paediatrician who worked mainly in the community in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He spent 6 years working in Zambia and Zimbabwe and currently directs the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Diploma in Palestinian Child Health teaching programme in the occupied Palestinian territories. He is an Editor of the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and is on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics. His academic interests are child poverty, advocacy for child health and children’s rights.
HIFA2015 Advisory Panel
Clare Chandler is an anthropologist and an epidemiologist working as the social scientist for the ACT Consortium on methods for the delivery of effective antimalarial drugs to those who need them. She works on the design and evaluation of interventions to improve access to appropriate treatment for malaria and to improve the targeting of antimalarials by health care providers through improved diagnostic methods. She is involved in projects across East, West and South Africa as well as in Asia. She is a lecturer in social science at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Patricia A Cholewka is Assistant Professor at the Department of Nursing, New York City College of Technology, City University, New York. She holds a Doctorate in International Education Development from Columbia University, a Master of Public Administration and Policy and a Master of Arts in Informatics from New York University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Castleton State College. Her doctorate focuses on identifying transcultural issues affecting the sustainability of performance improvement and economic management of healthcare systems of post-soviet, transitional economies. She has resided in the Middle East and Central/Eastern Europe while teaching, consulting, conducting healthcare research, and/or presenting at international healthcare conferences. Her articles on healthcareorganization change strategies, nursing informatics (IT), transcultural considerations in healthcare management education, and the effects of government legislation on healthcare cost and quality have been published in various healthcare journals and policy manuals. She has been awarded a 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar lecture/research award to Lithuania to study the application of IT to nursing education and clinical practice. She is co-author of a book on health capital and sustainable socioeconomic development to be published in February 2008 by Auerbach Publications, Taylor & Francis Publishing Group.
Catherine Coleman is Assistant Director of Health Communication Core, Boston MA, USA. She was formerly the Editor in Chief of ProCOR, a global health communication network promoting cardiovascular health in developing countries and other low-resource settings. Catherine is also an instructor in health communication and technology at Tufts Medical School in Boston, MA, USA and a visiting international faculty member in global health at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Darlena David is the author of A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities published by the Hesperian, a nonprofit community health publisher located in Berkeley, California, that publishes ‘Where there is no doctor’. Her recent research and writing on vulnerable children is part of a soon to be published Hesperian book, Helping Vulnerable Children. Darlena’s professional interests include: vulnerable children, HIV and AIDS, disabilities, gender, health information, trade and health.
John Eyers is a retired librarian (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) with an interest in health information in the developing world. He has run information workshops in Africa and India over the last few years.
Erica Frank is Founder and Executive Director of Health Sciences Online. HSO is a portal where health professionals in training and practice access free, comprehensive, high quality, current courses, references, and other learning resources across all of medicine, public health, pharmacy, and dentistry. Erica is Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and specializes in preventive medicine. Her research established the strong and consistent influence of clinicians health habits on their patients. She was Co-Editor in Chief of the journal Preventive Medicine (1994-1999), and is the 2008 President of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Eric Friedman is chair of the Health Workforce Advocacy Initiative (HWAI), which is dedicated to one of the Global Health Workforce Alliance’s core functions, namely to keep human resources for health at the top of the agenda at the country, regional and international level. The purpose of the HWAI is to make the case for the policies and sustained investments necessary to develop and empower a health workforce capable of delivering on health goals, using evidence gathered by GHWA and GHWA partners. Eric Friedman is Senior Global Health Policy Advisor at Physicians for Human Rights, and is based in Washington, DC, USA.
Meenakshi Gautham has a PhD in Public Health and Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and is currently an independent public health consultant based in Delhi, India. Her special area of interest is how to better connect, better inform and better support health systems and the health workforce in rural, poor and low resource settings.
Maryvonne Grisetti works at the World Health Organization headquarters, Geneva. She is currently in charge of free dissemination of WHO priced publications worldwide but especially aimed at developing countries.
Yunkap Kwankam is former Coordinator of eHealth at the World Health Organization, Geneva. He was previously Professor and Director at the Center for Health Technology, University of Yaounde, Cameroun.
Mona Nasser is a researcher in the department of health information in the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health care (IQWIG) in Köln, Germany. She works on assessment of systematic reviews and HTAs and developing methods for producing health information based on the current best evidence for consumers and patients. She established and led the Iranian Cochrane Informal Network (ICInet) and coordinated the Cochrane Developing Countries Network.
Dan J. Ncayiyana is Director of Strategic Planning, Education & Health, at Benguela Health (Pty) Ltd, South Africa – a company committed to share expertise in fields ranging from policy advice and legislation, to community health and disease control programmes, the construction of facilities and computerised management systems. Born and educated in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa, Dr Dan Ncayiyana received his medical degree from the University of Groningen Medical School in the Netherlands in 1970. Following residency training at New York University Medical Center in the USA, he was Board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology in 1977 and was elected Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1979. After 10 years of private practice in the United States, he returned to South Africa to serve as Dean of the University of Transkei Medical School. Subsequently, he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Vice president) at the University of Cape Town, and Vice Chancellor (President) of the Durban University of Technology. He is the long-standing Editor of the South African Medical Journal. His publications have encompassed obstetrics and gynecology, public health, medical education and in medical publishing in developing countries. Dr Ncayiyana is advisor to the South African Human Sciences Research Council, and has served as consultant to the WHO, the World Bank and other international agencies on higher education governance and strategic planning in Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, the Gambia and South Africa.
Caroline Nyamai Kisia is Executive Director of Action Africa Help International, based in Nairobi, Kenya. AAH-I implements community health and development programmes in South Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Zambia and Kenya, to strengthen community participation, contribution and sense of ownership; to develop a partnership based on equity, transparency and accountability among programme stakeholders; and to mobilise appropriate and adequate resources, locally and externally, to support local programmes, enabling more communities to meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life. Caroline previously worked with AfriAfya, African Network for Health Knowledge Management and Communication.
Ayo Onatola is the Librarian of St. Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine, Luton, England. He holds BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, PGDE, MLS (Ibadan). He was previously the former Librarian, Medical Schools/ Teaching Hospitals of Ogun State (now Olabisi Onabanjo) University, Sagamu (1993-99) and Lagos State University, Ikeja (1999-2004), Nigeria. Author of the book ‘Basics of Librarianship – theory & practice: a guide for beginners’, published 2004. His professional interests are in ensuring access to updated Biomedical and Clinical Information in support of excellent medical education, cutting edge research and delivery of effective patient care.He is professionally affiliated to Association for Health Information & Libraries in Africa (AHILA), Nigerian Library Association (NLA); Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP), UK; and Biohealthmatics Africa Network (BHAN). Member, Advisory Panel of HIFA2015 Campaign and currently serves as Secretary, Librarians Without Borders.
Tikki Pang is Coordinator of Research Policy and Cooperation at the World Health Organization, Geneva.
John Sandars is a Senior Lecturer in Community Based Education, Medical Education Unit, University of Leeds, UK. He is a medical General Practitioner by background but now has more academic medical education interests in the use of new technologies (blogs/wikis/podcasts) in medical education and also online communities. He is adviser to CHAIN (Contact, Help, Advice and Information Networks) and saferhealthcare and has also been working with BMJ learning and BMJ journals to look at developing the use of new technologies.
Mark Storey has worked on programs designed to improve access to health information for over 14 years. Based in Washington DC, USA, he has managed projects at over 160 health organizations in Eurasia and Africa aimed at improving health professionals’ capacity to access information. Over the years, he has organized several dozen training seminars designed to enhance health professionals’ information retrieval and critical appraisal skills. He is also the creator of the EurasiaHealth Knowledge Network, a Web-based clearinghouse for Russian-language health information and related resources.
Veronique Thouvenot is a senior Scientist at World Health Organization, Geneva, with expertise in public health, humanitarian crises, Evidence based Decision Support Systems, and Monitoring and Evaluation. She actively supports the Reduction of the Digital Gap and the development of e-Learning, e-Health and use of mobile devices to ensure access to health information in remote areas.
Peter Tugwell is Professor of Medicine, and Epidemiology & Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa and is a practising rheumatologist at the Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada. He is Director for the Centre for Global Health under the Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, with research interests in socioeconomic inequalities and inequities in health in Canada and developing countries. He currently serves as Secretary General to INCLEN’s North American group (CanUSAClen). His research interests include rheumatology, developing and evaluating strategies for assessing quality of life and utilities, the evaluation and development of educational strategies in the teaching of medicine, research into the disadvantaged, global health and health equity, knowledge translation, decision support and consumer participation in research and health care.
Regina Ungerer is a Medical Doctor with an MSc in Public Health. Since 2005, she has coordinated a WHO programme called ePORTUGUESe, which is a series of initiatives to promote and strengthen collaboration among Portuguese speaking countries. One of the main objectives of this programme is to facilitate the flow of health information in Portuguese to help Health professionals in the 8 Portuguese-speaking countries to interact and have access to the latest health information through the Virtual Health Library/BIREME/PAHO/WHO and Blue Trunk Library. She works for the World Health Organization in Geneva. Since November 2009, Regina has been the Coordinator of HIFA2015-Portuguese (HIFA-pt).
Bill Ward has been involved in maternal and child health in developing countries for the last 4 decades (Middle East, West Africa, and the Caribbean primarily). He is a faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Measurement at the University of South Florida College of Public Health and he teaches distance courses in international health management. He also teaches a graduate course In global primary health care strategies, and directed a primary health care and community development program on the Palestinian West Bank that provided 125,000 visits annually to 50 villages. He is a doctorally trained health educator with a focus on community health, primary health care, and health care planning and evaluation.
