INVESTIGATOR TEAM MEMBERS
LANG GAO
SENIOR ASSOCIATE,
BUSARA CENTER
Role: Lead of Stage 2
WAIRIMU MUTHIKE
PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR, BUSARA CENTER
Role: -
DR MONICA KUTEESA
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,
EPIDEMIOLOGY, IAVI
Role: Co-Investigator
YVONNE WANGŨI MACHIRA
DIRECTOR, SOCIO-BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH, IAVI
Role: Project Manager; member of PMG
DR MATTHEW QUAIFE
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, HEALTH ECONOMICS, LSHTM
Role: Health Economist
GLORIA OMOSA-MANYONYI
LECTURER & CLINICAL RESEARCHER, KAVI-ICR
Role: -
DR YUNIA MAYANJA
PROJECT LEAD, EPIDEMIOLOGY & PREVENTION, MRC/UVRI & LSHTM UGANDA RESEARCH UNIT
Role: Co-investigator; MUL study team lead
DR MELISSA NEUMAN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, EPIDEMIOLOGY, LSHTM
Role: Statistician
FRANCIS MEYO
VICE PRESIDENT,
BUSARA CENTER FOR BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
Francis is the Vice President of the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics where he manages the projects division. His work focuses on sexual reproductive health as well as digital financial services. He has over 10 years of experience in global development and has partnered with various organisations including Jhpiego, JnJ, RTI, Safaricom, NCBA, KCB. He graduated from Vassar College with a degree in economics and political science.
Role in UPTAKE: Behavioral Science Lead; member of the PMG
DR GABRIELA GOMEZ
SENIOR DIRECTOR, GLOBAL ACCESS
IAVI
Dr Gomez brings with her over fifteen years of experience as an infectious disease epidemiologist working with global and country policy makers to achieve equitable introduction and effective scale-up of new technologies. Her research has largely focused on applying economic methods to infectious disease modelling in global health priority setting, including more than 100 publications.
Role in UPTAKE: Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator; member of the PMG
PROFESSOR OMU ANZALA
DIRECTOR,
KAVI-INSTITUTE OF CLINICAL RESEARCH
Omu Anzala is a professor of virology and immunology and director of the KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR) at the University of Nairobi. He has decades of experience in the field of HIV vaccine research and played a key role in the establishment of KAVI-ICR. Anzala is a member of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI), the Kenya national Vaccine Safety Advisory Committee, the African Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (AAVS), and the Kenya National COVID-19 Task Force. Further, he is team lead of the University of Nairobi COVID-19 Modelling Committee and a board member and director of the Welter Sisulu Foundation. A graduate of the University of Nairobi’s Medical School, he received his PhD at the University of Manitoba, Canada, and did his postdoctoral work in molecular immunology at Oxford University. Anzala holds a Diploma in Epidemiology from Tufts University and several professional certifications, including Advanced Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), Ethical Aspects of Clinical Research, Experimental Epidemiology, and Bioethics.
Role in UPTAKE: KAVI-ICR Study Lead; member of the PMG
DR MITZY GAFOS
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR,
LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
Dr Mitzy Gafos is a mixed methods social scientist in the Department of Global Health at LSHTM, where she focuses on HIV prevention research among affected communities in Eastern and Southern Africa, Asia, and Europe. Previously, Mitzy was a research director of the DFID funded STRIVE consortium which aimed to tackle the structural drivers of HIV focusing on gender and social norms, transactional sex, violence against women and girls, stigma and discrimination and alcohol and HIV risk. She has also worked in trials of vaginal microbicides, oral PrEP, HIV self-testing and therapeutic vaccines. Gafos also has a keen interest in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research.
Role in UPTAKE: LSHTM Study Lead; member of the PMG
PROFESSOR PONTIANO KALEEBU
DIRECTOR,
MRC/UVRI & LSHTM UGANDA RESEARCH UNIT
Professor Pontiano Kaleebu is the Director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and of the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, where he heads the Pathogen Genomics, Phenotype and Immunity programme. He is a professor of immunovirology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020. His main research interest has been in understanding protective immune responses that could lead to the development of an HIV vaccine and he was one of the investigators in the first HIV vaccine trial conducted in Africa. He also leads the HIV drug resistance Technical Working Group in Uganda and his programme hosts the National HIV drug resistance reference laboratory.
Role in UPTAKE: MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit Study Lead
