Authors

Erika Linnander directs Yale's Global Health Leadership Initiative, a team of practitioners and scholars building management and leadership to achieve global health targets. Over the past decade, she has designed, led, and evaluated health management programming in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the US, her research and practice has focused on the creation of effective organizational culture in healthcare. Globally, she has focused on the development of national management and governance systems as leverage points for improving health system performance and population health outcomes. Ms. Linnander received her MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. Ms. Linnander serves as the Principal Investigator for EPI LAMP.

Aziza Mwisongois a medical doctor, public health physician, health systems specialist, academic and researcher with 19 years of experience. She possesses key skills and experience in technical support for global health, research, and training. Her research interest is mainly in health systems; introduction of new technologies, health policy, decision-making science, change management, human resources for health, monitoring and evaluation, intervention related to EPI systems, malaria, HIV, TB, and reproductive health. She is a proponent of mixed-method and implementation research methods. In the past, she has provided technical assistance for health systems strengthening activities at the global, regional, and national level. She currently leads the country preparation and introduction work for typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) with the Typhoid Vaccine Accelerating Consortium (TyVAC). In this role, she is responsible for supporting countries with decision-making, Gavi applications, TCV implementation, and post-implementation evaluation and research. In the past, Dr. Mwisongo has worked in Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Indonesia. She serves as a co-Principal Investigator for EPI LAMP.

Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PHD is a co-founder of the University of Global Health Equity, an initiative of Partners in Health. She is a Rwandan who worked for 20 years in the public health sector between 1996-2016, first as clinician after as the Executive Secretary of Rwanda's National AIDS Control Commission, then as Permanent Secretary, and lastly as the Minister of Health for five years.She serves as Senior Advisor to the Director General of the WHO, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, and Professor of Pediatrics at UGHE. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, was named among the 100 Most Influential African Women for 2020. Prof. Binagwaho is a co-Principal Investigator for EPI LAMP.

Yap Boum II is the regional representative for Epicenter Africa, the research arm of Médecins sans Frontières. From 2009 to 2014, Boum headed Epicenter’s research base in Uganda, leading projects on tuberculosis and malaria. Most recently he was in charge of laboratory coordination for the MSF’s phase three trial for the vaccine against Ebola in Guinea. Professor Boum is also co-founder of Kmerpad, a nonprofit that developed washable sanitary pads to empower women and allow for them to fully participate in their education. Kmerpad also aims to have a critical impact on the amount of waste generated by the use of non-reusable sanitary pads. Professor Boum is inspired by the vision of a healthy Africa. He aims to advance research and innovative solutions and to promote the creation of a critical mass of young Africans to address the social and public health challenges Africa faces. Professor Boum is a senior advisor for EPI LAMP.

Dr. Ranjana Kumar is a pediatrician and has been working within the Development Sector for over two decades. She has worked with the Government of India, Civil Society Organisations, and bilateral donor and UN agencies. She has a diverse background providing clinical services, setting up systems for maternal and child health and leading the UK Government’s nation-wide support for Reproductive and Child Health in India. She has been working with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance in Geneva for over a decade. During a sabbatical in 2016, Ranjana led polio transition efforts within WHO India. On her return to Gavi, she leads the portfolio to build Country Governance, Leadership, Management and Coordination. Ranjana attended the Armed Forces Medical College, India and has pursued further training at Harvard, Cambridge and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She oversees Gavi’s Leadership, Management, and Coordination Portfolio, including EPI LAMP.

Ms. Liya Wondwossen is a public health practitioner who currently works at PATH’s Ethiopia Office as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine Senior Advisor. In this role, she supports Ethiopia’s effort to improve HPV vaccine access and utilization. Previously, Ms. Wondwossen served at Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health as the Deputy Director of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Directorate and as the Manager of Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). She has more than 10 years of extensive experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of health programs in Immunization, Nutrition, Child and Maternal health. Ms. Wondwossen managed Ethiopia’s EPI program from 2014 to September 2019. Under her leadership, the EPI program made remarkable progress in improving immunization services throughout the country. Ms. Liya has an MSc in Maternal and Reproductive Health Nursing. She is an alumna of EPI LAMP and currently serves as a technical coach for the program.