Board of Management

Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi

CARTA co-director

Catherine is the Executive Director at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). She was formerly the Director of Research and has served APHRC in several leadership roles over the past decade, having joined as a Post-doctoral Fellow in May, 2006. She is an Alumnus of the University of Heidelberg having completed her doctoral studies in Epidemiology in the then Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health, under the auspices of the Graduertienkolleg 793 in April 2006. She also obtained a Master of Science degree in Community Health and Health Management in 2002 from the same department. Prior to her graduate studies, Catherine studied Medicine at Makerere University, Kampala after which she worked as a medical officer at Rushere hospital, a rural health facility in Western Uganda for three years. Before and during her graduate studies, she was an Assistant Lecturer and later a Lecturer in the Department of Community Health at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Catherine has served on numerous boards, panels, and expert groups, including the INDEPTH Network Board of Directors and the Advisory Council of the Carnegie African Diaspora Program at the Institute of International Education. She was the inaugural Chairperson of the Kenya Epidemiological Association. Her research interests include migrant health, community participation in health, and the epidemiology of non-communicable diseases. Catherine is driven by the belief that Africa has the potential to solve its own problems and she tries to make her own contribution, however small.

Prof. Sharon Fonn

CARTA co-director

Sharon Fonn is a professor in the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand. She has been the Head of the School of Public Health and Acting Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. She was the President of the Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa (ASPHA) from 2014 to March 2017. In 2015 she was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa Medicine from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2011 she was awarded the University of the Witwatersrand Vice-Chancellor’s Academic Citizenship Team Award for “evidence of influencing academic citizenship beyond their core responsibilities to re-build and strengthen capacity of African universities and enhancing communities of practice across Africa”, and in 2005 was awarded a Distinguished Scientist Award – for contribution to the quality of life of women by the South Africa Government, Department of Science of Technology. She has published over 80 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, as well a number of training curriculums and a range of technical reports, policy documents and publication for non-technical audiences. Her areas of expertise include: Policy development and implementation; Health systems research; Gender; Human rights; Reproductive health; Research training and curriculum development.

Dr. Funke Fayehun

Board Chairperson

Dr. Anne Khasakhala

Board Member

Dr. Khasakhala is currently the Director of Population Studies and Research Institute (PSRI), University of Nairobi. She holds a PhD in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), an MSc in Medical Demography from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), a Postgraduate Diploma in Population Studies from RIPS and a BSc in Sociology. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and Book chapters mainly in Population Studies, Reproductive health and population and Health. She has also supervised over 100 students at various levels of studies and has been an external examiner for a number of reputable Universities such as North West University, The University of Witwatersrand, and Cape Town University among others. Dr. Khasakhala has consulted for the UN, AU, EAC among others. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Carolina for Kibera, an NGO working in the informal settlement whose aim is to empower the youth more specifically the girl child. She is an active member of the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS) where she served as the first woman Secretary-General from 2007 – 2011, she is also an active member of the International Union for Scientific Study of Population (USSP) and The Population Association of America (PAA). She is currently the CARTA Focal Person at the University of Nairobi.

Dr. Fredros Okumu

Board Member

Fredros Okumu is the Director of Science at Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, and Hon. Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is a mosquito biologist and public health expert working on sustainable approaches for controlling vector-borne diseases. He is also passionate about improving ecosystems for young researchers in Africa.

Jill Alison

Board Member

Adamson Muula

Board Member

Marta Vicente-Crespo

ex officio member

Dr. Vicente-Crespo has close to eight (8) years of considerable experience in research capacity strengthening at a number of African universities. She has organized successful technical workshops to increase the exposure of postgraduate students and staff to biomedical research and data analysis techniques. She was a senior lecturer and two-time dean in the School of Medicine and School of Research and Graduate Studies at the St Augustine International University in Kampala, Uganda. Prior to that, she was the founding director of the Institute of Biomedical Research and a senior lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry at Kampala International University – Western Campus, Uganda.

Dr. Florah Karimi

ex officio member

Florah holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Education from Kenyatta University and a Doctoral degree in the Psychology of Education from the University of South Africa. Previously, Florah was the technical advisor to the Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Education in Kenya on university education matters, prior to which she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Pan Africa Christian University and earlier on, the Deputy Commission Secretary for University Education in Kenya. She is driven by the desire to see students acquire quality university education that has an impact on society. Florah has been actively involved in quality assurance endeavors in universities in the African Region through engagement in the development of policies, regulations, standards and guidelines, and benchmarks for university education. She has also acted as the Kenyan focal person for World Bank Projects relating to university education in the continent.

Dr. Evelyn Gitau

ex officio member

Dr. Evelyn Gitau is the Director of Research Capacity Strengthening at APHRC. Under her direction, the division will continue the CARTA program, and expand opportunities across the continent for African scholars to become great research leaders. Dr. Gitau’s most recent role was as a program manager at the African Academy of Sciences, where she stewarded the Grand Challenges Africa at the Academy under the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) program. Prior to that, she was part of the team at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Program in Kilifi, Kenya, conducting research on developing biomarkers of disease among seriously ill children. Dr. Gitau earned her PhD in Life Sciences from the Open University/Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, investigating neurological infections in children living in malaria-endemic areas. She has more than 15 years of experience in medical research. Among her awards and accomplishments include a 2015 appointment as a fellow of the Next Einstein Forum, where she is the ambassador for the development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Africa. Dr. Gitau’s vast networks have brought her positions on numerous advisory boards for organizations advancing the agenda of research and evidence generation in Africa. These include the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB), Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi, University of Oxford (MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine), and the Investment Committee Grand Challenges Canada. She will remain a member of the Steering Committee for Grand Challenges Africa.