• Programe Leader, Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal

I am currently Deputy Executive Director of the Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD) and Associate Professor in the School of Commerce at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. I have a PhD having worked in the field of health system strengthening, sexual and reproductive health, TB and HIV and AIDS for over 20 years. I have authored over 100 peer reviewed publications on health systems strengthening and specifically HIV and AIDS, on economic, psycho-social and behavioral issues, with an h-index of 36. In 2020 I was appointed to the World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Behavioural Insights and Health Sciences for Health. In 2022, I was made an associate at Lund University in Sweden, Division of Social Medicine and Global Health.

My research has focused on utilizing behavioural science methodologies with the aim of strengthening health systems, and services offered to key and vulnerable populations. I have undertaken large-scale evaluation research, including evaluation of the PEPFAR DREAMS initiative in South Africa. In addition, I have undertaken a number of economic evaluations, inclusive of costing and expenditure analysis. In 2019, I was part of the team which won the IAS/MSD Prize for Operational and Implementation Research in Differentiated Service Delivery. I have an extensive portfolio of providing technical assistance to government departments through grants from USAID, UNICEF and UNESCO. Additionally, I have provided additional technical assistance to other UN agencies (UNAIDS, ILO, IOM, UNFPA, UNDP and World Bank), Governments (South African, European Union, Swaziland, Botswana and the US), funders (Swedish SIDA, IrishAID, RNE, DfID, GFATM, USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck Foundation and the CDC), as well as big business (SABCOHA, De Beers, AngloAmerican, SAB, Goldfields, Eskom).

• 2022–present Associate professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal

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