Dr. Annette Aronsson is a gynaecologist and obstetrician, researcher in reproductive health and part of the research group at the WHO centre since 1998 and is currently director of the WHO centre. Dr. Aronsson got her PhD at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet in 2007. The research concerns misoprostol and its use in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The work has been of extreme clinical importance and forms the evidence bases for several of FIGO recommendations on the use of misoprostol. Dr. Aronsson is a Senior Consultant in the departments of abortion services at the Karolinska Hospital. Dr. Aronsson is also a visiting researcher at Lund University and programme leader of a SIDA financed International Training programme in Sexual, Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for Gynaecologists, Midwives and SRHR professionals from Low-income countries. The programme includes the latest developments in the SRHR area. An important part of the project is that participants develops networks of colleagues from other countries and that they implement a change-project within their own organization. Dr. Aronsson has given courses and supervised international master students in SRHR in Global Health at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University.

Hazel Barrett

Hazel is a social scientist who undertook her degree at the University of Sussex in the School of African and Asian Studies. She then moved to the University of Birmingham to undertake her MA and PhD in West African Studies. She has worked at Coventry University since 1992 and in 2006 she was conferred a Chair in Development Geography. She is Executive Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR). Her main areas of research are the socioeconomic aspects of development, in particular gender, health and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the last decade her research has been directed at the social and economic aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and The Gambia as well as amongst migrant groups in the UK. Since 2009 her research has focussed on the traditional harmful practice of FGM amongst the African diaspora in the EU. She leads the EU Daphne III multi-disciplinary REPLACE research project: She is an internationally recognised expert on FGM and a specialist on community-based participatory research. She has published books and chapters on health and development issues and over 50 refereed articles.

Robert Blum

Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD, is the William H. Gates, Sr. Professor and Chair of the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has edited two books, and has written nearly 300 journal articles, book chapters and special reports. In July 2007, Dr. Blum was named the Director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute. He is Past-President of the Society for Adolescent Medicine; has served on the American Board of Pediatrics; was a charter member of the Sub-Board of Adolescent Medicine is a past chair of the Guttmacher Institute Board of Directors and served as chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Adolescent Health and Development. In 2006, The National Academy of Medicine elected Dr. Blum into membership. He is a consultant to The World Bank, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO.

Piet Bracke

Piet Bracke (1961°) is a full professor at the Department of Sociology. He mainly teaches health sociological courses at the master level and the more advanced master level, namely in a interuniversity master in global health. He has collaborated with colleagues in South Africa (Stellenbosch University, University of Venda), and in Cuba (University of Havana) on issues of the global south. His research focuses on gender and the family; on sociological epidemiology from a comparative perspective; and on mental health and mental health services. His running research focuses on partnership and divorce, on stigma and mental health services, on intercultural care, on prevention, vaccination hesitancy, and medicalization. He is a former chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Social Survey; a former president of the European Society of Health and Medical Sociology (ESHMS), and a former member of the Board of Governors of Ghent University.

Eva Brems

Eva Brems is a senior full professor of human rights law at Ghent University. Within the Faculty of Law & Criminology, she is the head of the Human Rights Centre. In addition, she is the head of the inter-disciplinary consortium UGent Human Rights Research Network. Her research covers a wide range of topics in national, European, international and comparative human rights law. This includes topics relating to LGBTIQ* rights as well as other topics in the field of sexual and reproductive rights.

Ann Buysse

Ann Buysse works as full Professor in clinical psychology and is head of the Research Group ‘family psychology’ at the Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology at Ghent University. Her research interests include family studies (adoptions, assisted reproduction, divorce, parenthood, repartnering, children’s agency, …), sexual health, mental health care and qualitative and interdisciplinary psychological research. Currently, she is the Dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences.
Her previous research projects include studies on (1) sexual health (two large-scale, interdisciplinary projects with representative samples); (2) divorce (large-scale interdisciplinary and longitudinal study on families and divorce, including children, unwanted pursuit behaviour, emotions, pathways to divorce, mediation); (3) parenthood after assisted reproduction (copromotor of a large-scale project together with Pennings and Provoost), (4) supportive interactions between spouses and its role in marital satisfaction and stability; and (5) agency: the effects of children on parents.

Jessica Castillo

Jessica Castillo Nuñez, Educational Psychologist, Master degree in Education and Thinking Development. Master degree in Educational Studies. PhD candidate at the University of Ghent (Belgium) at the Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Department of Welfare Studies. Principal Professor at the University of Cuenca in Ecuador, Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Educational Sciences. Member of the Network for the promotion of sexual rights and reproductive rights of Cuenca (RDSDR) .

Diane Cooper

Diane Cooper has 27 years of experience in sexual reproductive health (SRH), gender and health and women’s and youth SRH research - both in quantitative and qualitative research. She has conducted past and recent research on contraception (hormonal contraception’s

association with female cancers and with bone mineral density; health systems; and

client preferences research; medical abortion SRHR (with the UN agencies); SRH needs of youth living with HIV; and Violence and crime’s impact on youth SRH access As the South African PI, she completed a collaborative study with the HIV Center at Columbia University in the U.S., involving a randomized control trial of structural integration of SRH into HIV care, funded the US NIMH -the fourth of four 4-year NIH studies. She has links with NGO’s and academic researchers in several African including Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia. She has research collaborations in Brazil and in the UK. She has worked as an expert advisor in SRH policy in South Africa, in Africa and internationally. She has extensive experience in health service evaluations, socio-behavioural research and community based research.

Feng Cheng

Dr. Feng Cheng is a professor and chief physician at Research Center for Public Health and School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, and expert on global health and development with 30 years of experience working in 14 countries, author or co-author for more than 73 academic papers and 25 books. He serves currently as commissioner of Tsinghua University Degree Committee on Medicine and Biomedicine, Council member of International Planned Parenthood Federation East and South East Asia and Oceania, President of China Alliance For South to South Health Cooperation Research. Prof. Cheng is teaching health care management, health nutrition and global health governance. His research interest lies in infectious diseases, sexual and reproductive health, China health development aid and its role in improving global public health.

Tom Claes

Prof. dr. Tom Claes’ field of expertise is ethics and sexuality studies, with a specific focus on sexual ethics and on sexuality and globalisation. He is currently developing a research program in which the ethical concept of sexual justice is linked with global sexual-political activism. He obtained a PhD in Ethics (Moraalwetenschappen) on the subject of ethics and decolonisation. He is currently associate professor at the department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University. He is the director of the Centre for Ethics and Value inquiry. Together with Paul Reynolds he is network leader & founding member of INSEP – the International Network for Sexual Ethics & Politics (since 2010). The network organises a annual conference and a series of workshops in which the interaction between sexual ethics and politics/activism are explored. He is editor in chief of the journal of the network, published by Barbara Budrich Publishers and of its book series. He is also a (founding) member of the Ghent Centre for Global Studies. In addition to courses on philosophy and ethics, he also teaches courses on Sexual end relationship ethics and on Sexuality and Globalisation.

Candace Currie

Candace Currie is founding Director of the Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (www.cahru.org), a specialist research centre focussed on understanding the social and developmental determinants of young people’s health and behaviour in order to inform the design and evaluation of interventions, and influence programmes and policies to improve health and wellbeing. Candace’s research interests include sexual health, pubertal development, and socioeconomic and gender inequalities in health among adolescents. From 1995-2015 Candace was the International Coordinator of the ‘Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study (HBSC); she is currently Director of a new WHO Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) in Child and Adolescent Health Policy at the School of Medicine; and has recently been awarded CSO funding for Scotland to participate in the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) investigating gender socialisation and sexual health among young people growing up in deprived communities around the world. From 2015-2020 she has been awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in recognition of her research.

Olivier Degomme

Olivier Degomme is Scientific Director of the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) and Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care. He obtained a medical degree at Ghent University, and a Master in Public Health and PhD in Health Sciences from UCLouvain. He was research fellow at the UCLouvain Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in charge of the conflict research team involved in health and mortality among conflict affected populations in, e.g., Sudan, Ghana, Thailand. At the ICRH he coordinates a team of 25 researchers studying sexually transmitted infections; maternal and child health; and sexual and reproductive health in vulnerable populations. Research projects include five EC FP7 and several Research Foundation Flanders, as well as consultancies for UN organizations and national governments. He supervises PhD candidates from, e.g., Belgium, Kenya and Mozambique. He initiated and coordinates the Academic Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy (ANSER) and the Master of Global Health.

Thérèse Delvaux

Thérèse Delvaux, MPH, PhD is a medical doctor specialized in obstetrics and gynecology with over 25 years of experience in the field of international reproductive health. She is scientific expert and senior researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp. She teaches reproductive health and coordinates the “International Course on Planning and Management of Reproductive Health Programs” within the MPH at ITM. After working for 3 years with Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium in Africa and Asia, she obtained a MPH in 1996 (Harvard University, USA). She obtained a PhD degree in 2009 (University of Ghent, Belgium) on the topic “Linking sexual and reproductive health and HIV services: from needs to feasibility and evidence of benefits”. Since 2014, she coordinates the Research Network on SRH (NetSRH) at ITM with 8 member countries in West and North Africa. She is an active member of the Working Group on Sexual and Reproductive health and Rights (within Be-cause Health, Belgian International Health Platform).

Sara De Meyer

Sara De Meyer has a master degree in social-cultural sciences, a degree in secondary teacher training and a post graduate degree in gender studies. She combined her special interest in gender and Latin America during her fieldwork in Chili and Honduras. In March 2009, Sara joined ICRH. Since then she has been involved as coordinator and trainer in research and public awareness projects on gender and gender based violence and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Sara has research experience in Belgium and Latin America.

Alexis Dewaele

Alexis Dewaele has built an international research network in the field of minority stress, stigma, sexual, and mental health. Because of his expertise in the field of sexual minorities, he was invited several times at international expert meetings (for the Fundamental Rights Agency, University of British Columbia and Université du Québec à Montréal). Alexis Dewaele has supervised one doctoral student who got her PhD in 2013, and he supervises another doctoral students who will get her PhD in 2016. He has excellent research skills related to the design and implementation of qualitative research. This led to several publications in leading international peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Sex Research, Journal of Homosexuality). He masters various methods to collect qualitative data (i.e., semi-structured and narrative in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation/ethnographic field research) and to analyze qualitative data (hermeneutic-phenomenological method, open and closed "code mapping" using Nvivo software, Grounded Theory, and triangulation of data).

Sonia F. Dias

Sónia Dias is Associate Professor with aggregation at NOVA National School of Public Health, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ENSP-UNL). She has a PhD in International Health and a Degree in Psychology. She is the Coordinator of the Public Health Research Centre (PHRC|CISP). She was Director of the International Public Health Unit of the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2012-2015). She was the coordinator of PhD in International Health and the coordinator of the Thematic Line of “Health challenges of travellers and migrants” at the Global Health and Tropical Medicine Research Centre (IHMT/UNL). She teaches postgraduate courses and supervises PhD and masters students. She has been involved in international research projects concerning migrants’ health, sexual health promotion, health of vulnerable groups, HIV/other STI prevention, access to health services. She has acted as a consultant for World Bank, and as an expert for WHO and ECDC, as well as for International Organization for Migration. She has published in more than 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and is author/co-author of book chapters and books. .

Yvon Englert

Dr. Englert is Professor OB/GYN and former Dean of Faculty of Medicine (2011-Sep. 2015) at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). His field of expertise covers OB/GYN clinics, Bioethics & Deontology and Reproductive Medicine, with a specific focus on artificial reproductive treatments (ART). He made signification contribution in the development of ART, mainly for cancer and HIV patients, inducing Belgian law on ART and providing funding for infertility treatment as well as setting limitations on multiple pregnancies after ART. He is founder and president of the CEpip (Centre for Perinatal Epidemiology) collecting the perinatal indicators in the French-speaking region of Belgium. He has a strong academic background with over 200 publications and books. He is founder and trustee of the ULB fund for medical training of foreign doctors (FOSFOM). He served as both national and international expert for Minister of Health and several international agencies including WHO, UNFPA and EC; and First President of Belgian Consultative Committee of Bioethics as well as member of the « European Group on Ethics in Sciences and New Technologies». He is the Chairman of the OB/GYN Dept., Hôpital Erasme, and head of the Research Laboratory in Human Reproduction”.

Birgitta Essén

Birgita Essén is Professor in International Maternal and Reproductive Health at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at Uppsala University. She is a Senior Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University Hospital of Uppsala where she is running a clinic especially for immigrant women. She has extensive field work experiences from Nicaragua as well as from the multi-cultural London, where he worked with the Minister of Health Confidential Inquiry into Maternal Deaths in 2006. Since 2011, she has a Senior Research Position granted by the Swedish Research Council and het research team runs projects in Swede, Rwanda, Tanzania, India, Iran and Nicaragua. Her research profile is related to sexual and reproductive health and rights in a globalized society with special focus on perinatal and maternal mortality, female genital cutting, and forced marriage. Since the last 17 years she has a research collaboration with a medical anthropologist and she is a recognized reproductive health expert by WHO, FIGO, UNICEF and the European Commission.

Kristina Gemzell Danielsson

Dr Kristina Gemzell Danielsson is Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and senior consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and responsible for the clinical education at the Karolinska University Hospital. She received her MD in 1987, a PhD in Obstetrics and Gyneceology 1995, become associate professor in 2000 and full professor in 2005. She has been the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre 2000-01—2015. She is an Honorary Clinical Professor at Hong Kong University, Honorary fellow of the faculty of sexual & reproductive healthcare of the RCOG, UK, President of the European Society for Contraception and Reproductive Health, and former president of FIAPAC, She is president of the Swedish reference group on family planning (FARG) and a member of the scientific board of the Swedish Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her research is translational with focus on endometrial function, embryo implantation, induced abortion, implementation of safe efficient and simplified abortion care, emergency contraception and development of new contraceptive methods. Her clinical work focuses on sexual and reproductive health care.

Gerald Humphris

Prof Gerry Humphris studied Psychology at Reading University (1973-76) before going to Guy’s Hospital to complete a PhD (1983). He qualified in clinical psychology at Liverpool (1986) before taking up the post of Chair in Health Psychology at the Medical School, University of St Andrews (appointed: Nov 2003). His main interest is understanding the communication processes between clinician and patient in long-term conditions. He holds an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychology contract with NHS Lothian in the Edinburgh Cancer Centre, Western General Hospital, Scotland where he runs a Psycho-Oncology clinic. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was the Chair of the Standing Research Committee for the International Association of Communication in Healthcare https://www.each.eu/. He is acting Director of the WHO Collabiorating Centre for International Child and Adolescent Health Policy.

Olena Ivanova

Olena Ivanova is a researcher at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, LMU (Munich, Germany). She is a medical doctor (OB/GYN) with a Master degree in Public Health from three European universities. Since 2013, she has been involved in research projects in the field of SRH with strong international collaboration component. Her research experience includes both quantitative and qualitative research. At the beginning of her career she successfully accomplished an internship in WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen where she worked in Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit and performed analysis of SRH policies focusing in particular on intersectoral collaborations. Her international experience after graduation was enriched by working in a number of European and African countries. She spent half a year working in Mozambique (ICRH Mozambique) in the field of SRH including family planning, maternal health and training of health care providers. While working in ICRH Belgium she was involved in evaluation of complex health intervention in the field of adolescents SRH in three Latin American countries performed jointly with WHO. Currently she is involved in international epidemiological study in 4 African countries as well as teaching activities and supervision of students at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine.

Guyo Waqo Jaldesa

Prof. Jaldesa is a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist and an associate Professor at the University of Nairobi, College of Health Sciences based at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. He holds Master of Medicine in obstetrics and Gynaecology from University of Nairobi and Master of Science in reproductive health from the University of Edinburgh, UK. He has been studying FGM/C since 1995, focusing on its development and complications during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period among the Somali populations in Kenya. Prof. Jaldesa also studied and published on Psycho sexual health consequences of FGM among the infibulated women in Kenya.

Elena M. Jerves

Prof. Monserrath Jerves is an Educational Psychologist, Professor in developmental Psychology at the University of Cuenca. She obtained the master degree in Education Management (2005) and currently is s a PhD candidate at KU Leuven in Belgium (expected final defence for December 2016). Her field of expertise is Sexual development during adolescence and Sex education with a particular focus in the cultural factors shaping sexuality and sex education. She has been the Coordinator of a bilateral project focused on Sexuality and sex education between the VLIR and the University of Cuenca, HUMSEX, since 2007. Her current research focuses on Adolescents’ development in the context of transnational families. Currently, Monserrath is the coordinator of the Center of Research of Sexuality and Sex Education in the University of Cuenca in Ecuador, the Director of the Master Program of Sex Education offered by the University of Cuenca and the Vice Dean of the faculty of Philosophy of the University of Cuenca.

Elise B. Johansen

Dr. Johansen has been trained as a medical anthropologist, specialised in sexual and reproductive health and female genital mutilation. Her areas of research include birth-care in a multi-cultural setting, experiences and perceptions of sexuality, cultural change and modes of communication. She finalized her masters in 1989 with research in the Ivory Coast, she did extensive research in Tanzania, and her PhD in 2006 included research among migrants and Norwegian health care system in Norway. She also did a study on Norwegian youth and their ways of negotiating sexuality and gender roles. For 7 years she was responsible for the international work on FGM at the World Health Organisation (Department of reproductive health and research (RHR), Section for family, women and children health (GRR), in Geneva, Switzerland, developing a research program and revisited policy documents. Since April 2013, she is employed as a researcher at the Norwegian centre for violence and traumatic stress studies (NKVTS), heading a program on FGM research among migrants, and their health care services. She also conducts consultancies on international work on FGM with NORAD.

Elizabeth Kemigisha

I am a medical doctor with masters in Paediatrics and Child Health from Mbarara University, in Uganda. I have research interests in clinical infectious diseases in children, maternal health and adolescent reproductive health and HIV prevention educational programs. I am registered at Ghent University in Belgium on a sandwich PhD program. My research focusses on assessing processes and outcomes of comprehensive sexuality education for adolescent education in schools and establishing current evidence from SSA for successful implementation of sexuality education programs for young adolescents.

Elissa Kennedy

Dr Kennedy MBBS MPH is an Australian-based public health professional with 15 years’ experience in sexual and reproductive health (SRH), with a focus on adolescents. She is Co-Director of Burnet Institute’s Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program, providing strategic leadership to the multidisciplinary research, public health and international development portfolio. She is also Co-Head of Global Adolescent Health, leading interdisciplinary adolescent SRH research projects in Asia and the Pacific. Dr Kennedy has been lead investigator of six studies and co-investigator on 15 including randomised controlled trials, community and school-based descriptive quantitative and qualitative studies, and systematic reviews, with a focus on research to inform greater investment in SRH, and provide evidence for effective responses. She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications, techical reports and book chapters. Dr Kennedy was a Lancet Commissioner on adolescent health in 2016, and is also a member of the interdisciplinary Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, supporting evidence informed advocacy.

Ines Keygnaert

Ines Keygnaert obtained her PhD in Medicine in 2014 on sexual violence and health in refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. At ICRH, Ines is the team leader of the “Priority Team” which heads the research lines on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), harmful cultural practices, migrant sexual and reproductive health and gender in adolescent health. Since 2006, Ines has been coordinating different research projects on those topics and developed numerous practical guidance for policies, interventions, tools and training manuals. She currently develops the Belgian model for sexual assault referral centres. Furthermore, Ines is an acknowledged expert on sexual violence and migrant health, having provided several consultancies for leading global health organisations, as WHO and UNFPA and several governments. She teaches on sexual and domestic violence and migrant mother & child health and is the founder of EN-HERA! The European Network for Sexual Health Promotion of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in Europe and beyond.

Angela Koech

Dr. Angela Koech Etyang is a physician scientist at the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health and an Instructor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aga Khan University East Africa. She is a medical doctor and holds an MMed (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) degree from the Aga Khan University and an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has 7 years’ experience in clinical medicine and over 3 years’ experience in clinical research in the area of maternal and newborn health. She has been involved in setting up and conducting several clinical studies alongside a perinatal surveillance programme at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust research programme in Kenya. Her previous work has been in the areas of maternal Group B Streptococcus and its role in neonatal disease, foetal growth and aetiology of preterm birth/low birth weight, preeclampsia and its risk factors and the role of inflammatory markers in preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes. She has publications in peer reviewed journals and has presented in several local and international conferences.

Barbara Krahé

Prof. Dr. Barbara Krahé’s fields of expertise are the study of the prevalence and risk factors of sexual aggression among adolescents and young adults and the analysis of the influence of rape myths and stereotype on decision making about rape in a legal context. She received her PhD from the University of Bonn in 1981 and her Habilitation from the University of Landau in 1987. She held several visiting fellowships at the University of Sussex, UK and has been a Full Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Potsdam since 1993. Barbara Krahé has published widely on primary and secondary victimization by sexual violence. She is co-author (with Jennifer Temkin) of Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A Question of Attitude, published in 2008 and was a Co-PI in the project Youth Sexual Aggression and Victimization (Y-SAV; http://www.rutgers.international/programmes/y-sav) funded by the European Agency for Health and Consumers from 2010 to 2014. She is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Elin Larsson

Dr Elin C Larsson is a public health researcher, focusing on global sexual and reproductive health. She is currently employed as a post doc and has received a three-year fellowship for 2016-2018. Elin is a pharmacist (2006), and got her PhD from the division of Global Health, Karolinska Institutet in 2012. The PhD studies involved qualitative and quantitative studies in Uganda, studying pregnant women’s access to HIV prevention and -care. The PhD studies were carried out within a Health and Demographic Surveillance Site.

In Sweden Elin has worked with migrant health, as well as at the Public Health Agency of Sweden. Her current research is concentrated on migrant sexual and reproductive health. Elin has also been a course instructor in a blended-learning course in qualitative research methods. A course by Karolinska Institutet, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Makerere University, Uganda. Elin is a member of several national and international networks related to SRH.

Gunta Lazdane

G. Lazdane is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, Ph.D and has been Professor, Head of University Department in Riga Stradins University, Latvia from 1994 till 2003. From 2003 she was the Programme Manager of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme in the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Promoting Health through the Life-course, WHO Regional Office for Europe. She was assisting 53 WHO Member States to improve sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn health through promoting good health at key stages of life, improving quality of health care, addressing social determinants of health, gender, equity and human rights. Dr. Lazdane has participated in many European and global conferences and congresses including the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995. She was the Chief Editor of the European Magazine for Sexual and Reproductive Health Entre Nous from 2003 till 2017. From September 2017 she is back as a Professor in the Riga Stradins University and focus on multidisciplinary collaboration in improving health and well-being.

Els Leye

Prof Dr Els Leye’s field of expertise is Global Sexual and Reproductive Health, with a specific focus on gender related practices as a form of gender based violence, in particular female genital mutilation (FGM), child/forced marriage (CFM), and honour related violence. She’s assistant professor at ICRH and also holds a position as postdoctoral fellow and coordinator of the Centre for Gender, Diversity and Intersectionality at the Free University in Brussels. She holds a master’s degree in Social and Cultural Welfare Studies and obtained her PhD in Comparative Sciences of Culture (Ghent University, 2008) on the topic of FGM in Europe. Her research focuses on: impact of laws and policies on FGM, development of methodologies to estimate the prevalence of FGM, KAP surveys among health professionals on FGM, assessment of transposing EU directives in laws on CFM, EU mapping studies on FGM, phenomenological research on honour violence, policy research on violence against women, etc. As senior expert she is providing policy advice for EIGE, WHO, European Parliament, UN women, UNFPA, OHCRH, national and regional governments, etc. and she has published widely.

Stanley Luchters

Prof Luchters is a medical epidemiologist leading a global research agenda on prevention of sexual and reproductive health morbidities. His main expertise is in design, conduct and evaluation of health interventions that have a public health impact, particularly among vulnerable population such as female and male sex workers in resource-constrained settings. He has an educational background as Medical doctor with a Masters degree in Public Health for Developing Countries (2003 at LSHTM, UK) and a PhD in Health Sciences (2008 at Ghent University, Belgium). Currently, he is the Head of international health research at the Centre for International Health (Burnet Institute), and holds honorary professorial academic appointments at the School of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (Monash University, Australia), and ICRH within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Ghent University, Belgium). Prof Luchters has over 100 publications (h-index=29), with more than 90 in international peer-reviewed journals in the fields of reproductive health, maternal and child health, sexually transmitted infections, family planning, and sexual behaviour.

Viola Nilah Nyakato

Viola is the current Dean of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary studies, Department of Human Development and Relational Sciences at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (Uganda). For about 10 years, Viola has been engaged in research that delves into the underlying gender barriers particularly decision-making, women land rights, couple relations and life skills that limit access maternal healthcare for young people and women. Since 2007 she worked as a lecturer for sociology and gender and development at MUST. She has done a number of research projects related to the field of SRHR, including an ongoing project that developed a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum for primary schools. In 2015, she was recognized as 2015 World Heritage Hero at the at the 39th Session of the German Commission for UNESCO in recognition of the publication on Women in Conservation. Between October 2015 and February 2016, Viola worked as a local consultant for the evaluation of the end of programme evaluation for United for Body Rights and the Access, Services, Knowledge (ASK) programmes in collaboration with ICRH and Kaleidos Research.

Kristien Michielsen

Prof. dr. Kristien Michielsen’s field of expertise is Global Sexual and Reproductive Health, with a specific focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health Behaviour, in particular of adolescents and young people. She is a trained social scientist (2001) and obtained a PhD in Social Medical Sciences from Ghent University (2012). She has been working for ICRH since 2006, and in this period her research mainly focused on SRH and wellbeing of adolescents and young people, in several countries in Africa, Latin America and Europe on a number of topics as: the formation of gender norms in early adolescence and its impact of sexual health, adherence to ARV treatment among HIV-positive adolescents in Kenya, evaluation of holistic sexuality education, and post-hoc evaluations of complex interventions.

Kristien currently holds a position as assistant professor at ICRH, where she is responsible for general support and supervision, guiding PhD and master students, fund acquisition, and setting out a research line on adolescent SRH and wellbeing. Kristien is member of a number of national and international networks related to SRH.

Wendo Mlahagwa

I have been teaching in the Faculty the last 12 years. I trained as a graduate teacher at Dar es Salaam University in Tanzania. I obtained my Postgraduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management and my Masters in Development Studies at Mbarara University, Uganda, Institute of Interdisciplinary Training and Research, former Faculty of Development Studies in 2005 and 2008 respectively. I am a PhD student in the same Institute. My PhD Research is on Social Reintegration of Formerly Abducted Young Mothers in Post Conflict Northern Uganda. I have a certificate in the International Training program on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (2015/2016) from Lunds University, Sweden. I am currently working as a co-investigator with the PI (Dr Viola N. Nyakato) in a North South University Collaboration (University of Ghent, Free University of Brussels, Uganda Martyrs University) to implement a Project on Mitigating adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes through a comprehensive primary school sexuality education program in South-Western Uganda.

Khátia Munguambe

Khátia Munguambe holds an Undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences, a Master’s degree in Control of Infectious Diseases, and a PhD in Environmental Health, with a focus on the social determinants of hygiene, water and sanitation practices and conditions. She is currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM). She is also an associate senior researcher with the Manhiça Research Centre (CISM), Mozambique.Besides leading the Reproductive Health and HIV /AIDS research and extension unit at UEM Faculty of Medicine, she coordinates teaching modules on Fundamentals of Community Health at undergraduate level as well as Research Methodology for Public Health at post-graduate level. On the research front, she responds to a research agenda dedicated to the understanding of the interface between public health interventions and the potential beneficiaries at community level.

Neema Murembe

Dr. Neema Murembe is a senior lecturer in the department of Gender and Women Studies. She is currently the head of the department. Neema holds a PhD from University of Tilburg which she completed 2014. Her PhD research was focussed on women’s empowerment and decision making at a household level with a focus on Ankole culture of south western Uganda. Neema is a social anthropologist and an ethnographic researcher. She has been engaged in research on gender and women empowerment. She has participated and led both basic and adoptive research.

Kaiyan Pei

Prof. Pei is the director of Social Medicine Center, NRIFP, and expert in multicenter prospective clinical trials on contraceptives and epidemiological researches on preconception care and healthcare for children and the edged, author or co-author for more than 30 academic papers and 4 books. She currently serves as a member of Youth Academic Committee of National Research Institute for Family Planning, and a member of Teaching Advisory Board of National Vocational Education under Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. Prof. Pei is teaching genetics, birth defect intervention and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Her research interest lies in population-based monitoring and intervention of birth defects, postpartum contraception, sexual and reproductive health among special population.

Paul Reynolds

Paul Reynolds is Reader in Sociology and Social Philosophy at Edge Hill University in the UK. His specialist fields are sexual ethics and politics with special reference to sexual consent, literacy and well-being. He is co-convenor of the International Network for Sexual Ethics and Poltiics (INSEP) and co-editor in chief of its journal with Budrich Publishers. He holds a number of advisory board, editorial board and international leadership roles and positions in academic enterprises not directly related to his work in sexual ethics and politics. He is currently running a project on the impact of consent talks at British Universities and co-running a project on consent and its lack and how professionals and care workers deal with unreliable sexual consent amongst those who are mentally debilitated.

Mohsin Sidat

Prof. Dr. Mohsin Mahomed Sidat is Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo, Mozambique). Public Health Specialist (physician): title obtained in December 2009 by National Committee for Post-graduation at the Ministry of Health. (title was recognized by the MoH as well as the College of Public Health of the Mozambican Medical Council);
PhD (Public Health) in 2007 by The University of Melbourne (Australia);
MSc (Infectious Diseases) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (London, UK);
MD in 1994 by The University Eduardo Mondlane, Faculty of Medicine (Maputo, Mozambique);
Research: On quantitative and qualitative research (in clinical, laboratorial, public health and epidemiological aspects of infectious diseases, and health systems research including research related to human resources) Teaching: Coordinator of Track I of MPH (Promotion, Prevention and Control of Diseases) program at the Community Health Department, Faculty of Medicine, University Eduardo Mondlane. Co-author of the new curriculum for CHWs (APEs) Training in Mozambique.

Marleen Temmerman

Since December 2015, Professor Dr Marleen Temmerman joined the Aga Khan University East Africa as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and as Director of Women’s Health and Research in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
From 2012 until 2015, Prof dr Marleen Temmerman was the Director of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR), at the World Health Organization (WHO). RHR is the main instrument within the United Nations system for research in human reproduction and sexual and reproductive health, bringing together policy-makers and programmers, scientists, health care providers, clinicians, consumers and community representatives to identify and address priorities for research to improve sexual and reproductive health.
She is a Professor OB/GYN at the Ghent University in Belgium. She has a strong academic background with over 400 publications and books in the area of women’s health. She is the Founding Director of the International Centre for Reproductive Health, with offices at Ghent University, in Kenya and Mozambique and collaboration agreements with Universities and Research Institutes all over the world.
As an Obstetrician-Gynaecologist with over 30 years of clinical expertise, she supervised over 18,000 births in many parts of the world and was part of many women’s life.

Gurmesa Tura

Gurmesa Tura earned his first degree as BSc in Public Health from Debub University, Ethiopia in 2002, a second degree as Masters of Public Health in Reproductive Health (MPH/RH) from Jimma University, Ethiopia, in 2007 and a PhD in Public Health Reproductive Health Track from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia in 2015. Currently, working as an Associate Professor of Reproductive Health, and serving as an academic staff, researcher, head of the department and consultant for the Federal Ministry of Health on Reproductive health policies and strategies. Responsible for teaching both the MPH in RH and PHD in Public Health Reproductive Health specialty programs under our Department. Advising more than 20 MPH students and 5 PhD students. Published 15 articles on reputable national and international journals related to sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Tura is a member of academic commission of the College of health Sciences and member of the University Council of Jimma University.

Bettina Utz

Bettina Utz, MD, DTM&H, MSc SRH is a trained Gynecologist and Obstetrician currently doing her PhD on gestational diabetes at the ITM –A. Bettina has extensive technical expertise in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Maternal and Newborn Health coupled with profound program based expertise in all clinical aspects of MNCH including the management of regional obstetric services in low resource settings and proven track record in leading capacity building and quality improvement programs in Africa and Asia. She has experience in conducting needs assessments, M&E and supportive supervision in resource poor settings and in the close collaboration with national and international stakeholders as well as government institutions. She worked for 4 years with the German International Cooperation (GIZ) in Rwanda and in Tanzania but conducted also short term missions to disaster stricken areas (Haiti and Afghanistan) in order to provide technical support. As Clinical lecturer she directed the Diploma Course in Reproductive Health at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and was technical lead of the Asia activities of a large DFID funded capacity building project in Emergency Obstetric Care (Maken it Happen) from 2011-2014 at LSTM. Since 2014 she works at ITM-A, where she is involved in a project on gestational diabetes in close collaboration with the National School of Public Health, the Ministry of Health and UNFPA Morocco.

Karen Van der Veken

Karen Van der Veken, MSc, midwife, MSc is scientific collaborator in the department of Public Health at the ITM-A. She worked as a health professional and as a program manager in emergency, post-emergency and development projects in Africa, Asia and Central-America between 2006 and 2012. Since 2012 she offers a more punctual technical and coordinating support to NGOs, educational institutes and the ITM (2013-2014; 2015-2016). Her main field of research is the health care system, with a particular focus on human resources in health, and the development and implementation of health policy. She developed this expertise during the FP7 FEMHealth project and during a coordinating role in NetSRH, a Network for Scientific Support in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health, wherein research institutions of 5 West African and 3 North African countries as well as the ITM-A are collaborating and offering mutual technical support and peer review to southern-led research in SRH. As a lecturer she is involved in different training programs at the ITM concerning safe motherhood, sexual and reproductive health and the local health system.

Sarah Van de Velde

Sarah Van de Velde performs research in the domain of medical sociology and family sociology. Most prominent research strands are the studies on gender differences in mental health and health care use, as well as reproductive health and harmful practices against women (female genital cutting). Special attention is paid to macro-structural sources of gender inequality. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Sociology at the University of York. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, as well as the Flemish Journal of Sociology (Sociologos). She is a board member of the Flemish Association of Sociology, as well as Oxot, a social-cultural organisation that supports the reintegration of persons with a mental disorder. She is a, invited member of the expert meeting organised by the European Institute for Gender Equality, on the revision of the Gender Equality Index (GEI), as well as the expert meeting organised by the Flemish government on the revision of the Flemish Gender Monitor 2016.

Sarah Van de Velde teaches a number of courses in the field of Family Sociology as well as Sociology of Health and Illness. She additionally teaches the master thesis seminar.

Bernardo Vega

The field expertise of Prof. dr. Bernardo Vega is Sexual and Reproductive Health, with a specific focus on Health Promotion for young people and adolescents; prevention and treatment of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). He has obtained the title of specialists in Gynecologist and Obstetrics (2003), Dr Vega has been working for University of Cuenca since 2004, in this period his research was based on Women’s Health, focused on prevention of maternal mortality; Determinants of Sexual behavior; Gender equity and Health promotion. Dr Vega currently holds a position as full time professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics; Coordinator of the Cathedra of Sexual and Reproductive Health. He has participated and leaded, as local partner, multicentrical and collaborative researches, most relevant are: CERCA 2010- 2014; Physician patient communication 2012-2014. He also is involved in the development and implementation of projects: Global Early Adolescents Study and Prevalence of HPV in ethnicities in Ecuador.

Junfang Xu

Junfang Xu is a postdoc working in research center for public health, Tsinghua University. My background is health economics and health policy. She is the principal researcher on six studies including on HIV, mental diseases, hepatitis C, experiment economics, health insurance and community health care. Her specific expertise relates to economic evaluation of health interventions and the burden of diseases. She obtained her PhD in July 2016. The PhD studies involved qualitative and quantitative studies in China, studying the burden of mental disease and care. My current research is concentrated on economic evaluation of HIV/AIDS antiviral therapy. She is also a teaching assistant of Tsinghua University in the courses of global health government and health care management.

Wei-Hong Zhang

Wei-Hong Zhang (MD, MPH, PhD, Postdoctoral of University of Oxford) has been a full professor of Epidemiology at School of Public Health, ULB between 2012 and 2015. Since October 2015 she joints Research Laboratory for Human Reproduction, Faculty of Medicine, ULB Belgium, and keeps part time of professor of Epidemiology. She is also senior project coordinator at ICRH, Ghent University, since 2007. She has long-standing experience in coordinating international projects, particular in EU-funded projects in European and in China, she is currently project leader for an ongoing EU-funded FP7 project in the field of Family Planning in China. By today, she has held the position of visiting professor at several Chinese universities and the adjunct professor at Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai; the National Research Institution for Family Planning, China, as well as the professor of Epidemiology at Tsinghua University. She teaches courses focused on the epidemiology and Evidence based medicine. Her research experience covers prenatal screening, family planning, maternal mobility and mortality, migrant reproductive health, evidence-based maternal care and policy making. Since 2014 she is appointed by the P. R of China, as the State Council Advisor.

Xiaoying Zheng

Prof. Zheng is an expert of population health in China, with a specific focus on reproductive health, women and children health, and health policy. She is currently the director of Institute of Population Research/WHO Collaborating Center for Reproductive Health and Population Science at Peking University, and dean of PKU-APEC Health Science Academy. She has been appointed as Yang Zi Professor of National Yang Zi Award Scholar Program, and Leading Scientist of National “973” Program of Population and Health. Dr. Zheng has received more than 50 peer-reviewed research grants and major or key projects in the field of population health and development. She has authored over 370 journal papers, over 80 international conference papers, over 20 chapters and edited books, and over 40 honors and awards for research papers and work. Dr. Zheng is currently member of Leading Board of Life Science Innovation Forum of APEC, Chinese representative for Washington Group on Disability, UN, and Vice President of Chinese Healthy Birth Science Association.

Valence Ngabo

Mr Valence Ngabo is Msc Statistics- expertise epidemiology and statistical methods and Lecturer at the Faculty of Interdisciplinary studies, Department of Human Development and Relational Sciences of Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

Anna Kågesten

Dr. Anna Kågesten is a postdoctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institutet department of Public Health, Global and Sexual Health group. Anna has over 10 years of experience in research and programs focused on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), such as teenage pregnancy in urban poor environments, early adolescent gender norms, young male’s fertility intentions, youth sexual dysfunction, and the quality of comprehensive adolescent health programs. Anna received her MPH (2012) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and subsequently completed her PhD in the department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health (2017). For her dissertation, she studied the prevalence and patterns of early adolescent sexual experiences and its association with gender norms in Nairobi informal settlements, as part of the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS). She was the study coordinator of the GEAS between 2012-2015 including training and management of qualitative and quantitative data collection across 15 urban poor study sites. Anna is a research consultant on SRHR to several international organizations including the Guttmacher Institute and World Health Organization (WHO) department of Reproductive Health and Research. At the WHO, she led the development of new program reporting standards for sexual, reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health to improve the reporting of program implementation processes.

Claudia Hanson

I’m an Associate Professor in health systems research at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. I also hold a position as an assistant professor at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). I started to work in Global Maternal Health in the early 1990s at the German Cooperation GIZ, later specialised in gynaecology and obstetrics and trained as an epidemiologists with focus on measuring maternal mortality and its determinants (MSc & PhD from LSHTM).
My main interest lies in health system research on how to best organise and design care structures to support that evidence-based interventions adapted to the context support quality maternal, reproductive and neonatal health care. I lead and co-lead several projects in Africa (Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique) and Asia (India) focussing on quality improvement through quality management approaches, capacity building, and health system strengthening. I also work on indicator development to support the evaluation for maternal and newborn health care.

Anna Mia Ekström

Master of Public Health (MPH) in quantitative methods from Harvard School of Public Health (1995), Medical Doctor (MD, 1998, KI) and PhD in medical epidemiology (KI, 2000). Full professorship (2013), Senior clinical consultant infectious Disease (2016). Combined clinical professorship in global infectious disease epidemiology with particular focus on HIV including 30% clinical work as senior clinical consultant & 70% research since 2013. Research focus on HIV, global health & Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) research, program evaluation, teaching & awareness work.
20 years experience of leadership, networking and international project management. Leads research group Global & Sexual health (GloSH) https://ki.se/en/phs/global-and-sexual-health at Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm with ≈ 40 multidisciplinary researchers, this research group is the home of prof. Hans Rosling’s research & teaching legacy.
Over the last 19 years lead a large number of research projects in sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Nigeria), aiming at more effective program implementation for HIV treatment and prevention and SRHR with emphasis on health systems strengthening, PMTCT, understanding risk behaviors among key populations, migrants and adolescents and young women and men with multiple partners.
SRHR in relation to migrants’ and young women’s knowledge and needs of contraception and post-abortion care, and gender & social norms and values (Gates-funded initiative in Nigeria) and among migrants (Sweden, Nepal) is an important focus for the research group as well as mHealth through the WelTel PMTCT, a randomised control trial in Kenya aiming to improve retention in PMTCT and lifelong antiretroviral treatment.
Gender norms and prevention of gender-based violence in schools is being researched in Kenya (www.ujamaa-africa.org), Uganda and South Africa through global partnerships. Health economics program evaluation (PMTCT interventions, PreP) is major feature in close collaboration with health economists affiliated with the group. GloSH is also involved in Ebola research in West Africa and in Zika research in Colombia.

Ieva Briedīte

Dr. Ieva Briedīte is Assistant at Rīga Stradiņš University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at Riga Maternity Hospital and at SIA Capital Clinic in Riga, Latvia.

Ana Gama

Ana Gama is a post-doc researcher at NOVA National School of Public Health, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ENSP-UNL). She has a PhD in International Health and a Master Degree in Community Psychology. She has been working as researcher in several national and international projects combining quantitative and qualitative methods, community-based participatory research and implementation research approaches to investigate health of vulnerable populations, as migrants, men who have sex with men and sex workers. Her main fields of research have been public health, health promotion and disease prevention, sexual and reproductive health, access and use of health services for prevention, diagnosis and care. Her main fields of interest also include participatory approach in health research and evaluation research. She has published over 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored book chapters and books.

Lenka Benova

Lenka Benova is a quantitative social scientist with training in epidemiology, demography, management and Middle East studies. Her research includes measurement, understanding, preventing and alleviating social phenomena that lead to poor reproductive/maternal health, such as socio-economic inequalities, suboptimal care-seeking behaviours, low quality of care, and maternal morbidity. She has experience leading on projects delivering healthcare services (Médecins Sans Frontières), program design and implementation (conditional cash transfer program in Egypt), and evaluation projects, in a number of low- and middle-income countries. Lenka holds an MA in Middle East studies (American University in Cairo), MSc in Demography and Health (LSHTM), and PhD in Population Health (LSHTM).

Nina Van Eekert

Nina Van Eekert is a PhD candidate at the University of Antwerp and Ghent University, Belgium who performs research on the topic of the medicalization of female genital cutting (FGC). The United Nations, the Word Health Organisation and other important international and national institutions strongly opposes medicalized FGC, mainly based on the argumentation that the involvement of health-care providers in the performance of FGC is likely to create a legitimization of the practice which can further contribute to an institutionalization of the practice and therefore impede progress towards the abandonment of FGC. Yet, to date, no empirical research confirms this proposition and it remains unclear whether medicalization actually counteracts the abandonment of FGC. Counterarguments are that medicalization of FGC functions as a harm-reduction strategy and as a means of sensitization for health risks of FGC and will eventually lead to abandonment. Also, medicalization might make the practice less visible making it less subject of social control. The current PhD project aims to fil this gap in the literature by exploring trends in medicalization of the practice and it’ association with women’s social position using data from both Egypt and Kenya. Main research questions include the examination of the social profile and motivations of women who opt for a medicalized cut, as well as how this medicalization trend associates with overall prevalence rates of FGC. Comparing Egypt and Kenya is interesting due to their deviating FGC trends. Half of medicalized cuts worldwide are performed in Egypt, while prevalence rates remain high as well. Kenya, on the contrary, is the only country where increases in medicalization rates go together with decreases in FGC prevalence rates.

Catherine Grant

Catherine Grant is a social scientist and her work focuses on international health, education and nutrition issues. She is currently a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, UK and is working on anthropological project looking at local disease preparedness (preparedness from below) in Uganda and Sierra Leone. She has a special interest in sexual and reproductive health and has worked at the Terrence Higgins Trust, Marie Stopes International, the AIDS Alliance and Maternity Worldwide looking at issues including abortion in India, reproductive health in Latin America and sexually transmitted infections in the UK. Her recent research focused on the benefits of using participatory research in conjunction with traditional modelling methods to potentially improve disease research, control and management. The idea behind this work is that integrated approaches can lead to more realistic mathematical models which in turn can assist with making policy decisions that reduce disease and benefit local people. She has also recently worked for the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) Health and Education Advice and Resource Team, which provides rapid response research support to time-pressured development practitioners and decision-makers, this work included co-authoring a Family Planning Guide for DFID. Catherine joined IDS in 2011, prior to this, she conducted research for and had management roles in several international development organisations, managed an NHS research department and monitored clinical trials. She has worked in international development for over a decade and has worked in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, Zambia, Cote D’Ivoire and South Africa.

Sara Van Belle

Sara Van Belle has been active in SRHR policy, advocacy and programme implementation for 20 years, working at the European Parliament, UNFPA, Marie Stopes International and the Belgian bilateral aid agency. She is a political scientist and anthropologist with a PhD in public health from LSHTM. Sara has field experience in 12 African countries; she lived in Senegal. Currently she is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium, and a honorary assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, focusing on accountability in SRHR, governance of health systems, policy implementation and realist evaluation methodology. She is a member of the WHO RHR COP on social accountability in sexual and reproductive health and a steering committee member of the Health System Governance Collaborative.

Beatriz Manuel Chongo

Beatriz Manuel Chongo is a PhD student at Ghent University in Belgium, a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. The aim of my doctoral research is to identify ways to improve curricula on interpersonal violence (IPV) curriculum-content in order to enhance prevention and medical care in Mozambique. I take a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses the fields of Medical Education, Family and Community Health, Public Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, HIV/AIDS, Gender matters, Research Methods, and Evidence Summaries and Evidence Informed Healthcare. I hold a master’s degree in Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands that investigated the strategies of human resources training approach to People Living with HIV. I am a committed senior lecturer with over 10 years of experience at Mozambique´s leading academic institutions, teaching students and mentoring junior researchers from various social and cultural backgrounds. I also possess skills on curriculum development, review and implementation. I am currently working on training, research and prevention of interpersonal violence.

Nina Sommerland

Nina Sommerland is doing a PhD about HIV stigma in South Africa and has also contributed to publications on risky sexual behaviour and abortion in Belgium.

Christiane Erkens

Christiane Erkens is a Scientific Officer for national and international cooperation, research and training in the field of sexual and reproductive health with a focus on sexualised violence prevention at the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Germany. Before joining BZgA she worked in international development cooperation, implementing projects on SGBV and youth violence prevention for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Kenya and South Africa. Her academic background is in Psychology (Maastricht University) as well as Peace- and Conflict Studies (Philipps-Universität Marburg).

Laura Brockschmidt

Laura Brockschmidt directs the activities of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health at the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Germany. The focus of her work lies on the promotion of comprehensive sexuality education for children and young people in countries across Europe and Central Asia. Her academic background is in International Health (MMS) and Science Journalism (BA).

Eva Lievens

Prof. dr. Eva Lievens is an Assistant Professor of Law & Technology at Ghent University and a member of the Human Rights Centre, the Crime, Criminology & Criminal Policy Consortium and PIXLES. A recurrent focus in her research relates to the legal impact of the design and deployment of technology in today’s society and human and children’s rights in the digital environment, including rights related to privacy, identity and sexuality. At Ghent University, Eva teaches ‘European Media Law’, ‘European Law & ICT’, ‘Cybercrime, Technology & Surveillance’, and ‘Data Protection Law’.

Argyro Chatzinikolaou

Argyro Chatzinikolaou is a doctoral researcher in the research group Law & Technology at Ghent University. She is working on the research project ‘Minors and online sexual acts: a study of legal qualifications and regulatory approaches from a children’s rights perspective’ (FWO). Argyro is a member of the Human Rights Centre, PIXLES (Privacy, Information Exchange, Law Enforcement and Surveillance) and the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). In addition, she is a regular contributor to the Strasbourg Observers blog.

Alban Ylli

Dr. Alban Ylli is a experienced health professional of research methods and health prevention strategies. He has studied medicine in Tirana, has achieved a master in Epidemiology of Health Services by Tor Vergata University in Rome and has studied for two years prevention of diseases in Geneva and Oxford Universities. He has a PhD degree and the title of Associate Professor by Tirana University of Medicine.
Dr. Ylli has been deputy director and later executive director of Institute of Public Health. Currently heads the department of Public Health performance and NCDs at Institute of Public Health and teaches health policies, strategic management and chronic diseases epidemiology at Faculty of Medicine in Tirana. His experience encompasses research and policy recommendations on issues such as cancer control, reproductive health, and mental health. Dr. Ylli has been involved at leading positions for three country reproductive/demographic and health surveys. He has also contributed in development of national programs for control of cervical cancer and breast cancer as well as reproductive health national plan of action.

Gentiana Qirjako

Dr. Gentiana Qirjako is a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine, Tirana and Head of Health Promotion Department in the Institute of Public Health.
She has extensive experience in Public Health research, leading as Principle Investigator several important studies conducted in Albania in the fields of sexual and reproductive health, violence, child health, mental health, as well as experience in strengthening capacities of health care professionals, and in reaching out vulnerable and marginalized groups in the society.
Dr. Gentiana, since 2017, is serving as WHO collaborator in Albania for Violence and Injury Prevention issues. She is involved in many scientific events organized by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA.
Since 2017, Gentiana is the National Coordinator of the EU-Project ImpleMentAll - Towards evidence based tailored implementation strategy for eHealth.

Grigoryan Vruyr

Dr. Vruyr Grigoryan Is executive Director of the Armenian Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The AAOG Authored 29 National Guidelines on SRH. Besides this Dr. Vruyr is since 2006 Chair of Obstetrics (Perinatology), Gynecology and Reproductive Health and Associate professor at Yerevan State Medical University Department. At the Republican Institute Of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, Obstetrics & Gynecology Dr. Vruyr is Head of delivery room and since 2017 Deputy Director.

Sally Griffin

Sally Griffin has over 20 years of experience working on reproductive and sexual health programmes in Southern Africa, particularly Mozambique and Angola. Her expertise includes family planning, safe abortion, and adolescent health, and she has worked on many qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research projects in these and other areas. She has an MSc in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She is currently the Director of the International Centre for Reproductive Health Mozambique (ICRH-M), a research organization working to strengthen evidence-based implementation of reproductive and sexual health programmes in Mozambique, and is a member of the Marie Stopes International ethical review committee.

Griffins Manguro

Dr. Griffins Manguro is a medical doctor with an MPH in Global Health and over ten years’ experience in clinical practice, research and public health. Over these ten years, Dr. Manguro’s role expanded to include technical support for intervention programs, integrating implementation research into programs, and in organizational management. Dr. Manguro’s focus is on sexual and reproductive health among women, specifically HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, sexual and gender-based violence, family planning and cervical cancer as evidenced by some of his publications. Dr. Manguro has been actively involved in over 12 research studies of various designs including NIH-funded, monitored randomized clinical trials on FDA-approved investigative new drug. Dr. Manguro has over 12 research publications in peer reviewed journals and is currently a principal investigator in three ongoing studies.

Jamila Kurbanova

Professor Kurbanova J.F. was born in 1972 in Baku. She graduated from Azerbaijan Medical University in 1995. After postgraduated studies in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Azerbaijan Medical University, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Moscow Medical Academy she got PhD and MD degrees. In 2004-2013 years she worked as co-director of Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and from 2013 till present time professor Kurbanova J.F. is the director of the same institute. At the same time she is the president of Azerbaijan Association “Support to the development of gynecology and perinatology”.

Khatuna Todadze

Professor Khatuna Todadze is Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and the Head of Department of Narcology of Tbilisi State Medical University. She also works as Deputy Director General of the Center for Mental health and Prevention of Addiction. After graduation from Tbilisi State Medical University in 1989 she was awarded MD degree in Psychiatry in 1991. In 1999 Dr. Todadze got degree of PhD in narcology (psychiatry). She was the founder of opioid substitution treatment (OST) in Georgia. From 2005 to 2017 she worked as a coordinator of Methadone Maintenance Program funded by GFATM in Georgia (the first MMT programs in the country). In 2008-2010 worked as a counselor for treatment and rehabilitation of SCAD program (UNDP). Since 2009 she has been a member of Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) to supervise programs of treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. She was coordinator or participant of several research programs in drug and alcohol abuse treatment-rehabilitation, harm reduction, epidemiology etc. She is the author/co-author of more than 50 publications including scientific articles, textbooks, guidelines, treatment protocols.Professor Khatuna Todadze is Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and the Head of Department of Narcology of Tbilisi State Medical University. She also works as Deputy Director General of the Center for Mental health and Prevention of Addiction. After graduation from Tbilisi State Medical University in 1989 she was awarded MD degree in Psychiatry in 1991. In 1999 Dr. Todadze got degree of PhD in narcology (psychiatry). She was the founder of opioid substitution treatment (OST) in Georgia. From 2005 to 2017 she worked as a coordinator of Methadone Maintenance Program funded by GFATM in Georgia (the first MMT programs in the country). In 2008-2010 worked as a counselor for treatment and rehabilitation of SCAD program (UNDP). Since 2009 she has been a member of Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) to supervise programs of treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. She was coordinator or participant of several research programs in drug and alcohol abuse treatment-rehabilitation, harm reduction, epidemiology etc. She is the author/co-author of more than 50 publications including scientific articles, textbooks, guidelines, treatment protocols.

Olga Cernetchi

Mrs. Olga Cernetchi – First Vice Rector of "Nicolae Testemitanu" State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, PhD in medicine, professor, specialist in obstetrics and gynecology (highest qualification category). She has a vast experience in management of academic issues: coordination of the activities of faculties and departments in order to ensure the teaching-didactic process; planning of the study process; development of the quality policy; assurance of the development, implementation and maintenance of QMS processes). Dr. Cernetchi was involved as an expert and researcher in many national and international projects focused on sexual and reproductive health, development and implementation of clinical gui-delines and protocols. She is the member of the National Commission for Population and Development (2004- present), member of the Methodological Committee of Obstetrics and Gynecology Profile of the Republic of Moldova (2004-present), member of the Scientific Seminar "321.15. Obstetrics and gynecology” (2015-present). She participated in a lot of relevant international trainings and conferences organized by WHO Regional Office for Europe, American International Health Alliance, etc.

Evelina Gherghelegiu

Evelina Gherghelegiu is Chief, Department International Relations and European Integration at "Nicolae Testemitanu" State University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Moldavia.

Anna Page

Anna holds an MSc in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam. As part of her studies, she Anna holds an MSc in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam. As part of her studies, she undertook participatory research exploring the impact of a sexual and reproductive health programme on young people’s social exclusion in rural Kenya. Anna has previously worked in a range of research and advocacy roles for non-profit organisations and the government in the Netherlands, the UK and Mali, including work on youth participation, gender, homelessness, mental health and criminal justice. Anna is a researcher for Rutgers and the deputy project lead for Explore4Action. She provides support to the GEAS in Indonesia and technical support on qualitative research and meaningful youth participation for the other E4A research tracks.

Marina Todesco

Marina Todesco is today the Research Specialist at Dance4Life and a PhD Candidate at the Department of Applied Social Psychology of the University of Maastricht. She has an MPH from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and background in management, research and monitoring & evaluation of CSE and SRHR programmes. In the past she worked for UNESCO and took part in the development of the 2018 version of the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. She has previous experience with Asante Africa Foundation in the United States, with International Rescue Committee in DRC and with the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation in Morocco.

Anna Dahlman

Anna Dahlman is Global Business Development Manager at Dance4life in The Netherlands.

Genc Burazeri

Prof. Genc Burazeri is Deputy Director Institute of Public Health Albania. Graduated as a General Practitioner (1993) from the Faculty of Medicine, Tirana, Albania and received an MPH degree (2000) and subsequently a Ph.D. degree (2007) from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. In 2010, Prof. Burazeri is awarded the academic title “professor” from Tirana University, Albania. Since 1998, he is Lecturer of Epidemiology and Research Methods at Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Tirana. Also, since 2011, is he Deputy Director of the national Institute of Public Health in Albania.
During 2007-2008, he is appointed as Visiting Lecturer at Department of Global Health, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. In 2009-2010, Assistant Professor at Department of International Health, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. From 2011-ongoing, Visiting Lecturer at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Main expertise in Epidemiology and Quantitative Research Methodology. Prof. Burazeri is involved in several research projects and published many original research articles in international scientific journals.

Johanna Marquardt

Johanna Marquardt is a sociologist and holds the managing position of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health for Europe and Central Asia at the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Germany.
She works in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights since
2011 - e.g. for the Austrian Family Planning Association coordination an UNFPA project and the Museum of contraception and abortion based in Vienna.

Amanda Cleeve

Amanda Cleeve is a midwife from Sweden with a master´s degree in Global Health and a PhD in Global Reproductive Health from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. She is currently working as a postdoc at the Department of Women´s and Chilren´s Health at Karolinska Institutet. In addition, Amanda has worked as a consultant at the WHO, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research since 2016, working with abortion-related research. Amanda has clinical experience working as a midwife from the labour ward and from emergency gynaecology and abortion. She currently works part-time as a midwife within emergency gynaecology and abortion care at the South General Hospital in Stockholm. During her midwifery studies she also did 2 months of clinical work at the labour and postnatal ward at Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. Current research projects include studies surrounding contraceptive use among adolescent refugees in northern Uganda, post abortion contraceptive use in central Uganda, self-managed abortions in Latin America, and postpartum contraceptive use in refugee settings.

Mats Målqvist

Mats Målqvist is currently Professor of Global Health at Uppsala University, Sweden. His research interests are primarily within health equity and implementation science, with a special focus on maternal and child health and health systems strengthening. He currently leads and supervises research projects focusing on SRHR in Tanzania, eSwatini and Sweden.
From September 2013 to May 2016 Mats Målqvist lived and worked in eSwatini (Swaziland). As the Executive Director he set up and developed a local community-based organization working with peer support for improved maternal and child health, Siphilile Maternal and Child Health. Gender-based violence and reproductive rights were prime concern in this work. During this time, he was also part of forming the ‘Network on Gender, Health and Religion’, focusing on SRHR within the African context, and was an advisor for a multi-institutional Master’s Programme on the same topic.

Lucia Knight

Lucia Knight is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Division of Social and Behavioural Sciences in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She has training in social anthropology, family demography and population studies with a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her current research focuses on the development of social and behavioural interventions to improve access to HIV treatment and care and ART adherence. She is also conducting research on the quality of maternal health care and is exploring new areas of research in sexual and reproductive health. She has extensive teaching and supervision experience and convenes the Social and Behavioural Sciences track of the Masters in Public Health, including the teaching of qualitative research methods.

Tammary Esho

Prof. Tammary Esho has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences and MSc in Human Sexuality studies from the University of Leuven, Belgium. She is the current Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic and Student Affairs at the Amref International University, Nairobi, Kenya. She is a global leader in public health, sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR), research, programming, policy and advocacy, capacity building, and resource mobilization to promote women’s and girl’s education, sexual and reproductive health and gender equality through programmes to end sexual and gender-based violence, child early and forced marriage among other harmful practices. Her expanding focus in the area of the impacts of humanitarian emergencies and climate change on women and girl’s health as it worsens their existing vulnerabilities. Her research in SRHR has contributed immensely to global policy guidelines by WHO and UNFPA. She is a Secretary General and member of the Africa Society for Sexual Medicine and technical reviewer and editor with the International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Joyce Omwoha

Dr. Joyce Omwoha is a lecturer and head of department of journalism and media studies at the technical university of kenya. She holds a phd in media studies from the university of the witwatersrand, south africa. Her research interests includes: media, citizenship and identity, gender studies, health communication and the analysis of the social media culture in kenya. She has published journal articles and book chapters in these areas. Her current research focuses on social media as an alternative to the traditional street activism; and urban spaces and social media; how enhancing national capacity can/is likely to handle democratic change.

Thorsten Bonacker

Prof. Thorsten Bonacker is Professor for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Marburg, Germany. His research focusses on three subjects: (a) the role of victims in judicial and societal approaches of dealing with mass violence, (b) the diffusion and localization of global institutions in the field of reproductive health and sexual rights, and (c) on politics of (de)securitization in international statebuilding. In his research he is referring to constructivist approaches in conflict and security research as well as to qualitative and comparative methods. Since 2015 he conducts research on social conflicts that occur in the context of processes of localization of global standards on reproductive and sexual rights, in particular through sex education.

Alina de Luna Aldape

Alina de Luna is a researcher working on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at the Center for Conflict Studies at the University of Marburg. She has worked with both NGOs and IOs, starting out as a social and political researcher at Ollin, Jóvenes en Movimiento, A.C. in Mexico City. Shortly after taking up this role, she became the International Liaison Officer and Project Manager. In this capacity she monitored the planning and implementation of projects aimed to promote the involvement of Mexican and international youth in society, focusing on SRHR, education and migration. She continued her social engagement in an honorary capacity for Lensational, where she developed the International Volunteer Coordination. As part of her academic program, Alina completed an internship at Casa Refugiados A.C. in Mexico City, a NGOs working in the field of migration. Alina has a B.A. in International Relations from the Universidad del Valle de Mexico, where she focused on migration and International Organizations, and a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Freiburg in Germany and the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Currently, Alina is a doctoral student at the University of Marburg with a research focus on SRHR and migration in Kenya.

Sara Kolah Ghoutschi

Sara Kolah Ghoutschi is a research fellow and doctoral candidate at the Center for Conflict Studies at the University of Marburg. Her research interests are norm localization within the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Currently she works in the project “Translating Sexuality” which investigates how international approaches for Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) are localized and translated in national, but above all in local and especially in school contexts of non-Western
societies with Ethiopia as her case study. This complements with her former Public Relations/Advocacy work for migrant women/female refugees who experienced violence, e.g. female genital mutilation (at the NGO FIM – Frauenrecht ist Menschenrecht e.V. in Frankfurt, 2015-2018). Furthermore, she is interested in global/public health issues and has been actively involved in global health with, for instance, her participation in the Global Health Summer School 2014 in Berlin (see below). For her master thesis she researched on health communication structures/health related behavior of sex workers in Germany.

Samuel Kimani

Samuel Kimani is a health expert, researcher, and a Senior Lecturer at the School of Nursing Sciences and Africa Centre for abandonment of female genital mutilation/cutting (ACCAF), University of Nairobi. He has over 10 years’ experience in nursing, biomedical research and global health issues in development context with strong team work capabilities, capacity building, mentorship and expertise in multi-disciplinary research. As a research Associate at ACCAF he has been working on harmful practices and gender-related contemporary issues in development context. He is a registered and licensed member of the Nursing Council of Kenya, professional association and learned associations. He has mentored and supported junior researchers, Masters and PhD students. He has offers strategic leadership for the University department in capacity building, research, and mentorship to students and young researchers. His current research interests include: Global health issues; Maternal Child Health; Gender based violence including harmful practices and their impacts on health; Research and capacity building in global health issues; He has published widely and presented in national and international meetings.

Nafissa Osman

Prof. Dr. Nafissa Osman has a medical-doctor degree at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo-Mozambique in 1980, with specialization in Obstetrics and Gynecology, in Maputo in 1991, Licentiat examen, Uppsala University, Sweden in 1994 and PhD in International Health in the field of Obstetrics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm-Sweden in 2000. Since 1991 she is consultant Obstetrician-Gynecologist in Maputo Central Hospital and since 1988 and from 2007, Nafissa Osman is Associate Professor and Head of the academic department of Obstetrics/Gynecology Medical Faculty, Eduardo Mondlane University.and since 2009 is Coordinator and lecturer of the Reproductive Health module of the Master of Public Health course at Medical Faculty of UEM. Her PhD thesis was: The impact of maternal morbidity on fetal growth and pregnancy outcome in Mozambique, and has been involved in research activity with around 40 publications in peer reviewed journals. She has been supervising master and PhD students and has participated in examination board of master and PhD students at UEM and different international universities. From 2008-2018 she was Coordinator of a research training Program on Reproductive health and HIV at Eduardo Mondlane university in collaboration with Flemish universities financed by VLIR/UOS. Trough this colaborations, was actively involved in the establishment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Unit in UEM Medical Faculty, and has been part of ANSER Network.

Corina Iliadi-Tulbure

Corina Iliadi-Tulbure is PhD, Associate professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nicolae Testemitanu SUMPh. She works on the research Cooperation Section within the Research Department, National Institute of Research in Medicine and Health, Nicolae Testemitanu SUMPh
Prof. Corina Iliadi-Tulbure is Secretary in the Scientific Seminar in Obstetrics and Gynecology "321.15. Obstetrics and gynecology”, Nicolae Testemitanu SUMPh
She is also the person responsible for the research activity within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nicolae Testemitanu SUMPh and consultant in the Paediatric Gynecology ward at the Institute of Mother and Child Third level Perinatal Center.
Besides that she is Obstetrician in Obstetrical and Gynecological Resuscitation ward in the Institute of Mother and Child Third level Perinatal Center, also Member of the Commission for the State Exam, Nicolae Testemitanu SUMPh

Kun Tang

Prof. dr. Kun Tang is Associate Professor (January 2019 to date), Tsinghua University Vanke School of Public Health in China. From October 2014 to December he was also Lecturer at the Department of Global Health, Peking University School of Public Health (China)

Simukai Shamu

Dr Simukai Shamu, (PhD) is a Senior Epidemiologist/Senior Researcher at the Foundation for Professional Development’s Research Unit. In this capacity, he has developed a portfolio of research activities focused on 1) conducting health surveys in gender and gender based violence, HIV prevention and mental health issues among women and adolescents, 2) developing and evaluating interventions among women, children and other vulnerable populations and 3) conducting epidemiological studies on communicable diseases. He is currently a Co-Investigator for a randomised controlled trial on Youth HIV prevention and economic strengthening in South Africa in collaboration with FHI360 in North Carolina. Previously, Dr Shamu was a Senior Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council where he managed projects a and trials on primary prevention of intimate partner violence and HIV among adolescents in schools. Dr Shamu also worked with the International Centre for Reproductive Health in Belgium on reproductive health projects and the University of the Western Cape’s School of Public Health conducting research on GBV, HIV and health systems. Apart from Dr Shamu’s qualifications in Epidemiology and Public Health, his sociological and anthropological background offers him a comparative advantage in navigating and working with diverse populations internationally as well as diplomatically working with governments. Simukai Shamu obtained a PhD from Ghent University, Belgium.

Oluwaseyi Somefun

Oluwaseyi Somefun is a youth researcher whose primary goal is to generate scholarship that supports the holistic wellbeing of youth who experience cumulative and convergent risks to healthy development. Specifically, her interest has focused on what can be learned from considering how, especially prior to intervention, youth manoeuvre risk in everyday life. Her research, which targets the identification of risk and promotion of healthy development among marginalized youth, is a critical step towards alleviating health disparities and socially constructed barriers to positive youth development. This research is grounded in her practical experience and interdisciplinary training in public health, sociology, demography, and social methods, and combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. She plays an ongoing active role in several interdisciplinary research projects. The majority of these have been published in high ranking international and national accredited journals. Recently, she has also focused on the acceptability and cost-effectiveness of adolescent interventions, made new commitments to interdisciplinary dialogue in the study of family demography and adolescent wellbeing, and written on the role of mentoring schemes in developing research capacity and career progression for junior scholars.

James Munyao Kingoo

James Munyao Kingoo is a Lecturer at the School of Life and Biological Sciences, The Technical University of Kenya. He has experience and interest in HIV/AIDS and related infections, Cervical Cancer, Safe and Legal Abortion, Female Genital Mutilation, Sexual Gender Based Violence and Adolescent Sexually Transmitted Infections’ research. He has previously managed several laboratories and field based clinical trials and research studies in the above areas. I am a firm believer that research is the most sustainable influencer of SRHR policy.

Aline Semaan

Aline Semaan is a maternal and newborn health researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp – Belgium. Her research is focused on maternal and newborn health in low- and middle-income countries, and involves applications of mixed methods. She is completing her PhD on coverage, content and quality of postnatal care in Tanzania and Guinea. She holds a Master of Public Health from the American University of Beirut.

Anteneh Asefa

Anteneh Asefa is a postdoctoral health system researcher with a focus on understanding health system and policy bottlenecks and testing innovative interventions to improve maternal, sexual, and reproductive health in low-resource settings. He is also a teaching expert in Maternal, Sexual, and Reproductive Health; Prioritising and Planning in Public Health; Global Health Security and Sustainability; Epidemiology; and Evidence-Based Practice. Anteneh holds an MPH (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia) and a PhD in Global Health (University of Melbourne, Australia). His PhD investigated health system constraints to the promotion of respectful maternity care in Ethiopian hospitals and mitigation approaches using the complex adaptive systems theoretical framework. Anteneh was a fellow of The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders; The Maternal Health Young Champions; The Policy Communication Fellows; and The New Voices in Global Health.

Aliki Christou

Aliki Christou is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Tropical Medicine working on maternal, perinatal, and newborn health with a focus on preventing stillbirths and other adverse pregnancy outcomes in low-resource settings. Her research centres on strengthening data on these outcomes at health facilities to understand why these deaths occur, which can then better inform strategies for prevention and improve quality of care. She applies both quantitative and qualitative methods in her research and is especially interested in strengthening health systems and improving quality of care in maternal, perinatal and newborn health in low- and middle-income countries. Aliki has a PhD in Public Health from the University of Sydney, Australia and also holds a Master of International Health (Curtin University, Perth) and Bachelor of Science (University of Western Australia). Her PhD research investigated the availability and quality of data on stillbirth risk factors from household surveys and understanding the contextual factors influencing the reporting of stillbirths focusing on Afghanistan. Aliki has experience working in maternal and newborn health programming and evaluation and previously worked at the icddr,b in Bangladesh.

Petra Foubert

Petra Foubert obtained her PhD from KU Leuven in 2001 on the topic of ‘The legal protection of the pregnant worker’. She compared the legal systems of the EU and the USA, spending a year at Harvard Law School, where she obtained her LLM in 1999. She is currently a Professor at UHasselt’s School of Law, teaching ‘Principles of Law’. Her research focuses on (European) social law, equality and anti-discrimination law. Since 1999 she has been combining her academic activities with working as a legal practitioner at the Brussels and, later, Leuven Bars. In 2021, she became the Dean of UHasselt's School of Law.

Esraa Kamal Ali

Israa Kamal Ali Elhassan is a Bachelor of Pharmacy (2010) & Masters of Public Health/Reproductive Health Track, Ahfad University for Women (2015). She is Project Coordinator, Gender and Reproductive Health Rights Resource and Advocacy Center (GRACe) (2017) she assisted in the development of the projects’ annual work plan including the project budget, all formats and contracts related to the implementation of the projects and coordination and implementation of the project’s activities. She also provides technical assistance to the projects’ partners. Research Coordinator, GRACe, (2018) and works in development of research proposals, assist in the development of research studies budget, coordinates the field work, participates in data collection, data analysis and in report writing and development of publications. Trained in Advanced Qualitative Research; Social Norm Change; Results based Management; Proposal Writing and Policy Communication.

Susan Dierickx

Since August 2020, Prof. Dr. Susan Dierickx is coordinator of RHEA. Besides that, Susan is also a research professor at the VUB, where she teaches several courses on gender, sexuality and development and gives workshops on qualitative and mixed-method research within public health in Europe, Sub-Sahara Africa and South-East Asia. Susan is an accomplished social science researcher with extensive interdisciplinary research expertise in low- and middle-income countries. Susan completed her joint-PhD in Gender and Diversity at the VUB and Ghent University (2015-2020). As part of her doctoral research, she designed and implemented an interdisciplinary research project on infertility in The Gambia and Senegal. From 2013 to 2015, she worked as a social scientist at the Medical Anthropology Unit at the Institute of Tropical medicine. She holds a bachelor in Sociology (Ghent University), a master in social and cultural anthropology with a specialization in African studies (University of Leuven) and an advanced master in development studies (Ghent University).

Gily Coene

Gily Coene is Director of Rhea and a co-founder and VUB-program-director of the Interuniversity Master in Gender and Diversity. She obtained her PhD in Moral Sciences at Ghent University in 2004 and thereafter obtained a post-doctoral Marie Curie fellowship at the University of Warwick. Since 2006, she was appointed as the Chair of Humanist Studies at the Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences of VUB. Her teaching assignments include Introduction to Feminist Thought, Introduction to Women and Gender Studies, Philosophy and Ethics of Sex, Introduction to the Moral Sciences and Humanist Studies. Next to Rhea, she is affiliated with the Centre of Ethics and Humanism at the VUB. Her research is mainly located at the intersections of descriptive and normative ethics, feminist theory and gender studies and covers a wide range of issues related to gender, cultural diversity and ethnicity globalization, irregular migration and human rights , secularism, humanism and spirituality, sexual and reproductive rights and development.

Jennifer Githaiga

Jennifer Githaiga is a lecturer in DSBS and manages the ‘Building Research in Inter-Disciplinary Gender and HIV through the Social Sciences’ [BRIDGES] Program housed in the Division. She holds a PhD in Research Psychology from UCT, an MA in Counselling Psychology from the United States International University – Africa, and an MA in Communication from Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya. Her research interests include women’s health research with a focus on psychosocial dynamics and constructions of
chronic illness experiences in resource-limited contexts, and the impact on women’s wellbeing; cancer and the ethics of care, with a special interest in cervical cancer prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa; critical qualitative research approaches and adapting qualitative methods for contextual relevance.

Aurélie Cassiers

Aurélie Cassiers is Teaching assistant and PhD student in family law and matrimonial law at Hasselt University.
She obtained her bachelor's degree in law at the UNamur in 2015 (with an Erasmus Belgica at Antwerp University) and her master degree in law at the KU Leuven in 2017 (with an exchange at Stellenbosch University). She started a PhD in 2017 at Hasselt University. In 2020 Aurélie Cassiers received a certificate in Ethics of health care (UNamur). Her doctoral research is going about the question: "towards a right to a perfect child?". I analyze some ethical and legal principles to determine if parents (should) have the right to choose their future child's genetic characteristics. Therefore after a chapter about the bioethics literature, she studies the European, international and Belgian legislation and case-law regarding different aspects of the interests of the parents, of the child and of the society. She addresses topics like abortion, medically assisted procreation, donors' selection, prenatal tests, preimplantation genetic diagnostic, cloning, Crisper-Cas9, etc.

Nafisa M. Bedri

Prof. Bedri is a Professor of Reproductive Health, Ahfad University for Women Khartoum, Sudan. She is an experienced professor, researcher and regional trainer in the field of gender, reproductive health, management, and policy analysis skills, has written and developed several publications and training materials in these fields. Carried out several researches at national and regional levels in the area of gender and women, reproductive and child‘s health for different bodies and collaborated with institutions at regional and international levels. An activist in the area of women's reproductive and sexual rights, maternal and child health, violence against women, girl child marriage, female genital mutilation and HIV/AIDS. A regional consultant in FGM/C, gender based violence, gender and HIV/AIDS, integration of gender and rights in reproductive health systems and in gender analysis of health services and training. She is currently Manager of Gender and Reproductive Health & Rights Resource Centre (GRACe).

Richelle Björvang

Dr Richelle Duque Björvang’s research interests are in the fields of sexual, reproductive and perinatal health. She is currently a post doc at Uppsala University, studying perinatal mental health. She had her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines (2012) and finished her PhD at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology at Karolinska Institutet (2021). Her PhD studies involved female reproductive health and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Karin Båge

Karin Båge is an educational developer and a doctoral student at the department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet and an independent consultant in SRHR policy. For the past 15 years she has worked in civil society and academia with training and advocacy for human rights related to SRHR, migration, peace, health, and gender equality both globally and locally in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Laos, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Western Balkans. Her doctoral project is based on a partnership with the World Values Survey (WVS), for which she developed a battery of questions on attitudes and social norms related to gender equality and SRHR. It was added to the core questionnaire of the most recent wave of WVS which was carried out in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sweden and Zimbabwe 2017-2021. She has an MA in Visual and Media Anthropology from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany and a BA in Social Anthropology and International Relations at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

Signe Svallfors

Dr. Signe Svallfors is a postdoctoral researcher focused on global sexual and reproductive health at the Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institute. Signe's research is focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) including family planning, access to health care, gender norms, and gender-based violence. She is particularly interested in how these matters are shaped by the social context in which individuals live, primarily in terms of armed conflict and other crises. Her doctoral dissertation in sociological demography (Stockholm University, '21) explored the impact of conflict on SRHR in Colombia based on individual-level surveys, geocoded data on organized violence, and original interviews with Colombian experts in SRHR and peacebuilding.

Mariano Salazar

Mariano is a mixed-methods researcher with a sound methodological and theoretical background on gender and health. He is a medical doctor , with a master in science with mention in epidemiology and a Ph.D. in public health (Umeå University Sweden, 2011). As a part of multidisciplinary research teams, he has been conducting quantitative and qualitative research for the last 15 years in low-, middle- and high-income settings (Nicaragua, Ecuador, India and Sweden). Currently, he is part of the Global and Sexual Health research group at GPH, KI ( https://ki.se/en/gph/global-and-sexual-health-glosh).
The initial focus of his research has been studies on the relationship between gender, violence against women and women´s and their children´s health. As the career progressed, Mariano collaborated with other researchers to study emergent social issues such as early teenage pregnancies, children´s resilience, and gendered constructions of stigma and discrimination to people living with HIV, Ebola related health seeking behavior among others. Currently, his research focuses on the intersection between masculinities, femininities, violence against women (VAW) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) among young people and migrant populations.

Jia Ji Hee

Jia Yi Hee is a Singapore citizen currently pursuing a PhD at the School of Public Health, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. She is a ASEAN-China Young Leader Scholar carrying out her doctoral studies under Prof. Tang Kun, a keen researcher and huge advocate of sexual and reproductive health both nationally and internationally. Mrs. Yi previously completed a Bachelor of Science with a dual major in Food Science and Nutrition, as well as a Master of Clinical Epidemiology, both from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Malachi Ochieng Arunda

Malachi Arunda is a postdoctoral researcher, course coordinator at the department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institute. Currently he also works as a co-lecturer in epidemiology and applied research methods at Lund University, Sweden. Previous he worked with World Health Organization-HQ, UNICEF Sweden and Swedish Red Cross among others. His doctoral project completed at Lund University in 2021 utilized nationally representative data to examine determinants of maternal care utilization, effectiveness of care and risk factors for neonatal mortality in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Malachi also holds BSc in Biology and an MPH degree from Lund University and has expertise in SRHR, mental health and emergency care training.

Hannah Zagel

Hannah Zagel is a senior researcher in sociology and Head of the Research Group Varieties of Reproduction Regimes: Institutions, Norms and Social Inequalities at WZB Berlin Social Science Center in Berlin, Germany. She was previously an interim professor at Humboldt-University of Berlin and a guest professor at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research looks at associations between family and reproductive processes with social inequalities in different policy contexts. In the research group at WZB, Hannah and her team analyze the international landscape of reproduction policies in five fields of regulation: sexuality education, contraception, abortion, medically assisted reproduction and pregnancy care. A particular focus is on the links between policies and stratified reproduction on the one hand and policies and attitudes towards family, gender and sexuality on the other hand. Hannah has published in international peer reviewed journals including Social Politics, the Journal or European Social Policy and Social Forces.

Wegelin Milena

Milena Wegelin is a Socio-anthropologist with a broad experience in women's health and women's rights after forced migration. Working for many years for Swiss NGOs. Lived in Syria for two years. Speaking Arabic fluently. Presently working as a scientific collaborator in the department for health professions in the field of midwifery. Project leader of a presently running research project on sexual and reproductive health of refugee women in Switzerland related to their needs in family planning and access to contraception. Lecturer in different midwifery moduls on the topic of migration, reproductive justice, women's rights.

Häfliger Anina

Anina Häfliger is a registered midwife and socio-anthropoligist with a Master degree in Gender studies also. Worked as midwife in the clinical setting and since 2017 working a scientific collaborator/lecturer in midwifery Bachelor's program at Bern University of Applied Sciences. Committed to feminist theory and having a broad knowledge on women's health after forced migration. Accomplished CAS in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Patrick Okwara

Mr Patrick Okwarah is a Doctor of Philosophy (Epidemiology) Candidate at Jomo-Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology, Kenya. He is a mixed-methods research specialist with over ten years of experience in social, public health, and epidemiological research. He has specific research interests in most at-risk populations, particularly women who inject drugs where he is keen on understanding the syndemic relationship between Intimate Partner Violence, HIV transmission risk and human rights violations. He is passionate about public health research and its translation and intersection with evidence-based programming, policy and advocacy, to promote safer communities and the rights of women and most at-risk populations. His quest in promoting the rights of vulnerable groups has seen him travel to different countries including but not limited to Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates. Currently, Patrick is a Research Officer at Amref International University and head of the Secretariat at Amref Health Africa Research Community of Practice.

Maria Suzana Bata Maguele

Maria Suzana Bata Maguele is graduated in maternal health, Master in Maternal Health, and Neonatology and, PhD in Public Health. She is Researcher in maternal health, sexual and reproductive health, and gender-based violence.
She joined ICRH-M in 2022 as Research and Consulting Manager.
Before joining the ICRH-M, Maria Suzana worked in various positions at an academic institution, including teaching and research, having participated in designing and revisions of curricula for Graduate and Post graduate courses. She was a member of the Institutional Committee on Bioethics for Health, head of department of Research and Community Outreach, Deputy Scientific Director, Scientific Director, Vice President, of the Institutional Scientific Council. She has been at the forefront in establishing, conducting, and strengthening partnerships with national and international organizations, linking collaborating entities in teaching and research.
Actively participates in examiners boards of post graduate courses as well as in teaching modules and seminars on research methodologies.

Sara Scharmanski

Dr Sara Scharmanski is a scientific officer in the field of sexual and reproductive health with a focus on representative surveys, data collection and evidence-based policy at the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Germany. Her research focuses on adolescent and adult sexual and contraceptive behaviour and sexuality education. Her academic background is in psychology (University of Cologne) and clinical psychology (University Hospital of Cologne).

ALBANIA

Institute of Public Health - Website

University of Medicine of Albania

ARMENIA

Armenian Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

AUSTRALIA

Burnet Institute, Melbourne - Website

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan Association "Support to Development of Gynecology and Perinatology"

BELGIUM

Institute of tropical Medicine - Website

Ghent University - Website

Centre for Population, Family & Health – University of Antwerp - Website

Centre for Government and Law – Hasselt University - Website

Research Centre for gender, diversity and intersectionality, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Website

CHINA

Tsinghua University - Website

National Research Institute for Family Planning

Peking University - HeSAY Institute of Population Research - Website

ECUADOR

University of Cuenca - Website

ETHIOPIA

Jimma University - Website

GEORGIA

Tbilisi State Medical University - Website

GERMANY

Klinikum of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität - Website

Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) - Website

Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) - Website

Philipps-Universität Marburg - Center for Conflict Studies - Website

KENYA

Aga Khan University East-Africa - Website

AMREF International University - Website

University of Nairobi - Website

Technical University of Kenya - Website

International Centre for Reproductive Health Kenya - Website

LATVIA

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology- Riga Stradins University - Website

MOLDOVA

Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy - Website

MOZAMBIQUE

University Eduardo Mondlane - Website

International Centre for Reproductive Health Mozambique - Website

NETHERLANDS

Rutgers - Website

NORWAY

Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Norway - Website

PORTUGAL

Universidade NOVA de Lisboa - Website

SOUTH AFRICA

Foundation for Professional Development - Website

School of Public Health – University of the Western Cape - Website

Division of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health & Family Medicine - University of Cape Town - Website

SUDAN

Ahfad University for Women - Gender & Reproductive Health & Rights Resource & Advocacy Center - Website

SWEDEN

Karolinska Institutet - Website

Department of Women’s and Children’ Health - Uppsala University - Website

Switzerland

Bern University of Applied Sciences - Website

United Kingdom

Coventry University - Website

United States of America

Johns Hopkins University - Website

UGANDA

Mbarara University of Science and Technology - Website

Annette Aronsson