The IDEAS team is led by Dr Tanya Marchant and Professor Joanna Schellenberg, and based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University College London and in Addis Ababa, Delhi, Lagos and Abuja.
Dr Tanya Marchant
IDEAS Principal Investigator and Associate Professor
Tanya is the Principal Investigator for the IDEAS project. She carries out implementation science to improve the effectiveness of programmes for maternal, newborn and child health, drawing on her training in demography and epidemiology. She lived and worked in sub-Saharan Africa for 15 years and is now based at the...
Professor Joanna Schellenberg
IDEAS Co-Principal Investigator and Professor
Joanna is the Co-Principal Investigator of the IDEAS project. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of public health interventions for newborn, infant, child, and maternal survival in low and middle income countries, including evaluation of equity as well as effectiveness.
Professor Elizabeth Allen
Professor in Medical Statistics
Elizabeth is a statistician specialising in the design and analysis of large impact evaluations. Elizabeth is an expert in both randomised and non-randomised designs and has a particular interest in complex interventions. Elizabeth provides statistical advice for the IDEAS project from survey design and analysis to...
Dr Bilal Avan
Associate Professor
Bilal is the IDEAS Data Informed Platform for Health and Community Based Newborn Care Evaluation Lead.
Dr Della Berhanu
Former IDEAS Ethiopia Country Coordinator and Research Fellow
As the IDEAS Ethiopian Country Coordinator, Della has been working closely with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and its partners. Dr Bilal Avan and Della lead the evaluation of the Ethiopian Government’s Community Based Newborn Care programme, which includes antibiotic treatment of newborns with suspected bacterial...
Antoinette Bhattacharya
Research Degree Student
Antoinette’s work on the IDEAS project focuses on strengthening the quality of routine maternal and neonatal health data in Gombe State, Nigeria. She has lived and worked in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa for 10+ years, overseeing initiatives to improve health service delivery for women and children.
Faran Dhaliwal
Trials Assistant
Faran works in the Clinical Trials Unit and is involved in the data management of a number of randomised controlled trials. For the IDEAS project Faran provides data management support for the Community Based Newborn Care Evaluation in Ethiopia and IDEAS work in Gombe State, Nigeria.
Mehret Dubale
Research Assistant
Mehret has been trained in public health for development and is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Within the IDEAS project, Mehret’s work focuses on the Data Informed Platform for Health (DIPH) project, which aims to promote the use of local data for decision-making, priority-setting and planning; and to provide the...
Josephine Exley
Research Fellow
Within the IDEAS project Josephine’s work focuses on Nigeria. She works on methodological work to improve measurement for maternal and newborn health; tracking progress in coverage to help stakeholders identify and focus on key objectives; supporting the use of evidence for decision making at multiple levels; and,...
Dr Meenakshi Gautham
IDEAS India Country Coordinator and Research Fellow
Meenakshi is the IDEAS India Country Coordinator.
Dr Zelee Hill
Senior Lecturer
Zelee’s research spans several areas of maternal, child and neonatal health including care seeking, micronutrient supplementation, adherence to anti-retroviral therapy, improving the performance of community health workers, and community newborn care. At its core her research has focused on interventions that can...
Jack Howlett
Project Coordinator
Jack is the Project Coordinator for the IDEAS project. He has a number of years of experience successfully supporting the delivery of projects within the international development sector. Jack provides project management, administrative and financial support to the IDEAS project.
Krystyna Makowiecka
Krystyna organises the bi-annual data-driven learning workshops in Gombe State, Nigeria and is looking at the programmatic effect of this work in the State Primary Health Care Development Agency and among the implementation projects that support its work. She has a professional background in education and 15 years’...
Abimbola Ayodele Olaniran
Research Fellow
Abimbola is based in Lagos, Nigeria working on understanding quality improvement in Lagos state. The two-year project is funded by the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation and seeks to understand a quality improvement programme of maternal and newborn health services in Lagos state health facilities. It entails...
Fanny Procureur
Research Fellow in social sciences (UCL)
Fanny has a background in Anthropology and has experience working on evaluations using qualitative methodologies. With a particular interest in implementation research, Fanny’s work has focused on varied research areas, including maternal health, drug use among minors and child protection in East and West Africa....
Matthew Quaife
Assistant Professor
Matthew is an Assistant Professor in Health Economics working with IDEAS in Ethiopia to explore the impact of a quality improvement intervention on health worker motivation. He holds a PhD in Health Economics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), which estimated the cost-effectiveness of...
Noreen Seyerl
IDEAS Communications Officer
Noreen is a development professional with experience working in global health communication. She takes care of communicating research results and findings to our audiences and keeping you updated with the latest news from IDEAS.
Dr Neil Spicer
Associate Professor
Neil Spicer is a Lecturer in Global Health Policy at the Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and has 15 years experience of qualitative health policy and systems research in the UK and low- and middle-income countries including India, Ethiopia, Nigeria,...
Dr Nasir Umar
IDEAS Nigeria Country Coordinator and Research Fellow
Suzanne Welsh
Project Manager
Suzanne has over 12 years experience managing international health projects in the UK, Australia, sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Pacific. On IDEAS, her major responsibilities are in the areas of project management, financial management, contracts, governance, relationship management, reporting, human resource...
Deepthi Wickremasinghe
Research Assistant
Deepthi specialises in qualitative research, systematic literature reviews, and information and knowledge management. For IDEAS, she is leading on some qualitative research to explore the scalability and sustainability of the Village Health Workers scheme in Gombe State, Nigeria. She also contributes to a broader...
Dr Barbara Willey
Assistant Professor in Epidemiology
Barbara is an epidemiologist with training in epidemiology during both her MSc and PhD. She works on impact evaluation of complex interventions to improve health service delivery, with a focus on maternal and newborn health. Within the IDEAS project Barbara’s work focuses on Nigeria and covers four main streams:...