Malaria Consortium is pleased to announce the appointment of six new members to the Board of Trustees. Joining us are Professor Fred Binka, Professor Brian Greenwood, Baroness Hayman, Dr Joanna Schellenberg, Dr Nermeen Varawalla and Kate Wallace.
Commenting on the new appointments, Chief Executive Charles Nelson said: “We are delighted to welcome our new trustees. Each new member brings a wealth of experience that will be extremely valuable to Malaria Consortium as we expand our operations in the prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other neglected tropical diseases, child health and nutrition.”
Professor Fred Binka
Professor Binka holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Basel. He is currently Professor of Epidemiology and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences Ho, Ghana. He previously served as Dean of the School of Public Health, University of Ghana and the Executive Director and Coordinator of the Secretariat at the INDEPTH Network. He was an Honorary Research Fellow in Epidemiology and Population Sciences at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 1994 to 1999 and a member of Ghana’s National Malaria Advisory Committee. Professor Binka has served on a number of international committees, including as Chairperson of the WHO Tropical Disease Research Task force on Research Capability Strengthening, member of the Board of Directors at the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) in Kenya, and was a founding member of the Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa (MARA) international network. He received the Rudolf Geigy Award for outstanding contributions to malaria control and health development in Africa in 2001 and the Ronald Ross medal from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2010 for his contributions to malaria research and control.
Professor Brian Greenwood
Professor Brian Greenwood is Manson Professor of Tropical Medicine at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) where he coordinates the Malaria Capacity Development Consortium (MCDC), which is supporting the post graduate training of African scientists in malaria research in five African universities. He also coordinates the African Meningococcal Carriage Consortium which is investing the impact of a new vaccine against epidemic meningitis in seven countries in the African meningitis belt. Before joining the staff of LSHTM Professor Greenwood worked for 30 years in West Africa, first in Nigeria where he helped to establish a new medical school at Ahamdu Bello University, Zaria in northern Nigeria and then for 15 years in The Gambia where he directed the Medical Research Council Laboratories. His main research interests are malaria, pneumonia and meningitis in African children.
Baroness Hayman
Baroness Hayman is a Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and is a participant of the Industry and Parliament Trust fellowship on the pharmaceutical industry. She was previously elected as MP for Welwyn and Hatfield in October 1974, founded Maternity Alliance and joined the Royal College of Gynaecologists Ethics Committee in 1980. Following numerous roles in the health care sector, she entered the House of Lords as a Life Peer in 1996, was made a Privy Counsellor in 2001 and was Chair of Cancer Research UK and the Human Tissue Authority. From 2006 to 2011 Baroness Hayman was elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, acting as an ambassador for the House at home and abroad. She has joined the Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee and was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empre (GBE) in the New Year Honours List 2012.
Dr Joanna Schellenberg
Dr Joanna Schellenberg is the Reader in Epidemiology and International Health at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and is the principal investigator of IDEAS: Informed Decisions for Actions to improve Maternal and Newborn Health, a five-year project aiming to improve the evidence base for maternal and newborn health programmes in North-Eastern Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uttar Pradesh, India. She collaborates with EQUIP, an intervention study on a quality management approach that links communities and health facilities through locally generated health data, involving Karolinska Institutet, Makerere University, Ifakara Health Institute and Evaplan. Dr Schellenberg is also the principal investigator on newborn survival in southern Tanzania through Saving Newborn Lives, the Laerdal Foundation and UNICEF. Her past positions have included co-principal investigator on an evaluation of the community effectiveness of intermittent preventative treatment in infants in southern Tanzania and Technical Advisor to WHO for the Multi-Country Evaluation of integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI).
Dr Nermeen Varawalla
Dr Nermeen Varawalla is currently Executive Vice President for Global Clinical Trials at Lambda Therapeutic Research, UK and is a recognised expert in pharmaceutical product and medical technology development. During her 10 years in the clinical trials industry, working at PRA International and ECCRO, she has participated in the execution of over 50 global clinical development programmes. Prior to this, Dr Nermeen worked at Accenture’s UK Life Science & Healthcare Strategy Consulting practice. She completed her undergraduate and specialist medical training at the University of Mumbai, before receiving a Rhodes Fellowship to the University of Oxford where she obtained a doctorate from the Institute of Molecular Medicine. She is a Member of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Kate Wallace
Kate Wallace is an independent communications consultant and has some 20 years of corporate financial communications experience spanning a variety of business sectors, government organisations and charities. She has worked on a wide range of complex and high-profile assignments for major national and international organisations, both as an external consultant (e.g for Brunswick) and member of an in-house team (e.g. for the Royal Mail Share Offer). Ms Wallace's responsibilities have involved giving advice at Chairman / CEO / Board level, and planning and managing communications and media relations for organisations including Camelot, Clintons, Sport England and TPG. She has shaped and delivered executive coaching and training programmes for consultancies, including RLM Finsbury, Powerscourt and Luther Pendragon, and companies including Taylor Wimpey. Ms Wallace has also developed a passion for advising national and international charities on their communications needs and has worked in this respect with Guy's and St Thomas' charity, World Horse Welfare and the Retired Greyhound Trust.
Find out more about our Board of Trustees here.