Our Team

Claire Heffernan is a veterinarian with training in the social sciences. She joined LIDC and RVC from the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol where as Head of Infection and Immunity she initiated the Risk and Resilience Hub which explores four inter-linked critical global challenges: climate change and health, antimicrobial resistance, sustainable food systems and disease emergence. Claire has extensive experience of inter-disciplinary research grounded in the challenges faced by poorer communities. For example, in 2000, she founded the Livestock Development Group (LDG) at the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading. This was in response to the need for a meta-disciplinary approach to the problems faced by the global poor.

Admitted to practice in Zambia, Kaumba worked in the legal industry from 2003. From his early experience in private practice, he has rapidly established himself as a corporate advisory and commercial litigation specialist. As a banking and financial services advisor, he has been an empaneled legal advisor to three of the four largest commercial banks in Zambia. His areas of practice extend to advising in international commercial law, Public Private Partnerships, Corporate Insolvency and business rescue, securitization, conveyancing and a broad range of issues, both contentious and non-contentious. He has worked with clients in the banking, finance, telecommunications, construction, manufacturing, tourism and non governmental sectors.

Kelsey Shanks is a Professor at Ulster University and the Global Challenges Research Fund Challenge Leader for Education Research within UK Research and Innovation. Her research agenda focuses on the relationship between education and conflict in divided societies, with an exploration of education’s links to post-conflict stabilisation and peace-building agendas. She has conducted extensive research in Iraq, along with work in Ukraine, Syria and Somalia. Kelsey currently holds an AHRC Network Plus Grant, in partnership with the University of Sussex, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan and the University of Cape Town, South Africa on the PEER Network (Political Economy of Education Network) project. Running until January 2024, the PEER Network aims to build capacity and enhance knowledge exchange in Central Asia and Southern Africa on political economy analysis of education systems in conflict affected contexts.

Kola Aina is an entrepreneur, technology operator and investor with vast experience working in Africa’s largest economic market. His sectors include venture capital, technology, media, agriculture, infrastructure, publishing and real estate as an angel investor while leading Ventures Platform. Venture Platform is a leading African ventures capital fund that provides founder friendly capital and support to early stage companies in a framework that is buoyed by corporate governance and hands-on support.

Maru Mormina joined the University of Oxford in 2018 as a Senior Researcher and Ethics Advisor. Her primary affiliation is with the Ethox Centre where she is developing a programme of research in global ethics. She also works with the University's Research Services where she is responsible for the development and leadership of a complementary programme of ethics advice to and support for University of Oxford researchers working in low and middle income settings.  

Nkanda Luo is the current Minister of Gender and Child Development. She has also served as Minister of Health, Minister of Transport and Communications, Minister of Local Government and Housing, and Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs. Nkanda is Professor of microbiology and immunology and has served as Head of Pathology and Microbiology at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia. As well as training in Microbiology and Immunology, she pursued studies in immunopathology of infectious diseases and epidemiology and medical statistics. Nkanda has carried out extensive research on HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases. She has been active in teaching of both undergraduate and postgraduate biomedical and nursing students.

Rayan Abdelmutaal is a leading expert in the management of humanitarian aid and advocacy driven partnerships, hailing from Sudan. She graduated from the Ahfad University for Women's School of Management with distinction.

Sam Kinyanjui is the Head of Training and Capacity Building at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme in Kenya and the Director for the Initiative to Develop African Research Leaders (IDeAL). As the Head of Training and Capacity Building at the KWTRP in Kenya he provides scientific, and strategic guidance for academic training towards research leadership. His key achievement has been the development and implementation of a comprehensive research career framework for attracting, training and retaining African research leaders. 

Sally Medley is an experienced Senior Programme Manager currently based in Cape Town, South Africa. Sally has worked with Lucie and her research teams since 2015 following the completion of her Masters in African Studies from the University of Oxford. Sally has the fortunate position of sitting at the centre of our North-South partnership having been based for a number of years between the Universities of Oxford and Cape Town. Prior to this Sally spent significant time living and working in the Eastern Cape of South Africa where she managed the delivery and implementation of both a randomised trial and a longitudinal study related to adolescent health and well-being. As the Hub’s Senior Programme Manager Sally manages the operationalisation of research through the Hub’s five Work Packages with a team of Work Package Coordinators, and in close collaboration with the Chief Financial Officer and Hub leadership team.

Kristen de Graaf is an experienced Programme Manager based in London, United Kingdom with expertise in HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights and advocacy. Kristen has worked advancing gender equality and human rights in the HIV response since 2015 following the completion of her Masters in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She has a professional background in clinical nursing across a variety of disciplines including paediatrics, sexual health and TB. As a Programme Manager, Kristen works closely with investigators, implementers and policy makers to lead research implementation and grant management for HEY BABY and Mzantsi Wakho.

Becky Maughan-Brown joined the Hub in 2019 and is currently the Operations Manager for the University of Cape Town (UCT) team and the portfolio of work at UCT under Dr Elona Toska. She holds master’s degrees in public health and social work, with a focus on maternal and child health policy. After spending four years leading the Department of Student Health Education at Yale University, Becky relocated to Cape Town and has spent the last decade working in health education, project coordination, and operations management.

Petra Fitzgerald has over 20 years of diverse experience in project coordination and administration, primarily in media, education, research, and non-profits. She oversees project administration to support the implementation of Accelerate Hub studies.

Akhona Mfeketo serves as Senior Finance Officer at UCT. She has a demonstrated history of supporting accounting activities in both private and public sector settings.

Nicole Chetty supports with monitoring and evaluation in the COVID-19 parenting work. Her specialist monitoring and evaluation support extends to the Hub’s LEGO-funded work in South Africa, evaluating ParentText, ParentChat, ParentApp and the hybrid delivery option as they are piloted.

Fiona Ondara serves as Administrative and Finance Assistant to the Accelerate Hub team. Fiona is based in Kenya and brings a wealth of experience in administration, business management, and marketing.

Abigail Ornellas is a social sciences researcher, with a doctorate in social work from Stellenbosch University. She has over seven years of research and project experience within the developmental sphere and academia; she has worked with groups such as DSD, Department of Education, UNICEF, Black Sash, FHI360, REPSSI, USAID, IRD and EPRI. Her research interests include mental health, socioeconomic policy, NGO management and bridging the divide between individual and collective development. Abigail joined ORSA as Study Manager for HEY BABY in February 2021.  

Anne Makena is the co-lead and Program Coordinator of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx), a vibrant platform for 'all things Africa' at the University of Oxford. AfOx facilitates equitable and sustainable research partnerships through researcher mobility schemes for African academics, high-quality research engagement meetings and financial, academic and mentorship support to African students and research staff at Oxford.  AfOx is delighted to work with the Accelerate Hub to support career development for the Hub's early career researchers. 
Anne completed the DPhil in Chemical Biology as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford with a research focus on biochemical characterisation and inhibition of bacterial enzymes involved in antimicrobial resistance. Beyond AfOx, Anne is actively involved in various initiatives with global research funders including contributing to the Africa Strategy for the UK Research and Innovation, participating in the Rethinking Research Partnerships Collaborative and supporting career development initiatives in partnership with the African Academy of Sciences.

Charné Glinski is a registered Clinical Psychologist and the clinical project manager for HEY BABY, supporting data collection with adolescent mothers and their children in the Eastern Cape. In 2020 she led a team of researchers conducting qualitative research with healthcare workers in the Eastern Cape regarding their experiences of providing care for adolescents living with HIV as part of the HEY BABY and Mzantsi Wakho research studies. She has experience working in several Western Cape government hospitals and clinics, working in departments including adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, substance abuse wards and inpatient care. Her research focus is infant and maternal mental health. Her doctorate focuses on the design and adaptation of a parenting program for adolescent mothers and their children in the Eastern Cape. 

Jamie M. Lachman has over 20 years of experience developing, testing, and scaling up family and parenting programmes to reduce violence against children and improve child wellbeing in low- and middle-income countries. He is a senior research officer at the University of Oxford Department of Social Policy and Intervention and a research fellow at the University of Glasgow MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit. He is also the founder of Clowns Without Borders South Africa and a co-founder of the Parenting for Lifelong Health initiative. The programmes and resources that Jamie has co-developed have reached over 196 million beneficiaries in 198 countries. Jamie is a storyteller, banjo-player, songwriter, facilitator, and clown. Dedicated to promoting our human capacity for peace and laughter, Jamie strives to live each day fully with compassion and amazement.

Janke is a Quantitative Research Assistant at the UKRI GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa's Adolescents Hub and is based at the University of Cape Town. She holds a BSc Honours degree in Microbiology and recently completed an MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where her thesis explored the associations between intimate partner violence, HIV testing and sexual risk behaviours among women in rural South Africa. Since joining the Accelerate Hub at the end of 2020, she has been working on the HEY BABY Study, focusing on data analysis and data cleaning related to sexual and reproductive health, adolescent motherhood, experiences of violence, and HIV/AIDS.

Olanrewaju Edun is a qualified medical doctor and worked in Nigeria's national HIV control programme, both as a clinician and data monitoring and evaluation specialist. He holds a Master's degrees in Control of Infectious Diseases, and in Biomedical Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London respectively. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London. His research aims to understand the determinants of successful HIV treatment outcomes among adolescents living with HIV and draws on data from the Mzantsi Wakho study. He is also working with members of the Accelerate Hub on the UPLIFT project.

Stefan Dercon is Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and the Economics Department, and a Fellow of Jesus College, University of Oxford. He is also Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, and the Development Policy Advisor to the Foreign Secretary at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. His research interests concern what keeps some people and countries poor: the failures of markets, governments and politics, mainly in Africa, and how to achieve change. His current research work focuses on the psychological challenges of poverty, the political economy of development, the challenges of industrialisation in Africa, the challenges and opportunities of new technologies, and how to organise and finance responses to natural disasters and protracted humanitarian crises.