Project Oversight Committee
George Alemnji, Ph.D., MPH
Dr Alemnji is Senior Technical Advisor for Laboratory Services at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy (SGAC) Washington. He is also Lab lead of the PEPFAR Epidemic Control Team 2. Until more recently, he served as Ex-Officio for the PEPFAR Laboratory Technical Working Group. Furthermore, he has been coordinating the PEPFAR Interagency Viral Load (VL) and Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) Task Force. He is at OGAC on detailed from CDC Atlanta. Before coming to OGAC, he was Associate Director for Science and Laboratory Advisor for the CDC Caribbean Regional Office; chairing and overseeing the entire PEPFAR Caribbean scientific and laboratory portfolio. At some point, he was also acting Regional Director for the same office. Prior to joining the CDC Caribbean Office, Dr Alemnji worked as Laboratory Director, NIH (DAIDS) Harare Zimbabwe HIV Network clinical trial site (HPTN, AACTG, IMPAACT, MTN); Laboratory Director, CDC Cameroon office; Senior lecturer in chemical pathology, faculty of medicine, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon; and consultant in global clinical and public health laboratory services and systems strengthening to many international organizations. Dr Alemnji’s research has been on HIV clinical trials, molecular epidemiology, quality systems strengthening, evaluation of novel diagnostic platforms, and establishment of models to improve efficiency of laboratory services.
Heather Alexander, Ph.D.
Dr Alexander serves as the Branch Chief for the International Laboratory Branch, Division of Global HIV and TB at the US CDC. In this capacity, Heather leads more than 60 staff engaged in microbiological and public health science and innovation, program implementation, and impact assessment in the areas of HIV diagnostic and incidence testing; HIV viral load monitoring and early infant diagnosis; HIV drug resistance testing; molecular and phenotypic detection of TB and drug-resistant TB; and laboratory and point of care testing site continuous quality improvement (CQI) for HIV and TB diagnosis and treatment monitoring in PEPFAR-supported and CDC global TB focus countries. Heather holds a PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Solange Baptiste, Sc.M.
Ms Baptiste is Executive Director of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC). She leads community activists and allies across the globe to deliver ITPC’s mission to enable people in need to access optimal and affordable HIV treatment through treatment education, demand creation, community-based monitoring and interventions to make medicines more affordable. Solange brings over 15 years of global program management, advocacy and monitoring and evaluation experience to ITPC. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Tuskegee University in Alabama and then got her Masters of Science in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Before joining ITPC, she worked at John Snow Inc. on USAID/PEPFAR health and development, bilateral and multi-county projects across Africa and Asia. This allowed her to gain a depth of knowledge in social epidemiology, health financing and health systems strengthening in the developing world. She also worked on maternal and infant health in Ukraine and supported several other projects, including ones in Pakistan, Tanzania, South Africa, and her native Trinidad. Solange is committed to ensuring that the voice of affected communities contributes to and influences the decisions and policies that affect their lives.
Smiljka de Lussigny, MPharm, MPH
Ms de Lussigny is a Programme Manager at Unitaid – managing Unitaid’s HIV molecular Dx portfolio of grants. Prior to joining Unitaid, she worked as a Technical and Advocacy Officer at the HIV/AIDS, STIs and viral hepatitis programme of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, providing technical guidance on TB/HIV coinfection and HIV prevention in key populations: people who use drugs and men who have sex with men. Prior to joining WHO, she worked as the Executive Director of the European AIDS Treatment Group, a pan-European advocacy network based in Brussels. Smiljka studied pharmacy at the Moscow Medical University and public health at the Lund University in Sweden.
Peter Ehrenkranz, MD, MPH
Dr Ehrenkranz is Senior Program Officer for HIV Treatment at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. From 2010 to 2015, he worked in Swaziland with CDC, first as the PEPFAR Care and Treatment Lead, and later as the Country Director. Prior to that, he spent two years in Liberia with a joint appointment as the senior advisor to the National AIDS Control Program and the medical director for CHAI-Liberia. He earned an undergraduate degree in history from Yale, medical and public health degrees from Emory, and trained in internal medicine and completed the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Fausta Mosha, MD, Ph.D. MSc
Dr Mosha is a medical microbiologist and epidemiologist working for the World Health Organization in AFRO, as the Technical Officer for Laboratory. For seven years, she was the Director for the National Health Laboratory Quality Assurance and Training Center (NHLQATC) for the Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MOHCDGEC), Tanzania. Before that she coordinated laboratory-based trainings and was a Resident Advisor for the Tanzania Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP). She holds an MD from the University of Dar es Salaam, MSc in Medical Sciences from the University of Leuven, Belgium, MSc in Epidemiology and Laboratory Management from the Jomo Kenyatta University, Kenya and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Leuven, Belgium. She has been a Principal Investigator for the international Co-operative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), Atlanta and African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) on a project “Proficiency testing for HIV Rapid Tests, Biological safety cabinet certification” in several countries in Africa and the Caribbean Region. She has also lead the management of the East African Public Health Laboratory Networking Project (EAPHLNP) in Tanzania and Serves on different Boards for various organizations, nationally and internationally.
Zibusiso Ndlovu, MSc, BSc
Mr Ndlovu holds a BSc Hons. in Medical Laboratory sciences (University of Zimbabwe), MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (University of Witwatersrand) and other qualifications in Project Management and M&E. He has previously worked as a Medical laboratory scientist in different public and private diagnostic laboratories, and has practiced as an Epidemiologist. In 2014, he joined Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as the Research Coordinator for the Zimbabwe project. In 2016 he joined the MSF-SAMU office as an Epidemiologist and Laboratory Advisor; and he provides laboratory technical support to regional MSF programmes.
John Nkengasong, Ph.D.
Dr Nkengasong is the Director of African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. He has extensive knowledge backed by passion for public and global health in the international community. Prior to his current role, Dr. Nkengasong was the Associate Director for Laboratory Science and Chief of the International Laboratory Branch at the Division of HIV & TB, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. He has vast experience as the co-chair for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s (PEPFAR) Laboratory Technical Working Group.
Rituparna Pati, MD, MPH
Dr. Pati is an HIV Treatment Technical Advisor in the HIV Care and Treatment Branch, Division of Global HIV and TB at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She provides technical assistance for HIV care and treatment programs in PEPFAR countries, including support for scale-up of routine VL monitoring and optimization of ARV regimens. Before joining the CDC, Dr. Pati was Director of Research at the Spencer Cox Center for Health, Mount Sinai Institute of Medicine, in New York City. She earned an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Yale University, medical and public health degrees from the University of Connecticut, and trained in internal medicine, general preventive medicine, and infectious diseases and at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Trevor Peter, Ph.D., MPH
Dr Peter is the Senior Scientific Director for Laboratory Services at the Clinton Health Access Initiative and board Member of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM). He has over 20 years’ experience in the fields of diagnostics, infectious diseases research and public health. Over the past 15 years, he has supported the strengthening of public health laboratory programs in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and South America. Previously, he managed the Botswana-Harvard School of Public Health HIV Reference Laboratory and conducted vector borne disease epidemiological research in southern Africa. He was the Chair of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine from 2012 – 2016 and was the recipient of the Life Ball Crystal of Hope award in 2009.
Lara Vojnov, Ph.D.
Dr Vojnov is the Diagnostics Advisor in the HIV and Hepatitis Department at the World Health Organization. In this position, Lara leads normative guidance development and country support for HIV diagnostics, including viral load and early infant diagnosis as well as laboratory quality.
Jason Williams, MPH
Mr Williams currently holds the position of Senior Advisor for Laboratory Supply Chain System Strengthening within the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID. Jason serves as a liaison between country programs, ministries of health, USG PEPFAR and other external collaborators. Jason’s primary responsibility is to provide technical leadership and advocacy to advance laboratory service delivery and laboratory supply chain support in PEPFAR countries. Jason has more than 25 years of experience in clinical, research, and programmatic laboratory development and public health based management experience.
Dalila Zachary, MD
Ms Zachary graduated with a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and has a specialization in Infectious Diseases. She is currently an independent consultant in HIV/AIDS and has experience on projects for international orgaizations covering HIV/AIDS care, research and teaching. From 2014, Dr. Zachary has worked with the HIV team at the Global Fund as an advisor on HIV prevention and treatment. In this capacity she has worked across the secretariat with many teams to support the implementation of quality and comprehensive HIV programs to drive impact and to facilitate optimal partner engagement around investment reprogramming and/or implementation activities.