Consortium Partners

Omid Rahimi

As the research coordinator for the STRIPE project in Afghanistan and under the JHU supervision, Omid leads all aspects of the project at the country level and contributes to data collection, synthesis, analysis, and dissemination across data streams.

He represents the Afghanistan STRIPE team in both national and international meetings and works closely with the JHU team and other members of the consortium.

Humayra Anwar

Humayra is a dentist by training, she has completed her doctorate in dentistry from the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, Niigata University, Japan and Masters in Public Health from the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM).

Being the Focal Person for the STRIPE project in Bangladesh, Humayra oversees all project operations at BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health. She has actively taken part in the knowledge mapping and synthesis phases, and has collaboratively completed the knowledge packaging process, including developing course materials and case studies. Using her excellent communication skills, she is managing collaborative ties with both international and country partners.

As a faculty member in the BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, Humayra conducts research in Maternal and child health and Implementation research. She also supports the University by building capacity for MPH students and fellow researchers in the field of implementation science.

Mrittika Barua

Mrittika Barua is a mixed method researcher with strong qualitative skills having more than 12 years of experience in public health. Her ongoing and future research goal is researching health interventions through implementation research, which is cross-cutting across different contexts, gender, geographical locations, and populations with diverse needs, using human-centered design and participatory approaches. She teaches in the Master of Public Health program at BRAC University and supervises students in their thesis. Besides being a reviewer for several international peer-reviewed journals, she participates in national and international workshops and conferences and continues to engage in publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Malabika Sarker

Dr. Malabika Sarker is a Professor of Practice of behavioral and social science at Brown School of Public Health, Brown University, USA. Professor Sarker is an implementation researcher and a mixed-method expert. She is a physician with a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University, the USA, and a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In her 34-year public health career, she spent ten years implementing community-based programs at BRAC, the world’s largest NGO. She teaches Global Health and implementation science courses to graduate students at Brown University. She has 24 years of teaching experience across four continents (North America, Europe, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa) and supervised 50+ Master’s and co-supervised 10 + Doctoral students. In her career, she has mentored 100+ junior researchers. Prof Sarker has extensive research experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh. She has published 146 peer-reviewed articles and six book chapters. Her Global presence spans across the continents. She is one of the directors of the Board at CUGH (Consortium of Universities in Global Health), an international advisory board member of The Lancet Global Health, an Evaluation Advisory Committee Member of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, National Institute of Health Research UK, Chair of the Advisory Board of the HRP Alliance for Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS) and editorial board member Implementation Science Communications Journal. She previously served as a board member for Measurement USA, the World Federation Public Health Association, and the Medical Research Council UK. Prof Sarker was awarded the “Heroines of Health” global award in 2018. Before joining Brown SPH, Prof. Sarker was the Associate Dean & Professor of BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh. Prof. Sarker founded the Institute Review Board (IRB) and the Center of Excellence of Science of Implementation & Scale-Up (SISU) at BRAC JPGSPH and led it for six years.

Eric Mafuta

Eric Mafuta serves as a faculty member at the Kinshasa School of Public Health, with expertise in predictive factors of health care accessibility, health systems assessment and strengthening, and assessment of health programs. He consults on various DRC Ministry of Health projects such as the study to understand the state of the epidemiological surveillance system in the DRC, the collection of financial management data for health sectors and health expenditures for persons living with HIV/AIDs. He has extensive experience in the design of qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments, effective facilitation of focus group discussions and analysis of qualitative data.

As the Co-Principal Investigator and Field Coordinator of DRC of the STRIPE project, he oversees project operations and leads the quantitative and qualitative component of the knowledge mapping and synthesizing phases, and has collaboratively managed the knowledge packaging process.

Wakgari Deressa

As the STRIPE Project Principal Investigator for Ethiopia, Professor Deressa coordinates the overall implementation of the project in country. He leads both the quantitative and qualitative components of the research, including planning, data collection, data management and analysis, and report and scientific paper writing.

As a senior faculty member at the Department of Preventive Medicine at the School of Public Health of Addis Ababa University, Professor Deressa is a public health specialist focusing on epidemiology and is experienced in public health research and practice, disease prevention and control, research management and teaching experience. His primary research areas focus is in observational and intervention research to support equitable improvement of malaria prevention and control, infectious disease prevention and control, environmental and occupational health, NCDs including injuries, climate and health in Ethiopia and low-income countries.

S.D. Gupta

Dr. S.D. Gupta is the STRIPE Principal Investigator for India. As PI, Dr Gupta leads the project and oversees the collaborative relationships. He is responsible for knowledge mapping, synthesis, and translation.

Dr. Gupta is Trustee Secretary of the Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), India, and Chairman and Distinguished Professor. He is Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology, JHBSPH, and Visiting Professor at Chester University, UK. He is the President of WHO SEARO-supported South East Asia Public Health Education Institutions Network (SEAPHEIN). His primary areas of research include epidemiology, public health, health systems management research, and implementation science.

Selamawit Hirpa Abu

Selamawit Hirpa is a public health researcher with over ten years of experience in both quantitative and qualitative research, focusing on data collection, analysis, and interpretation. She holds a PhD from Martin Luther University in Germany and has made substantial contributions to public health research and policy. Selamawit has led various projects, published in peer-reviewed journals, and collaborated with both local and international stakeholders. She is currently involved in the Synthesis and Translation of Research and Innovations from Polio Eradication (STRIPE) project, where she coordinates research activities, contributes to module development, supervises data collection, and co-authors reports and manuscripts.

Piyusha Majumdar

Piyusha Majumdar is the STRIPE Co-Principal Investigator for India. As Co-PI, she leads the qualitative research of the STRIPE project, and works collaboratively with other country partners to contribute towards knowledge synthesis. Piyusha has also contributed to the development of various modules for STRIPE’s global health course.

As a faculty member at IIIHMR University, she has been involved in guiding, mentoring, and teaching MBA students. She has worked on various projects with UNICEF, World Lung Foundation, Institute of Health Metrics & Evaluation, and International Union against TB & Lung Diseases. She is an active member of the Institutional Committee for Ethics and Review of Research at IIHMR University. She is also an editorial board member for Academic Journal of Anthropological Studies. Her areas of research include, Public health & Nutrition, Health System Research, and Implementation Science.

Yodi Mahendradhata

Dr. Yodi Mahendradhata is Dean and Professor in Health Policy and Management at the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. He leads the South East Asia Regional Training Center for Health Research, supported by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). Dr Mahendradhata is a member of the Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Global Steering Group. He is Scientific Advisory Board member of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium and member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group of Experts on NCD-related Research and Innovation. His research interests are knowledge translation, implementation science, tropical medicine, health policy and management. Dr Mahendradhata was a Humboldt scholar at Heidelberg University, Germany. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles published in high impact journals. Dr Mahendradhata serves as Editorial Board member for PLoS Global Public Health, Frontiers in Tropical Diseases and BMC Health Services Research.

Eme Owoaje

Eme Owoaje is the STRIPE Principal Investigator for Nigeria. She has been actively involved in identifying respondents for the qualitative and quantitative streams of the project by engaging with GPEI organizations, government health officials, NGOs, and other implementing partners.

She is a public health physician, a professor, and currently the Chair of the Department of Community Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Eme’s research focuses on Rehabilitative and Social Medicine. Specific areas of research focus include, Epidemiology of diseases and health-related conditions which cause injury and disabilities; Health problems and rehabilitation needs of disadvantaged populations such as orphans and vulnerable children, the elderly and urban slum residents; and Women’s health issues particularly Intimate partner violence.

Eme Owoaje

Eme Owoaje is the STRIPE Principal Investigator for Nigeria. She is a public health physician and a professor in the Department of Community Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her research focuses on Rehabilitative and Social Medicine. Specific areas include the epidemiology of diseases and health-related conditions which cause injury and disabilities; health problems and rehabilitation needs of disadvantaged populations such as orphans and vulnerable children, older persons and urban slum residents; and women’s health issues, particularly Intimate partner violence. 


Eme has over 30 years of experience in conducting international collaborative research with colleagues in the United States, United Kingdom, Asia, and other African countries. She has been involved in multi-country research studies with collaborators at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Warwick University, University of Birmingham and Kings College London.

Riris Andono Ahmad, MD, MPH, PhD

Riris Andono Ahmad is a senior lecturer and researcher at Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Population Health Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Riris is a medical doctor with additional training in Epidemiology and Public Health. His research interest is in communicable diseases control e.g., TB, HIV, Malaria and Dengue, particularly understanding disease dynamic, disease control strategies and implementation research of disease control intervention. Currently he is the director of the Center for Tropical Medicine, UGM. He is also the coordinator of the Post Graduate Program in Tropical Medicine and Field Epidemiology Training Program at Universitas Gadjah Mada and Member of the National TB and Diphtheria Control Program Expert Committee.