Prof. Bellington Vwalika

Board Chairperson

Professor Bellington Vwalika is based in Lusaka, Zambia. As Obstetrician/Gynaecologist/Epidemiologist he holds appointments as Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka and University of Zambia School of Medicine since 2005.He is the first Zambian Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University of Zambia. He is also Research Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill effective 3/1/15. He has designed and directs a course aimed at task shifting of obstetrics and gynaecology practice to clinical officers then called medical licentiates since 2001. He serves on Zambian National technical Working Groups on HIV/AIDS, Family Planning and Maternal Health. He has been long-time collaborator at the Zambia Emory University HIV Research Project since 1999 as Study Physician and Investigator . As a researcher he has successfully led a lot of clinical trials.

He has been designated Maternal and New born Health Champion for Africa under the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program of USAID. He is a member of University of Zambia Biomedical Research and Ethics Committee and also chairs the Undergraduate Research and Ethics Committee. He is the current Chair of the Zambia Health Research Authority Council and also chairs the Zambia IPAS Advisory Board. He is also the Secretary General of the East Central and Southern College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. On the home front he is Chairperson in charge of Education and Examinations at the Zambia Colleges of Medicine and Surgery. He has held office in the Zambia Medical Association, Health Professions Council of Zambia and the Zambia Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He is a reviewer for several local and international journals. He publishes extensively in peer-reviewed journals.

He is married to Dr Cheswa Vwalika (a Public Health Specialist) and together they run a private practice called Mobile Medical Services BCV Health and Training Consultants Firm situated on 22877 Leopards Road Lusaka. They have a daughter and 2 boys (twins) who are talented footballers and gospel singers. Twin 1 is training as a medical doctor while the brother is in the business school. Their daughter has settled in Canada after her business studies.

Prof. Charles Michelo

Board Vice Chairperson

He has been instrumental in developing various capacity building efforts through mentorship of young professionals in basic, applied and implementation research. Some of the projects he has either participated in or lead include the following: The two CDC PEPFAR supported cooperative agreements one being the Master in Public Health strengthening program that has been a turn-around in re-adjusting public health and medical training; The EU funded REACT (Response to Accountable priority setting for Trust in health systems) for which he has been country PI; The PLACE study entitled “Searching for effective HIV interventions in sub-Saharan Africa: focusing on local contexts” funded by the Research Council of Norway; The Medical Educational Partnership Initiative, an NIH funded education program (Programmatic Grant Director). Lastly but not the least he is the brain in setting up the “Grants and Research Management Centre” at the School of Medicine, now in the School of Public Health, whose critical function is to improve efficiency in optimal management of grants resources. Regarding training and supervision, since 2010, he has supervised/co-supervised more than 175 students that include 145 at Masters level, 25 PhD and 7 postdoctoral researchers.

Prof. Charles' management practice is evidenced by involvement in some corporate entities such as St John’s Medical Centre where he is Director and serves as CEO; Calibre Praia Ltd, an international trading & logistics company whose board he chairs, as well as Fort Jameson Infirmary where he is Chief Medical Officer/Director and Chairman in addition to other management boards where he sits as a contribution to society. The combination of his public health skills, general medical training and the added training as well as the business practice he is involved in makes him one of the few people with unique but core multiple competencies and skills such that he remains one with such rare combinational skills. His involvement in YES brings this unique value and taste.

Ms. Mutale Mulenga Marebesa

Board Secretary

Mutale Mulenga Marebesa is a legal practitioner with 12 years standing at the Zambian Bar.

She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting which she obtained from the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) and an Advanced Certificate in Modern Legislative Drafting from the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London. She has a certificate in Anti–Corruption and Curbing of Corruption obtained at COWI, Copenhagen in Denmark and another certificate in Law and Justice obtained at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, in Denmark. She was nominated as a delegate to represent Zambia at the Legal Development Program for African Countries at KOICA, Seoul in South Korea.

Mutale’s passion for public service drove her to begin her professional journey as a public prosecutor to vindicate crime victims and make the community a safe place to live. She has worked in several capacities in both the public and private sectors. Notably, she worked as Parliamentary Counsel at the Ministry of Justice where she was part of the lead team for drafting laws for different facets of the society. She is a well-rounded lawyer having knowledge in Criminal, Civil, Commercial Law and Legal Writing, as she is an ardent believer that becoming a powerful leader is an intellectual challenge that requires wide knowledge.

She is currently working at Zanaco Plc as Head-Governance and Stakeholder Relations.

Mutale believes in encouraging young people to believe in themselves and break the glass ceilings. Her philosophy is that “God created all of us with a purpose, and your purpose lies in what you are passionate about, so pursue your passion with all you have.”

Dr. Catherine Chunda-Liyoka

Board Vice Secretary

Dr. Catherine Chunda-Liyoka is a Consultant Paediatrician, Head of the Infectious Diseases and Hematology Departments at the University Teaching Hospitals, Children’s Hospital who graduated from the University of Zambia and University of London. She is an honorary lecturer at the University of Zambia. She is a Paediatrician and Infectious Disease Specialist by Training and Hematologist Specialists by practice. She is a seasoned researcher and is the Research and Training Program Director, a national trainer and mentor.

Her Master’s degree thesis was a springboard to her career in HIV research. In this study, she evaluated the performance characteristics of “OraQuickRapid HIV-1Antibody Test”, [(Abstract) 26th IPA 2010. Poster no. 1127 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1304]. An HIV testing kit that uses oral fluid, and received her first research funding award from “Thrasher Research Fund”. She later coordinated a multi-center trial that studied "the effect of 7 days of phenytoin on the pharmacokinetics of and the development of resistance to single-dose nevirapine for perinatal HIV prevention: a randomized pilot trial." 2013 Nov; 68(11):2609-15.

More recently, she was the Principal Investigator in a study investigating HIV drug resistance in infants entitled "HIV drug resistance in infants has increased with changing prevention of mother-to-child transmission regimens in Zambia." AIDS.2017 August 24 ; 31(13) : 1885-1889. And continues developing this research in HIVDR in children as she works towards a PhD. Her other research interests are ‘Childhood malignancy’ and ‘Sickle Cell Disease’.

She believes that research and clinical work should work as a synergy: one providing ideas to inform and improve the others. Research is feasible in Zambia. There are a lot of mentors around. Look for them, they are there, so is the money to do research!

Francine Ntoumi (PhD, HDR , PvDz, FRCPedin)

Board Member

Professor Francine Ntoumi currently serves as the Chair and Head of Research of the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research. Born in Brazzaville, she studied in France and got habilitation at University ParisVI (France, 2002) and at University of Tübingen (Germany, 2014 ). She has worked in different countries (Gabon, Germany and Congo) as a researcher and also held positions in international organizations in the Netherlands and Tanzania from 2005 to 2010 where she was the first African leader of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, MIM (2005 -2010).

Her main area of research is malaria, and throughout her career she has trained African scientists of various nationalities in disciplines such as immunology and molecular epidemiology. Since 2009, she has been involved in developing health research capacities in Central Africa through the EDCTP-funded Central Africa Network on Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria, (CANTAM). Between 2007 and 2010, she served as the first African leader of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM). In 2008 she created the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research (FCRM) which supports health research activities in the Republic of Congo. Her institution has established the first molecular biology laboratory at the University Marien Ngouabi where she is a senior lecturer. She is also highly engaged in promoting gender balance in science in the African region through an important program « To make Science a female ambition ».

In 2014, she was appointed to the board of the Global Health Scientific Advisory Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in 2015 to the Board of Directors of the International Aids Vaccine Initiative. Prof. Francine Ntoumi has received prestigious awards : African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Scientific Award for women (2012), Georg Forster scientific Prize (2015), Christophe Mérieux Prize (2016) and the National Gold medal for Science by the President of Congo (2016). In 2016, Prof. Ntoumi received a 10M EUR grant from EDCTP to form the Pan-African Network for Rapid Research, Response, Relief and Preparedness for Infectious Diseases Epidemics.

Dr. Esther Stanslaus Ngadaya, PhD, MD

Board Member

Dr. Esther Ngadaya, a widely recognized researcher and two times NIMR-Muhimbili best scientists, has worked with the National Institute for Medical Research, Muhimbili Centre as the Principal research scientist for over 15 years. She is a Medical doctor with Post graduate diploma in Health Economics and PhD in Epidemiology. Esther has just completed a four years post doc program studying Tuberculosis and zoonotic diseases. She has published over 35 papers in peer reviewed journals on various subjects. She has done extensive research studies among disadvantaged communities including pastoralist communities. Dr. Esther has extensively designed, won and implemented over 40 high impactful projects. She is conversant in both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, as well as data management.

In addition, she has conducted over 10 high impactful consultancies as the lead consultant with government of Tanzania, UN agencies, Non-governmental organizations, universities and other research organizations. She has supported programs on developing strategies for translation of research into policies; and currently she is the overall multicounty Principal investigator of a big implementation research grant funded by EDCTP aiming at translating research into policy and practice through scaling-up Evidence-Based Multiple focus Integrated Intensified TB Screening in the East Africa region. Currently she is academic supervisor for MSc and PhD students at the University of Dar es Salaam, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, London School of Tropical Medicine and University of Bergen in Norway. She has wider experience on conducting both operational and implementation research as well as clinical trials, and project monitoring and evaluation. Dr. Esther is the chair of the operational research technical working group in Tanzania under the East Africa Public Health Laboratory Network (EAPHLN) Project funded by the World Bank. Dr. Esther is a leader, teacher, supervisor and mentor.

Dr. Selestine Nzala

Board Member

Dr. Selestine Nzala is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Zambia School of Medicine (UNZA SoM). He is the current Head of Department for the Medical Education Development under the School of Medicine and has previously served in senior positions in the university including past Dean- Postgraduate Studies. He has supervised post-graduate students over the past many years. His research work has been published in various peer reviewed journals. He has been a grant recipient for outstanding research works in medical education and public health.

Most recently, Dr. Nzala is the recipient of D43 NIH grant training the Clayton-Dedonder Global Health Mentorship Fellows Program (CD) a mentorship and training program awarded to the University of Zambia (UNZA) and its institutional partners funded by Forgaty. This is under the parent UNZA-Vanderbilt Partnership for HIV- Nutrition-Chronic Metabolic Conditions Research Training Grant (UVP). The intensive mentorship and leadership training program aims to train faculty members in the university to hone their mentorship skills. He will be the pillar that will strengthen mentorship linkages and strategies for YES Zambia. He also brings with him wide experience working in the Zambian health sector where he worked rising to the position of Executive Director of a central hospital before joining the University of Zambia.

Dr. Akwi Asombang

Board Member

Dr. Asombang is a Zambian-Cameroonian interventional gastroenterologist, Clinician Educator, Co-Director of International Programs and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, USA. She is co-founder of the NGO POHER (Pan-African Organization for Health, Education and Research), an organization with a focus on the health sector as the cornerstone of social and economic development of all African countries.

She completed medical school at Kasturba Medical College, India; her combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency training at Saint Louis University School of Medicine followed by a year as Chief Resident, while simultaneously completing her MPH. She then pursued her gastroenterology fellowship at Washington University in St Louis, then joined University of Missouri SOM as an Assistant Professor. After a few years in practice she joined a one-year advanced endoscopy fellowship training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School.

She was a recipient of the Medicine Abroad Program scholarship and AAP Residents International Elective Award that allowed her to spend a month in Tanzania. For her volunteerism with African refuges during residency, she received the AAMC Resident Physician’s Community Service Award: an award given to a single individual in the country. As a GI fellow, she received the NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellowship that supported her to conduct clinical research related to gastric and esophageal cancer in Zambia. As a faculty at University of Missouri, she was the recipient of the ACG North American GI training grant, which supported her time in Zambia analyzing the Cancer Disease Hospital database on pancreatic and colorectal cancer. She currently serves on the AAP Resident International Elective grant selection committee, ACG Training Committee and the ASGE international committee. In 2017, she was selected as ASGE faculty to participate in the Society of Gastroenterology & Hepatology in Nigeria annual scientific meeting. From that meeting she established partnership with the team of doctors to train them in advanced endoscopic techniques. Her goal is to participate in endoscopy training and raising awareness of gastrointestinal diseases across the African continent.

Dr. Jackson Chipaila

Board Member

Dr. Jackson Chipaila is a Consultant general surgeon and founding lecturer at the Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, Department of Surgery. He obtained his BSc.HB, MBChB and Masters of Medicine in General Surgery from the University of Zambia, School of Medicine. In 2016, he was conferred a fellow by the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) in Mombasa, Kenya. He is also a founding fellow and faculty for the Zambia Colleges of Medicine and Surgery. Dr Chipaila is currently pursuing his PhD in Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery and Transplant at Mie University, Japan since 2017.

He was awarded a Chinese government fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China in 2015 and has since been conducting a number of surgeries using cutting edge technologies. He is the award winning 2008 outstanding academic performance in paediatric and child health conferred by University of Zambia.

Dr Chipaila served as faculty for the Adolescent and Male Circumcision National training course through the Surgical Society of Zambia from 2013-2016. He was also a part-time anatomy lecturer at the Lusaka Apex Medical University, Department of Pharmacy from 2015-2016. He has previously been involved in various researches and currently conducting research on pseudoaneurysms post pancreatoduodenectomy.

Dr Chipaila is an advocate for health equity and in 2014 he co-founded an NGO called Kutusa Initiative where he is also the Director. This non-profit initiative provides free specialised medical services to the remote parts of Zambia coupled with mentorship to the medical personnel at the host hospitals. In keeping with medical practitioners being physically fit, not only is Dr Chipaila a soccer fun but a soccer player too who has been actively involved in amateur soccer.

Ms. Mirriam Bwalya Hamuyube

Board Member

Mirriam Bwalya Hamuyube is a graduate member of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of the Zambia Institute of Internal Auditors. She holds a ZICA professional certificate.

Mirriam has over ten years of experience working in the private sector. She is currently working in internal audit with Zambia Airports Corporation limited, offering assurance on internal processes, compliance with regulations and organisation risk management.

Mirriam has a passion to give back to the community. She is a member of the Forum for Zambia women Accountants (FZWA), an organisation that offers a mentorship platform for women accountants and young girls who want to pursue professional accounting. The forum also offers financial literacy classes to women in the informal business sector.

Mirriam takes pride in helping organisations succeed in achieving their objectives. She foresees herself taking lead in creating more accountable organisations with good governance systems, effective control environments and risk management systems.

Ms. Grace Kabwe Mwila

Board Member

Grace holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Zambia, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Lusaka and is pursuing a Doctorate of Business Administration with UNICAF. She is currently working on the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL), one of World Bank’s social protection projects. Grace is a highly motivated and experienced Gender Advisor and Social Protection specialist with over 15 years of experience in gender and women’s empowerment; in gender analysis and integration at the national, provincial, district and community levels; implementing gender initiatives and strategies; sensitizing stakeholders on gender issues and mainstreaming gender.

She has been conducting gender-sensitive analyses to ensure the differential needs, constraints, capacities, priorities of women and men targeted by projects are understood and addressed. Precisely, Grace has worked on government and non-governmental projects that focus on women’s health, girls’ education, women’s empowerment and livelihoods programmes. Grace has researched assessing girls’ literacy levels in selected schools in Kafue and also studied the impact of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Mazabuka.

In her career progression, Grace trained under auspices of various organizations in Global Girls' Education and Social Protection programs in Dakar (2003), Shanghai (2004), Siem Reap (2011), Ho Chi Minh City (2014), Bangkok (2016), and Cape Town (2017). Her work experience on social protection programs focusing on education and gender empowerment emanates from DanChurchAid’s funded Girl Guides HIV/AIDS Project, USAID’s funded ‘A Safer Zambia (ASAZA) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Project and Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program. Grace is also currently serving on two boards: as Chairperson for Pestalozzi Education Centre and Vice Secretary for Graduate Women Zambia.

Mr. Siamulunge Njoolo

Board Member

Mr Siamulunge Njoolo is a seasoned civil engineer trained at the University of Zambia. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil engineering (BEng). He is passionate about designs and since early childhood has built on his dream. He has extensive experience having worked in the mines as a site Engineer on various projects. In 2012, he made a huge decision to become more practical and at the same time empower communities, when he realised that his role was not in the office but to be on the ground as he lives his dream. He founded a civil and construction company called Rocky hill contractors Limited, as the sole proprietor and CEO. His innovative and expert works range from individual housing projects, electronic billboards, to prestigious hotels and shopping malls. He is very passionate about youth empowerment and most of his members of staff are the young generation. He will be at the pinnacle to support the development of YES infrastructure across the globe.