Centre Directors

Neha Singh
Associate Professor in Health Systems & Policy

Michelle Lokot
Assistant Professor

Catharina Van der Boor
Assistant Professor
Centre Deputy Directors

Rahaf Abu Koura
Research Fellow

Muhammad Alkasaby
Research Fellow in Mental Health
Dr Neha Singh - Co-Director
Neha Singh is Associate Professor in Health Systems and Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health. She has a background in public health and expertise in health systems and financing research using mixed methods to improve women’s, children’s and adolescent health in humanitarian crises (Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uganda) and under-resourced settings (India, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, China). Neha has specific interests in using participatory approaches and research methodologies based on systems thinking and complexity science to analyse and improve the prioritisation, design and delivery of health interventions.
Dr Michelle Lokot - Co-Director
Michelle Lokot is an Assistant Professor. She is an interdisciplinary researcher with an interest in gender, forced migration and humanitarian assistance. Michelle has experience conducting qualitative research, specifically feminist research informed by principles of decolonisation and co-production. Prior to working at LSHTM, Michelle worked in humanitarian organisations, including the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps and World Vision, focused on gender equality and gender-based violence. Her current research explores mental health systems (Lebanon), sexual and reproductive health (Somalia, South Sudan), intimate partner violence (Bangladesh) and violence against children (Zimbabwe).
Dr Catharina Van der Boor - Co-Director
Catharine Van der Boor is a Global Mental Health researcher specializing in conflict, mental health, forced displacement, and social determinants of wellbeing. With a PhD in Global Mental Health, she focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of forcibly displaced populations. Carine's expertise spans mixed methods and participatory approaches to research, demonstrated through her work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on a participatory action research project in Colombia. Currently, as a Research Fellow on the CHANGE project at LSHTM, she is leading efforts to develop and implement a brief psychological intervention targeting alcohol misuse and co-occurring psychological distress in conflict-affected populations in Uganda and Ukraine.
Steering Committee

Francesco Checchi
Principal Investigator
Chair of the Steering Committee, Professor of Epidemiology & International Health
Claire Bertschinger
Assistant Professor & Director for Diploma in Tropical Health

Bayard Roberts
Professor in Health Systems & Policy
Melissa Parker
Professor of Medical Anthropology
Palwasha Anwari
Dr PhD Fellow
Faculty of Public Health and Policy
Ruwan Ratnayake
(RDS representative) Research degree student in Infectious Disease Epidemiology & Mathematical Modeling
Karl Blanchet
Honorary Associate Professor in Health Systems Research

Lauren D'Mello-Guyett
Research Fellow in the Environmental Health Group
Jimmy Whitworth
Professor of International Public Health

Bhargavi Rao
Associate Professor of Humanitarian Public Health
Chiara Lepora
Head of the Manson Unit / Deputy Medical Director at Médecins Sans Frontières
Student Representatives
Tiffany lok-yan Yeung
RD student representative
Elizabeth Awuor Oele
DL MSc student liaison officer
Hannah Zaveri
MSc student liaison officer
Rima Fandi
MSc student liaison officer
Vincent Duquette
MSc student liaison officer
Elvira Parafita Losada
MSc student liaison officer
Communications
