Grace Gathoni Wairimu is an Administrative Officer at the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Nairobi. She is a marketer by profession. Grace has worked in different roles across various institutions both private and public, with vast experience in Project Management, Sales and Marketing as well as Administration. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of Nairobi and a Masters in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi.
Associate, AKU Mombasa Research Office
MBA, Strategic Management, CPA (K)
Irene Kibara is an Associate of the CoEWCH based at the AKU Mombasa Research Office serving as a focal person for research administration for the projects in Coast Kenya under the department of Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health. She joined AKU in May, 2017 as an Administrative Manager for the Mombasa Research Office until February 2022. She is currently involved in the day to day office and projects’ administrative roles for CoEWCH in liaison with the Project Managers in Coast. She is a Certified Public Accountant, CPA (K), Strathmore College alumni and a holder of MBA Strategic Management from Daystar University. With an experience spanning to more than 15 years, she has worked in senior roles in research and implementation projects handling both administrative and financial duties. Previously, she worked for International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) for 12 years having risen from an Assistant Accountant to the Director of Finance, Administration and Human Resources.
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Maura Malanga
Communications Officer
BA Communications
Maura serves as a Communications Officer at the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health (CoEWCH) whereby she handles the internal and external communications of the entity. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications (Public Relations Concentration) from Daystar University with cum laude honours. Maura has extensive experience in Corporate Communications and Affairs, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, and Event Management. She previously worked at KCB Bank Kenya under the Corporate Affairs division and at Dimension Global Communications as a Public Relations and Digital Marketing Officer where she brought substantial success by building beneficial links through the implementation of effective communication strategies. She has additional interest in community development, international relations, and crisis communication and management.
Nancy Gichobi
Administrative Officer
Dip, Public Health
Nancy Gichobi has experience in Office Administration and Customer care with a background in Public Health, especially in Maternal and Child Health, HIV/AIDS as well as Procurement. She has worked in various organisations in different roles.

Norah M. Matheka
Program Assistant
BA Business Administration and Management
Norah Matheka’s background spans from Business Administration and Management, to Business Communication, Community Development, Management of Information Systems, Health and Safety, Basic First Aid as well as Nutrition. She currently serves as the program assistant in the Department of Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health in Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya. There are 2 NIH grants that she directly has supported and still supports. One of the grants ended in March 2022. She possesses great leadership skills with over 20 years’ experience in the field of administration, business management and accounting. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management (Daystar University), cumulative GPA of 3.38/4.00. She received a higher diploma in Institute for the Management of Information Systems (IMIS) - (Strathmore College/University). Norah volunteered with an organization known as CAREFORCE in the United Kingdom specifically in London with All Souls Church where she assisted with the various programs. She worked with Sisilo Childcare Centre where she worked as a marketing officer, she then moved to African Inland Mission (AIM). At AIM she worked as payables officer, cashier and subsequently to Accounts Assistant. Thereafter she joined Light of Africa (LoA) as a bookkeeper/ administrator, a position that introduced her to the area of human resources. Her first experience in the area of clinical research was with University of Washington – TREE program in 2012 as a program administrator. This position catapulted her to various facets of research administration from adhering to sponsors requirements regarding expenses, observation of study protocol by assisting study monitors when they visited the study as well as exposure to grant proposal submission.

Rhoda A. Otieno
County Research Project Officer
Ms Otieno joined the CoEWCH in 2020 in the position of County Research Project Officer (CRPO). She has been engaged in conducting research on the Impact of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health at various levels - individual, community and health systems. She has also supported research conducted by the Aga Khan University in collaboration with the Kenyatta National Hospital on the Evaluation of Technologies for Neonates in Africa (ETNA). Ms Otieno is the holder of a Bachelor degree in Business Administration (BA hons) and prior to joining the CoEWCH, had over 7 years of progressive health research (in fields of health seeking behaviour, bioethics and policy analysis) and administrative experience in various capacities and institutions including the Aga Khan Educational Service and Joseph Mutinda Audit Co. She is currently writing her master's degree in Public Health from Brunel University in the UK. Her Masters’ project examines the gendered aspects of health care service provisioning with a focus on the impact of COVID-19 on the health and socioeconomic welfare of the female workforce. Her academic interests revolve around the interplay between the organization of health care service provisioning, health care labour distribution and administration and career development possibilities and associated health and economic vulnerabilities amongst different cadres of health care personnel.
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Agnes Mutua
Study Coordinator
BSc. Environmental Health, MSc. Epidemiology
Agnes is the coordinator for the PRECISE-DYAD study at the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University. She has an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a BSc in Environmental Health from Kenyatta University, and has postgraduate training in Health Research Methods from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust. Agnes's research interest is in the relationships between nutrition, social determinants, biological risk factors, and child development and to improve developmental outcomes in young African children. Agnes previously worked as a research officer at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme where she investigated the effects of vitamin D/ iron status and anemia on child neurodevelopment.

Onesmus Wanje
Community Liaison Officer
Onesmus leads community engagement activities for the PRECISE network studies as a Community Liaison officer at the Aga Khan University's Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health. He is a current MPH student at Pwani University and holds a Bsc in Community Health from the Technical University of Mombasa. Onesmus has eight years of experience and strong expertise in Community work, youth programming, policy advocacy, implementation research and projects transition planning. Previous organizations that he has worked with include University of Washington (Mombasa Research Site), Bomu Hospital, VSO International, Tesla Exploration International and World Vision Kenya.
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Moses Mukhanya
Research Officer and Data Manager
Moses Wabwile Mukhanya is a computer scientist by profession working in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aga Khan University. He joined Aga Khan University in September 2020 and he is currently supporting PRECISE, PRECISE-DYAD and all Sub studies under the two main studies in overseeing, coordination and supervising data management activities. He ensures that all data management systems, devices and all ICT systems work are running seamlessly. He has a degree in Computer Science from Kibabii University with 6 years of practical working experience in systems design, development, setup and end user manual developments and trainings. He has previously worked with Impact Research and Development Organization as a Health Management and Information Systems (HMIS) Officer where he oversaw successful implementation of electronic data collection systems for Outreach HIV testing and Treatment Centers. Moses has trainings in Monitoring and Evaluation [University of Washington and NASCOP], Fundamentals of Global Research and Policy Development and Advocacy for Global Health [University of Washington]. Moses also has trainings in Data Science for Professionals, Python and R certifications for Data Science.
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Margrette Hanselmann
Study Coordinator
Margrette Hanselmann is the study coordinator for the Adolescent perinatal mental health study (INSPIRE) in Kilifi. She has previously worked in different capacities in research studies and health development projects including Mama na Mtoto II, a community based project that sought to understand and improve maternal and child health needs in rural communities, which offered her an opportunity to be part of the authors for a publication on Prevalence, Incidence and Predictors of Volunteer Community Health Workers Attrition in Kwale. Margrette also served as a Project Officer, Nutrition Lead and Gender Focal person for AQCESS, an RMNCAH project. Most recently, she served as the County Research Project Officer for studies that looked into COVID 19 pandemic, its mitigation measures and impacts on health service access and delivery, focusing on SRH and GBV. She has a background in Public Health and is currently pursuing a Masters in Monitoring and Evaluation.
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Barack Aura Obara
Data Associate
Barack is a Data Associate at The Aga khan University, attached to the Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health, East Africa. Currently, he is working with the WHO COVID-19 in Pregnancy cohort study. He holds a Bachelor of Science in IT degree as well as a Diploma and Higher diploma in Information Systems Management. Barack has over 15 years' experience working within Data Management departments within reputable medical research institutions in Kenya as a Data Manager/ Data Analyst; Having worked for Kenya Medical Research Institute and Centers for Diseases Control and Preventions (KEMRI/CDC), KEMRI/FACES, University of Washington TREE program and now The Aga Khan University. He has experience in designing and maintain study databases, conducting and employing data quality audits, designing and maintain data collection, data cleaning well as reporting tools for both longitudinal and cross sectional research data. He also has experience working with programs such as Open Clinica, Redcap, and ODK for digital data collection as well as having knowledge in the use of STATA, SAS, Epi-info, and R for Data manipulations, analysis and reporting as well as Microsoft office suit. Barack has co-authored 14 peer reviewed papers published in reputed medical journal and trained and mentored over 10 staff in good data management skills.
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Joycelyn Kathembe
Research Officer and Study Coordinator
Joycelyn Kathembe is a Research Officer/ Study Coordinator at the Aga Khan University's Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health. She holds an MSc in Nutrition for Global Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), as well as a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. With a proven track record of success in various capacities at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), she has extensive experience in nutrition and food safety research under the MoreMilk Project in peri-urban areas of Nairobi and Eldoret. She has also served as a program coordinator for the Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy which nests the Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) programme. As a nutrition consultant, she made significant contributions to the development of national FAQs on Infant and Child Feeding in the context of HIV in collaboration with UNICEF, NASCOP and MoH. In addition, she contributes to the Annual Nutrition and Growth YearBook chapter on stunting in developing countries. Her expertise in maternal and child health is further demonstrated by her experience as a nutritionist in clinical and community settings, promoting infant and young child feeding practices and management of moderate and severe malnutrition. At the Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health (CoEWCH), she serves as a researcher and study coordinator whose role entails design, coordination, implementation of research activities and community engagement for the SVN follow-up study, as well as other global health projects within the center.