Meet Our Team
Blandina Mmbaga
MD, Mmed, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre,
Senior lecturer, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College,
Director of Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute,
Co-Site Leader, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre-Duke Collaboration, Moshi Tanzania
Prof. Blandina is a practicing Pediatrician at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), and Associate Professor of Paediatric and Child Health at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, Principal Investigator for the NICHD/Westat contract for the IMPAACT and ACTG studies at KCMC from June 2014. She is also participating in Tuberculosis clinical trials, and non-communicable diseases including mental health, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, oncology, and trauma and injury research. She has focused on capacity building through the Fogarty funded awards including the Medical Education Partnership Initiative, Social and Behavioral Sciences D43 and a new D43 (TRECK) training young investigators in innovative implementation science and injury research from which she leverages implementation science research skills to mentor early career investigators interested in adolescent HIV research. With combined research experience, Blandina is a Co-PI for the Sauti ya Vijana Project (SYV Voice of Youths) a youth mental health intervention. She is a mentor to many and leads mentorship and training grants including the Fogarty Fellowship trainees. She is equipped with a unique skill set to bring important cultural and research expertise to the projects. She has over 300 publications in PubMed.
Dorothy Dow
MD, MSc
Associate Professor in Pediatrics: Infectious Diseases.
Associate Professor of Research in Global Health
Co-Director, Duke Center for AIDS Research Clinical Core
Co-Site Leader, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre-Duke Collaboration, Moshi, Tanzania
Dorothy Dow, MD, MSc is a physician-scientist whose research focuses on prevention and treatment of HIV in pediatric populations including adolescent and young adult populations. Her current projects target the intersection of HIV treatment adherence and mental health. She is a member of the Adolescent HIV Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA), co-developer of Sauti ya Vijana (SYV-The Voice of Youth), a peer-led, group based mental health intervention for YLWH in Tanzania, and co-chair of IMPAACT 2016, Evaluating a Group-Based Intervention to Improve Mental Health and ART Adherence Among Youth Living with HIV in Low Resource Settings. She has training in implementation science through the AHISA network and workshops and incorporates implementation frameworks (CFIR and EPIS) and outcomes (acceptability, feasibility, fidelity, sustainability) in her current research
Joan Rugemalila,
MD Mmed, DTM&H, Global Health Fellow
Infectious Diseases Physician, Muhimbili National Hospital
Honorary Lecturer, Internal Medicine Department, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
Joan Rugemila Senior Internal Medicine Physician working at Muhimbili National Hospital. She obtained her Doctor of Medicine and Masters in Internal medicine training from Tumaini University, Tanzania. After that, she received postgraduate training in tropical medicine and hygiene from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and Global Clinical Research Scholars at Harvard Medical School. She has clinical practice focuses on managing Infectious diseases, specifically advanced HIV disease, antiretroviral treatment failure and HIV drug resistance. In addition, She has dedicated her efforts to building capacity for improving HIV clinical care, research and training, and mentorship. Notably, she has researched HIV implementation science, particularly HIV treatment monitoring and drug resistance in adolescents and young adults.
Thespina (Nina) Yamanis
PhD, MPH
Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs
Associate Professor
School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC
Co-Director, Social and Behavioral Sciences Core, District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research, Washington, DC
Nina Yamanis, PhD, MPH is a scholar of health behavior whose research focuses on social and structural determinants of HIV prevention among adolescents and young adults. Her current projects are focused on engaging out-of- school adolescents and young people in social network HIV prevention interventions. She is a member of the Adolescent HIV Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA) and Scientific Program Officer of the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Adelante program. She has used implementation science frameworks and outcomes in her research to examine scale-up of HIV prevention interventions for vulnerable populations.
Theopista Jacob Masenge
MD, MMED, MBA-CM
Chief of Party, Christian Social Services Commission
Honorary Lecturer, Paediatric and Child Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
Vice President, Paediatric Association of Tanzania
Chairperson of the national Paediatric and adolescent HIV Technical working group Pediatric and Adolescent health programming Consultant, Free Lance
Dr Theopista Jacob, experienced Paediatrician with a strong dedication to improving the healthcare and welfare of children and adolescents. Currently serving as the Chief of Party for the Comprehensive Child Centered Care and Services project at the Christian Social Services Commission, providing overall leadership and guidance in delivering vital technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and regional implementing partners. As Chairperson of
the pediatric and Adolescent HIV technical working group she plays a key role at national level in monitoring and evaluating interventions to achieve high-quality comprehensive services for pregnant and breastfeeding women, children exposed to HIV, and children and adolescents living with HIV.
Furthermore, Dr Theopista holds the position of Vice President of the Paediatric Association of Tanzania, where she plays a pivotal role in providing valuable technical assistance to Ministries and other stakeholders. Her focus is on improving the quality of care for children, ensuring their well-being across the nation.She is a mentor to many in the area of Pediatric and adolescent HIV programming leading in data demand and information use to improve quality of care, committed to making a lasting impact on child healthcare and welfare service delivery while actively fostering collaboration among various stakeholders to improve the overall health and welfare of children and adolescents