PPH CoP Virtual Annual Meeting

John Varallo is an ob-gyn with over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience working in low-resource settings on three continents. He champions developing and testing innovative, practical solutions to accelerate change and improve the quality and safety of surgical care. As Global Director for Safe Surgery, he oversees Jhpiego’s four-country safe surgery program, leveraging Jhpiego’s successes to replicate it globally with partners and governments. Working with Jhpiego’s Innovations team, he conceptualizes, develops and promotes human-centered design processes, products and problem-solving methodologies for positive change.

Deborah Armbruster is a nurse-midwife with a Master’s in Public Health and is a fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. She is currently a senior maternal and newborn health advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and assists in managing the Advancing PPH Care project, the White Ribbon Alliance and the Global Health Supply Chain – PSM project. She came to USAID from PATH, where she was the director of the research project, the Oxytocin Initiative, and from 2004 to 2009, the director of the Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage Initiative (POPPHI) project. She has more than 30 years’ experience in safe motherhood and reproductive health programs in over 25 countries.

Cherrie Evans is a midwife with more than three decades of clinical, research and public health experience. As Director of Helping Mothers Survive at Jhpiego, she works with global stakeholders to design and implement programs to build the capacity of the health workforce in low- and middle-income countries. She served on the World Health Organization technical working group for the Midwifery Toolkit and currently sits on the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Postpartum Hemorrhage Working Group.

Mercedes Bonet is a perinatal health epidemiologist based in the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. She has extensive experience in global health, with a particular interest in improving the health and well-being of mothers and newborns through research and development of evidence-based recommendations around care during childbirth and the postnatal period, maternal infections and sepsis. She led a global study to assess the burden and management of potential severe maternal infections and sepsis in 52 countries and is contributing to the WHO research and normative work on COVID-19 and pregnancy.

Jerker Liljestrand is an ob-gyn with 45 years of experience in maternal health care in some 30 countries, including low-, middle- and high-income settings. His clinical work, teaching and training, and public health leadership has focused on maternal mortality rate reduction and newborn care, family planning, strengthening midwifery and health systems, cervical cancer, violence against women and HIV/AIDS. He worked in Mozambique for two years, and in Cambodia for six. His last posting was for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Recently retired, he helped initiate a project focusing on improved postpartum hemorrhage care for the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Mariana Widmer is a biochemist by training, focused on improving the health and well-being of women during their pregnancies. She has been working in the maternal health area at the World Health Organization since 2002. She has wide experience in clinical, epidemiological and implementation science research. Widmer has coordinated and managed several clinical trials and various systematic reviews on infections, preeclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Currently, her main focus is reducing the number of women suffering PPH. In this context, she runs one PPH treatment and two PPH prevention trials. She is also working in the area of quality of medicines trying to improve the quality of uterotonics offered to the women in low- and middle-income countries.

Luis Aaron Gadama is head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and senior lecturer at the University of Malawi, College of Medicine. He is also scientific lead for the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Malawi. He is based in Blantyre in the Southern part of Malawi at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, which is a tertiary maternity wing with about 12 thousand deliveries a year. In the maternal health area, he has been involved in maternal morbidity and mortality and integrating maternal near misses into the country’s existing maternal death surveillance response program.

John Varallo is an ob-gyn with over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience working in low-resource settings on three continents. He champions developing and testing innovative, practical solutions to accelerate change and improve the quality and safety of surgical care. As Global Director for Safe Surgery, he oversees Jhpiego’s four-country safe surgery program, leveraging Jhpiego’s successes to replicate it globally with partners and governments. Working with Jhpiego’s Innovations team, he conceptualizes, develops and promotes human-centered design processes, products and problem-solving methodologies for positive change.

Mariana Widmer is a biochemist by training, focused on improving the health and well-being of women during their pregnancies. She has been working in the maternal health area at the World Health Organization since 2002. She has wide experience in clinical, epidemiological and implementation science research. Widmer has coordinated and managed several clinical trials and various systematic reviews on infections, preeclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Currently, her main focus is reducing the number of women suffering PPH. In this context, she runs one PPH treatment and two PPH prevention trials. She is also working in the area of quality of medicines trying to improve the quality of uterotonics offered to the women in low- and middle-income countries.

Fernando Althabe is a medical officer of the Maternal and Perinatal Health unit at HRP/RHR, World Health Organization (WHO). Trained as an obstetrician and with 15 years of experience as a clinician, he has considerable experience with multicenter, multinational randomized control trials in maternal and child health. Among other trials, he has conducted cluster randomized trials to evaluate interventions to reduce unnecessary cesarean sections, increase the use of active management of the third stage of labor (AMTSL), reduce episiotomy, and evaluate the effectiveness of antenatal steroids within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research. Since joining WHO in 2018, Fernando has been responsible for the postpartum hemorrhage research portfolio within the Sexual and Reproductive Health Department.

Jill Durocher is a director at Gynuity Health Projects, New York, where she provides technical support to research, training and advocacy efforts that seek to improve access to high-quality maternal and reproductive health care. A central focus of her work has been on testing new approaches to delivering more effective care for the prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in diverse settings. Her specific research interests include identifying innovative ways and practical solutions to improve the diagnosis and timely management of PPH. Prior to joining Gynuity in 2005, she worked at the Population Council.

Catharine Taylor is a passionate maternal health advocate with 26 years of international public health programming experience, including 10 years in senior leadership positions with large U.S.-based international nonprofit organizations. She lived and worked for 16 years in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on the design and execution of reproductive and maternal health programs aimed at increasing equitable access to quality services, including emergency obstetric care. At present, Catharine works with the Merck for Mothers team on access to maternal health commodities and market shaping activities. Catharine is a U.K. trained and registered nurse and midwife, a qualified midwifery lecturer and holds an MSc in economics.

David Ntirushwa is a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, where he heads the department of obstetrics and gynecology and coordinates clinical activities related to women’s health. He has experience in management of common causes of maternal morbidities and mortalities, adaptation of global guidelines to country and local levels and research. Ntirushwa serves in a national leadership capacity as president of the Rwanda Medical Association and as advisor to the Rwanda Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. As a member of the National Maternal Death Surveillance Committee, he focuses on maternal health improvement interventions.

Kusum Thapa is an ob-gyn with a Master of Public Health and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, U.K. She is senior technical advisor for the Jhpiego-led U.S. Agency for International Development’s MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership, providing technical guidance and capacity-building for maternal, newborn and child health, family planning and reproductive health, and contributing to global technical leadership and learning. Thapa is a member of the World Health Organization technical working group for Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Postpartum Hemorrhage Working Group, and currently serves as vice president of the South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Farzana Maruf is a dynamic maternal and newborn health specialist committed to improving the health and well-being of communities in Afghanistan and other countries. She has led country teams and programs to improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes by introducing evidence-based high-impact and low-cost interventions at a large scale, improving quality of care, strengthening health system, developing capacity of health care providers, conducting research and supporting policy development based on evidence. Currently, Maruf works for the Global Financing Facility with the World Bank Group in Afghanistan. She is a medical doctor with a master’s degree in health policy and strategic management from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and is pursuing her PhD at Vrjie University in Amsterdam to improve the quality of maternal and newborn health services.

John Varallo is an ob-gyn with over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience working in low-resource settings on three continents. He champions developing and testing innovative, practical solutions to accelerate change and improve the quality and safety of surgical care. As Global Director for Safe Surgery, he oversees Jhpiego’s four-country safe surgery program, leveraging Jhpiego’s successes to replicate it globally with partners and governments. Working with Jhpiego’s Innovations team, he conceptualizes, develops and promotes human-centered design processes, products and problem-solving methodologies for positive change.

Jeffrey Jacobs is Director of Product Innovation & Market Access at Merck for Mothers, where he is responsible for the end-to-end management and market introduction of products and technologies that seek to reduce maternal mortality in partnership with public and private partners. This work includes the coordination of internal and external stakeholders across work streams that include product development, supply chain, affordability, market shaping and market introduction. Jacobs has two decades of experience in the areas of regional leadership, marketing, health policy and corporate responsibility, with a keen interest in expanding access to quality treatment. He has a master’s degree in international management from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the School for International Training.

Laura Frye received her Master of Public Health degree from Yale University and was a Fulbright Scholar to Morocco. She has worked at Gynuity Health Projects for 10 years across the postpartum hemorrhage, postabortion care and medical abortion portfolios in Asia, Africa and the United States. Her current work involves collaborating on research design, implementation, analysis and dissemination of studies that seek to ensure that reproductive health technologies are accessible to all people.

Katare Swaibu is head of the Rwanda National Blood Services, where he drives and champions Rwanda’s efforts to improve blood safety. He has played pivotal roles in the development of Rwanda’s National Guidelines and Policies on Blood Transfusion. Swaibu also serves as the AfSBT Education Manager in charge of Anglophone countries, where he supports countries in African, Asia and the Caribbean in their efforts to scale up blood transfusion safety. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the National University of Rwanda, a Master of Science in immuno-hemato-transfusion medicine from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at Mount Kenya University.

Yuyun Siti Maryuningsih Soedarmono is team lead for Blood and Other Products of Human Origin, Technical Standard and Specifications Unit, Health Products Policy and Standards Department, World Health Organization. She is a medical doctor with specialization in transfusion medicine. She has a PhD in biomedics from Indonesian University and a master’s in virology from Adelaide University, Australia. She is a committee member of the Partnership Training Network of the APEC Blood Supply Chain Forum, past regional director of the International Society of Blood Transfusion for South East Asia Region and chair for Indonesian National Blood Services Committee.

Joseph Ndagijimana leads the Rwandan team at Zipline, a drone delivery service company that specializes in on-demand delivery of blood and other vital medical supplies to health facilities. He holds a master’s degree in global health delivery and a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy. Prior to joining Zipline, he received the prestigious Global Health Corps Fellowship and worked on implementing international procurement processes for pharmaceuticals for hospitals in rural districts across Rwanda. Ndagijimana has extensive experience in health care operations and medical supply chains in public, private and nonprofit sectors, including the Rwanda Biomedical Center and the nonprofit Partners In Health.

Annette Osimbo Okwaro is a nurse-midwife from Kenya. She has been working as a PRONTO trainer and facilitator for the past seven years. She began as a PRONTO trainer in Kakamega, Kenya, in 2013. After working in Kakamega, she worked as a PRONTO trainer in Migori, Kenya, as part of the Preterm Birth Initiative. She has also worked as a PRONTO master trainer in Nigeria and Mozambique.

Dilys Walker is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Institute for Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also affiliate faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, and a visiting professor at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico. With more than 20 years of global maternal, newborn and child health, family planning and reproductive health implementation research, her principal areas of interest include research addressing quality of antenatal and obstetric care, innovative provider training strategies using highly realistic simulation, and team-training for obstetric emergencies (she is co-founder of PRONTO International), as well as group models of antenatal care and introduction of obstetric ultrasound.

Gaudiosa Tibaijuka is a certified nurse midwife with a master’s degree in education and a certification in population, development, and reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH). She has over 35 years of experience in RMNCAH programming from national to community levels of care. Her focus areas include capacity-building for health systems strengthening and quality of care. Tibaijuka is an expert trainer and mentor in RMNCAH service components. She is currently technical director for the Jhpiego-led U.S. Agency for International Development Boresha Afya Lake and Western Zones Project in Tanzania, including Zanzibar. Tibaijuka is engaged in advancing nursing and midwifery professions and White Ribbon Alliance advocacy work for universal health coverage with client-centered, gender-sensitive, respectful care.

Cherrie Evans is a midwife with more than three decades of clinical, research and public health experience. As Director of Helping Mothers Survive at Jhpiego, she works with global stakeholders to design and implement programs to build the capacity of the health workforce in low- and middle-income countries. She served on the World Health Organization technical working group for the Midwifery Toolkit and currently sits on the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Postpartum Hemorrhage Working Group.

Suellen Miller is the director of the Safe Motherhood Program in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. A certified nurse-midwife since l977, she is an expert on midwifery practice. She conducts qualitative and quantitative research on postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), including misoprostol clinical trials and the non-pneumatic anti-shock garments trials. Miller is author of more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and coauthored “Beyond too little, too late and too much, too soon: a pathway towards evidence-based, respectful maternity care worldwide” (Lancet 388(10056):2176-2192; 2016). She co-led the World Health Organization (WHO) technical consultation to develop PPH bundles, and is co-investigator on the University of Birmingham/WHO E-Motive trial of PPH bundles.

Beth Yeager is the deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus program led by U.S. Pharmacopeia. She is responsible for managing activities designed to strengthen medical product quality assurance systems in more than 15 countries in Africa and Asia. Prior to joining Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+), Beth served as the director of the Maternal and Child Health and Zika Task Order of USAID’s Global Health Supply Chain–Procurement and Supply Management project, where she was responsible for managing activities designed to increase access to quality-assured medicines and supplies for maternal and child health.

Afua Nkumah Aggrey is an experienced health supply chain professional with significant experience in reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) commodity management. Currently, she is the family planning/reproductive health and MNCH programmes officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project in Ghana, where she has been providing support to family planning commodity procurement and MNCH technical activities. Aggrey is passionate about issues concerning women and children and is always eager to ensure lifesaving commodities are available at the last mile to vulnerable women in need. When not working, Aggrey loves to spend time volunteering to educate women on reproductive health issues.

Melody Eckardt is an obstetrician-gynecologist and the senior maternal health advisor in the Global Health Innovation Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She is a leader in advancing the science of saving the lives of mothers and newborns, traveling extensively as a speaker, educator and leading researcher. Most recently, Dr. Eckardt led an international collaborative focused on designing, developing and implementing Postpartum Hemorrhage Emergency Care Using a Bundle Approach (PPH EmC), an initiative focused on creating emergency teams and providing both clinical and systems-based solutions to address PPH. Previously, she served as the Global Health Innovation Fellowship Director at MGH and the Director of Global Health for the OBGYN Department at Boston University Medical Center.

John Varallo is an ob-gyn with over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience working in low-resource settings on three continents. He champions developing and testing innovative, practical solutions to accelerate change and improve the quality and safety of surgical care. As Global Director for Safe Surgery, he oversees Jhpiego’s four-country safe surgery program, leveraging Jhpiego’s successes to replicate it globally with partners and governments. Working with Jhpiego’s Innovations team, he conceptualizes, develops and promotes human-centered design processes, products and problem-solving methodologies for positive change.

Jeffrey Jacobs is Director of Product Innovation & Market Access at Merck for Mothers, where he is responsible for the end-to-end management and market introduction of products and technologies that seek to reduce maternal mortality in partnership with public and private partners. This work includes the coordination of internal and external stakeholders across work streams that include product development, supply chain, affordability, market shaping and market introduction. Jacobs has two decades of experience in the areas of regional leadership, marketing, health policy and corporate responsibility, with a keen interest in expanding access to quality treatment. He has a master’s degree in international management from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the School for International Training.

Kunal Saxena is a pharmacist and health economist by training. He currently works as a principal scientist at the Center for Observational Research and Real World Evidence (CORE) at Merck, where he provides support in economic modeling and value demonstration for products in respiratory conditions, neuroscience, women’s health and HIV programs. He received his PhD in pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes from Virginia Commonwealth University, with a research focus on decision analysis modeling and health outcomes research.

Cherrie Evans is a midwife with more than three decades of clinical, research and public health experience. As Director of Helping Mothers Survive at Jhpiego, she works with global stakeholders to design and implement programs to build the capacity of the health workforce in low- and middle-income countries. She served on the World Health Organization technical working group for the Midwifery Toolkit and currently sits on the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Postpartum Hemorrhage Working Group.

Beth Yeager is the deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus program led by U.S. Pharmacopeia. She is responsible for managing activities designed to strengthen medical product quality assurance systems in more than 15 countries in Africa and Asia. Prior to joining Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+), Beth served as the director of the Maternal and Child Health and Zika Task Order of USAID’s Global Health Supply Chain–Procurement and Supply Management project, where she was responsible for managing activities designed to increase access to quality-assured medicines and supplies for maternal and child health.

Haleema Shakur-Still is a professor of Global Health Clinical Trials and co-director of the Clinical Trials Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U.K. Her research is focused on finding effective interventions for critical emergency conditions. She was a lead investigator of the CRASH-2 and CRASH-3 trials of tranexamic acid for the treatment of traumatic hemorrhage and was the principal investigator of the WOMAN trial of tranexamic acid for the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. She is currently working on a program of research aimed at preventing postpartum hemorrhage, including the WOMAN-2 trial and finding alternative routes to administer tranexamic acid to allow more women and trauma victims to benefit from this treatment.

Justus Hofmeyr is a professor in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at the University of Botswana, and advisory director in the Effective Care Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand/Fort Hare and Eastern Cape Department of Health, South Africa. His 350 research publications focus on innovations, randomized trials and Cochrane systematic reviews relevant to maternal health in low-resource settings. His innovations include titrated oral misoprostol solution for labor induction, suction tube uterine tamponade and misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage, and posterior axilla sling traction for shoulder dystocia. He has assisted his wife Carol with community development projects in rural Eastern Cape through the Keiskamma Trust.

Andy Uchida is the Vice President of Research and Development and Manufacturing at Alydia Health, where he leads development of the Jada System for vacuum-induced postpartum hemorrhage control. The Jada System is currently under review at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, based on a recently completed 107-subject U.S. pivotal study. Uchida is also leading development of a subsequent device designed for low- and middle-income countries. He has spent the last 22 years of his career leading research and development programs at early-stage medical device companies, creating innovative solutions in the fields of orthopedics, cardiology and women’s health. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, Berkeley, California.

Marcela Smid is a board certified Maternal Fetal Medicine and Addiction Medicine physician at the University of Utah. She is the medical director of the Substance Use & Pregnancy—Recovery, Addiction, Dependence specialty prenatal clinic. She is a National Institutes of Health K12 Women’s Reproductive Health Research Program scholar. Her research focus is on perinatal addiction, care models for pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders, postpartum hemorrhage, maternal mortality and maternal mental health.

Anthony Wanyoro is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine, Kenyatta University. He has more than 25 years of experience delivering health care in Kenya, of which more than 15 years have been as an ob-gyn. He holds a Master in Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology degree from the University of Nairobi and a PhD in epidemiology from Kenyatta University. He has been involved in several research projects related to maternal and neonatal health, most recently the Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi)-Kenya. He is widely published. With colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco, he is working on an innovation for postpartum hemorrhage named “Malaika.”

Arri Coomarasamy is the director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research based at the University of Birmingham and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health at the University of Birmingham. Coomarasamy received his undergraduate medical education from the University of Birmingham, and his subspecialist training at Guy’s Hospital, London. His research includes numerous multicenter randomized controlled trials, including the CHAMPION Trial and the new E-MOTIVE Trial on management of PPH. Coomarasamy has published more than 190 articles, and takes pride in mentoring junior doctors and researchers. He is the founding trustee of Ammalife, a U.K.-registered charity with the mission of reducing maternal deaths globally.

John Varallo is an ob-gyn with over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience working in low-resource settings on three continents. He champions developing and testing innovative, practical solutions to accelerate change and improve the quality and safety of surgical care. As Global Director for Safe Surgery, he oversees Jhpiego’s four-country safe surgery program, leveraging Jhpiego’s successes to replicate it globally with partners and governments. Working with Jhpiego’s Innovations team, he conceptualizes, develops and promotes human-centered design processes, products and problem-solving methodologies for positive change.

Richard Derman’s career has focused on addressing health disparities in underserved populations. Dr. Derman has served as the chair of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, an endowed chair at three academic institutions, as associate dean and director for three University Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health. Dr. Derman’s research interests include prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage, anemia in pregnancy, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and sepsis. He serves as principal investigator for the Global Research Network for Women’s and Children’s Health, overseeing more than 20 research projects, as well as principal investigator for a large multisite study in India on anemia in pregnancy.

Anne-Beatrice Kihara is president of the African Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, providing oversight in 33 member African countries and flagship programs addressing postpartum hemorrhage and hypertensive disease in pregnancy toward reduction of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. She is also a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi and a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist. Dr. Kiraha is a member of the Noncommunicable Disease Committee of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, President Emeritus of the Kenyan Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, and a Fellow of the College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She participates in teaching, research, publications, technical guidance, policy and advocacy related to women’s health, and has been a keynote speaker locally, regionally and globally.

Joseph Massenga is a public health specialist and medical doctor, working as the technical lead for the U.S. Agency for International Development Boresha Afya Project, led by Jhpiego. Dr. Massenga has a wealth of experience in maternal and newborn health implementation science in Tanzania. He has been extensively involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of maternal, newborn and child health interventions in both national and international organizations. He is currently leading efforts at Jhpiego to advance implementation science research, and to support capacity-building for national and local health leaders and service providers to improve maternal and newborn health, as well as for translating research and evidence into policy and practices.

Priscilla Phiri is one of the first Malawian-trained obstetrician-gynecologists. She graduated with a Master of Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the University of Malawi, College of Medicine, in March 2018. Currently, she is the head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Ministry of Health, Kamuzu Central Hospital. She previously served as the assistant head of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the same tertiary hospital. She is also a faculty member at the University of Malawi, College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Gathari Ndirangu Gichuhi is a family planning, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health specialist with 20 years’ experience in clinical work, technical support, research and program management in sub-Saharan Africa. He has contributed to the development and review of policies, guidelines and training packages. Ndirangu is currently the technical director of the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Afya Halisi Project in Kenya, which aims to strengthen health systems at the national and subnational levels to provide integrated and high quality family planning; reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition; and water sanitation and hygiene services. Previously, he served as technical director for the Maternal and Child Survival Program in Kenya and Zambia, and taught at Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya’s premier and largest university teaching hospital.

John Varallo is an ob-gyn with over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience working in low-resource settings on three continents. He champions developing and testing innovative, practical solutions to accelerate change and improve the quality and safety of surgical care. As Global Director for Safe Surgery, he oversees Jhpiego’s four-country safe surgery program, leveraging Jhpiego’s successes to replicate it globally with partners and governments. Working with Jhpiego’s Innovations team, he conceptualizes, develops and promotes human-centered design processes, products and problem-solving methodologies for positive change.

Suzanne Stalls has worked throughout the world during the past 25 years in the fields of maternal, newborn and reproductive health. Her academic background includes an undergraduate degree in Spanish and French, a graduate degree in international relations and a nursing and nurse-midwifery degree. During her professional career, she founded and directed a midwifery service in a large tertiary care hospital and practiced clinically for close to two decades. She has provided technical support and expertise in preservice and in-service education and training, community mobilization efforts, organizational development, professional association strengthening and quality improvement. Her focus is antenatal care, quality improvement linked with clinical capacity-building and respectful maternity care. Stalls is currently the maternal newborn health team lead for MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership, a global technical leadership award funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development in a consortium directed by Jhpiego.

Deborah Armbruster is a nurse-midwife with a Master’s in Public Health and is a fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. She is currently a senior maternal and newborn health advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and assists in managing the Advancing PPH Care project, the White Ribbon Alliance and the Global Health Supply Chain – PSM project. She came to USAID from PATH, where she was the director of the research project, the Oxytocin Initiative, and from 2004 to 2009, the director of the Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage Initiative (POPPHI) project. She has more than 30 years’ experience in safe motherhood and reproductive health programs in over 25 countries.