Changemaker

Karolinska Institutet (KI) is one of the world’s foremost medical universities. KI accounts for the single largest share of all academic medical research conducted in Sweden and offers the broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences in Sweden. KI has hosted the selection of the laureate in Physiology and Medicine since 1901. KI has been one of the largest and most prestigious grant holders and has a strong portfolio of managing EU funded research projects and ranks among the top 10 Public Health institutions globally. KI as a whole and specifically the department of Global Public Health has an extensive academic network globally with strong participation into collaborative EU funded projects. KI grants management office will handle the financial and administrative management of the project, keeping track of milestones and deliverables and ensuring together with the coordinator that financial and narrative reporting is according to standards.  

Main Tasks: Overall coordination and co-design of the intervention. KI and the dept of GPH have a long experience in coordinating EU grants. Furthermore, KI has a good track record of applying co-design and managing equitable and respectful partnerships. 

Location: Stockholm, Sweden 

University of Bonn (UBO) is Germany’s pre-eminent University of Excellence with 6 Clusters of Excellence in the domains mathematics, neurosciences, social sciences, economics, physics, and most importantly, sustainable crop production. The Center for Development Research (ZEF) is an interdisciplinary research center at UBO which aims at finding science-based solutions to development-related issues. UBO leads several large-scale projects funded by the European Commission, various German Federal Ministries, including the Ministry of Nutrition and Agriculture (BMEL), and large philanthropic foundations, such as the Volkswagen Foundation and Robert Bosch Foundation. 

Main Tasks: UBO will lead the work Package on Trial Design and Evaluation. UBO has a long-standing experience in conducting large-scale randomized controlled trials and has a strong network of global partners, especially in Africa and Asia to support the project activities and significantly contribute to the dissemination and communication of findings.    

Location: Bonn, Germany  

Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH) is an independent non-government non-profit organization registered in Tanzania with the mission to address public health priority challenges in sub–Saharan Africa through innovative scientific evidence, training and capacity building and knowledge translation. AAPH provides a platform for north-south and south-south learning to develop collaborative and sustainable research and programs, with the aim to benefit population health. AAPH incorporated in 2009, evolved from 40 years public health research collaborations between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Now headquartered in Dar es Salaam – Tanzania, AAPH works with a range of individuals as well as organizations, allowing ample opportunities for professional collaborations and networks. AAPH’s collaborators include; the Tanzania MoH, President’s Office, Regional and Local Administration (PO-RALG), Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA), and several other universities within Tanzania and outside such as the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and others in Germany, UK and Switzerland. This network provides a range of technical expertise, capabilities and perspectives which provide a unique set of resources in advancing public health in Tanzania and SSA. AAPH with its rich team of staff is self-sufficient in research expertise including: research design and implementation, program design and planning, development and management of data systems, data analysis, and monitoring and evaluation, epidemiology, training and policy dialogue. AAPH has conducted a number of dissemination meetings to share and advance research.  

Main Tasks: AAPH will be involved in the creating of a multi-stakeholder platform in Tanzania, and will support the intervention design, the implementation as well as the dissemination.  

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  

Harvard Global Research and Support Services, Inc. (Harvard) is a charitable, tax-exempt corporation under US law.  It is a supporting organization of Harvard University. They are highly experienced in conducting research in public health, including aspects related to population and family health, strengthening of health systems, humanitarian studies, and human rights and ethics. They have established the Africa Research, Implementation Science, and Education (ARISE) Network – led by Professor Wafaie Fawzi – in response to a clear and compelling need for a greater, more sustainable public health capacity in Africa.  The ARISE Network partners, spanning 21 organizations in nine countries, have established collaborative programs to more effectively transfer the great array of services, knowledge, and other resources for the prevention and treatment of diseases to the many in need of this help, with particular emphasis on those living in resource-poor settings. As part of the ARISE Network, they are working on several adolescent health and nutrition projects in Tanzania as well as other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They have established and are leading the inter-departmental Nutrition and Global Health program at Harvard that aims to establish a framework to bring together the training activities related to nutrition, agriculture, and broader global health across the university; developing new, multidisciplinary curricula and courses; and offering internships to students from Harvard matched with students at collaborating sites.  

Main tasks: Together with the implementing partners, they will lead the implementation and impact evaluation (WP6). 

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (DALF) is a government institution that came into being after the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution 2010. Since then, the institution has coordinated several projects among them Agricultural sector Development support program, Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture program and European programs like Healthy Food Africa, Foodland, Practice, Vicinaqua, all which are recipients of Horizon 2020 funding. DALF aims to promote good health and sanitation as well as technologies, innovations that enhance food and nutrition security amongst the communities.  As a government entity mandated by the constitution 2010 to promote technologies, innovations and research based on findings to promote the livelihoods of the citizens.  

Main Tasks: DALF will be instrumental in implementing the activities in Kenya and will support the building of a multi-stakeholder platform to support the implementation.  

Location: Nanyuki, Kenya  

Tampere University (TAU) the TAU team has over 20 years of experience in research related to public health, including behavioral interventions to promote health and prevent both non-communicable and communicable diseases in different real-world settings in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.    The research will take place at TAU, with access to all critical infrastructure for project activities, also including research platforms such as the TRANSFORM which focuses on translating knowledge of effective and equitable welfare services into practices.

Main Tasks: Together with the partner institutions, TAU will define the implementation strategies and will ensure that the interventions are addressed in appropriate manner to the target group.

Location: Tampere, Finland

The Technical University of Kenya (TUK) is founded on the belief that economic development of a nation is achievable fundamentally through technological advancement. TUK is a centre of excellence for the training of personnel in technological, creative, business and management skills. The school of Health and Biomedical Sciences at TUK has an excellent track record of delivering successful inter-disciplinary research programs in Kenya from diverse funders, e.g., UK research councils (Wellcome Trust, NIHR, The British Academy and NERC/BBSRC/MRC), ERASMUS MUNDU. The SHBS also had a collaboration with the University of Glasgow and Africa University Research Initiative (ARUA). The Department Human Nutrition and Dietetics has a Memorandum of Action by Africa Center of Excellence for Population Health and Policy (ACEPHAP) at Bayero University in Nigeria in collaboration with the Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute and Six Partner Kenyan Universities.

Main Tasks: TUK will be involved in the development of the intervention, including the co-design process and will also support dissemination.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

The Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN) is one of three implementation and research centres in the National institute of Public Health (NIPH) of Burkina Faso with the main objective of designing and implementing novel interventions and providing scientific evidence to health planners and policy makers. The CRSN has been fully integrated into the Ministry of Health (MoH) since 1999. Its strong research capacity includes global health, biological laboratory capabilities, and environmental and meteorological information system. The core database spanning these research areas is a dynamic population-based cohort, one of the approximately 60 HDSS worldwide, which links data on risk factors, morbidity, and mortality, with demographic, behavioural, and socioeconomic data. The CRSN, through its long experience in research, has created a favourable environment for collaboration at national level in Burkina Faso with all research institutions/universities. It also has a strong link with Health and Public Hygiene, education, and youth policymakers/ stakeholders as well as broad access to civil society organisations active on youth issues and youth associations.

Main Tasks: CRSN will co-lead with its team the co-design of the intervention and will further support design, implementation, and the impact evaluation.

Location: Nouna, Burkina Faso

Food Security for Peace and Nutrition (FSPN) is a non-Government organization, which supports youth and women in the agricultural value chain access support, extension and market opportunities to ensure sustainability, profitability with an immediate outcome of household food and nutrition security.  Their focus is linking agriculture to nutrition and nutrition outcomes through guided approaches including Policy Advocacy, Research and Development, Community Education and Sensitization and Technology and Innovation. FSPN Africa has experience in community engagement from micro (grassroots) to macro (multi stakeholder) in designing, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning of nutrition sensitive interventions. FSPN run the EU-Healthy Diets4Africa and are hence linked to a pool of stakeholders and existing infrastructures to leverage on. FSPN has a team of five people dedicated to Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture in Africa within the different contexts and an Urban and Peri-Urban expert who will facilitate contextualized content development on Urban Farming to be applied in the different countries.

Main Tasks: FSPN Africa will provide support in various WPs in relation to urban farming and capacity building.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya Medical Research Institute Kisumu (KEMRI) is a State Corporation established in Kenya in 1979. The Institute currently ranks as one of the leading Centres of excellence in health research both in Africa as well as globally. Their mission is to improve human health and quality of life through research, capacity building, innovation and service delivery. KEMRI has conducted several infectious and non-infectious disease research work, including but not limited to child and adolescent work. This research includes understanding the morbidity and mortality of hypertension and diabetes within the Demographic Surveillance Site, sickle cell studies, and anthropometric surveys.

Main tasks: The effectiveness, implementation, and impact evaluation

Location: Kisumu, Kenya

Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) is a leading and the oldest public higher-learning institution in Tanzania involved in academic, research, and consultancy. MUHAS provides high-quality training for health professionals locally and internationally. MUHAS is one of the major institutions undertaking national and international health research including implementation research, including EU funded projects. MUHAS works closely with the MoH in Tanzania, Government ministries and departments, national and international organizations, in addressing the local and global health challenges. Of importance and owing to the epidemiological transition, MUHAS has been engaged in non-communicable diseases and also focusing on adolescents as a special group. The university has championed the development of a national NCDs program, leading national NCDs conferences for four years in a row and working closely with NCDs implementers.

Main tasks: Implementation of the trial (WP5), implementation and impact evaluation (WP6). Provide support for ethical questions on the project.

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP) is an institution of education, training, research and expertise in population and development of the Joseph Ki-Zerbo University in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. It has solid experience in data collection and analysis, both quantitative and qualitative. This experience is recognized in the sub-region, which earned it the label of Regional Center of Excellence granted by West African Economic and Monetary Union in 2005. ISSP research covers a wide range of topics including health, education, employment, migration, poverty and social protection, environment, housing. The Institute also offers its expertise at the request of national, regional or international partners in term of research.

Main Tasks: ISSP will be involved in the intervention’s co-design and implementation. ISSP will also support the evaluation.

Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso