Our Team

Our expert team

HIFA Staff and Experts

The professionals leading HIFA’s research, programmes, finance and MEAL functions. Click View full profile on any card to see complete qualifications and expertise.

Themba Phiri

Team Leader – Executive Director
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Qualifications

  • PhD Public Health Policy (candidate, 2022–present), Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • MA Development Studies (2015), Robert Kennedy College, Zurich, Switzerland
  • BA Development Studies (2006), University of South Africa
  • Diploma in Public Health (1997), University of Malawi – The Polytechnic

Areas of Expertise

  • Epidemiology and disease surveillance
  • Qualitative research expert
  • Project management and community development expert
  • Policy analysis and development expert

Amakhosi Jere

Director of Research and Knowledge Management
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Qualifications

  • MBA, Project Leadership and Management (thesis: Political Economy Analysis of Governance and Enabling Institutions for SMEs in Malawi)
  • MSc Project Management and Impact Evaluation (2022–2024)
  • MSc Environmental Economics and Policy, Ecology and Governance (pending)
  • BSc Environmental Science, Renewable Energy Technologies (2010), Mzuzu University, Malawi

Areas of Expertise

  • Political Economy Analysis
  • Governance and climate change
  • Environment economics, policy, ecology and governance expert
  • Proposal development
  • Data analysis and report writing and development of policy briefs

Dr. Kibble Ngalauka

Director of Programmes
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Qualifications

  • PhD Sociology
  • MSc Social Development and Health (QMU) Scotland - UK
  • BA Development Administration - UNISA RSA
  • BSc Rural Development Ede. The Netherlands
  • Diploma in Clinical Medicine. Malawi Adventist University

Areas of Expertise

  • Social development and health
  • Project management and Administration
  • Health management systems
  • Resource mobilisation and Partnerships
  • Over 30 years’ experience in Organisational Capacity Development and OCAs for CSOs and CBOs; extensive experience in policy review and development

Dr. Bernadette Chimera (Khombe)

Public Health, Nutrition & Scientific Research Team Member
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Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
  • MSc, Clinical and Public Health Nutrition
  • PhD – Epidemiology, Public Health, Health Services Research

Areas of Expertise

  • Physician-scientist and epidemiologist with extensive expertise in scientific research and evidence-based medicine
  • European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer (EPIC), Danish Cohort – Inter99
  • Proficient in R, STATA, Covidence, RevMan and MS Office, with a strong record of peer-reviewed publications and WHO/Ministry of Health-facing organisation work

Sosten Chilumpha

Health Economics and Financing Research Team Member
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Qualifications

  • MSc Health Economics and Financial Management (2011), Jagiellonian University, Krakw, Poland
  • Master of Public Health and Epidemiology (2010), ScHARR, University of Sheffield, England
  • BSc Environmental Health (2003), University of Malawi – The Polytechnic

Areas of Expertise

  • Health economics, financing and economic analysis
  • Costing of Health Sector Strategic Plan III implementation (Ministry of Health/World Bank)
  • Health facility financing reviews for Malawi (UNICEF/WHO); fiscal space analysis and phased investment roadmap design
  • Cross-sector financing flow tracing and economic evaluations expert

William Luhanga

Finance and Administration Manager
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Qualifications

  • ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
  • Management Accounting
  • Bachelor of Accountancy (BAC)

Areas of Expertise

  • Financial management, audit and risk management
  • Grants management
  • Procurement and disposal of assets
  • Analysis and review of financial manuals, procurement manuals, inventory management policies, risk registers and anti-fraud/whistle-blowing policies
  • Designs and delivers financial management training on budgeting, financing strategy and reporting, budget monitoring, management of financial risks and internal controls, internal and external audits, and ethics and conflict of interest

Pemphero Chiwayula

MEAL Manager
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Qualifications

  • PhD Education Leadership and Management (in progress, expected 2027)
  • MPhil International Development Studies (Humanitarian) and International Cooperation (First Class, 2015)
  • BA Education (Second Upper Class)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Project Development and Management (2014)

Areas of Expertise

  • Result based management and development of results frameworks and M&E plans
  • Builds project team capacity in MEAL and upgrades monitoring and evaluation systems
  • Hands-on expertise with DHIS2, DHIS2 Tracker, HMIS and PHIM; dashboards (Power BI, DevResults, DATIM); and national data-system design and governance
  • Data analysis and quality control
Dr. Chikosa Ngwira

Dr. Chikosa Ngwira

Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Research Specialist
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Qualifications

  • PhD Public Health and Policy – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • MSc Population and Reproductive Health – Queen Margaret University, UK
  • BSc Environmental Health – University of Malawi, The Polytechnic

Areas of Expertise

  • Senior RM&E specialist with extensive experience providing global health technical assistance in programme design, management, monitoring and evaluation, and research (RM&E) across maternal and child health and SRHR service delivery
  • Over 15 SRHR programmes delivered across Malawi and the Southern and Eastern Africa region
  • RM&E engagements on SRHR programmes funded by major donor agencies including the Netherlands MoFA, USAID, UNICEF, the Global Fund, DFID, EC, UNFPA and Global Affairs Canada