Meet Our Team
Chief Executive Officer
Prof. Edward Kunonga
Professor Edward Kunonga is a passionate public health consultant currently working across acute and mental health trusts in the North East of England. He is a former joint director of public health and public protection for two local authorities in the South Tees area. In this role he led multi-disciplinary teams and won a number of awards including the prestigious MJ Awards (Municipal Journal) for the
Best Public health and health improvement initiatives programmes in the UK in June 2019. He has a passion for improving population health and has presented at many international, national, regional and local forums.
He worked together Dr Chireka, in championing the plight of BAME staff in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitating weekly zoom community meetings to provide expertise, facilitate discussion, bring in international experts to the communities and ultimately to provide community support throughout the pandemic. Some of this work is summarised in the publication in the Journal of Migration and Health called, At the deep end: COVID-19 experiences of Zimbabwean health and care workers in the United Kingdom.
He is an Honorary Professor at Teesside University where he is involved in teaching undergraduate, masters and doctorate level students as well as research collaborations. He is a certified lifestyle medicine specialist and also holds higher specialist training in public health and epidemiology
Associate Director
Dr. Fortunate Machingura
Dr Fortunate Machingura is a development anthropologist of Southern Africa with over 17 years’ experience undertaking research, evaluation, and programming to increase coverage and uptake of health services. Dr Machingura joined CeSHHAR in 2019, bringing a wealth of experience working with communities, key populations, donors, governments, universities, and NGOs in Africa. She leads a Southern Africa Key Populations research agenda in direct collaborations with the University of Oxford, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Liverpool School for Tropical Medicine (LSTM).
Dr Machingura holds a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Population Studies, Certifications in public health and a BSc in food nutrition studies. She retains a heightened interest in behavioural cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative studies, participatory research and randomised controlled trials. Dr Machingura is particularly keen on the anthropology of health, gender, violence, poverty, inequality, sexual and reproductive health especially among female sex workers, women and sexual minorities in Southern Africa. She also evaluates the effectiveness of population interventions aimed at HIV prevention including on condom, PrEP and ART uptake.
Prior to joining CeSHHAR Dr Machingura was a postdoctoral fellow at the Global Development Institute with the University of Manchester and a Research Fellow in the Growth Poverty and Inequality Programme with the Overseas Development Institute in London. She also served as the Deputy Chief of Party for RTI International working in the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care in the Division of Preventive Services. Dr Machingura has coordinated the East and Southern Africa (ESA)’s Health Equity agenda through the regional network for equity on health in ESA (EQUINET) and the Training and Research Support Centre. She has extensive experience in the implementation of community-based development projects along with the coordination of Health Management Information Systems, including contributing towards the development of the Electronic Medical Records Systems(EMRs) and strengthening the District Health Information System Software (DHIS2) in Zimbabwe. She has worked in other contexts including in Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi and the UK.
In addition to the above, Dr Machingura’s research engages with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with the anthropology of mental health, disasters, and the governance of life in the global south. She welcomes research partnerships and collaborations in any of those areas.
Associate Director
Chris Dzikiti
Chris Dzikiti is an experienced programme and project management professional with strong transformational leadership, operational management, strategic and clinical experience which has been built over 20 years in healthcare delivery and commissioning.
He currently works as Head of Programmes, Transformation and Delivery for NHS England & Improvement. Previously Chris has also worked as a Programme director leading on mental health transformation in London and as Deputy director of programmes leading the programme management office for a directorate.
He studied for a Degree in Mental Health Nursing at City, University of London. He also holds an MSc in Transcultural Psychiatry from Queen Mary University (2005-2007) and an MSc in Healthcare Management from City (2012-2014). He is also qualified in Prince 2, MSP and Lean six Sigma yellow belt. Chris is Chair of Zimbabwe Health Training Support, a UK-based group of healthcare professionals who support their fellow health workers in Zimbabwe. He is also Director of Operations for the National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care Units leading and supporting the publication of national minimum standards and national guidance / policies.
Between 2017 and 2021, Chris was a healthcare consultant for Health Education England in India, providing technical support for Mental Health Services there. He is also a published author, having contributed a chapter on psychiatric intensive care to the book Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing – The Craft of Caring. Chris is passionate about supporting BAME colleagues and is involved in coaching and mentoring young people from a BAME background.
Associate Director
Melary Kapapiro
Melary Kapapiro is an accomplished and inspired Senior Manager and Consultant with considerable expertise in Quality, Compliance, Public Health and Business Management. Melary confidently engages at all levels of an organisation, from the Board down to develop fit and proper standards, frameworks and policies that creates outstanding health and social care services.
In rapidly changing health and social care environments, she excels in the use of insights and knowledge to advise and guide decision-makers at all levels, including through CQC audits, provider and regulator interactions. Melary is passionate about creating compliance in operations, and driving continuous health improvements, with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of care and patient/service user experience.
With the ability to lead the development and implementation of strategies, she compliments her experience with a successful track record in improving health outcomes. She has naturally been involved throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in evolving quality, compliance, public health and business processes to protect the population’s health.
Associate Director
Prof. David Katerere
Prof. David Katerere holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland and a BPharm (Hons) from the University of Zimbabwe. He is a Professor at Tshwane University of Technology.
David Katerere has a keen understanding of the pharmaceutical industry having worked in managerial and technical positions in retail pharmacy, hospital and biotech industrial pharmacy. In 2012, he was the technical lead for the DTI consulting project on “Feasibility of API Manufacturing in South Africa”. This led to him being nominated as the Chair / Co-ordinator of the DTI National Working Group on the Pharmaceutical Industry.
From 2014 – 2016, he was the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Zanalytix Pty Ltd which was located at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria. He is on the expert committees of SA Medicines Control Council (now SAHPRA), an expert advisor / trainer for the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) and has completed several consulting assignments for Department of Trade and Industry, SADC, COMESA as well as United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). He is a mentor for SME at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria.
Associate Director
Suraiya Essof
Experienced Director in Youth Education with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. Skilled in Education, Youth Projects, Nonprofit Organizational Management, Business Management, Human Resources, Therapeutic Recreation, Networking and Wellbeing initiatives.
Human resources development professional – Bachelor of Commerce in Industrial Psychology (University of Johannesburg) with a Postgraduate in Education focused on Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education and Teaching from University of South Africa (UNISA).
A small business owner, teacher and trainer, organization development and industrial psychology consultant. Strong roots in Education and Youth Development. Experienced in Syllabus development and Content creation.
Founder and Director of Kites for Peace, a recreational movement for social change, and the cofounder and coordinator of the Zimbabwe Cares Network, a network of over 150 community organizations in Zimbabwe.
Passionate about community upliftment and education and influencing social change through methods like kite flying, particularly through the youth, to find their power and purpose.
Has worked with several community organizations to establish or enhance their operations and find meaningful engagement in the Zimbabwean community and elsewhere.
Won the 2019 Eat Out movements Force for Good award for Social Innovation.
In 2020 named as one of 40 “Great Zimbabweans” in the Great Zimbabweans Project.
In 2020 was profiled on the Guardian UK’s “20 Outstanding Women of Zimbabwe” list.
In 2021 named Social Entrepreneur of the year by Zimbabwe Community News Awards
Associate Director
Searchmore Chaparadza
Searchmore Chaparadza is a Chartered Accountant by profession, with over ten years post qualification experience, all of which have been spent in the healthcare sector. His healthcare experience spans from the First Mutual Holdings group and The Avenues Clinic, with great experience both in healthcare financing and service provision.
He ran the financial strategies of both First Mutual Life Assurance Company and First Mutual Health Company, both subsidiaries in the First Mutual Holdings Group, between 2010 and 2015. He then joined Medical Investments Limited trading as The Avenues Clinic in October 2015 as the Chief Finance Officer, a position he held until his appointment to Chief Executive Officer in August 2018 to March 2021. He is now focusing on various interests in the healthcare industry.
He completed his Masters in Business Leadership Degree with the University of South Africa, and majored in corporate strategy and organisational transformations. To consolidate his leadership experience and capability to run a top industry player that operates in a dynamic global environment, he recently completed an International Executive Development Program (IEDP) with Wits Business School in conjunction with London Business School.
Searchmore is an avid transformation expert, a very pertinent skill that has assisted him in running big organisations in the healthcare industry for more than five years.
Associate Director
Tendai H.M. Jambga
With over 25 years of experience in various sectors along the Healthcare continuum, Tendai HM Jambga (Ms) brings a thoughtful perspective and blend of creative chops and market insight that has put her training and project managing skills to test and success.
Tendai’s career in the Health sector started in the USA where she was an Education Instructor at a leading teaching hospital in St Louis. In this position she developed, coordinated and taught programs on offer such as:
- Hospital Orientation for all new hires
- Taught and developed training modules for the hospital’s MIS (Medical Information System) for professional and ancillary staff
- Coordinated and certified skilled and non-skilled staff for BLS (Basic Life Support)
- Conducted Stress Management classes
Now living in Harare, Zimbabwe, she has continued to work within the Health sector holding key positions in large healthcare organizations such as Strategis Holdings where Tendai was the Corporate Affairs and Marketing Director. During her tenure there she worked with the various SBU’s with some of the key tasks being orientation, training and coordination of marketing roll-out activities.
Prior to resuming consulting work, Tendai was the Zimbabwe Country Director of a top Medical Insurance company, Liberty Health. She headed the local operation in Harare and Bulawayo where she was head hunted to convert the secretariat office into an office with a full staff complement. Key output was streamlined to professionalize the long term vision and strategy for the Zimbabwean office, provide leadership to management, grow the local portfolio and manage internal and external relationships.
Now working as a Director in her own Consultancy Company, Tendai continues to focus within the health arena concentrating on the following pillars:
- Management Consultancy
- Workshop Facilitation
- Life Coaching
- Training
- Monitoring and Evaluation
Tendai was educated at Convent High Schools in Zimbabwe and went to University in the USA where she majored in Business Communication and English Literature. She sits on a couple of boards specializing in the distribution of Medical Equipment. Tendai is a mother of two grown children and is passionate about social responsibility, writing and traveling.
Associate Director
Dr. Grant Murewanhema
Dr Grant Murewanhema holds Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degrees from the University of Zimbabwe, Master of Medicine Degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the University of
Zimbabwe as well as a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He is an International Practitioner Member of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians of the UK, and an alumni of the Chevening Programme. He is an academic and scientific researcher and writer, a regular columnist for local newspapers and tabloids in Zimbabwe. As an Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Public Health Specialist, Dr Murewanhema has strong interests in Maternal, Sexual and Reproductive Health and the control of infectious diseases, whilst he has clinical interests that include minimal access gynaecological surgery, helping women who suffer from endometriosis and other reproductive disorders, reducing maternal and perinatal mortality in resource-limited settings and optimising pregnancy outcomes. Dr Grant believes in helping underprivileged communities and has worked in several outreach projects that offer health services to different areas of Zimbabwe. He is keen on expanding philanthropic work, helping children from disadvantaged families to go through their studies and mentoring young people on the academic ladder. He is a fitness and wellbeing enthusiasist, who runs HealthCare First Page on facebook, which emphasizes preventive medicine, and is a part of OTHABS Wellness in Zimbabwe.
Associate Director
Moses Mujati
Moses Mujati is an actuarial, strategy and finance expert. He consults in the SADC region assisting businesses on matters of growth, client retention. He designs turnkey solutions around value added services and the science of rewards in business systems to promote uptake of products.
He is passionate about Big Data. His research methodologies have allowed him to leverage big databases to best advantage for his clients.
Associate Director
Trouble Burukai
Trouble Burukai is a Public Health expert mainly in Biostatistics and Epidemiology. A passionate biostatistician who has experience in the use of statistical software’s like basic Python & R programming, Stata, SPSS, SAS, Mathlab, Epi Infor and Arch GIS. He is a data analyst, with the ability to handle large medical research data sets. He is involved in various medical research’s because of his skill in data analytics.
He has a keen interest in special epidemiology and its application in disease surveillance. He believes that spatial Epidemiology can be used to investigate disease surveillance and that spatial data is important to monitor the trends of infectious and non-communicable Diseases.
He is the founder and CEO of Victoria Foundation for Diabetic Children’s Trust, an NGO centered on the welfare of Children living with Type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe. The NGO cares for the management of type 1 diabetes, their physical health, psychosocial health, education and Diabetic research in addition to many programmes that the Organization is responsible for.
He is a researcher and an academic Works for the Faculty of Health Sciences, Midlands State University in Zimbabwe as an Anatomist, Biostatistician and epidemiologist.
Recently been appointed Researcher and Statistician by the Zimbabwe Rugby Union (June 2021). He is a passionate rugby coach and has used his expertise in statistics to model player performance analysis for all Zimbabwe National Rugby Teams.
He holds an BSC in Human Anatomy from the University of Zimbabwe (2009) and M.Sc. Biostatistics & Epidemiology (2019).
Currently studying Executive MBA with the Midlands State University (2022) and almost completing Masters of Medical Sciences in Human anatomy at the University of Zimbabwe (2021).
Associate Director
Dr. Martina Kawome
Dr Martina Kawome has a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Diploma in Ophthalmology and Masters in Ophthalmology from the University of Zimbabwe. She is a fellow of the College of Ophthalmology of Eastern Southern and Central Africa (COESCA).
Dr Martina is also an Honorary lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe where she also engages in research. Her special research interest is patient-centred care and has published articles on the subject. In line with research, she is also a fellow for PERFECT and PETRA from the University of Zimbabwe.
She is a Telemedicine (Ophthalmology) Consultant for Solidarmed. She co-founded Rare Disease Zimbabwe Trust which led to being a World Health Organisation Collaborative Global Network for Rare Disease panel expert 2021-2022.
Associate Director
Prof. Rotimi Jaiyesimi
Professor Rotimi Jaiyesimi, a 1978 graduate of the University of Ibadan was appointed Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the UK in 1994. He is currently the Group Associate Medical Director for Patient Safety at Mid and South Essex University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan. At the forefront of clinical governance, he is a UK National Health Service Patient Safety Specialist and has vast experience in medical regulation and medical negligence. He is a Senior Fellow of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management and a Fellow of the Institute of Information Management.
A Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons and Fellow, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, he also holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Newcastle Business School and a Masters degree in Medical Law, from Northumbria University, Newcastle.
Professor Jaiyesimi is a transformation agent with a vast wealth of experience in clinical care, health policy and global health development. He co-authored Nigeria’s National policy on Gender and Health and contributed to the Nigeria’s National Policy on Diaspora Matters. He is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Nigerian Commission of the Global Eradication program for Hepatitis. He is an author and has published over 60 scientific articles and presented at several international conferences.
He is a multi-award winner and has been described by his peers in the United Kingdom as an asset to the UK National Health Service (NHS).
Advisor
Dr. Nokuthula Kitikiti
Dr Nokuthula Kitikiti is a specialist Public Health physician based at the Duke-NUS Medical School Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) and SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) in Singapore.
Dr Kitikiti completed her medical degree and Public Health specialist training in Singapore. She has a diverse range of health system experience including roles in Singapore government health agencies, clinical practice in tertiary and primary care, occupational medicine, hospital administration, pharmaceutical policy think-tank and outbreak management.
She was raised in Harare, Zimbabwe and has worked in Kenya. She holds a BA in Anthropology and Chemistry from Macalester College, MD from Duke-NUS Medical School as well as an MSc in Global Public Health from the University of Oxford.
Consultant
Dr. Tsitsi
Tsitsi is a Consultant Paediatrician in London. She has specialist interests in Global Health and medical education. She is passionate about empowering others to care for the world’s most vulnerable children through capacity building, training and program development and has worked extensively in the NGO and development sector. Tsitsi serves as a non-executive director on several iNGO boards and is the director of Afya Imfundo, which provides educational resources, mentorship and consultancy in Global Health.