IPRC - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Manager of the Research Management Programme

Allen Mukhwana is the manager of the Research Management Programme in Africa (ReMPro Africa), which seeks to build the expertise necessary to create and sustain robust research enterprises and environments by addressing challenges on the systemic level at institutions. She previously worked with the Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, and Makerere University as the Senior Research Administrator and Head of Research Capacity-building. Here she established the research support functions and structures, and articulated the governance framework. Allen was at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) as Centre Manager for the Makerere University, and the UVRI Centre of Excellence for Infection and Immunity Research and Training (MUII-PLUS). She has an MBA from the Eastern and Southern Institute of Management. With over 15 years of work that spanned academia, industry and the NGO sector, Allen has vast experience in engaging

Job Titles:

• Coordinator of the West Africa Research Platform at the Medical Research Council

Dembo Kanteh is the Coordinator of the West Africa Research Platform at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit at the Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is responsible for building partnerships with research organisations across West Africa. He is also the Assistant Secretary General of the West African Research and Innovation Management Association (WARIMA). Dembo has over 20 years' experience as a leader in management, developing institutional strategies, operations, and business processes. He has extensive experience as a trainer in research management, providing training at the WARIMA annual meetings, as well as acting as a facilitator for the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF). Dembo has managed funding and contracts from all major funders of biomedical research and have considerable experience in policy development and risk management in several organisations. He has expertise in setting up monitoring and evaluation frameworks, performance management and reporting at organisational, departmental and programme levels. Dembo is an economist by training and also holds an MBA Degree from the Open University in the UK.

Head of Projects Services - National Research Fund (FNI), Mozambique Dirce holds a master's degree from the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique. She joined the FNI, an autonomous national public institution under the mandate of the Ministry of Science & Technology (MCT), in 2008, Since 2010, she has been actively involved in project design, monitoring and evaluation training. In 2014, the FNI was invited to participate in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), a multi-funder initiative dedicated to strengthening the capacities of 17 Science Grating Councils in sub-Saharan Africa. Dirce serves as the FNI's representative in this initiative.

Job Titles:

• President of the Research Administration and Management

Dr Elliott Kulakowski is the President of the Research Administration and Management Strategy Group, an international consulting firm based in the USA. Dr Kulakowski has over 30 years of experience in research and technology management. He held executive leadership positions at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Carnegie Research Intensive Universities, academic medical centres, and university spin-off companies. He served as President and CEO of the Society of Research Administrators (SRA) International. Dr Kulakowski participates in strategic planning, developing institutional policies and procedures, managing programme operations, and evaluating programmes. He conducts training in research and technology management, and is an invited speaker at international meetings. He is co-author of the book Research Administration and Management. Dr Kulakowski holds a BS in Biology, MS in Medical Biology, PhD in Biochemistry, and an MBA. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

Job Titles:

• Adjunct Professor at the Universities of Toronto
• Editor - in - Chief of the NewSpecial Magazine
• Manager of Partnerships and Governance at the World Health Organization 's Special Programme for Research

Dr Garry Aslanyan is the Manager of Partnerships and Governance at the World Health Organization's Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). He is responsible for managing a range of partnerships and engagement with global health stakeholders, and he runs the governing bodies of the TDR. Furthermore, he manages the TDR's collaboration with six regional WHO offices and coordinates the ESSENCE on Health Research, an initiative of research funders. In the past 20 years, Dr Aslanyan has taken on various roles that allowed him to lead various organisational and technical innovations and is a recognised leader in public health both in Canada and globally. Dr Aslanyan is the Editor-in-Chief of the NewSpecial Magazine, a publication of the United Nations staff in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Editorial Advisor for the WHO Bulletin. He served on the WHO Guidelines Review Committee, and is an external reviewer of various global health research programmes. Dr Aslanyan is an Adjunct Professor at the universities of Toronto, British Columbia and Ottawa, and is a former President of the Ontario Public Health Association. He has a background in dentistry, public health, research and innovation management, health policy and systems, as well as global health diplomacy. He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Armenian.

Job Titles:

• Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Dr John Kirkland, Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), is the Senior Advisor (External Affairs) at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) in the UK. His long career in research management includes two previous positions at the NIESR: as Chief Operating Officer (2018-2020) and Company Secretary (1994-1999). He also initiated the research management programme at the Association of Commonwealth Universities, where he worked for eighteen years, including ten years as Deputy Secretary General. Dr Kirkland served for six years as Head of the Research Services Office at Brunel University in the UK, where he also obtained his doctorate. He maintains a strong interest in international development issues. He currently serves on the steering committees of two major donor-funded programmes to develop research capacity in Africa. In 2020, Dr Kirkland was appointed as Chair of the School Club of Zambia, a UK-based charity that promotes sustainability and employability in Zambian schools. He was the Executive Secretary of the UK Commonwealth Scholarship programmes, the major development scholarships of the UK government, for 18 years. More recently, he has undertaken consultancy for the Wellcome Trust (UK), the National Research Foundation (South Africa) and COMSATS University Islamabad (Pakistan).

Job Titles:

• Co - Director of the Alliance for African Partnerships

Dr José Jackson-Malete is the Co-Director of the Alliance for African Partnerships (AAP) at Michigan State University (MSU). This is an initiative established by the university in 2016 that builds on its 60-year history of partnerships in Africa to develop new, innovative ways of partnering with African institutions and to co-create solutions to global challenges. Her responsibilities include establishing a robust network of innovative partnerships among the MSU, African universities, and other international partners; ensuring that the AAP has a governance structure that reflects and promotes the model of co-creation; strengthening capacity among partner institutions; promoting programmes for women in science, as well as attracting a diversity of resources necessary to achieve the AAP's vision of impact. Dr Jackson-Malete is a former President of the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) and led SARIMA's efforts in the professionalisation of research management. She is a food scientist, and has over 20 years of experience in research, teaching and working in industry in Africa, the Caribbean and the USA, particularly within the agricultural sector. She maintains an active research programme that focuses on processing and adding value to indigenous fruit and vegetable products, ensuring quality and safety, and contributing to food and nutrition security, while improving the livelihoods of communities.

Job Titles:

• Director of Research Development at the University

Dr Robin Drennan is the Director of Research Development at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. His role entails leading, encouraging and supporting research across the university. In 2010 he received a Golden Quill Award for research reporting, and in 2017 a SARIMA Award for his distinguished contribution to the research management profession. Dr Drennan has a PhD in Chemistry from Rhodes University, awarded for the investigation of pyrotechnic reactions. He has practised as an applied researcher in a public company, AECI, and a science council, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He worked at a national funding agency (the National Research Foundation), where he managed many different programmes.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Innovation and Enterprise - University of Nairobi, Kenya. Prof Hutchinson holds a PhD from the University of Guelph, Canada, MSc and BSc from the University of Nairobi with over 40 years of experience in agricultural research, extension, innovation and technology transfer. She is a full professor of horticulture and acting Associate Vice Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise) and Immediate Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance, Planning and Development) at the University of Nairobi. Nationally and internationally, she consults with many organisations ranging from Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security, Gender Mainstreaming in Agriculture, Leadership, Governance and Transformation. She is a member of several professional bodies.

Job Titles:

• Deputy Vice - Chancellor: Research and Innovation

Prof. José Frantz is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa. In her role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, she is responsible for the strategic vision of research and innovation. Prior to occupying this position, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Community and Health Science at UWC (2013-2017). Her strategic interests include the promotion and advancement of research for impact through knowledge exchange and capacity-building in health professions education, as well as faculty development. Prof. Frantz has secured research funding nationally and internationally to continue research and develop capacity in the field of health professions education, and to develop emerging researchers. Her commitment to human capacity development is reflected in the number of master's (45) and PhD students (15) that she has supervised, as well as her academic activities of teaching, learning and research, which is evident in her more than 100 publications.

Director of the professional development committee and Board Member of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators, UK Saskia has been a member of the ARMA Board since 2021. She chairs the Professional Development Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the relevance and quality of ARMA's qualifications, training and conference. Saskia has worked in the UK higher education sector and with research and researchers for 20 years. She became Head of Communications and Public Engagement for the Economic and Social Research Council in 2003 and is now recognised as one the UK's most eminent research impact practitioners, having worked in this emerging area of research support for 13 years. Saskia became an independent consultant in 2010 and has trained and mentored 100s of academics on how to embed impact in their work and worked with universities to develop their research impact strategies and plans. She has assisted with the development of 100s of REF impact case studies during REF 2014 and REF 2021 across units of assessment spanning all 4 main panels. Clients include universities in England, Scotland and Wales. In addition to working independently, Saskia has experienced in-house university positions: she was the interim Director of Strategic Engagement at UWE Bristol in 2017-2018 and Research Impact Manager at the University of Bath between 2014 and 2015. Prior to discovering the world of research management, Saskia's career was in corporate public relations.