HSR2024 Satellite Session and Speakers

Satellite Session from 12:45 - 5:00pm (JST): Achieving change in complex health systems: How to understand the effects of integrated interventions on health systems performance

----Opening Remarks----

Jodi Charles is a Senior Health Systems Advisor for the Office of Health Systems, USAID Bureau for Global Health and the Contracting Officer’s Representative for the Local Health System Sustainability (LHSS) Project. She provides technical assistance on health governance, finance, and operations capacity-building. Prior to joining USAID, Jodi worked for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Vietnam, where she led the U.S. Government/PEPFAR policy and health systems strengthening team and served as a Senior Health Policy and Governance Advisor. She also has advised on policy and health systems for the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, civil society in Burma for the University of Washington, and education development at the University of Foreign Studies-Hanoi. Jodi holds an MPA and MAIS from the University of Washington and speaks French and Vietnamese.

Maria Francisco has over three decades of professional experience focusing on global health issues and health care delivery systems in low- and middle-income countries. She has led large multi-country flagship programs for USAID as a senior advisor for child health and immunizations and has served in senior technical roles with USAID in Kenya and Vietnam. As an implementing partner, she provided technical direction in health systems strengthening and equity-centered programming. She has served on strategic multilateral fora for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, GAVI Health System Strengthening, and Community Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. As the current Global Project Director for USAID’s Local Health System Sustainability (LHSS) project, Maria provides leadership and management oversight for the project, helping shape and support strategic programming that facilitates country-led progress in ensuring resilient, affordable, quality care through effective health systems. 

----Session Contributors----

Midori de Habich is an economist with over 25 years of expertise in research, policy design, and implementation. Currently, she serves as the Technical Director of the USAID-funded Local Health System Sustainability Project (LHSS). As the Minister of Health of Peru from July 2012 to November 2014, she spearheaded comprehensive health reforms aimed at achieving universal health coverage. From 1995 to 2012, she was the Chief-of-Party for several USAID-supported health projects, providing technical assistance to enhance the design and implementation of health system strengthening activities. Prior to these roles, she led the Department of Macroeconomic Indicators and the Department of Social Studies at the Central Reserve Bank of Peru.

Anjali Dibner is the Knowledge Management and Program Learning Advisor for the USAID Bureau for Global Health's Office of Health Systems where she leads implementation of USAID's health systems strengthening learning agenda. Anjali has spent nearly fifteen years working in knowledge management, strategic communications, and program management for public health programs in the United States and globally. Before joining USAID, Anjali led communications and knowledge translation for the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative (CPQCC), a consortium of over 130 hospitals providing perinatal health care services based at the Stanford School of Medicine. Prior to that, Anjali supported knowledge management activities on the USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) Project and managed the project's activities in Southern Africa. She has in-country experience in India, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and Zambia. Anjali holds a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice with a concentration in global health from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a BA in Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ekpenyong Ekanem is a public health physician and global health system strengthening development specialist with 17+ years of experience in Health Systems Strengthening with a focus on improving the performance of Health Service Delivery programs. His specialty unravels the intersect between global health systems, clinical service delivery and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). He is experienced in applying broad health systems strengthening approaches to the design of service delivery models, and growth and implementation of health programs in resource-poor/challenged settings. His more recent work is progressive experience using complexity aware monitoring, evaluation, and learning (CAMEL) principles and tools to improve the performance of international health programs, and evaluation of district-to-country-wide health programs. He has geographical experience in the USA, as well as in developing economies of Africa, the Middle East- (Jordan), Asia and South America, and working with several donor agencies and foundations. He loves playing squash, traveling and meeting new people, and playing the piano.

Alison Gichohi is a public policy expert, with over 20 years of combined working experience in the public health sector at the national and regional level in East Africa. Alison is currently the Regional Health Communication, Advocacy and Capacity Building Lead in the East African Community.

 Paulina Giusti is a Physician and Pediatrician from the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, with a master in Public Health from the John Hopkins School of Public Health, with more than 30 years of clinical and managerial experience in the public health sector in Peru. She has performed in various public health positions in Peru, including being Vice Minister of Health.  She is a founding member of the Institute of Analysis and Management in Peru.  She has been COP of the USAID LHSS activity in Peru from 2021 - 2023, and currently is a Senior Health System Advisor for the USAID-funded Local Health System Sustainability project.

Tia Phalla is a seasoned health professional with over 35 years of experience. He began his career in clinical practice, specializing in abdominal surgery. Over the past three decades, he has transitioned to public health, making significant contributions to various health initiatives in Cambodia. He played a pivotal role in developing the National Program on Diarrhea Control and Acute Respiratory Infection and provided technical guidance to the National Response to HIV/AIDS. He initiated the 100% condom use program in 1999, leading to a substantial reduction in new HIV infections. He advocated for nutrition support for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) between 2002 and 2012. He contributed to the development of the National Strategic Plan for a Comprehensive and Multi-Sectoral Response to HIV/AIDS and supported the development of Council of Ministers Order (Sor Chor Nor) Number 213, which integrated AIDS into Commune and Sangkat levels, integrated poor PLHIV into the ID Poor Process, strengthened the health system's AIDS response, promoted social contracting, and secured fiscal space. He also participated in the development of the Sustainability Road Map for AIDS Response in Cambodia. He has a Master of Public Health from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Shipra Srihari is a senior health systems strengthening advisor and a project management director at Abt Global, where her technical work on the USAID-funded Local Health System Sustainability project (LHSS) focuses on health governance (mainly political economy analysis), resource tracking, research and learning. She also oversees the LHSS portfolio of globally focused technical activities, which aim to advance knowledge and practice for integrated health system strengthening. Prior to LHSS, Shipra supported USAID’s flagship global private sector health project, providing oversight for research and MEL in family planning, child health, and TB activities in India. Shipra also served as a resource tracking advisor on the USAID-funded Health Finance and Governance project (HFG). Prior to joining Abt, Shipra was a policy analyst at Avenir Health, where her work included modeling and analysis of global family planning data to support data-driven decision-making at the program and policy levels. Prior to that, Shipra was an independent consultant, leading technical activities for organizations including IRC, JSI, PATH, EngenderHealth, UNICEF and UNDP. Shipra has a PhD in biophysical chemistry from Yale University and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.