Dr Akash Devendra
Clinician
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Akash began working with the Botswana-UPenn
Partnership in January 2008. He works primarily at the Nyangabgwe Referral
Hospital in Francistown, combining inpatient and outpatient work as well as some
outreach work. After graduating from Edinburgh University, he completed
postgraduate training in both Internal Medicine and General Practice in
Scotland before embarking on a Masters in Tropical Medicine &
International Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
He is excited to be in Botswana and looks forward to the challenging work
ahead.
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Dr Harvey Friedman
Director
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Harvey Friedman
was born in Montreal, Canada. He did his undergraduate training at McGill
University, in Montreal and attended medical school at McGill. He did his
internship and residency training at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal
and post-doctoral training in Neurovirology at the Wistar Institute in
Philadelphia. He was an Infectious Disease Fellow at the University of
Pennsylvania and joined the Infectious Disease faculty in 1975. He was the
Director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at the Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia from 1975-1990. Currently, he is Professor of Medicine and Chief
of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania. His research
interests are in immune evasion strategies of herpes simplex virus, mechanism
by which herpes simplex virus traffics in neurons, and development of
vaccines for herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2.
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Dr Stephen Gluckman
Clinical
Director
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Dr. Stephen Gluckman is the Director of
Clinical and Educational programs for the
Botswana-UPenn Partnership. He
received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and medical degree
from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He trained in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at
the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He practices both General Internal Medicine and Infectious
Diseases and has been managing patients with HIV infection since the
beginning of the epidemic in the United States.
Dr. Gluckman has a particular interest in International Medicine and has
provided care and taught in many countries in a number of different
capacities. He has worked and
taught at mission hospitals in Liberia and India, and he has evaluated HIV
and other public health programs for CARE international in Afghanistan, Haiti
and Tanzania. He has taught for
Health Volunteers Overseas in Kenya and Uganda, and he has taught HIV care in
China at the request of the Chinese Medical Association. For the past seven years he has been
working in Botswana in a clinical and educational capacity. He established the International
Medicine elective for University of Pennsylvania medical residents and
medical students and is actively involved in the newly initiated Medical
Internship program in Botswana. |
Dr Jeff Hafkin
Director of the
TB-HIV Program
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Dr. Jeffrey
Hafkin is from Austin, Texas, USA. He completed his
undergraduate education at Princeton University. He obtained his medical
degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed a residency in internal
medicine at Baylor College of Medicine affiliated hospitals. Following
residency, Dr. Hafkin moved to Botswana to develop family centred HIV care at
the Botswana Baylor Children's Clinic in Gaborone. He then joined the faculty
of the Botswana-UPenn Partnership and worked primarily as an inpatient
attending, student and resident coordinator, and outreach clinician.
Currently, he is the Director of the TB-HIV Program in Botswana and spends
his time consulting on complicated TB cases, developing a TB-related teaching
curriculum and national TB-HIV policies.
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Gill Jones
Project Coordinator
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Brought up in Botswana since 1954, daughter of a missionary, educated
in UK, trained as a Registered Nurse in Oxford, UK. Post Graduate nursing at
the Hammersmith hospital – London, UK.
Worked in various places around the world including UK, Botswana,
Saudi Arabia and the Oman. Specialised in Neonatal Care, worked in Botswana
in the 70’s at Princess Marina Hospital contracted to work in Saudi Arabia
where she was Director of Nursing, Project Managed two key projects in the
Sultanate of Oman, Matron of Residential Nursing Homes in UK, now back in
Botswana working for The University of Pennsylvania as their in country
Project Coordinator, able to put all the skills gained throughout her life to
help develop / administer the Botswana-UPenn Partnership.
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Dr Shanthi Kappagoda
Clinician
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Shanthi Kappagoda completed medical school at
the University of California at Davis and residency in Internal Medicine at
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She has a Master’s degree
in Tropical Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.
During medical school and residency she worked in hospitals in Sri Lanka,
Kenya and South Africa. An internist with the Botswana-UPenn Partnership
since September 2007, she works primarily
providing inpatient care at Princess Marina Hospital. Her main interests are
in medical student and resident education and expanding access to care for
people with HIV/AIDS.
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Lephata Mumsy Molapisi
HIV / TB / MDR
Nurse
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Molapisi joined
the Botswana-UPenn Partnership in 2006 as an HIV / TB / MDR nurse. Prior to
this she trained as a nurse at Gaborone Institute of Health Services in 1986.
Worked at Princess Marina Hospital since completing her training. Her work
experience extends through most departments at the hospital of which the 5
years prior to joining the Botswana-UPenn Partnership were at the IDCC (HIV
clinic).
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Dr Oathokwa Nkomazana
In Country
Director
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Oathokwa
Nkomazana did her undergraduate medical training at the University of
Glasgow, Scotland, UK and her residency training in Ophthalmology at the
University of Cape Town and the Free State. She has a Master of Science
Degree in Community Eye Health from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine. She worked as Head of
the Ophthalmology Department and as the Senior Consultant in ophthalmology at
Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone (one of the two large referral hospitals
in the country) she was subsequently the Superintendent of Princess Marina
Hospital.
Since December
2006 she has been the In-Country Director of the Botswana-UPenn Partnership.
Her main role is to oversee and lead the different aspects of the programme
within the country. In addition
to this she is honorary Director of Internship for the University of
Botswana’s School Of Medicine.
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Rudo Nthobatsang
Research Nurse
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Rudo joined the Botswana-UPenn Partnership in
2005 as a research nurse. Her role includes enrolling patients into the
various research studies being carried out by the Botswana-UPenn Partnership
in Botswana, consenting patients, collecting specimens and data collection
management. Prior to this she trained as a nurse at Gaborone Institute of
Health Services in 1992 and then worked at Lobatse and Molepolole Institute of Health Sciences.
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Dr Rameshwari Thakur, MD
Senior
Research-Microbiologist
Botswana-UPENN
Partnership
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Dr Thakur
obtained her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S) and
postgraduate degree, Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Medical Microbiology, from
India. She also did a postgraduate diploma in Child Health (DCH) from
Al-Fateh university, Libya. Dr Thakur served there as Medical officer and
also as Lecturer in Microbiology at the Medical School, Benghazi. She worked
as lecturer and Assistant professor in various medical Schools in India. When
she moved to Botswana, Dr Thakur worked as Specialist Microbiologist with the
Ministry of Health, at the National Health laboratory, Gaborone from 1999 to
2002. Currently she is responsible for the processing and shipping of the
clinical research specimens to UPenn in Philadelphia. Dr Thakur is the Human
Subjects Research Coordinator for the Botswana-UPenn Partnership, which
involves the submission and follow-up of the research-protocols with the
Human Research & Development Committee (HRDC) in the Ministry of Health,
and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Princess Marina Hospital,
Gaborone.
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Dr Doreen Ramogola-Masire
Deputy In
Country Director;
Consultant -
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Doreen Ramogola-Masire is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist with special
interest in high risk Obstetrics and cervical cancer prevention. She did her
undergraduate medical training at the University of Nottingham UK, and her
residency training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Cape
Town South Africa. She has worked at several hospitals in Southern Africa,
including Chris Hani Baragwanath and Groote Schuur Hospitals. After her
residency training she spent a year as Perinatal Fellow with special
emphasis on Obstetrics Medicine, and another year working with lower genital tract
diseases concentrating in particular on cervical cancer prevention. She
started the women’s health department at Jwaneng Mine Hospital (in a diamond
mining town), and project managed the Debswana Diamond Mines Hospital
Efficiency Improvement Project.
She has been the Botswana-UPenn Partnership head of Women’s Health
Initiative since 2007. The main program mandate is to assist the Botswana
Ministry of Health in setting up a cervical cancer prevention service for HIV
positive women. |
Tumelo Rantleru
Data Entry Clerk
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Tumelo is employed by the Botswana-UPenn
Partnership as a data entry clerk in the research department. She has experience in Data entry from
working originally at Princess Marina Hospital, then at the Botswana Harvard
Partnership and then at a private clinic in Gaborone.
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Dr Maria Ristig
Lead Clinician,
Francistown
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Dr. Maria Bibiana Ristig joined the Botswana-UPenn Partnership in
September 2005. She is a US board certified Internist and Infectious Diseases
Specialist trained at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. She is
originally from Germany and graduated at the Universitaet zu Koeln. She was the
first faculty member working at the Francistown site at Nyangabgwe Referral
Hospital in Botswana until present.
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Dr Mpho Sebonego
Clinician
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Mpho did pre-medical studies at Mankato State
University, Minnesota, USA (1995-1998). He then went on to do medical
training at Ross University School of Medicine, in the Commonwealth of
Dominica, East Caribbean (1998-2002). From 2002-2005 Mpho pursued Internal Medicine residency at the University of North Dakota, USA. Mpho is an American Board of Internal Medicine certified
physician.
He came back to
Botswana in 2005 and worked for the government for one year prior to joining
the Botswana–UPenn Partnership in 2006. In January 2007 he was
appointed the Internship coordinator for Princess Marina Hospital.
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Dr Andrew Steenhoff
Director of
Research
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Dr Steenhoff is
a specialist in paediatric infectious diseases from the Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. He is the In-country
Research Director of the International Core of the
Center for AIDS Research at the Botswana-UPenn
Partnership. His research focuses on the epidemiology of paediatric HIV and
pneumococcus. He also spends 8 weeks per year working on the paediatric wards
of Princess Marina Hospital.
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Dr Daniel Stefanski
Clinician
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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Daniel Stefanski grew up in Melbourne,
Australia and graduated in medicine from Monash University in 1999. Since 1992, he has decided to pursue a career in
international health. In 1994, he co-presented a paper at the UN International
Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. Since then he has had
experience working in Zimbabwe and Thailand, where he set up an HIV microbicide trial and was privileged to work with
prevention expert Mechai Viravaidya,
UNAIDS Special Representative on HIV/AIDS. He recently completed the Diploma
of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in London and is currently sub-specialising
in Infectious Diseases. He has been a clinician in the Botswana-UPenn
Partnership since July 2006 and directs the outreach education programme. His
special interests are TB infection control, health system strengthening
through education and low cost HIV prevention technologies. Previously, he
was a professional violinist.
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Dintle S. Tshitswana - Molosiwa
Personal Assistant
to the In Country Director;
Botswana-UPenn
Partnership
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I joined the Botswana–UPenn Partnership as the Personal Assistant to
the In-country Director in January 2008. I began my career as a secondary
school teacher after completing my bachelor’s degree in education from the
University of Botswana. After one year teaching appointment, I could no
longer ignore my desire and passion for health policy issues and a career in
health management. Currently I hold a masters degree in health administration
and a postgraduate certificate in health policy. Over the years, I have
gained experience in general office operations, public administration as well
as health care administration through training and professional appointments
in various settings including hospitals and government departments. Before
joining Botswana – UPenn Partnership, I worked as Chief Administration
Officer for the Ministry of Health – Department of Clinical Services.
My commitment to health is my passion for healthier communities, and to
contribute to these through health services enhancement and health policy
development through education, and applied research. Being part of a program
that promotes health through education, research and medical care is of
course very exciting for me. I am married with whom I share a beautiful 8
months old baby girl. |
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Program Description