Better understanding the needs of adolescent women and young girls in HIV prevention research design

Devi Leena is Senior Manager Programs at IAVI in New Delhi, India. She leads the design, advocacy and on-ground implementation of strategies that promote communicative justice and enable community trust and ownership in public health programs and prevention research. She leveraged her interdisciplinary training in human-centered design, participatory research and public policy to design research to understand the complexities of human behavior across varying contexts and develop social and behavior change communication strategies that support mainstreaming and equitable engagement of marginalized communities in healthcare.

Francis Meyo is current Vice President, Projects at Busara. His interests range from how best to behaviorally design and introduce innovative products in the health, finance and digital spaces to evaluating which opportunities exist for behavior change in populations with various abilities and capabilities.  He has worked on multiple projects for the development of knowledge products, go to market strategies such and strategic support services to organizations setting up or training their behavioral science teams. He is currently, supporting the development of demand creation strategies in several sub-saharan countries for the DPV Ring. Prior to Busara, he has worked in various research and policy capabilities at Innovations for Poverty Action.

Uttara Bharath Kumar has over 29 years of experience in public health, social and behaviour change communication. Currently as Senior Social and Behavior Change (SBC) and Capacity Strengthening Advisor, she has been with the Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) since 1997. Among other global programs, she and her team also support the Bernard van Leer Foundation in India, bringing a behavioral lens to their work. She has led numerous training programs and global health communication initiatives including some that have won recognition and awards. She has a master’s degree in public health from the John's Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Anabel Gomez is a public health professional with more than 20 years of experience with most of her work focused on HIV Prevention. She has worked on AVAC's Prevention Market Manager where she led all the end user work, supported Jhpiego's Jilinde Project which was charged with introducing PrEP to Kenya, and worked as part of PSI's global marketing team in charge of sub-Saharan Africa.

Yvonne is the Director for Socio-Behavioural Research (SBR) at IAVI, based in Nairobi. She leads strategic development and guides the global execution of all aspects of IAVI’s SBR portfolio.

Yvonne has 18 years’ multi-country experience in Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, conducting SBR on a variety of social and public health subjects including malaria, nutrition, maternal and child health and health systems.

Francis Meyo is current Vice President, Projects at Busara. His interests range from how best to behaviorally design and introduce innovative products in the health, finance and digital spaces to evaluating which opportunities exist for behavior change in populations with various abilities and capabilities.  He has worked on multiple projects for the development of knowledge products, go to market strategies such and strategic support services to organizations setting up or training their behavioral science teams. He is currently, supporting the development of demand creation strategies in several sub-saharan countries for the DPV Ring. Prior to Busara, he has worked in various research and policy capabilities at Innovations for Poverty Action. 

Uttara Bharath Kumar has over 29 years of experience in public health, social and behaviour change communication. Currently as Senior Social and Behavior Change (SBC) and Capacity Strengthening Advisor, she has been with the Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) since 1997. Among other global programs, she and her team also support the Bernard van Leer Foundation in India, bringing a behavioral lens to their work. She has led numerous training programs and global health communication initiatives including some that have won recognition and awards. She has a master’s degree in public health from the John's Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Anabel Gomez is a public health professional with more than 20 years of experience with most of her work focused on HIV Prevention. She has worked on AVAC's Prevention Market Manager where she led all the end user work, supported Jhpiego's Jilinde Project which was charged with introducing PrEP to Kenya, and worked as part of PSI's global marketing team in charge of sub-Saharan Africa.

Yvonne is the Director for Socio-Behavioural Research (SBR) at IAVI, based in Nairobi. She leads strategic development and guides the global execution of all aspects of IAVI’s SBR portfolio.

Yvonne has 18 years’ multi-country experience in Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, conducting SBR on a variety of social and public health subjects including malaria, nutrition, maternal and child health and health systems.