Dr. Ritu Rana is currently working as Nutrition Research Officer with the United Nations World Food Programme (HQ). She has previously worked with as Associate Professor with the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG), as Nutrition Research Advisor with GOAL Global (HQ), as State Nutrition Consultant with Government of Gujarat, among others. She has twelve years of experience in public health and nutrition.
Dr. Barkha Sirwani is a Research Assistant at the Queen's University, Ontario, Canada. She received her Master's Degree in Public Health from the Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPHs) in 2020. She is skilled in public health research and program management, and contributed to WHO commissioned systematic review to inform the guidelines on prevention and treatment of wasting.
Dr. Saranya Mohandas is a public health researcher with a background in dentistry. She has previously worked in evidence synthesis and gap map projects at The Campbell Collaboration and the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPHG). She was involved in year two of the Cochrane US mentoring program as a mentee. Saranya holds a Bachelor's Degree in Dental Surgery from the Manipal College of Dental Sciences India and was the topper of her class while earning her Master's Degree in Public Health from IIPHG. Her research topics mainly include public health nutrition, public health and evidence-based healthcare.
Richard Kirubakaran is currently employed as Lead Epidemiologist with 3 analytics. He used to be a Research Scientist in Biostatistics at BVMC, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Christian Medical College – Vellore. He is a member of the Cochrane Methods group, Effective Healthcare Research Consortium – Liverpool UK, and Method support group on Indian first evidence-based guidelines/policy on Extra Pulmonary tuberculosis developed at AIIMS New Delhi. He has more than 11 years of experience in the field of Biostatistics, Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. He has been a part of many Cochrane systematic reviews and Non-Cochrane systematic reviews in Reproductive medicine, ADHD, Paediatrics, Infectious diseases and Public health. His major research interests include Evidence-Informed Healthcare, Meta-analysis, epidemiology and designing Randomised controlled trials(RCT). He has been involved in publishing over 30 systematic reviews; also serves as a peer reviewer for major journals. He is active in teaching research methodology courses with the Department of Epidemiology Tamilnadu Dr MGR Medical University, Biostatistics methods and systematic reviews in many academic institutions and professional organizations. He is also a consultant biostatistician for many other independent research projects.
Natasha Lelijveld is an ENN Senior Nutritionist working across ENN’s portfolio, with specific focus on Adolescent Nutrition, MAMI, Concurrent wasting and stunting (WaSt), and a new project on food systems. Natasha Lelijveld completed her Ph.D. at University College London, where her research considered the long-term effects of severe acute malnutrition in Malawi. She continued her research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) exploring interventions for the Management of small & nutritionally At-risk Infants under six months & their Mothers (MAMI) and adolescent stunting. She also spent time at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto where she studied alternative treatment options for children with moderate acute malnutrition. She also taught the "Nutrition in Emergencies" course for Masters students at the University of Southampton.
Marko Kerac is a paediatric and public health doctor by background and has worked in global health for over 20 years. His focus areas include severe malnutrition (with a particular focus on infants); long-term outcomes/non-communicable disease post malnutrition; disability. He initially trained in paediatrics in Plymouth and London. After gaining MRCPCH in 2001 he left the NHS in 2003 to volunteer for a year as a paediatric registrar/honorary clinical lecturer at the College of Medicine, Malawi. Following a 2004-5 LSHTM MSc (PHDC) he returned to Malawi from 2005-8, again combining clinical work, teaching and this time his Ph.D. research into "Improving the Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Childhood". From 2009-2014 he was a specialty registrar in public health in London, gaining his MFPH (Member of the Faculty of Public Health) qualification in 2011 and becoming a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPH) in 2014 upon completing CCT (Certificate of Completion of Specialty Training). During training, he also held academic posts which allowed him to maintain and develop international work alongside UK practice.
