Our Team
We are a team of experts across the global health world, working to deliver sustainable global health solutions informed and led with Global South expertise. Our diverse and multilingual team works closely together to bring local relevance to complex global health conundrums – creating visibility, long-term impact, and value to our clients.
We are a team of experts across the global health world, working to deliver sustainable global health solutions informed and led with Global South expertise. Our diverse and multilingual team works closely together to bring local relevance to complex global health conundrums – creating visibility, long-term impact, and value to our clients.
Dr Fifa Rahman
Principal Consultant
- Leeds, United Kingdom
has over 13 years’ experience working in global health, focused on strategic engagement, the amplification of Global South expertise in GHIs, and qualitative research. As Principal Consultant at Matahari, she leads a team of five consultants and has led and coordinated projects to develop the strategy for the Global Coalition of TB Activists, a final evaluation on the impact of COVID-19 on HIV and TB services in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and to document lessons learned from paediatric TB advocacy in 8 countries across Africa and Asia for the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), among other projects. Through the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was the NGO representative on the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator), and formerly Board Member for NGOs at Unitaid, working on equitable access to HIV, TB, malaria, and cervical cancer tools. Her CSO role involves political influencing and data analysis across the pandemic preparedness spectrum – from vaccine deployment and access to mRNA hub advocacy, to rapid self-tests access, and resource mobilisation for community health worker salaries. She is also part of the Technical Working Group for the WHO Framework for Research, Development and Innovation for Health Security Preparedness. Her analysis and insights have been included in pieces in the New York Times, The Guardian, Devex, The Hindu Business Times, among others. Work experience has taken her to early infant diagnosis facilities in rural Mozambique, to villages receiving HIV self-testing kits in Mazowe, Zimbabwe, and to the World Health Summit in Berlin. She is based in Leeds, United Kingdom, and speaks English (fluent), Malay (proficiency), and Spanish (intermediate).
Charles Ebikeme
- Associate Consultant, Health Systems
Charles Ebikeme
- London, UK
Charles has over a decade’s worth of experience in global health. He has worked at the intersection of research, policy, and advocacy, focusing on mainstreaming health into sustainable development topics such as climate change and urbanisation. He has managed global research programmes and spearheaded policy and advocacy initiatives globally. Charles is a writer and commentator on science, policy, and global health issues. His work has appeared in The Guardian alongside other outlets. Charles received his PhD in Parasitology from the University of Glasgow. His PhD focused on understanding how drugs work against parasites and how parasites become resistant to drugs. He holds an MSc in Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and a BSc in Biochemistry from University College London.
Gisa Dang
- Associate Consultant: Health and Human Rights
Gisa Dang
- San Diego, USA
Gisa Dang is a grassroots civil society and human rights advocacy specialist with a focus on human rights-based programming and community leadership. She has extensive experience working in restrictive political environments. As Program Director for Asia Catalyst, Gisa developed and implemented flagship experiential learning programs on organizational management, human rights documentation, and advocacy. She has consulted on the Global Fund sustainability, transition, and co-financing policy, applications of the right to science for health rights advocacy, civil society participation, and treatment access for tuberculosis in the United Arab Emirates, China, and Mexico; authored submissions to the Office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) on the right to science in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals; co-authored a book chapter on transferability of tuberculosis and human rights advocacy (in press); and is working on human rights analysis for COVID-19.
Dr Pedro Villardi
- Associate Consultant: Public Health and Intellectual Property - Brazil
Dr Pedro Villardi
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Pedro Villardi has over 10 years’ experience working on HIV policies in Brazil and currently is a project coordinator at the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA per Portuguese acronym), working on HIV, stigma, and public health policies. He is well- connected with civil society in Brazil, including groups working on access to medicines, climate change, and indigenous rights, as well as government officials in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Claudia Stoicescu
- Technical Advisor: Harm Reduction
Dr Claudia Stoicescu
- Jakarta, Indonesia
Claudia Stoicescu has over 12 years experience in global health research and practice. She is passionate about promoting evidence- based responses to HIV, drug use, and gender-based violence among marginalised groups, with a focus on low- and middle-income contexts. Claudia specialises in quantitative and qualitative survey design, systematic reviewing, and participatory approaches to research and intervention. For the last eight years, she has consulted for and advised governments, international agencies, and civil society – largely in Asia – on the provision of gender-sensitive harm reduction services and formulation of human rights-based drug policies. Claudia received her D.Phil (2018) and her MSc in Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (2010) from the University of Oxford, and is presently a Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded Research Scientist at Columbia University.
Sam Acellam
- Associate Consultant: Health Data Analytics
Sam Acellam
- Kampala, Uganda
Sam Acellam has 13 years of experience in the health sector, specialising in diagnostics, laboratory systems, supply chain management, data analytics, and strategic planning. He has extensive experience in the East Africa region, most notably in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda supporting initiatives to enhance diagnostics accessibility. As a Senior Laboratory Technical Advisor at FIND, Sam worked closely with national disease programs and partners to conduct detailed analyses, including geospatial analyses, providing critical insights for strategic planning and investment decisions. Additionally, Acellam worked on Saving Mothers Giving Life (SMGL) project in Southwestern Uganda for the Baylor Uganda College of Medicine, where he played a pivotal role in improving access to diagnostics through data-driven solutions. His proficiency with various technologies and analytical tools ensures that evidence-based insights drive all interventions.
Local Partners
The Council on Health and the Academy of Medicine (COSAMED)
- Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
It is a multidisciplinary team of health providers ranging from community health workers to specialists available to strengthen health education, research on health problems and facilitate the most vulnerable and marginalized people for health coverage universal in the DRC, in Africa and in the world.
COSAMED supports the government in the response to diseases with epidemic potential including Cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, measles, Covid19, Ebola virus disease in the context of the DRC.
C’est une équipe multidisciplinaire des prestataires de santé allant des agents de santé communautaire aux spécialistes disponibles pour renforcer l’éducation sanitaire, la recherche sur les problèmes de santé et faciliter les personnes les plus vulnérables et les plus marginalisées pour la couverture sanitaire universelle en RDC, en Afrique et dans le monde.
COSAMED appui le gouvernement dans la réponse aux maladie à potentiel épidémiques dont le Choléra, le paludisme, la tuberculose, la rougeole, la Covid19, la maladie à virus Ebola dans le contexte de la RDC.