About Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) was founded in 1898 and was the first institution in the world dedicated to research and teaching in the field of tropical medicine. The school aims to reduce the burden of sickness and mortality in disease endemic countries through the delivery of effective interventions which improve human health and are relevant to the poorest communities.
It provides postgraduate teaching, technical assistance and research into areas such as health policy and systems research, neglected tropical diseases, maternal and new-born health, malaria and other vector-borne diseases, and more recently COVID-19.
More on Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine on its website
LSTM and ReBUILD for Resilience
Staff from LSTM’s Health Systems and Workforce Strengthening Unit and Centre for Health Systems Strengthening are leading ReBUILD for Resilience as well as co-directing the research with IGHD. The team successfully delivered the programme’s precursor, ReBUILD, and is now applying that experience and knowledge to fragile and shock-prone settings. The team’s expertise lies in delivering robust and innovative research, education and capacity strengthening with partners in the Global South, with a focus on the health system and health workforce.
During ReBUILD for Resilience the team will work with partners to deliver research that engages with communities, networks and policymakers at the sub-national, national, regional and international levels. Research uptake activities will influence attitudes, practice and policy, fostering resilience and sustainability.
LSTM-supported projects
- Understanding health system resilience to respond to COVID-19 in a federalised context: a case study of health workforce management at sub-national level in Nepal
- The gendered experience of close to community providers in fragile and shock-prone settings: implications for policy and practice during and post COVID-19
Dr Joanna Raven
Research co-director
Joanna is a health systems researcher with more than 20 years’ experience of research, training and partnerships in Africa and Asia. She has managed multi-partner research grants, fostering networks based on trust, innovation and quality outputs. She has a strong track record of developing the capacity of researchers, managers and health workers and has helped build an extensive network in health systems research at the policy/practice interface.
Joanna is senior lecturer in health systems research at LSTM and leads the Centre for Health Systems Research. Her recent research has centred on fragile and conflict-affected and resource poor settings, focusing on strengthening district-level health management, health workforce performance (including informal health workers), gender equity and scaling-up complex health system interventions.
Contact Joanna via the LSTM website.
Mark Lutton
CEO
Mark has senior experience leading international health research consortia in low-and-middle income countries, with funders including DFID/FCDO, WHO, UNFPA and UKRI (GCRF). He has more than 10 years’ experience managing financial, risk, monitoring and evaluation, human resource, reporting and operational aspects of complex research consortia.
He has significant experience managing capacity building programmes, including implementing capacity strengthening initiatives for research institutes, developing project management standards, and improving research support structures.
Mark managed the DFID/FCDO-funded ‘Making it Happen’ maternal and newborn health programme in Kenya (£10.3 million) and India (£2 million), and a UKRI (GCRF) funded programme aiming to strengthen research capacity across the Horn of Africa.
Contact Mark on mark.lutton@lstmed.ac.uk
Professor Sally Theobald
Lead on gender, equity and justice theme
Sally is a social scientist with more than 25 years’ experience of collaborative research projects focusing on health systems strengthening systems in different contexts in Africa and Asia.
Sally’s PhD is in Gender, Health and Development and she has particular interests in gender, equity and health systems in fragile and shock prone contexts. She chairs the gender, equity and justice working group for ReBUILD for Resilience and during ReBUILD worked with colleagues on the Building Back Better resource.
Contact Sally via the LSTM website.
Tim Martineau
Researcher
Tim’s research interest is in health workforce strengthening in the context of the wider health system which, since 2011, has included health systems in fragile and conflict-affected states.
He was joint research director of ReBUILD where his focus was human resources.
He is the Principal Investigator of the EC Horizon2020-funded programme, PERFORM2Scale, which is scaling up a management strengthening initiative that uses action research in decentralised contexts to improve health workforce performance.
Contact Tim via the LSTM website.
Dr Wesam Mansour
Researcher
Wesam is a post-doctoral research associate at LSTM. Her research interests focus on health systems strengthening in low-and-middle income countries, fragile settings, health policy, health workforce, capacity building, healthcare quality and patient safety, and external evaluation systems. As well as ReBUILD for Resilience, Wesam is currently producing qualitative research for the PERFORM2Scale project.
Wesam is a physician, a paediatric and neonatology specialist, a healthcare quality and accreditation specialist, and a Fellow of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua). She has a PhD in Health Policy and Management from the University of Manchester, UK.
Contact Wesam via the LSTM website.
Kate Hawkins
Communications and research uptake manager
As the Managing Director of Pamoja Communications, Kate has extensive experience working with research partners and consortia in the creation of strategies and plans; brokering engagement with stakeholders and their networks, creating impactful communication products and targeting dissemination. She is adept at translating academic research into communication products for a variety of audiences. Kate is an experienced writer with many years’ experience of communication work in the NGO, academic and private sectors. She has created and managed many websites and online platforms to promote research findings and partnerships. Kate has supported partners to improve the demand-side of research communications – engaging with policy makers and practitioners throughout the research process, brokering partnerships between academia and government, supporting capacity development for evidence use.
Contact Kate on kate@pamoja.uk.com
Karen Miller
Communications officer
As well as managing the ReBUILD for Resilience communications products and platforms, Karen fulfills a similar role for LSTM’s PERFORM2Scale programme and CHESS partnership. She also previously worked on ReBUILD for Resilience’s precursor, ReBUILD.
Karen has more than 20 years’ experience in a variety of communications roles, working across both digital and print media. When not at LSTM she works as a freelance copywriter, editor and project manager, delivering projects for museums and galleries, heritage organisations, universities and the private sector.
Karen has a master’s degree in international relations and security.
Contact Karen via the LSTM website.
Nick Hooton
Research uptake officer
Nick is a specialist in pro-poor research/policy processes and research uptake. He has a master’s degree in international animal health and modules in international development and development management from the Open University. He worked at the International Livestock Research Institute in East Africa for five years, focusing on rural livelihoods and on the better use of evidence for pro-poor policy and practice. From 2014-19 he was research, policy and practice advisor for the ReBUILD consortium.
Nick is also a qualified veterinary surgeon and still practices in South Wales.
Contact Nick on nick@hooton.plus.com
Holly Pelling
Finance project manager
Holly manages the financial aspects of the ReBUILD for Resilience programme and another FCDO-funded research programme at LSTM, LIGHT. After achieving a PhD in Physical Oceanography and working in academia for several years, Holly realised that while she enjoyed working in an academic environment, research was not for her. She instead joined the research support team in the National Oceanography Centre at University of Liverpool, supporting research grants in pre- and post-award management, before making the move to LSTM.
Jan Randles
Programme coordinator
As well as supporting REBUILD for Resilience, Jan is also the programme coordinator for the LSTM-led, EC-funded PERFORM2scale programme where she provides management support to project partners. She also supports the Centre for Health Systems Strengthening (CHESS) and the Health Systems and Workforce Strengthening Unit.
Jan joining LSTM in February 2013, managing the administration and finance for the ReBUILD and PERFORM projects. She is a qualified AAT Accounting Technician and Prince 2 Practitioner in Project Management.
Contact Jan via the LSTM website.
The ReBUILD for Resilience partners are:
The team is supported by research associates
