Current PHD candidates
Grace Patrick Qorro (MD, MPH)
Employed at Praxis for Health and Development in Dar es Salaam, Grace will assess the institutionalization of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in Maternal and Newborn Care in the Mwanza and Geita regions.
Boniphace Richard Marwa (MD, MPH)
Regional Medical Officer (RMO) in the Simiyu region under the president’s office, Boniface will conduct an economic evaluation of scaling the Safer Birth Bundle of Care (SBCC) intervention in health care facilities in Tanzania.
Florence Salvatory Kalabamu (MD, MMED)
Lecturer at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University, Dar es Salaam and an active member of the Pediatric Association of Tanzania, Florence will study acceptance, knowledge, and skill gains among healthcare providers after introducing NeoNatalie Live simulation training combined with CQI efforts and PDSA-cycles in 12 facilities in Geita and Shinyanga regions under implementation.
Catherine Massay (BSc. Nursing, MSc. Midwifery)
Midwife and the Head of Nursing Department at Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Catherine will assess healthcare providers’ perception, acceptability of simulation-based LDHF on-job training on postpartum hemorrhage and impact on maternal outcomes in the two first regions of SBBC implementation.
Felix Ambrose (MD, MA)
Head of the Newborn Division, under Directorate of Preventive Services, Ministry of Health in Dodoma, Tanzania, Felix will assess effects of SBBC on strengthening health system functions for Newborn Care Units to improve early neonatal care outcomes in the 12 health facilities.
Vickfarajaeli Daudi (MD, MMED)
Head of the Neonatal Unit at Haydom, Vickfarajaeli will assess the perception among healthcare providers, uptake (frequency and quality of trainings), and impact (newborn care and outcomes) of LDHF simulation-based on-job training after introducing SBBC.
Damas Juma Kayera (MD, MPH, RMO)
Regional Medical Officer (RMO) of the Manyara region under President’s Office, Damas will assess the importance of existing health structures and facility readiness for successful implementation of SBBC in 12 facilities.
Kjetil Torgeirsen
Kjetil has a clinical background as a paramedic for 23 years at Stavanger University Hospital, Norway. He has a MSC in Pre-Hospital Critical Care from the University of Stavanger. He has worked as a simulation expert since 2006, and he is an EuSim Level 1 and Level 2 instructor and a member of the EuSim Board. Kjetil has experience from faculty development projects in Norway, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Russia.
Yuda Munyaw (MD)
Senior Gynecologist at Haydom Lutheran Hospital. PhD fellow at Stavanger University, where he assess heart rate transition at birth and outcomes of obstetric referrals.
Hanne Markus Pike (MD)
Medical Doctor, Paediatrician, currently working as a senior consultant in the peadiatric ward in Stavanger University Hospital, Norway as well as a PhD fellow doing research on newborn transition and stabilization at birth, how to collect, store, and use objective data to support continuous learning and improve safety for mother and child during labour, in collaboration with Laerdal, University of Stavanger, Stavanger University Hospital and Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Tanzania.
Vilde Kolstad (MD)
Resident doctor in University Hospital of North Norway. PhD student at University of Stavanger, investigating the interventions during newborn resuscitation using innovative data capture techniques, including video and heart rate monitoring.
Kate Vold
Kate Vold is a simulation specialist at SAFER Simulation Center in Norway, and a PhD fellow in the Safer Births Bundle of Care program. She holds a master’s degree in Prehospital Critical Care and has worked at SAFER since 2017, developing courses such as “Acute Medicine for Out of Hours Service Personnel” and EuSim programs. Kate has led facilitator courses, globally, including Tanzania, Uganda and China. Her PhD research investigates how increasing complexity in simulation training can help reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.
Jorge García-Torres
PhD student in NewbornTime. Expertise in computer vision and artificial intelligence. Working on developing artificial intelligence models for automated activity recognition and analysis from thermal video from birth and video from newborn resuscitation.
Current PHD candidates: Saving Little Lives
Completed PhDs
Hege Langli Ersdal (MD, Prof.)
Professor in Simulation and Global Health, Stavanger University Hospital and University of Stavanger.Hege is the Principal Investigator of the Safer Births project and a trained Anesthesiologist.
Siren Rettedal (MD, Prof.)
Professor in Neonatology, Stavanger University Hospital and University of Stavanger. Siren is the Principal Investigator of the Safer Births Norway project and a trained Neonatologist. Special interest in newborn resuscitation, global health, immediate KMC and prematurity.
Paschal Mdoe (MD)
Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist, Research Scientist, and Executive Director at Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Tanzania. Dr Mdoe’s PhD focused on intrapartum care, specifically on fetal heart monitoring during labor. Dr Mdoe is leading several research projects and managing national and international collaborations and has led several clinical trials, implementation research and non-experimental research projects. He has more than 40 publications in the international peer-reviewed journals and is the Project Manager and Co-Investigator of Safer Births Bundle of Care.
Benjamin Kamala (MD)
Medical Doctor specialized in Public Health Promotion & Economics. He has 8+ years consulting experience in qualitative & quantitative research, and Monitoring & Evaluation of health interventions. He is currently a PhD Fellow in the Safer Births Project working on “Evaluation of an innovative FHR monitoring device to improve perinatal outcome” at Muhimbili & Temeke Hospitals.
Robert Moshiro (MD)
Pediatrician by profession and currently working at the Neonatal unit at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam. Robert has been doing research at Muhimbili as well as Haydom Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania around newborn ventilation.
Estomi Mduma
Research Manager at Haydom Lutheran Hospital and PhD fellow at the University of Stavanger. Esto will focus his PhD on implementation research, analyzing amonst other the implementation of a randomized controlled trial in a low resource setting.
Jørgen E. Linde (MD)
Medical Doctor under specialization in Pediatrics and currently working as a PhD fellow for Stavanger University Hospital at Haydom Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania. Jørgen is doing research on the cardio-respiratory transition at birth, using the Laerdal Newborn Resuscitation Monitor to collect data at the labor ward in Haydom.
Monica Thallinger (MD)
Consultant Anaesthetist. Specialist in paediatrics. Completed her PhD in 2017 on newborn resuscitation in low-resource settings. Improved methods of bag-mask ventilation at birth. Extensive experience working as a doctor in complex humanitarian settings. Currently a Master of Disaster Medicine student.
Huyen Vu (MD)
Vu completed her PhD in 2016 with the Department of Electrical engineering and Computer science at the University of Stavanger. Vu did her PhD research on biomedical signals from the Laerdal Newborn Resuscitation Monitor.
Jarle Urdal
PhD fellow at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Stavanger. Jarle is doing his PhD research on biomedical signals from the Laerdal Newborn Resuscitation Monitor and the Laerdal Moyo fetal heart rate monitor.
Sara Rivenes Lafontan
Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University, Sara completed her PhD in 2020. Her PhD research included qualitative studies about perceptions and use of the Laerdal Moyo fetal heart rate monitor among health care providers and laboring women in Tanzania. She is the co-supervisor of Dr. Vickfarajaeli Daudi and Catherine Massay.
Ellen Nelissen
Consultant gynaecological oncology surgeon in Bath, United Kingdom. Ellen’s PhD research focussed on the acceptability of the Helping Mothers Survive training programme in low resource settings and the effect it has on the health care workers enrolled in the training programme, including patient outcomes of more than 10,000 observed births.
Peder Aleksander Bjorland (MD)
Medical doctor, and specialist in pediatrics. Working as Senior Consultant Neonatologist in the NICU at Stavanger University Hospital, with a particular interest in newborn transition and stabilization at birth. It was also within this field he completed his PhD at the University of Bergen in 2022.
May Sissel Vadla (MD)
Medical doctor, a specialist in public health and currently working as a PhD fellow for the University of Stavanger. May Sissel is analyzing the impact of frequent in-situ team simulation training, using the NeoNatalie Live innovation, on acquired skills, clinical management, and perinatal outcome.
Joanna Clare Haynes (MD)
Joanna is a consultant anaesthetist with a particular interest in obstetric anaesthesia. She is regularly involved in teaching using simulation training, and the natural intersection of this with her clinical work led to a PhD studying the benefits of systematic training with NeoNatalie Live for hospital staff in Stavanger, Norway, who participate in newborn resuscitation.
Collaborative researchers
Elizabeth Foglia
Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Member of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program Steering Committee and co-chair for the recent inaugural meeting of the Neonatal Global Resuscitation Alliance. Collaborator for neonatal resuscitation clinical studies using video review and physiologic monitoring.
Jackie Patterson
Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Expertise in newborn resuscitation and implementation science; research focused in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with collaborators from the Kinshasa School of Public Health.
Hussein Kidanto
Currently working at the MoH in Tanzania, Kidanto was the senior specialist in OB-GYN at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and the Principal Investigator for the Safer Births Project. Since 2009, he has been a member of steering committee for the National HBB project in Tanzania led by the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare. He is the supervisor for PhD fellows Dr. Pascal Mdoe and Dr. Robert Moshir
Corinna Vossius (MD)
Corinna Vossius, who is a medical doctor by profession also holds a PhD in Health Economics. She has been working on cost-benefit analysis of the Helping Babies Breathe program in Tanzania and will be conducting similar analysis related to the Safer Births program.
Trygve Eftestøl (Prof.)
Professor at the Department of Electrical engineering and Computer science at the University of Stavanger and part of the Biomedical data analysis group. Trygve has extensive experience with working on resuscitation data signals and is the co-supervisor for PhD fellow Jarle Urdal.
Erling Svensen (Organizational psychologist)
A licensed psychologist with a PhD degree in organizational psychology, Erling is currently working as a consultant at Haukeland University Hospital. He is the co-supervisor for PhD Fellow Estomih Mduma.
Martin Burke
Associate Professor at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering Trinity College, Dublin, Martin is working on the dry electrode technology used in the newborn heart rate sensor on the Laerdal Newborn Resuscitation Monitor.
Ketil Størdal (MD, Prof.)
Pediatrician by profession and currently working as a professor at the University of Oslo and at Oslo University Hospital. Ketil was the main supervisor for the PhD fellows Dr.Monica Thallinger and Kari Holte, and is currently co-supervisor for Dr. Damas Kayera.
Petter Andreas Steen (Prof.)
Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Oslo and leader of the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Group at the Institute for Experimental Medical Research in Oslo. Petter Andreas is co-supervisor for the PhD Candidate Dr. Monica Thallinger.
Kjersti Engan (Prof.)
Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Stavanger. Expertise in signal- and image processing, computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI). Kjersti has been supervising multiple technical PhD candidates as part of in Safer Births. She is the Principal Investigator and project manager of the NewbornTime project – improved newborn care based on video and AI.
Knut Øymar (MD, Prof.)
Professor at the University of Bergen and Pediatrician at Stavanger University Hospital. Knut is one of the co-supervisors of the PhD fellow Dr. Jørgen E. Linde.
Jeffrey Perlman (MD, Prof.)
Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. Formerly Division Chief of Newborn Medicine from 2004 to 2022. Jeffrey Perlman is a world renowned expert in neonatal medicine and in particular neonatal neurologic disorders and Resuscitation Science. He received the honor of being named Resuscitation Giant by ILCOR in 2023. In the Safer Births project, he was co-supervisor for the following Ph D fellows Dr Jorgen Linde, Dr Robert Moshiro, Dr Benjamin Kamala and Estomih Mduma, and a mentor for Hege Ersdal.
Hanne Gaup Braa
Economist, currently finalizing last year of Medical School from University of Oslo. Special interest in Pediatrics. Studied hypothermia among admitted neonates in Safer Births.
Ivony Kamala
Implementation Specialist at Laerdal Global Health, leading the national scale-up of the Safer Births Bundle of Care (SBBC) in Tanzania. She also provides technical support for SBBC implementation in Nigeria. Prior to this role, she served as the National Coordinator for SBBC Phase 1 in Tanzania from 2020 to 2023.
Helge Myklebust
Director of Strategic Research, Laerdal. Administrative responsible for funding from the Norwegian Research Council and all partner agreements. Responsible for the innovation part of Safer Births and organized and led teams who developed MamaNatalie concept, Laerdal Newborn Resuscitation Monitor, Moyo, NeoBeat, Upright, NeoNatalie Live. Organized the first EUSim course for Tanzanian facilitators.
Sara Brunner
Research & Development Senior Scientist in Strategic Research, Laerdal. Part of the team who developed the innovations in Safer Birth. Leading development and maintenance of Liveborn System, used for data collection in Safer Births.
Solveig Haukås Haaland
Research & Development Senior Scientist in Strategic Research, Laerdal. Part of the team who developed the innovations in Safer Birth. Particular interest and expertise in Moyo and Moyo data.
Ingunn Haug
Research & Development Senior Scientist in Strategic Research, Laerdal. Part of the team who developed NeoNatalie Live and Liveborn Observation app. Particular interest in user involvement and learning processes among health care providers
Joar Eilevstjønn
Principal Scientist in Strategic Research, Laerdal. PhD in biomedical signal processing. Product developer and project manager for development of Laerdal Newborn Resuscitation Monitor, Moyo, and NeoBeat. Involved in processing and analysis of research data.
Sakina Girnary
Lead UX Designer working in a team of developers on a suite of solutions called LIFT (Learning Improvement Facilitation Tools) that leverages digital technology to support efficient and scalable implementation of the Safer Births program and the Helping Mothers and Babies Survive programs.
Snorre Nilsen Eikeland
Senior Analyst at Stavanger Univeristy Hospital with an interest in risk stratification and probability modelling. He holds a master’s degree in molecular biology and works on creating and analyzing datasets assembled across various sources.
Tahir Rizvi
Postdoctoral researcher in NewbornTime. Expertise in computer vision and artificial intelligence. Worked on developing artificial intelligence models for automated activity recognition from videos of newborn resuscitation with focus on semi-supervised and adaptive techniques for artificial intelligence.
Neel Kanwal
Expertise in medical signal and image processing and artificial intelligence. Postodctoral researcher exploring automated analysis on the Moyo fetal heart rate data.
Saul Fuster Navarro
Postdoctoral researcher in NewbornTime. Expertise in image processing and artificial intelligence. Working on developing artificial intelligence models for automated activity recognition from videos of newborn resuscitation, and inference implementation.