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.
Current PHD candidates: Saving Little Lives
Completed PhDs
Hege Langli Ersdal (MD, Prof.)
Anesthesiologist and Associate Professor affiliated to the University of Stavanger and SAFER. Hege is the Project Manager and Principal Investigator for the Safer Births Project. She was also the main supervisor for Estomih Mduma, Dr. Jørgen Linde and Dr. Robert Moshiro, as well as co-supervisor for Dr. Monica Thallinger, Dr. Paschal Mdoe and Jarle Urdal.
Paschal Mdoe (MD)
An obstetrician and gynecologist currently working at Haydom Lutheran Hospital as head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is also one of the PHD fellows in the Safer Births project, doing his study on a randomized controlled trial on different fetal heart rate monitoring devices in Haydom and Muhimbili, and the role of human factors in fetal heart rate monitoring.
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)
Pediatrician by profession with extensive experience of working in low resource settings with Doctors Without Borders, Monica is currently doing a PhD at the University of Oslo. Her research will include randomized controlled trials in Tanzania and Norway using testing the newly developed Upright Resuscitator, and a new low-cost PEEP.
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.
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
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)
Currently the Health Director of Stavanger Municipality, Corinna, who is a medical doctor by profession also holds a PhD in health economic. 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 Project.
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 researcher at the Norwegian Public Health Institute. Ketil is the main supervisor for the PhD fellow Dr.Monica Thallinger.
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, Kjersti has her expertise within signal processing and is one of the supervisors of PhD fellow Jarle Urdal.
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.
Thorkild Tylleskär (MD, Prof.)
Professor in pediatrics at the Center for International Health in Bergen, with extensive experience in Global Health research. Thorkild is the co-supervisor of the PhD fellow Dr. Robert Moshiro.
Jeffrey Perlman (MD, Prof.)
Professor of Pediatrics at the New York Center for Children’s Health/Cornell Medical Center and director of Division of Newborn Medicine at Cornell Medical College’s Department of Pediatrics. Jeffrey is a world-renowned expert in neonatal medicine and co-chairman of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program. In the project he is co-supervisor for PhD fellows Dr. Jørgen Linde, Dr. Monica Thallinger, Estomih Mduma and Dr. Robert Moshiro.
