Moses Banda Aron is a public health statistician with over 10 years of experience in Public Health, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Research. He holds a BSc in Statistics from the University of Malawi and a Master of Public Health from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel. Moses is a final-year PhD student at the University of Hamburg in Germany, affiliated with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany. Currently, Moses works as a Research and Impact Manager at Partners In Health Malawi. His research interests include Snakebite Envenoming and the impact of climate change on Health. 

Moses' African Snakebite Alliance project will involve conducting a nationwide assessment of snakebite burden in Malawi. He aims to understand the spatial distribution of the burden of snakebites across Malawi, based on hospital records, and identify hospitals that would be suitable for snakebite treatment and antivenom storage centres to create policy recommendations for strategically storing antivenom in already limited resources. Additionally, Moses will collect prospective snakebite data from five selected hospitals over a one-year period.

Dr Beth Tippett Barr is an epidemiologist based in Malawi with over two decades of experience in public health programmes and research across Southern and Eastern Africa. In 2022, she founded the Nyanja Health Research Institute to lead impactful research and mentor early- and mid-career scientists in knowledge translation and dissemination.

Her African Snakebite Alliance project, Snakebite in Africa: Know the Epidemiology (SNAKE), will assess snakebite incidence and outcomes in five countries: Malawi, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia, and Burkina Faso. By utilising existing Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites, the project will generate robust, standardised, population-based data to inform national estimates and enhance local research capacity through embedded mentorship at participating sites

Dr Rita Salifu is a Lecturer and Postgraduate Coordinator in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the School of Public Health, C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Ghana. She holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. With over 20 years of experience, her research spans HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, and neglected tropical diseases. In 2021, Dr. Salifu was awarded an Early Career Grant by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene to research the accessibility and availability of snake antivenom.

Dr Salifu’s African Snakebite Alliance project will explore how snakebite envenoming affects women’s livelihoods in rural communities near Mole National Park. Focusing on shea nut and honey producers, she will investigate their exposure to snakebites, their knowledge and practices regarding prevention, and the economic impact of snakebites. By highlighting gendered health vulnerabilities, the research aims to guide policies that protect at-risk women, strengthen local health systems, and promote sustainable development in Ghana and similar regions.

Dr Nathanael Sirili is a Senior Lecturer in Health Systems and Policy at the School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Tanzania. He holds a PhD in Public Health from Umeå University, Sweden, and has over ten years of experience in academia, research, and consultancy. His work focuses on strengthening health systems, primary healthcare, community health, and policy analysis, and he has led projects supported by Sida, UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank. To date, he has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and supervises a diverse range of postgraduate students. Since 2021, he has been a principal investigator for a project on the Village Emergency Care Model in rural Tanzania. 

Dr Sirili’s African Snakebite Alliance project aims to improve snakebite outcomes in rural Tanzania through the Community-Integrated Snakebite Surveillance and Response Model (CISS-RM). This community-based research initiative will co-create a culturally responsive, technology-driven approach to enhance surveillance, identify high-burden areas, and reduce care delays. The model will integrate community health workers, traditional healers, and frontline healthcare providers using a mobile app and emergency transport systems. 

Dr. Solomon T. Wafula is a Public Health Lecturer and Research Fellow at Makerere University School of Public Health in Uganda. With over a decade of expertise in neglected tropical diseases research, community health systems, and participatory intervention designs, he has made significant contributions to addressing public health challenges in resource-limited settings. Dr. Wafula holds a BSc in Environmental Health from Makerere University, a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester (UK), a Master of Epidemiology from the University of Antwerp (Belgium), and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Hamburg (Germany). His research interests encompass tropical diseases (including snakebite envenoming), environmental health and climate change, implementation science, and health systems strengthening in low- and middle-income countries and have published over 70 articles. In 2021, Dr. Wafula was awarded an Early Career Grant by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene to study healthcare workers’ Proficiency and Quality of Management for Snakebites in Arua and Gulu Districts in Uganda. In 2025, Dr. Wafula received the Drs. Anvar and Pari Velji Young African Leader Award for his exceptional commitment to improving the well-being of individuals in low-income settings

Dr. Wafula's African Science Academy (ASA) project, titled Strengthening Early Snakebite Response through a Community Co-Developed Intervention, is a planned pragmatic cluster randomized trial set to be implemented in Uganda's high-burden districts for snakebite incidents. This will involve collaborating with snakebite survivors, Community Health Workers (CHWs), and traditional healers to co-design targeted interventions that enhance first aid knowledge, accelerate early response mechanisms, and streamline referral pathways to formal healthcare facilities. Key components of the project include i) comprehensive training programs for CHWs on snakebite recognition, immediate care, and emergency protocols, ii) Survivor-led education sessions to share personal experiences and promote community awareness, iii) myth-busting campaigns to dispel harmful misconceptions about snakebite treatment and prevention and iv) Hotspot mapping to identify high-risk areas and inform targeted resource deployment.

Mawuli Leslie Aglanu is a public health researcher with collaborations across multidisciplinary research teams in Africa and Europe. He is a Research Fellow at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Ghana and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Germany. He also serves as a Scientific Officer with the African Research Network on Neglected Tropical Diseases, supporting regional research coordination and evidence translation. Mawuli is finalising his PhD at the University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. His research focuses on the epidemiology, health systems and policy analysis related to NTDs and other public health threats in low-resource settings.

Mawuli’s African Snakebite Alliance project titled “Bridging treatment PATHways: Collaboration with Traditional Healers and Healthcare Workers for Integrated SNAKEbite Management (SNAKE-PATH)” aims to develop a community of practice through telehealth by linking traditional healers, community health workers and physicians to collaborate and promote early referral and appropriate snakebite management practices for effective treatment. The project will empower communities, strengthen responsiveness, and advance behaviour change that promotes positive health outcomes for snakebite patients.