Transforming birth and death registration

Emelda researches how to strengthen birth and death registration systems in Kenya by identifying barriers in both the health system and communities. Her work uses surveillance data, interviews and focus groups to co-design context-specific interventions, aiming to improve real-time data, accountability, and ultimately equitable access to services and policy planning.

Emelda heads the Population Health Unit within the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya. She has over 18 years of population health experience at country, regional and global levels. She have proven competency in public health and health systems research, implementation and programme evaluation.  Emelda’s current work aims to understand determinants of health transitions and vulnerabilities at fine scales, evaluate healthcare access, and work to develop the science around using routine health information across Africa and to embed the use of evidence for country level decision-making.

Before her current position, Emelda was a Program Officer/Gates Fellow within the Global Health Team at the Gates Foundation. She has previously worked on projects that have evaluated the public health impact of malaria control and anti-retroviral treatment programs while at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation-IHME and on developing primary health care strategies at Philips Research Africa.

Emelda serves on the BMC Medicine Editorial Board and on the TDR Scientific Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) has a special interest in science mentorship and capacity building and global health advocacy within Africa. Emelda has a PhD in Epidemiology, has been awarded two internationally competitive Wellcome Trust (UK) Fellowships and is widely published.