The Center for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH) partners with governments, civil society and other experts to develop innovative public health solutions. Directed by Dr. Charles Holmes, CIGH was formally established in April 2020 and brings together a multi-disciplinary team with a track record of tackling some of the toughest challenges in public health.
CIGH staff and Malawian delegation convene at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
From February 16-22, Dr. Charles Holmes, Sara Allinder, and Debi Hoege from CIGH and a 17-member delegation of Malawian leaders convened at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle to share successes, challenges and learnings from the first half of the 5-year Blantyre Prevention Strategy (BPS). Representatives from Malawi government, NGOs, civil society leaders, USAID, and PEPFAR were among the delegation meeting with Gates Foundation leadership. Discussions focused on advances made through BPS, including case studies demonstrating the potential for more cohesive, sustainable and data-informed HIV programs. Outcomes from these discussions will shape the remaining 30 months of the BPS project and support upcoming implementation science programs for long-acting injectable PrEP in Malawi.
The Blantyre Prevention Strategy has launched a new website to share project findings, updates, conference presentations, and much more.
Click here to check out the new site.
Georgetown’s CIGH and Ethics Lab convene Ethics of Novel Data Use for HIV Programs expert committee
Georgetown’s Drs. Maggie Little and Charles Holmes have convened a series of panel discussions with 20 experts in big data, data systems, and HIV programming from governments, civil society and private sector. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this work will continue through the end of 2022 and is expected to result in pragmatic ethical recommendations for donors, researchers and implementers.
CIGH’s Deputy Director collaborates with MOSAIC and Pharos Global Health Advisors
Sara Allinder recently joined MOSAIC’s Product Access Advisory Committee (PAAC) – an external, neutral committee that provides strategic, expert guidance to MOSAIC’s leadership and core management teams regarding developments in the HIV prevention market. Maximizing Options to Advance Informed Choice for HIV Prevention (MOSAIC) is a five-year (2021-2026) global project funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to help women prevent HIV by accelerating introduction and scale-up of new and emerging biomedical prevention products.
Sara also serves as an expert advisor to Pharos Global Health Advisors and authored country case studies included in a 2022 evaluation conducted for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (GF) focused on the 2020 cohort of $1 billion in grants (COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM) plus flexibilities) and a 2021 thematic review of pandemic preparedness and response (PPR) and the GF’s place in the future PPR universe, especially in supporting lower middle income countries while contributing to a stronger regional and global PPR system.
As part of the IAS AIDS 2022 conference held in Montreal, Canada, CIGH hosted a satellite session on July 31, 2022. The satellite, titled The Blantyre Prevention Strategy: A New Way of Doing Business in HIV Prevention, was co-chaired by CIGH’s Sara Allinder and Malawi National AIDS Commission’s Chimwemwe Mablekisi.
This satellite session featured speakers from the Government of Malawi at district and national levels, BPS expert partners, and CIGH’s Dr. Charles Holmes and Sara Allinder. They have highlighted the unique BPS business model and learning from two years of implementation, particularly in data usage and innovative approaches to supporting oral PrEP scale up.
View a recording of the session here and view accepted posters here.
CIGH Director co-authors argument for strengthening of U.S.-Zambia relationship
On the eve of the December 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, CIGH director Dr. Charles Holmes and Ambassador Mark Storella—former U.S. Ambassador to Zambia—penned an op-ed in Think Global…
CIGH Director calls for a reinforced Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
On the eve of UNGA and the 7th Global Fund Replenishment, CIGH Director, Dr. Charles Holmes writes in The Hill that “the Global Fund has provided hope and delivered on the promise of partnership…
Blantyre Prevention Strategy funds SCORE Project to improve COVID-19 phone clinic
Led by Dr. Titus Divala, the Blantyre Prevention Strategy’s funded SCORE Project created a community response platform and phone clinic to help address the COVID-19 epidemic. The community response…
CIGH co-authors Global Health Action commentary on HIV/SRH integration
CIGH staff joined with Ministry of Health officials from Kenya, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), and Ms. Janet Fleischman on an important new Global Health Action…
