Scientific Advisory Committee
Based on their scientific expertise and knowledge of the thematic areas of the CoE-HUMAN, the following individuals were invited to serve on the Scientific Advisory Committee:
Prof Aryeh D. Stein (Chair)
Professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
Prof Stein has a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University in the USA. He is a member of the faculty of the Nutrition and Health Sciences program of the Laney Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In his research, he identifies critical periods of susceptibility to nutritional deficits and surfeits using intervention trials and natural experiments such as war-induced famine to study the role of prenatal and childhood nutrition on the development of adult chronic disease and cognitive achievement. He obtained his B.Sc. in nutrition from the University of London, and his MPH and PhD degrees, both in epidemiology, from Columbia University in New York City.
Prof Zané Lombard
Zané obtained her PhD in Human Genetics and Bioinformatics in 2008, under the supervision of Prof Michele Ramsay in the Division of Human Genetics (Wits University & NHLS). Her PhD research focused on a bioinformatics approach to disease-gene discovery. She is currently a Principal medical scientist and associate professor in the Division of Human Genetics, where she heads the Research laboratory and the Research & Development team in the Department. Before this she worked as a Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics in the School of Molecular & Cell Biology, also at Wits. Zané is passionate about promoting science in Africa, and therefore participates in several academic service domains at University, national and international level, like the SA Society for Human Genetics and the H3Africa Consortium. She currently is the PI of the H3Africa NIH-funded project called Deciphering Developmental Disorders in Africa, which was started in 2017. The aim of the study is to evaluate how new sequencing technologies can be used effectively in the diagnosis of rare genetic diseases to enhance the service we can offer to patients in the public healthcare sector.
Prof Clifford Odimegwu
Clifford Odimegwu is a full professor of demography and social statistics, and heads the Demography and Population Studies Programme, an interdisciplinary programme of the Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences. Prof Odimegwu is an acknowledged researcher in the field of population health and development issues in sub-Sahara Africa. He has graduated 23 PhDs, numerous Masters and Honors students; and has over 200 publications in top Journal. He has 3 books to his credit and the fourth, The Handbook of African Demography, is under production by Routledge. He has few years to retire.
Prof Blessing Mberu
Senior Research Scientist, Population Dynamics & Urbanization at APHRC & Honorary Professor of Demography and Population Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
Blessing is a Senior Research Scientist and Head of Urbanization and Wellbeing. Blessing works on migration, urbanization, adolescent reproductive behaviour and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa under the Urbanization and Wellbeing research pro- gram. He holds a PhD in Sociology, Master of Arts degree in Sociology from Brown University (USA) and an MSc from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria). Blessing joined APHRC in 2008 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow from Brown University (USA). He previously worked at APHRC as a Research Intern and Travel Scholar between August 2004 and June 2005. Prior to joining APHRC, Blessing worked at Abia State University, Nigeria since August 1988 as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Sociology and pro- moted to a Senior Lecturer between 1999 and 2002.
Prof Mark Stoutenberg
Professor and Head of Department, Department of Sport & Exercise Sciences, Durham University (UK)
Dr. Stoutenberg received his doctoral degree in Exercise Physiology (2008) and mas- ter’s of science in public health (2013) from the University of Miami, where also was a faculty member in the Department of Public Health Sciences for 9 years. Prior to joining Durham University, Dr. Stoutenberg was the Chair of the Department of Kinesiology in the College of Public Health at Temple University (Philadelphia, USA). Dr. Stoutenberg’s area of expertise is examining the optimisation of clinic-community linkages to connect patients from health settings to existing community resources to physical activity, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. Through this work, Dr. Stoutenberg works with governments, health agencies, academic institutions, and professional organisations around the world.