The Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center at the Population Council is thrilled to welcome our inaugural cohort of External Research Collaborators—a network of global researchers to deepen and drive research on adolescent health and development in low- and middle-income countries.
Together with the GIRL Center, Collaborators will develop research projects, co-author papers, participate in research agenda setting, and mentor young researchers focused on adolescents. In addition, as the first cohort, these 12 researchers will play a key role in establishing the program from its inception.
Meet our External Research Collaborators:
Dr. Aditya Singh is a geographer and demographer from India, currently working as an assistant professor at Banaras Hindu University. He is currently working on intimate partner violence, unintended pregnancy, and the use of sanitary absorbents during menstruation. His research interests lie at the intersection of public health, demography, and social sciences, including geography.
Dr. Blessings N. Kaunda-Khangamwa is a social scientist from Malawi working on research, capacity building, leadership and mentorship in Africa as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests include "re-imagining reproduction," technologies, pandemics, and operation and implementation science.
Dr. Caroline Kabiru leads the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (SRMNCAH) Unit at the African Population and Health Research Center in Kenya. Her research focuses on young people’s health and well-being in low-resource and marginalized urban settings and covers topics ranging from sexual and reproductive health to mental health.
Dr. Emma Chikovore is a population and health social scientist from Zimbabwe and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Built Environment and Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Her research interests include adolescent sexual and reproductive health, migration and gender studies, HIV and AIDS, and family well-being.
Dr. Fatima Mustafa, from Pakistan, is a Research and Data Scientist at Girl Rising where her work focuses on data collection and data analysis for Girl Rising’s programs with adolescent girls in countries across the world. Her research interests center on understanding and evaluating the impact of life skills and social and emotional education on learning outcomes for adolescent girls.
Dr. Jeremiah Chikovore is a health sociologist from Zimbabwe based at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health, tuberculosis and HIV and AIDS, and social dynamics of health in the Southern African region. He has a specific interest in the social construction of health as pivoted around gender and masculinity.
Dr. Justin Dansou is a demography lecturer at the University of Parakou in Benin. Justin’s research interest includes sexual and reproductive health (maternal health and child survival in particular), education, nutrition, youth inclusion and family transformation.