Head of SAMU
Tom Ellman is the director of the Southern Africa Medical Unit (SAMU). Since first working for MSF in Rwanda in 1995, he has over 20 years of experience in humanitarian medical work, mostly with Médecins Sans Frontières. His focus has been on HIV, TB, and malaria in Africa and South-East Asia, apart from a three-year ‘break’ working on Chagas disease – the ‘AIDS of the Americas’ – in Bolivia.
Senior HIV/TB Advisor
Esther Casas is the Senior HIV/TB Advisor and focal point for Zimbabwe, Guinea, the Central African Republic and Nigeria, where she provides HIV/TB technical and strategic support and also coordinates SAMU input.
Senior HIV/TB Advisor
Antonio Flores is an infectious disease specialist with clinical and programmatic experience in HIV, TB, viral hepatitis and tropical diseases (mainly malaria and Kala-Azar). He joined SAMU in 2020 to support the implementation and integration of HIV and TB programs in humanitarian settings.
Senior HIV/TB Advisor
Calorine Mekiedje is a Cameroonian medical doctor with a Master of Public Health in Hospital Management from the University of Roehampton (UK). She joined SAMU in early 2022, holding the portfolio of Democratic Republic of Congo and Central Africa Republic as strategic focal point.
Senior HIV/TB Advisor
Hannah is an infectious diseases doctor from the UK. She joined MSF in 2012 and has worked in Sierra Leone, South Sudan and on TB/HIV/Hepatitis programmes in Uzbekistan and India. She became a TB/HIV/Hepatitis Advisor for the Manson Unit (MSF UK) in 2020 with a focus on drug-resistant TB, viral hepatitis and COVID-19.
Operational Research Advisor
Petros is the Senior Operational Research (OR) Advisor of SAMU and leads the OR and M&E team. He coordinates OR activities across SAMU-supported HIV/TB/ HCV projects and countries and oversees the OR framework.
Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor
SJ joined MSF in 2015 as a Mission epidemiologist in South Africa, where she became interested in monitoring and evaluation and obsessed with denominators and the intellectual challenges of understanding data flow in routine settings. She joined SAMU in 2018, where her work has been primarily focused on HIV programs, but she also has experience in monitoring sexual violence, TB and programs focused on providing services to key populations.
Flying Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor
Gauthier Abdala is an Information Management enthusiast with over 6 years of experience analyzing end-user needs and providing data management solutions. He joined MSF in 2017 as the eHealth Manager for the HIV Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He joined SAMU in 2021.
Patient & Community Support Advisor
Mariana Garcia is a Brazilian Clinical Psychologist with humanitarian aid background. She joined SAMU in March 2016 as a Patient & Community Support Advisor providing technical and strategic support to HIV/TB programs on health promotion and mental health activities in different projects in the southern African region.
Flying Patient & Community Support Advisor
After her specialization in clinical psychology in France, Kleio Iakovidi joined MSF Greece for her first mission in a primary health care project for migrants and refugees. Over the last ten years, she has been travelling, volunteering and working in both East Africa and South East Asia, focusing mostly on psychosocial support for HIV and TB patients.
Key Populations Advisor
Lucy O’Connell is a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) nurse. She currently works as a Key Populations focal point with SAMU providing technical support to the field. She has over 20 years of experience working with communities and adapting models of care for hard-to-reach populations in HIV/SRH in the UK and abroad with MSF and other NGOs.
Lab Advisor
Zee is a Medical Scientist and holds an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, among other qualifications in project management and M&E. In 2014, he joined MSF as the research coordinator for the Zimbabwe project. He joined SAMU in January 2016 and provides support to MSF programme laboratories in the region.
Epidemiologist
Claire works for Epicentre, and she conducts operational research in the Sub Saharian African region. She is hosted by SAMU in Cape Town, with whom she collaborates as part of the studies implementation.
Head of Strategic Resources
Robyn is responsible for all the non-medical management of SAMU. She is also on the MT and coordinates the SAMU HIV/TB Thematic Pool.
Immigration and Administration Officer
Talya is responsible for all of SAMU's visa and immigration needs; she also manages all administration for the unit.
Learning Unit Coordinator
Ian Proudfoot is the head of the learning unit, coordinating all SAMU’s training offers and leading the strategic and pedagogical visions of the learning unit.
Advanced HIV Senior Clinical Advisor
Rosie Burton is the Advanced HIV Senior Clinical Advisor for SAMU. After several years working in this field for the ministry of health in South Africa, she joined MSF in 2014, where she rapidly found her niche, travelling extensively throughout Africa, providing technical support, training and mentoring in rural hospitals dealing primarily with sick patients with HIV and TB.
Senior Mentoring & Learning Advisor
Freddy is a medical doctor experienced in advanced HIV and tuberculosis; and an advanced HIV trainer. He has been working for several years in managing and caring for people living with HIV as a clinical physician, doctors' supervisor, clinical mentor and trainer of doctors and nurses in hospitals supported by MSF in the field of HIV and Tuberculosis.
Nursing & Nutrition Pedagogical Advisor
After graduating in 2009 from Algiers nursing college, Mohamed worked as an emergency nurse for 6 years before joining MSF in 2015. He has worked in many different contexts with MSF, particularly in emergency settings in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Learning Unit Knowledge & Administration Officer
Alexandra joined the SAMU team in early 2017 as part of the SAMU Learning Unit. Alexandra organises and oversees the smooth running of SAMU off-site trainings, as well as Resource management and website maintenance.
Intersectional Surgical Training Programme (ISTP)
Esnath is responsible for the overall management and function of the ISTP. I am also the link between the Program and all the MSF offices in the MSF movement.
Intersectional Surgical Training Programme (ISTP)
Ncediswa provides support to doctors coming to South Africa for ISTP training at Stellenbosch University. Responsible for sending all needed documents for the trainees to apply for visas before arriving in SA. I handle flights, accommodation, shuttle bookings and catering as well as requests for per diems.
Digital Health Promotion
Jakub is the Digital Health Promotion Coordinator.
Digital Health Promotion
Carina is the graphic designer the Digital Health Promotion Unit.