Tanya Nielson

Tanya
Nielson
BPharm and MSc
Managing Director: Clinical Research Division
The Aurum Institute
Adjunct Instructor
Department of Medicine, VUMC
tnielson@auruminstitute.org

Ms. Tanya Nielson has been involved in clinical trials for more than 12 years and has been in a management role for a decade. These include HIV Prevention Vaccine, HIV Therapeutic Vaccine, TB vaccine, TB drug, HIV prevention PrEP/Microbicide and contraception trials and several observational studies.

The Aurum Institute
Parktown, South Africa

David Alan Clark, MBBCh, BCom, MBA, CD (SA)

David
Clark
MBBCh, MBA, DHSM
Group COO: The Aurum Institute
Adjunct Professor
Department of Medicine, VUMC
Dave.Clark@auruminstitute.org

Global Health Research Interests: Clinical Trials, HIV/AIDS, Mobile Health, Public Health, Technical Assistance Service (PEPFAR), Trauma and Injury, Tuberculosis, Executive Leadership and Governance

Countries: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Congo (the Democratic Republic of the), Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia (the), Georgia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Moldova (the Republic of), Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Adjunct Professor Dave Clark is the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and an executive director and board member of The Aurum Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Medicine in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is strongly involved in the health programmes, corporate services and strategic leadership of the company. His activities include oversight of the financial, human resource and data management services to support the work of the scientific and clinical departments.

Education

MBBCh, DHSM, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
MBA, University of Potchefstroom, South Africa

 

Craig Innes, MBChB, MSc Epidemiology

James Craig
Innes
MBChB, MSc
Director, Clinical Research
The Aurum Institute
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
cinnes@auruminstitute.org

Global Health Research Interests: Clinical Trials, COVID, Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), Vaccinology

Country: South Africa

The Aurum Institute
Parktown, South Africa

Education

MBChB, University Of Pretoria
MSc, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Robert Wallis, MD, FIDSA

Robert
Wallis
MD
Chief Scientific Officer: Host Directed Therapy
The Aurum Institute
Adjunct Professor
Department of Medicine,
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
rwallis@auruminstitute.org

Global Health Research Interests: Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical Trials, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Pharmacology, Pulmonary Medicine/ Respiratory Care, Tuberculosis (TB), Vaccinology

Countries: Georgia, Germany, India, Moldova, Mozambique, Romania, South Africa

Dr Wallis is the Chief Scientific Officer: Host Directed Therapy and is an an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Medicine in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He holds adjunct appointments as Professor at Case Western Reserve University and Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, where he previously held full-time positions. He has published approximately 140 manuscripts*, review articles, and book chapters, mainly in the areas of tuberculosis biomarkers, immunotherapy, and anti-infective drug development. He has particular expertise in the use of innovative models to evaluate new drugs and vaccines.

Professor Wallis came to Aurum after nearly 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently at Pfizer, where his leadership in anti-infective R&D included the TB candidate sutezolid**. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Dr Wallis is presently leading multiple studies of adjunctive host-directed therapies in tuberculosis at Aurum.

Violet Chihota, PhD

Violet
Chihota
PhD
Group Chief Scientific Officer: The Aurum Institute
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
vchihota@auruminstitute.org

Global Health Research Interests: Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS, Implementation Science, Infectious Diseases, Tuberculosis

Countries: Brazil, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Prof. Chihota is The Group Chief Scientific Officer at The Aurum Institute. She has over 20 years' experience in global health, in the fields of TB and TB/HIV co-infection. Her work has focused on the molecular epidemiology of drug sensitive- and resistant-TB, diagnosis of tuberculosis and linkage into care post diagnosis. Her current interests are in understanding resistance to TB infection and evaluating strategies to prevent tuberculosis in people with TB/HIV coinfection.

The Aurum Institute
Parktown, South Africa

William Brumskine, MBChB, Dip HIV Man (SA)

William
Brumskine
MBChB, Dip HIV Man(SA)
Clinical Research Site Leader
The Aurum Institute NPC - Rustenburg CRS
Adjunct Instructor
Department of Infectious Disease, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
wbrumskine@auruminstitute.org

Global Health Research Interests: Clinical Trials, COVID, HIV/AIDS, Infectious Diseases, Tuberculosis (TB)

Country: South Africa

Experienced clinical research physician with a demonstrated history of working in the research industry. Skilled in clinical practice, reproductive health, pharmacovigilance, healthccare, and clinical research. Strong infectious disease interest with a Dip HIV Man (SA) degree focused on HIV management in a scarce resource setting from College of Family Physicians of South Africa.

The Aurum Institute
Parktown, South Africa

Michael C. Dewan, MD, MSCI

Michael
C.
Dewan
MD, MSCI
Associate Vice Chair of Global Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Assistant Professor Department of Neurological Surgery
Assistant Professor Department of Pediatrics, Hematology & Oncology
Academic Director
Global Neurosurgery Program
Surgical Director
Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program
Surgical Director
Pediatric Neuro-Vascular Program

MD_surgeryMichael Dewan MD, MSCI is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (MCJCHV) and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He is the Surgical Director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program, the Pediatric Neuro-Vascular Program, and the Academic Director of the Global Neurosurgery Program.

In 2016, he co-founded the Global Neurosurgery Initiative within the Global Surgery and Social Change Program at Harvard Medical School, now a leading center for international neurosurgical collaboration, advocacy, and scientific progress. He has developed surgical educational modules for neurosurgeons in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which are now being used in more than a dozen countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. His expertise in treating childhood brain tumors and neurovascular disorders has informed ongoing and completed multicenter clinical studies. His extensive experience in the endoscopic management of hydrocephalus and the treatment of congenital neurologic defects and his development of a research platform to improve outcomes have fueled an international consortium of centers addressing these conditions in LMICs.

Dr. Dewan maintains active research and capacity-building collaborations with partners in more than a dozen countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.  He has mentored numerous medical students and residents in funded research initiatives, successfully culminating in publications and trainee advancement. 

Education

BS, University of Notre Dame
MD, Yale Medical School
MSCI, Vanderbilt University

Training

Resident, Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical School
Fellow, Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief Fellow, Pediatric Neurosurgery, University of Toronto

 

michael.dewan@vumc.org

Global Health Research Interests: Epidemiology, Neurological Surgery

Countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines (the), South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, United Republic of, Zambia

Dewan

Prevention of Stroke in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia in Nigeria: A task shifting community hospital approach

Stroke is a devastating complication of sickle cell anemia (SCA) occurring in approximately 11% of children affected with the disease in resource-limited countries, compared to 1% in high-income countries. Nigeria bears 50% of childhood SCA's global burden, and stroke is a frequent complication leading to increased death and disability.