West Africa Health Organisation - WAHO Web

Health Research Web is being developed as a global platform for information and interaction on health research for development. More than that, we hope that HRWeb will also become an online community to pursue the goals of better health and socio-economic development through research for health. In that sense, HRWeb is you! Until July 2009, the core team consisted of COHRED staff – getting the first level information and setting up the basis of the web-based platform. In July, COHRED appointed Bruno Coelho as its full-time IT/WEB Officer in Brazil, and Ghaiath Hussein, a Sudanese national, to work with our institutional partner, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to specifically deal with the health research ethics review pages of HRWeb. This is the current 'HRWeb core team' – now based in Geneva, Brasilia and Pietermaritzburg. We envisage that this group will grow rapidly as HRWeb expands. We consider all our country reviewers and institutional partners as part of HRWeb as well. In July, we also started to establish an Expert Advisory Board – which may well become a 'supervisory' board in the future. From 31 July, Yunkap Kwankam has agreed to chair this Board, recruit new members, help build its capacity and independence, clarify its role vis à vis COHRED. The key functions of the Board at this early stage are to: develop the editorial policies and guidelines for HRWeb, act as a think tank for HRWeb development, and provide opinion on disputes concerning information on, and use of, HRWeb. In addition, it will help us think through how to develop this Board – or other mechanisms – for further quality control, independence and optimisation of HRWeb. If you have any suggestions, please contact us on EAB@HealthResearchWeb.org or start a discussion on our Governance page HRWeb's Core Team:
	Bruno Lacerda Coelho Health Research Web, Web/IT Officer Nationality: Brazil Bruno is a Systems Analyst. He has more than 9 years experience in designing new IT solutions to improve business efficiency and productivity. He served as Consultant at the Brazilian Ministry of Health where he helped expand the Department of Science and Technology's information systems, data collection and validation processes. He has a background in data modeler, software engineering and implementing information systems using a variety of technologies.

	Carel IJsselmuiden, MD, MPH, FFCH(SA) COHRED, Director Nationality:South Africa Carel is a public health physician and epidemiologist. He has worked in rural medicine, peri-urban and urban health care and environmental health services, as well as in academic public health education and research ethics training. He has also published in various areas in applied research and public health. Carel was the founding Director of the University of Pretoria's School of Health Systems and Public Health until his appointment as COHRED Director in January 2004.

	Claudia Nieto, MA Health Research Web, Research Officer Nationality: Colombia Claudia has an academic background in History, Popular Education and Community Development as well as Development Studies. She previously worked as community development worker at an institute of research and development for access to drinking water for rural communities attached to the Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia). Her responsibilities within COHRED include country project support.

	David Abreu, MBA Health Research Web, Manager Nationality: Brazil His primary area of expertise is maximising the reach of health research organisations through the use of web and related information technologies. His experience working with students from 33 different countries as an international educator has given him an understanding of the unique role of culture and language in communicating critical information. He served as Director of the International Student Services at Lewis University and as a Consultant at the Brazilian Ministry of Health where he helped expand the Department of Science and Technology's information systems, data collection and validation processes. He has a Master's degree in Business Administration with a specialisation in International Business and a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems from Lewis University in the USA.

	Rafael Sahb HRWeb Analyst Nationality: Brazil Rafael Sahb is a member of the HRWeb team, he will support the continued development of HRWeb, COHREDs website and other information technology projects. He is currently completing his Bachelors degree in Computer Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Rafael has worked as web developer for large organizations and for academic institutions in Brazil, including 5Clicks and Free Software Lab at UFMG. His areas of expertise are Server-side/Client-side Development, Web Standards, Search Engine Optimization, Free Software Solutions, Social Media Tools and IT Security.

	Sylvia de Haan, MSc, MPH COHRED, Head, Projects and Programmes Nationality: Netherlands Sylvia is a health scientist. After graduating from Nijmegen University she worked for several years in the field of environmental and occupational health in the Netherlands and in Tanzania. She has been working for COHRED since 1998. Her areas of responsibility within COHRED mostly focused on working with partners in developing countries to develop projects to improve and strengthen national health research.

HRWeb Team