Founding history
Our founder, Dr Lisa Danquah is originally, by training, a human geographer. Her educational background includes a BA in Human Geography from Queen Mary University of London. She also has an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), an MSc in Social Statistics (Research Methods) and a PhD in Demography and Social Statistics, both from the University of Southampton. She has extensive experience in the research and teaching sector in UK higher education institutions.
How we got started
The idea of BAHE was initially conceptualised during Dr Lisa Danquah’s time in Sierra Leone in 2015, whilst she was working on a research project to improve Ebola contact tracing and monitoring in northern Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic.
The original idea was to start a business that would provide vocational skills and training to young people in Sierra Leone to improve their employability and provide life skills. The original name was BAHVY, to reflect Dr Lisa Danquah’s marital surname of Bah and her colleague Vanessa Vy’s respectively.
I have extensive research and teaching experience in global and public health, infectious diseases, and epidemiology spanning over a decade, and I have worked at world-leading global health and tropical medicine institutions in the UK, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, the University of Southampton and the University of Manchester in both research and teaching-based roles.
My specific research experience includes leading on the planning, implementation, management and evaluation of field-based epidemiological and mixed methods research projects in eight sub-Saharan African, Asian and Caribbean countries during my time working as a Research Fellow at LSHTM from 2011 until 2017, working on and managing a diverse portfolio of projects including, but not limited to, population-based surveys, cluster randomised trials, cross sectional studies, nested case-control studies, follow-up studies and process evaluations in the fields of emerging infectious diseases, infectious and neglected tropical diseases, ophthalmic and disability-based research and water, sanitation and hygiene studies.
I have managed other projects to improve health research capacity generally and research related to improving outbreak preparedness and response capacity in South America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan African countries whilst at the University of Oxford. I recently led a multi-country study on assessing event-based surveillance capacities and One Health priorities in 14 countries in Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Southern Europe
I also have teaching-related experience through working as a Distance Learning Programme Tutor for LSHTM on the water and sanitation module and supporting modules in statistical computing as a Teaching Assistant at Southampton University. I also provided teaching support and lectured on various modules whilst working as Research Fellow at LSHTM. The modules include epidemiological modules related to eye diseases, field research skills and the design and analysis of epidemiological studies. More recently, I worked for two years as a Teaching Fellow in Public Health at Imperial College London, supporting the design, development and delivery of modules on Statistics for Public Health and co-leading Digital Health and Emerging and Neglected Tropical Diseases modules, and contributing to other modules in public health and health protection. My most recent role was as a Lecturer in Global Health at the University of Manchester, where I taught modules in global health, research methods and supported modules on topics related to international disaster management and humanitarian response.
Main Research Fields
This experience is demonstrated by leading on the planning, implementation, management and evaluation of field-based epidemiological and mixed methods research projects in eight sub-Saharan African, Asian and Caribbean countries during her time working as a Research Fellow at LSHTM from 2011 until 2017, working on and managing a diverse portfolio of projects including, but not limited to:
The research projects were in Bangladesh, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, the Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia. Additionally, she has managed other projects to improve health research capacity generally, and research related to improving outbreak preparedness and response capacity in South America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan African countries at the University of Oxford about the Zika virus and other arboviruses.
Dr Lisa Danquah recently led a multi-country study on assessing event-based surveillance capacities and One Health priorities in 14 countries in Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Southern Europe, which involved working closely with regional disease networks and professionals in human and animal health in these settings.
Additionally, she has worked in teaching-based roles including distance learning as a Distance Learning Programme Tutor for LSHTM, as a Teaching Assistant at Southampton University on statistical computing modules, on various modules whilst working as Research Fellow at LSHTM, including epidemiology, field research skills and the design and analysis of epidemiological studies modules. More recently, 2018-2020, Dr Lisa Danquah was a Teaching Fellow in Public Health at Imperial College London, and then as a Lecturer in Global Health at the University of Manchester.
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