Blessings Chisunkha

Under the mentorship of a professor:

• Help with study designs and developing research protocols.
• Design and program data collection tools, testing/piloting the tools.
• Data collection for both quantitative and qualitative research – interviews, FGDs, observations
• Data integration from disparate sources
• Data transcription (for qualitative research), exploratory data analysis and cleaning
• Documentation of findings, report writing and presentation of findings
• Contributed to both quantitative & qualitative research and data analysis within the school of Applied Health Sciences landscape.
• Gathered, reviewed, and summarized literature from scientific journals and write manuscripts for paper publications.
• Planned, modified and executed research techniques, procedures and tests.
• Utilized advanced statistical software to analyze large datasets, uncovering key insights for informed decision-making.

• Spearheaded digitization efforts for collection, cleaning, validation and visualization of technical areas and indicator data at headquarters, country office and partner organization
• Led and coordinated the CDC monitoring & evaluation (M&E) team and external consultants to plan, design, develop, implement, and evaluate a data management system called GOAL-D
• The system centrally houses Global Health Security (GHS) fiscal, surveillance, M&E data for enhanced data management, transparency, access and use
• This has integrated large and disparate datasets from WHO JEE and Benchmarks, DGHP financial planning data, US Government-estimated JEE indicator scores, and data from 49 operating countries
• Coordinate & participate in inter-agency technical working groups (TWGs)
• Provide technical guidance and support to M&E team on data collection and management using data science methods; develop statistical analysis plan; data transformation, cleaning, analysis (exploratory, descriptive, regression) and visualization; interpretation of results and reporting
• Lead health data standardization efforts for disparate data sources from program implementation countries - helping develop standard data conventions, data systems QA documents, data dictionaries and business rules
• Plan, develop training manuals and provide training in R programming language plus data management best practices to division-wide M&E staff
• Under CDC Data Modernization Initiative, help accelerate adoption of emerging technologies in data science, data integration and cloud-based technologies to enhance ability of CDC's global health programs
• Collaborating with country-level CDC leadership and program implementing partners to support country teams – providing guidance on programs' progress, successes & challenges plus technical assistance in data management
• Help document data and program findings, develop & disseminate technical reports, scientific papers and abstracts through conference presentations and publications
• Deployed to work in 2022 Multinational Monkeypox (MPX) Response Team and helped develop user- role requirements and system flow diagrams for vaccine safety and efficacy plus updating risk assessment forms for MPX transmission and recommendations.
• Ensured compliance with relevant regulations governing patient privacy and security within informatics systems.
• Increased collaboration between departments through creation of centralized data repositories accessible to all stakeholders.

• Coordinated development of data guidelines and resources that facilitate quality assurance in variety of data collection, management and analysis software
• Led documentation, analysis and reporting of market scan of common data collection, management, analytics & visualization software to explore data sharing platforms and mechanisms
• Conducted Data Protection Impact Assessment and investigated security features & laws governing solutions
• Based on feedback, provided summaries of prioritized software to identify best software solutions
• Identify innovative data collection techniques that can: gather data quickly for humanitarian response; access hard to reach areas and populations; work offline in low-technology environments; and facilitate language translation.
• Improved data quality by implementing strict validation and standardization processes.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to define data requirements and develop strategies for effective data collection.

A USAID funded project aimed at tracing HIV+ breastfeeding mothers defaulting the ART treatment:

• Assisted in design and translation (into local languages) of research tools-questionnaires and consent forms
• Programmed survey tools into electronic format using ODK, to collect, transfer and store research data
• Designed of research databases using MS Access and SQL Server- and conducted periodic data backups
• Led the data team in extracting data from Electronic Medical Record system, data cleaning & analysis.
• Enhanced data security with stringent access control measures and regular audits.

In partnership with Population Services International (PSI) and Ministry of Health (MoH), I helped spearhead the design and implementation of an OraQuick HIV Self-Testing Study:

• Managed budgets and resources to ensure cost-effective project delivery within specified timeframes.
• Facilitated field operations through supervision and direction of field personnel.
• Consistently exceeded performance objectives by leveraging extensive industry experience and effective leadership skills in managing teams.
• Coordinated development of study designs; questionnaire design, sampling strategy, conduct interviews
• Successfully facilitated design and implementation of research tools - study protocol, SOPs and Data Management Plan
• Develop data collection tools and translate them into local languages
• Design digital maps for our study areas, develop databases to access and store geospatial data, analyze & visualize GIS data
• Pioneered the development and use of digital methods for automated data collection, validation, transfer & storage format using both online & offline platforms like ODK, REDCap & Commcare
• Conduct data integration from multiple data sources, data transformation, accuracy & quality audit checks, cleaning and analysis - exploratory, descriptive and categorical - using STATA
• Participate in technical working groups (TWGs) with partners like the MoH, PSI & WHO
• Provide technical guidance to the study team & implementing partners on health systems strengthening actions
• Ensure that supported activities conform to national guidelines and are aligned with MoH and WHO technical strategies, and international normative guidance
• Provide technical assistance and guidance to MoH and other national and international partners and collaborators on HIS, HSS, and related capacity-building activities
• Manage staff recruitment, capacity building, training, mentorship, and performance assessment
• Provide oversight funds through planning, reconciliations & management of program's operational budgets
• Oversee program planning, implementation, and reporting - ensuring compliance with MLW & donor policies.

Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Malawi and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The research focus is on non-communicable diseases and other chronic disorders like Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/Aids:

• Helped to develop study tools and translate them into local languages
• Led the development of SOPs, Data Management Plan & Evaluation and Performance Monitoring Plan
• Responsible for preparation and management of budgets and contracts for all out-sourced data/IT services
• Pioneered digital data management methods to enable mobile data collection using offline software platforms
• Coordinated training & capacity building on research, electronic data capture and management methods
• Helped with qualitative data collection, transcription and analysis using Nvivo
• Disseminated study findings through conference presentations
• Documented project processes and results and used findings to co-author peer reviewed papers.
• Devised and implemented reliable data management procedures to enable usability and security of company data.

• Pioneered & set up the company's IT department from scratch, building IT capacity with support from management
• Administration of Insurance System on Client-Server architecture: Server running on SCO Unix OS
• Planned and collaborated IT training and capacity building to staff and partners
• Designed and implemented system security and general IT policies
• Provided technical advice & recommendation to management on acquisition of IT equipment and other IT services
• CONSULTANCIES
• Led successful migration of company data to cloud-based storage systems for increased accessibility and security.
• Created comprehensive documentation on IT policies, procedures, and troubleshooting guides for easy reference by staff members.
• Developed and maintained company intranet, streamlining internal communication processes.
• Implemented robust data backup strategies, safeguarding crucial information from loss or corruption.
• Diagnosed complex technical issues quickly, providing timely resolutions that minimized downtime.
• Implemented disaster recovery plans to minimize downtime during critical situations.
• Maintained 24/7 availability for critical system support issues ensuring minimal disruption to day-to-day operations.