Rachel Jewkes
Unit Director
Tel: +27 (0)12 339-8525
E-mail: rjewkes@mrc.ac.za
Rachel is the director of the MRC Gender & Health Unit and is based in Pretoria. She trained as a medical doctor and is a specialist in Public Health Medicine. She has a Masters in Community Medicine and Doctorate of Medicine (MD) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London. She has spent the last 12 years researching gender-based violence, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence (including child sexual abuse), in South Africa using methods drawn from anthropology, epidemiology and health systems research. She has authored over one hundred and fifty publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and reports. She has worked closely with the South African Government over many years on sexual violence policy in the health sector. She is the Secretary of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, an initiative of the Global Forum for Health Research, and was a member of the steering committee of the WHO multi-country study on violence against women. Her other research interests include youth sexuality, evaluation of behavioural interventions for HIV prevention, termination of pregnancy, reproductive health and community participation. Most importantly she has been working to ensure that these research findings are translated into interventions within society to improve the lives of women. She was a co-founder and is an active lecturer on the annual four week short course on Reproductive Health Research Methods (for more info check www.rhru.co.za) which is in its 11th year. She has a very active programme of PhD supervision and is also an Honorary Professor in the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand and since 1995 has been an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. |
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Naeemah Abrahams
Deputy Unit Director
Tel: +21 (0) 21 938 0445
E-mail: naeema.abrahams@mrc.ac.za
Naeemah is the Unit’s Deputy Director and a Senior-Specialist Scientist. She has a PhD and MPhil in Public Health and started her career as a nurse. She has worked at the MRC for nearly 20 years, initially in the Trauma Programme and has been working with Rachel Jewkes since 1995. Her special interests are gender-based violence, health responses to gender based violence, femicide, child sexual abuse and the interface between GBV and HIV. Her research interest are in both epidemiological and qualitative methods. Her current research activities include sexual assault services - particular adherence to post exposure prophylaxis after rape to prevent HIV and mental health services for rape survivors and social responses to HIV and rape. She is also involve in the Global Burden of Disease study in collaboration with WHO and the London School of Health and Tropical Medicine. She was the technical advisor providing epidemiological support to the Namibia country site study on Domestic Violence and Health. She is also a foreign faculty member of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. |
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Nicola Christofides
Specialist Researcher
Tel: +27 (0) 12 339 8554
E-mail: nicola.chris@mrc.ac.za
Nicola is Specialist Scientist based in the Pretoria office and was previously Acting Director of the Women’s Health Project, University of Witwatersrand. She has a Masters in Public Health and is currently completing a PhD at Emory University, USA. She spent several years undertaking research on sexual assault health services, including a national situation analysis of services, research on patient preferences on how sexual assault services are delivered in the public health system, and research on the role of medico-legal evidence in rape case outcomes. Nicola was Chair of the drafting committee, developing the Policy on Sexual Assault for the National Department of Health of South Africa and she was the first Chair of the South African Gender Based Violence and Health Initiative. She is also interested in gender and tobacco use and reproductive health of young people. |
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Nwabisa Jama
Scientist
Tel: +27 (0) 12 339 8553
E-mail: nwabisa.jama@mrc.ac.za
Nwabisa is a Scientist with a Masters in Public Health from the University of the Western Cape. She has a background as a health promotion programme facilitator, and has been with the Unit as a researcher since 2000. She spent several years as a Community Research and Health Promotion Co-ordinator on the Stepping Stones project in Mthatha. She was involved with this project since its inception and has contributed to the research and the development of the intervention in multiple ways. She moved back to the Pretoria office in 2005 and is working on data from the study related to condom use towards a PhD. |
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Shanaaz Mathews
Scientist
Tel: +27 (0) 21 938 0448
E-mail: shanaaz.mathews@mrc.ac.za
Shanaaz is a scientist and is currently working on a PhD on intimate femicide. She has a Masters in Public Health and started her career as a Clinical Social Worker, with a focus on child sexual abuse. She also worked in the NGO sector and has been involved in advocacy and lobbying for gender sensitive policy development. She is a founder member of the Western Cape Network on Violence against Women and was Chair of the Network 1999- 2000, Vice-Chair from 2000 - 2002 and is currently still an active member. She has been engaged in research on the epidemiology of female homicide and the socio-cultural context of intimate femicide at the MRC since 2000. |
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Yandisa Sikweyiya
Scientist
Tel: +27 (0) 12 3398553
E-mail: yandisa.sikweyiya@mrc.ac.za
Yandisa is a Scientist and has a Masters In Public Health. He is currently involved in research on male experiences of coercion into sex and rape perpetration. He has a special interest in ethics and was a Fellow on the SARETI Programme in 2006. He worked on the Stepping Stones Study in Mthatha from its inception in 2002 and in 2006 moved to Pretoria to commence work towards a PhD. |
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Nelisiwe Khuzwayo
Junior Scientist
Tel: +27 (0) 47 5313401
E-mail: nelisiwe.khuzwayo@mrc.ac.za
Nelisiwe works in the Mthatha office and was the Project Manager for the last years of the Stepping Stones Study. Prior to this she worked as a Health Promotion and Community Research Manager. Before joining the MRC, she was with PPASA as a life skills educator and with Lovelife as a Y-centre co-ordinator. She has completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Promotion with the University of Transkei and is currently studying towards a Masters degree in Health Promotion at UKZN. She is working with Naeemah Abrahams on the PEP study and collecting data among women that attend the Sinawe Centre in Mthatha. |
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Busiswa Mketo
Senior Research Technologist
Tel: + 27 (0) 47 5313401
E-mail: busiswa.mketo@mrc.ac.za
Busi is a registered nurse working in the Mthatha office. She was the project nurse for the Stepping Stones Study and did the pre-test and post-test counseling during the HIV testing of the participants. She is currently working as an interviewer on the stigma study with Naeemah Abrahams conducting interviews with HIV positive participants. She also supports the participants and refers them to the appropriate institutions and liaises with the local cluster clinic managers. |
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Liz Dartnall
Project Manager, Sexual Violence Research Initiative
Tel: +27 12 338 8527
E-mail: liz.dartnall@mrc.ac.za or svri@mrc.ac.za
Liz is a health policy specialist with strong research, public policy and project management experience. She is the project Manager of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative of the Global Forum for Health Research, hosted by the South African Medical Research Council. Liz has a Post-graduate Degree in Psychology from Curtin University in Australia and a Masters in Science (Medicine) from the University of the Witwatersrand. She was a researcher at the Center for Health Policy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; has worked for the Health Department's of both Western Australia and South Africa; and was Senior Programme Manager for AMREF South Africa. |
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Ruxana Jina
Project Leader, Development of training curricula for sexual assault services
Tel: +27 (0)12 339 8515
E-mail: ruxana.jina@mrc.ac.za or ruxana.jina@gmail.com
Ruxana Jina is a medical doctor who has specialized in public health medicine. She is based in Pretoria and is the Project Leader developing the training curriculum for sexual assault care practitioners in South Africa. Ruxana developed an interest in sexual assault services and later gender-based violence when she encountered sexual assault victims and perpetrators while practicing in the public service. Using this experience, she conducted a study on the use of Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits in six provinces in South Africa for her Masters. The study was based at the Forensic Science Laboratory and included interviews with health care professionals. She has also been involved in a number of research projects related to maternal health care. In her current project, she will review local and international sexual assault care practitioner training programmes and use best practice models to develop a national curriculum for the Department of Health. Ruxana is currently Secretary of the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA). |
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Monalisa Hela
Senior Administrator
Senior administrative assistant
Tel: +27 (0) 12 339-8526
E-mail: monalisa.hela@mrc.ac.za
Monalisa Hela is the interim assistant to the Gender & Health Research Unit’s Director, Mthatha office, Cape Town Office and also the administrator responsible for the daily operations of the entire Unit. She is a dedicated committed and hard working person who always go an extra mile to ensure quality and efficiency. |
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Natasha Hendricks
Research technologist
Tel: +27 (0) 21 9380422
E-mail: natasha.hendricls@mrc.ac.za
Natasha works in the Cape Town office where she works with Naeemah on the study to improve adherence to PEP after a sexual assault and the study on services for sexually abused children. She has a Masters in Research Psychology and she is planning to study further in public health. |
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Lizle Loots
Scientist
Tel: +27 (0) 12 339 8548
E-mail: Lizle.Loots@mrc.ac.za
Lizle is a scientist based in Pretoria and has been with the MRC since 2006. She is trained as a sociologist and is currently working with Liz Dartnall on the Sexual Violence Research Initiative of the Global Forum for Health Research, hosted by the South African Medical Research Council. She has a special interest in research ethics and sexual violence in conflict settings. |
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Bongwekazi Rapiya
Research Technologist
El: +27 (0) 21 9380329
E-mail: Bongwekazi.Rapiya@mrc.ac.za
Bongwekazi works in the Cape Town office where she works with Naeemah on the study to improve adherence to PEP after a sexual assault. Bongwekazi worked for nearly 3 years on the Stepping Stones study in Mthatha. |
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