RGHI Fellow Sheilla Simiyu Is Among the Speakers at This Year’s UNC Water and Health Conference
Sheillah Simiyu, a Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI) Fellow, is among the speakers at this year’s University of North Carolina Water and Health Conference in Chapel Hill from October 23-27.
Simiyu is leading a side event, “Methods and evidence for understanding disease transmission at the urban development and One-Health interface in Kenya,” on Wednesday, October 25 at 1:30-3 p.m. ET.
In addition to being an RGHI Fellow, Simiyu is a Research Scientist at the African Population and Health Research Center in Nairobi, Kenya.
This 13th annual conference – an event where safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) professionals of the world come together – provides an opportunity for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to review scientific evidence and develop and improve approaches to expanding WaSH access and services to improve public global public health.
The nonprofit RGHI bridges epidemiology, public health, and behavioral insights in its mission to generate focused research on hygiene and hygienic behaviors while bringing together relevant experts to explore how this research can lead to tangible and meaningful changes. One way that RGHI works toward its mission is by providing funding for fellows and grantees to conduct important scientific research on hygiene.
The UNC conference also features four other RGHI Fellows and an RGHI Grantee:
*Julie Hennegan, RGHI Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at the Burnet Institute, an Australian-based medical research institute, where she also serves as Co-Head of the its Global Adolescent Health Working Group, is featured in the following sessions:
“The Menstrual Practice Needs Scale Short Form (MPNS-SF): Development and validation in Bangladesh and Uganda,” on Monday, October 23 at 3:30- 4:45 p.m. ET.
“Progress and opportunities: A review of menstrual health policy, service delivery and evidence in the East Asia and Pacific region,” on Tuesday, October 24 at 3:30-4:45 p.m. ET.
*RGHI Fellows Max Eyre who is a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Elizabeth Thomas of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Fanta Gutema of the University of Iowa are helping to lead a side event, “Research and Learning Priorities for Integrating Hygiene and One Health: Case Studies and Collaborative Discussion,” on Thursday, October 26 at 8:30-10 a.m. ET.
*Katie Greenland, RGHI Grantee and Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, is presenting a poster, “Development and delivery of the Faces of Dignity face washing intervention for the Stronger-SAFE trachoma trial,” on Wednesday, October 25 at 4:45-6 p.m. ET.
The UNC conference comes just over a month prior to the upcoming Global Hygiene Symposium in Singapore on December 6-8, 2023, which is hosted by RGHI and the Chatham House. The Symposium aims to drive innovative solutions in global health and expedite progress in hygiene as a pivotal component of overall well-being and global health security.
