Training Advisory Committee (TAC)

Craig Cohen, MD MPH (UCGHI)

Dr. Cohen is a Professor at UCSF, Co-Director of UCGHI and the PI of the CDC/PEPFAR-funded Family AIDS Care & Education Services (FACES) program in Kenya funded by NIAID, NCI, NIMH, OAR, FIC and foundations. Dr. Cohen has directed the UCSF T32 Reproductive Infectious Disease Fellowship to train physicians and PhDs in RID global health research. He has also directed the GloCal D43 fellowship to train physicians and PhDs in global health research, as well as having served as the PI for several FIC-funded training programs.

Mama Foupouagnigni, PhD (AIMS-Cameroon)

Professor Foupouagnigni is the Chief Academic Officer of the AIMS Global Network, President of AIMS Cameroon and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon. Professor Mama is responsible for the rigorous program development at AIMS Cameroon, and the conceptual design of AIMS’s Teacher Training Program (TTP). Professor Mama is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, President of the Cameroon Mathematical Union and the Africa Representative for the International Mathematical Union’s Commissions for Developing Countries.

Risa Hoffman, MD (UCLA GHP)

Dr. Hoffman is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCLA, Associate Director of the UCLA Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program, and Director of the UCLA School of Medicine Global Health Program. She has extensive experience performing collaborative research in Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa and is on the leadership team of a large PEPFAR/USAID-funded collaboration between Partners in Hope, a medical center in Malawi, and UCLA.

Georges Alain Etoundi Mballa, MD (Cameroon MOPH)

Dr. Etoundi currently serves as the Director of Disease Control, Epidemics and Pandemics for the MOPH, where he is responsible for overseeing the country’s hospital care. Dr. Etoundi previously served as the Chief of Emergency Services at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé and is currently a Co-PI on the ongoing CTR study to inform injury prevention policy and introduce quality improvement initiatives at partner hospitals.

Martin Monono, MD FRCS (Buea, WHO, MOPH Cameroon)

Dr. Monono is a head and neck surgeon who served as the Regional Advisor for Health Policy and Service Delivery at the WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo. He has held a number of administrative leadership posts; including Provincial Delegate of Public Health, Director of Health Care Organization and Health Technology, and Director of Family Health in Cameroon's MOPH. Dr. Monono has served as Cameroon’s WHO focal point for violence and injury prevention and in 2010, he joined the WHO as a Technical Officer where he was charged with coordinating violence and injury prevention activities in the African Region.

Kevin Njabo, PhD (CBI)

Originally from Cameroon, Dr. Njabo is a UCLA Pritzker Education Fellow and the Africa Director for CBI. He is also the UCLA/CBI focal point for UCGHI, where he helps to mentor GloCal Fellows across Africa. Dr. Njabo is currently Co-Investigator of a large UK-funded global trade, development, and environment hub and he supports the CBI’s School for Indigenous and Local Knowledge.

Lucy Ndip, PhD (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Buea)

Dr. Ndip is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and the Deputy- Vice Chancellor in charge of Research, Cooperation and relations with the Business World (DVC-RCB) at the University of Buea. Dr. Ndip was trained as a Fogarty fellow at the University of Texas, Galveston (2001-2003, 2005). She is the Director of Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases at Buea, where she contributes to developing capacity for the surveillance of influenza viruses and other emerging infectious diseases in the Central African Region. As DVC-RCB, Dr. Ndip manages all research projects conducted at Buea and is responsible for ensuring that all projects are in conformity with Cameroonian laws and policies set by funding organizations.

Steve Shoptaw, PhD (UCLA)

Dr. Shoptaw is Director of the Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine; Professor in Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Biobehavioral Sciences; and Vice Chair for Research in Family Medicine. Dr. Shoptaw has served as PI or Co-PI on over 45 funded projects and he currently directs the NIH- funded UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (CHIPTS). Dr. Shoptaw also leads a collaboration to facilitate science on HIV prevention in the setting of comorbidities of mental health and substance use disorders and barriers to structural determinants of health–both internationally and in the US. He has an excellent track record of successful trainee mentorship to over 40 individuals, with mentees obtaining tenure-track faculty appointments, K awards, and admissions to competitive graduate programs.

Tom Smith, PhD (CBI, UCLA)

Dr. Smith is the founding Director of the Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a member of the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration. He currently oversees numerous research projects and directs the research of a large number of graduate students, postdoctoral, and senior researchers on projects worldwide. He co-created CBI, based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, which serves as a regional nexus for interdisciplinary research, education, and training.