Global Health Partnerships Cymru

Israa Mohammed (Chair)

Israa works as is an Advanced Epidemiological Scientist at Public Health Wales, supporting infectious disease surveillance and outbreak investigations. With a background in pharmacy and public health, she brings over eight years of multidisciplinary experience in epidemiology, clinical pharmacy, and academia across Sudan and the UK. She holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) from the University of Khartoum, an MSc in Clinical Pharmacy, and an MSc in Public Health for Development from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).  Israa began her career as a hospital and community pharmacist in Sudan, where she provided patient care, supported antimicrobial stewardship, and contributed to health education initiatives.  

After her MSc at LSHTM, she began her career in epidemiology, applying her expertise in data analysis, surveillance, and outbreak response. She now works as a field epidemiologist, where her role involves identifying signals and trends in the community, designing and coordinating field investigations and contributing to strengthening outbreak preparedness and response. She actively contributes to capacity-strengthening and international collaboration as Chair of Global Health Partnerships Cymru, working to promote health partnerships within Wales and globally while strengthening NHS Wales’s global health engagement. 

Monique Gouveia Hurter

I am a Global Project Manager in Clinical Research working for Thermo Fisher Scientific. I have over 10 years experience in the sports medicine and clinical research sectors and have worked in Southern and Central Africa and the UK and Europe. I have a strong passion for equality in health for all.

Amanda Daniel

Amanda is currently the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead for the community at Public Health Wales. Her background roles include the lead nurse at the Hospital for Tropical Disease, London, before moving into Public Health, Research, and IPC. She has a BSc (Hons) in Health Protection and MSc in Infection Management in addition to a Diploma in Tropical Nursing. Her interests are in global IPC, outbreak response and antimicrobial resistance. She has worked in parts of India, Bangladesh and Cambodia around neglected tropical diseases and IPC and she has collaborated with WHO and other stakeholders in global outbreak response in West and East Africa.

Ben Simms

Ben has been CEO of the Global Health Partnerships (formerly THET) since 2015. He has 30 years’ experience of working internationally, with an emphasis on global health and disability work. He has worked extensively across Africa, Europe, Latin America and Asia during this time, harnessing expertise from across the UK health community, in the NHS and in specialist medical charities such as Sue Ryder and Sense, to benefit the development of health and social care in low and middle-income countries. For the last fifteen years he has been in leadership roles, building a strong track-record in advocacy and programme innovation, and working closely with UK Government departments and UN agencies. His knowledge of the INGO sector is further informed by periods chairing BOND Working Groups and taking active roles in health networks such as STOPAIDS, the network he directed from 2010 to 2015. Ben has led an active voluntary life in the UK throughout this time, serving as a Councillor and acting as a Trustee of several charities. He became a Fellow of the RSA in 2019 and is a member of the BBC Charity Appeals Advisory Committee. Ben has an MSc in Development Management from the Open University and an MA in History from Edinburgh University.

At THET, Ben leads an organisation that is pioneering a health partnership approach to the training of health workers across 30 countries in Africa and Asia. Health partnerships harness the skills of staff from the UK National Health Service in ways which bring mutual benefit to all involved, a vision of co-development that speaks to the new era of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Rachel Crooks 

Rachel works as a Global Programmes Manager at MSI Reproductive Choices managing the organisations core funding from European and North American government donors for projects implemented across the MSI Global Partnership of 36 countries and supporting stewardship of bilateral grants for projects in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Rachel has a background in nursing and midwifery, having worked for 17 years in the NHS in clinical and research roles, and has been working full time in global health for six years. She holds a Diploma in Tropical Nursing and an MSc in International Public Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, in addition to a Bachelor of Nursing from Cardiff University and Bachelor of Midwifery from the University of South Wales.  

Rachel has worked for various NGOs and UN entities in clinical, education and training, research, governance and advisory roles across Africa and Asia, specialising in Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) and rights and health system strengthening. She has experience and expertise in policy and advocacy; design, management and co-ordination of large complex multi-partner global and national programmes; monitoring, evaluation and learning; service development; and quality assurance and improvement. Rachel is committed to working in partnership, ensuring that both evidence and national priorities drive innovations, and has professional and research interests in health system strengthening in fragile states, adolescent pregnancy, wider determinants of health, and gender equality and social inclusion.  

Jess Simms  

Jess is a Neurological Physiotherapist currently working in a leadership and clinical role in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. She has had 15 years of clinical experience working in public and private settings in the UK and New Zealand. She has volunteered in Greece, Belarus, Peru and Sierra Leone as part of different health and education projects. She is a committee member with ADPAT (CSP special interest group for physiotherapist in global health) and volunteers for the UK Med on call register. Jess has recently finished her MSc in global health leadership and is committed to working to improve equity in all our health systems.  

Aronrag Meeyai 

Aronrag is a disease modeller and health decision analyst. I obtained my PhD in 2009 in infectious disease modelling at Imperial College and my MSc in 2004 (Modern Epidemiology) also from Imperial College. I also hold an MSc in Applied Statistics and a BSc in Economics from Thailand. I was a Fogarty Fellow in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health (2000-2001), where I worked on statistical analysis of HIV data.  

After studying and working in the UK from 2003-2009, I worked at Mahidol University in Thailand from 2009 to 2019. During those ten years, I was the co-director of the MSc course in Infectious Disease Epidemiology and also a co-director of the PhD course in Health Technology Assessment at Mahidol University. In 2019, I relocated back to the UK and worked with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) as an Assistant Professor. From 2020–2024, I taught on the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine as module lead for Epidemiology, Statistics, and Health Economics, while also conducting research that applies epidemiological and economic modelling to guide evidence-based public health decision-making. Since 2024, I have been working as a health economist at PHW. 

My work has addressed vaccination policies, infectious disease control, tobacco control, and health workforce planning. My work, which has directly informed national-level decision making for the control of both communicable and non-communicable diseases, makes use of system dynamic modelling, health economic analyses, and statistical analyses of complex data sets. I have extensive experience of working with key stakeholders including national governments, the World Health Organization and international academic and industry collaborators. 

Zoe Kennerley

Zoe is a Consultant Antimicrobial Pharmacist at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board working across North Wales supported by a team of specialist pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and a nurse across primary and secondary care to raise awareness and implement antimicrobial stewardship across healthcare settings. Zoe currently chairs the Welsh Antimicrobial Pharmacy Group (WAPG), with a membership of antimicrobial pharmacists, technicians and other relevant stakeholders within Wales, including Public Health Wales. The group shares experience across Health Boards and takes a collaborative approach to antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) across Wales, progressing projects nationally. She is also a core member of CwPAMS Malawi/Wales partnership where the Pharmaceutical Society of Malawi and WAPG work together to implement AMS programmes in facilities in Malawi. She is currently undertaking a Global Health Fellowship project leading on creating a clinical toolkit to support community pharmacists in Malawi.  

Benjamin Achikanu  

Benjamin U. Achi-kanu is a dedicated optometrist and Public Health professional with extensive experience in clinical eye care, community health, and global health partnerships. With over eight years of professional practice, he has built a career centred on improving health outcomes through patient advocacy, community engagement, and evidence-based interventions. He holds a Doctor of Optometry degree from Abia State University, Nigeria, and an MSc in Public Health and Health Promotion from Swansea University, United Kingdom. 

He currently works with the Public Health Trust as a Sexual Health Support Worker, providing essential service-user support, data management, and administrative coordination within sexual health services.  He also contributes to health development initiatives in Wales through multiple roles that reflect his dedication to global collaboration. As a Committee Member of Global Health Partnership Cymru, he collaborates with NHS organisations, health links and civil society stakeholders to support policy engagement, strategic governance, and meaningful partnerships with low- and middle-income countries. In addition, he also volunteers as a Data and Research Support member with Hub Cymru Africa, where he conducts data analysis to strengthen charity work and sustainable programmes between Wales and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Prior to his work in the United Kingdom, he worked as a Clinical Optometrist across multiple hospitals and clinics in Nigeria, where he delivered patient-centred care, supervised clinical operations, supported post-operative management, and led community health outreach programmes focused on eye health, HIV/AIDS awareness, dental care, and preventive health education. 

He possesses strong analytical skills, leadership abilities and is guided by his passion for health equity. Benjamin seeks to continue advancing public health through research, leadership development, and global community partnerships. 

Angela Gorman 

Angela is a retired Senior NICU Nurse. She worked for the NHS for over 30yrs. In June 2005, she happened to see a TV programme about maternal mortality in Chad, Central Africa. Angela contacted the BBC and helped to set up a charity, initiatially called Hope for Grace Kodindo, named after the doctor who was central to the programme. At Dr Kodindo’s request, it is now called LFAM. The organisation began by offering help to source key medications, which were unavailable in Chad. Angela travelled to Chad in November 2005. During that visit, the group met with the UNFPA who requested updates with any impact reported from the hospital. Within a few months Dr Kodindo reported a significant drop in maternal and neonatal deaths, from at least one death every day, to around 25 women surviving every month, who would otherwise have died. This information was passed to the UNFPA Representatives, who requested that LFAM support Liberia and Sierra Leone, countries with some of the highest global maternal death rates.  

In 2007/8,LFAM became a member of the newly created Wales for Africa programme and had the opportunity to be seconded to LFAM. At the age of 59, there began a complete change of direction in Angela’s life, including travelling to some of the poorest countries in Africa,  

Angela describes herself as being privileged to undertake this work, which she believes is driven by a very personal mission, that of losing her paternal grandmother in childbirth over 100yrs ago. She has had several “pinch me” moments, most noteably, helping to bring Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Cardiff in 2012 and receiving an MBE in 2020.  

Angela is wife to Mike, the mother of three grown up children, a grand-mother and great-grandmother,. She is passionately Welsh and loves to fly the Welsh flag wherever she is in the world.  

Julian Rosser  

Julian Rosser is Head of Partnership at Hub Cymru Africa, Wales’ leading international development and global solidarity organisation which brings together the work of Global Health Partnerships Cymru, Fair Trade Wales, Welsh Centre for International Affairs and the Sub Sahara Advisory Panel. In this role he is also co-chair of Wales Overseas Agencies Group. 

Julian has been active in Welsh civil society for more than 30 years. He has held leadership roles at Friends of the Earth Cymru, Oxfam Cymru, Fair Trade Wales and Bioregional. He has also been the chair of Disasters Emergency Committee Cymru and Stop Climate Chaos Cymru. He worked for Hub Cymru Africa from 2015-2018 and rejoined the team in 2022 

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