Our team

Robert has worked in the area of antimicrobial resistance including on One Health related issues for more than 25 years. As Scientific Director, he is part of the management team he is closely involved in the strategic and organizational development and is responsible for the scientific content and actions of ICARS.

He works closely with the ICARS Operations and Partnerships team on establishing and maintaining collaborations and connections to countries and international stakeholders a medical doctor and specialist in clinical microbiology. He is a renowned expert on antimicrobial resistance and has served on several internal WG and advisory boards in that capacity.

Helle holds a background in political science with a focus on international relations. As Director of Operations, she is part of ICARS Executive Management and heads the Department of Operations, Partnerships and Communications. Together with the Scientific Director, she leads the work on ICARS strategic and organizational development. Helle holds a Master of Political Science from Aarhus University (DK). She has previously worked with international relations and international cooperation on health in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Ministry of Health and the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Per is a Senior Consultant at ICARS, responsible for establishing contacts with the agricultural and veterinary sector in low- and middle-income countries. Additionally, Per is advising on development projects in the agricultural and veterinary sector. Per is former Chief Veterinary Officer of the Kingdom of Denmark, with a background in Academia and both Ministry of Health and Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Denmark. He holds a DVM from Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (Copenhagen).

Sabiha is the South African Research Chair in Antibiotic Resistance and One Health and Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa. She is an independent consultant to ICARS. Using her vast experience in the field of IR, Sabiha offers valuable guidance to ICARS’ country partners throughout the process of conceptualizing and implementing IR projects to mitigate AMR, while providing input to the ICARS strategy as part of the Science team. Sabiha serves as expert consultant on AMR and antimicrobial stewardship to the World Health Organization and its regional offices, as well as on several other advisory boards/groups of national and international organizations.

Mirfin is a public health specialist with over 30 years extensive experience in global health policy and security, developing innovative sustainable financing options for healthcare delivery and strategic development. As an independent consultant for ICARS, Mirfin is expanding our partnerships with LMICs in Africa, while advising on development, implementation and evaluation of projects in Africa. He is also leading our collaboration with React Africa, and working on advocacy and capacity-building in the same region. Mirfin has successfully supported several countries with AMR National Action Plan development and implementation and provided technical support to WHO, FAO, OIE, Africa CDC and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) on AMR strategies and policies.

Tine is a biologist with post-graduate training in Global Public Health and Health Economics. As Senior Scientific Advisor, she advises on ICARS’ implementation projects and other activities. Starting February 2021, Tine is seconded to the AMR Global Coordination Department at the WHO in Geneva. She has held various global positions in the public and private sector, specialized in access to medicines, health economics and policy as well as evaluation frameworks for introduction of new technologies. She has been part of the cross-sectoral national group reporting on AMR under the Danish Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Tine is an external lecturer at University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School

Anders is a veterinarian and microbiologist who has worked for more than 25-years with research and research capacity building in low- and middle income countries, including on antimicrobial use and resistance. As an independent consultant for ICARS, he provides input to the development, implementation and management of demonstration projects. He works closely with the ICARS Science team and local governments. Anders holds a degree in veterinary medicine (DVM) and has a Ph.D. in microbiology and epidemiology from the University of Copenhagen where he also works as a Professor in Veterinary Public Health.

Gloria is a medical doctor with a master and PhD degree in Public Health and epidemiology. As Antimicrobial Research Advisor for ICARS, she is responsible for coordinating and giving technical advice on the drafting of the project proposals from LMICs as well as following-up the execution of the projects. Gloria Has 10-year experience on the mixed-method design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of cross-national and interdisciplinary research projects within the field of antimicrobial stewardship.

Erica is a global health researcher and programme manager, with diverse experiences working in infectious disease programmes for low- and middle-income country settings. As an Implementation Research Advisor at ICARS, she brings a critical lens to ensure that programmes are contextually-specific and sustainable with innovative research approaches that can help advance public health preparedness and global knowledge to prevent AMR. She holds a Bachelor’s of Health Sciences from the University of Calgary and a Master of Science in Global Health from McMaster University in Canada. Previously, Erica has worked in AMR research and development fund management and public health consulting for governments, industry and multilateral organisations.

Nandini is a medical doctor and an epidemiologist with over 10 years of experience working on infectious diseases in global health settings. She has extensive field experience and has previously worked on strengthening surveillance systems, emergency preparedness and response, and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public health interventions. As an Implementation Research Advisor, she uses her experience from LMICs to ensure that projects are technically sound and operationally feasible. She holds a medical degree from the University of Copenhagen and completed the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) fellowship at the US CDC.

Lisa is a Project Manager with extensive experience in the management of large human rights projects in low and middle income countries. At ICARS, she is responsible for coordinating the ICARS project portfolio and, in particular, for establishing efficient processes, methods and practices to ensure the smooth implementation of all ICARS projects. Lisa holds a BA(Hon) in Clinical Psychology from the University of Johannesburg, an MSc in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam, and a second MSc in Global Refugee Studies from Aalborg University.

Annick Lenglet is an infectious disease field epidemiologist with over 15 years work experience in countries in Latin America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe. She has worked on the design, implementation and evaluation of surveillance systems, led and collaborated largescale outbreak response efforts, led and participated on operational research linked to hepatitis A and E, cholera, noma, antimicrobial resistance, mental health, and non-communicable diseases. As an Antimicrobial Resistance Advisor for ICARS she is responsible for ensuring that project proposals are technically sound and methodologically robust and supports partners in their implementation. She holds a masters degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Spanish National School of Public Health and is in the final stages of her PhD with Radboudumc. She also completed the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET). Before joining ICARS, Annick worked for Médecins Sans Frontières, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization.

Philip Mathew is a public health practitioner with over 10 years experience working with primary healthcare, health policy and field epidemiology. He has led community mobilisation projects on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in South and South East Asian countries. Previously, he has been focusing on building templates for community-owned action to implement the National Action Plans on AMR in Low-Middle Income Country (LMIC) contexts. At ICARS, Philip is responsible for co-development of implementation research projects with partner ministries in LMICs and ensures technical assistance for execution of the projects. He is a community medicine physician by training and a doctoral student with the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Before joining ICARS, he was serving as the Deputy Director of ReAct Asia Pacific and as Associate Professor at a medical school in India. He has also served as the Governing board member and Hon. Secretary of the Indian Clinical Epidemiology Network.

Ghada is a systems thinker with over 20 years experience in leading and executing research strategies at a national and international level. As an independent consultant for ICARS, she develops partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders including potential donors, UN bodies, NGOs and the private sector. With a strong appreciation of the science and policy interface, her role includes outreach and advocacy, as well as advising on ICARS strategy and working closely with the ICARS Executive Management. Ghada holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Manchester (UK). In the past, she has served as Science and Innovation lead on AMR and public health in different organizations such as Wellcome and the UK Medical Research Council.

Karina is Chartered Certified Accountant with background in Biophysics. As a Finance and Grant Manager at ICARS, she uses her expertise in Budgeting, Financial Reporting, Donor Fund management and other financial area to strengthen and support ICARS operations. Karina is a Fellow member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Tbilisi State University (Ivane Javahišvilis Sakhelobis Tbilisis Sakhelmtsipo Universiteti). She worked previously for UNICEF, UNOPS, Maersk and OSCE and has extensive experience of working in both public and private sectors.

Hannah is ICARS’ Student Assistant, and a master student of Veterinary Medicine. She works mostly with the Copenhagen team, assisting whoever needs a hand in the office with organizing meetings and solving practical and theoretical tasks. Hannah’s main interest within Veterinary Medicine is One Health, hereunder AMR and epidemiology, and hopes to continue working within this field in the future.

Britta is an experienced administrator with a background as administrative assistant and communications officer with the Embassy of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa, respectively. She held three different positions as a marketing coordinator, executive assistant and PA with a major, self-governing cultural institution. She joined ICARS from the Psychosocial Centre of the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). Within ICARS, she is executive assistant supporting the organization with a wide variety of administrative, communicative and HR-related tasks. Britta holds a Master of Nordic Languages and Literature and English Philology from Aarhus University.

Katharina is an international lawyer and global environmental policy expert with over ten years of experience in organisational and administrative development, including working in low- and middle-income country settings. She is working broadly on legal subjects in relation to the organisational transformation of ICARS. In particular, she contributes to the establishment of an efficient and transparent governance structure and effective administrative and legally compliant procedures – both externally when collaborating with countries, organisations and funders as well as internally among ICARS’ staff. Previously, she worked for UNEP-WCMC, GIZ, ClientEarth and IDLO.

Mads has a background in economic geography research, and has extensive experience in evaluation of government-funded agencies’ compliance and performance. As a Project Manager, Mads’s focus is to document and support the value of ICARS’ projects, and he is responsible for establishing ICARS’ monitoring and evaluation framework. Mads holds a BA in International Development Studies from the University of Roskilde, a MSc in International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School, and a PhD in Economic Geography from Copenhagen University.

Sephy is a Communications Officer with a wide range of experience in research communications. At ICARS she is responsible for internal and external communications, including developing materials to support and promote ICARS’ work, managing digital channels and coordinating events. Sephy works closely between the Science, Partnerships and Operations teams to align key messages and plan dissemination of project outputs. Previously, Sephy worked as Communications Coordinator at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and in Research Uptake and Communications for two DFID funded research programme consortia. She has a BA in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Vibeke  is a Programme Manager with background in Political Science. At ICARS she is responsible for supporting the ICARS Interagency Steering Committee as well as for drafting MoUs, policies and guidelines for our projects. She is also overseeing the development of our internal processes and ways of working and supporting our organisational transformation.