Dr. Maxine Caws

Max Caws is the Principal Investigator of IMPACT TB and a senior TB researcher at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She was Head of the TB group at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Vietnam for 11 years and researches diverse aspects of TB including drug resistance, diagnosis, clinical treatment trials, bacterial virulence and host susceptibility determinants. She is currently based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She has a BSc in biochemistry from the University of St Andrews, a PHD in medical microbiology from King’s College, London, where her thesis topic was tuberculous meningitis, and an MSC in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Bibha Dhungel

Bibha, an MBA graduate and passionate advocate for public engagement in health and science, leads the public engagement department at Birat Nepal Medical Trust since 2019. She also works as one of the Associate Festival Directors for the Global South Arts and Health Week, being held in Egypt in September 2023.

She has spearheaded diverse projects in BNMT, collaborating with communities, stakeholders, artists, and creative professionals, focusing on COVID-19, tuberculosis, and menstrual hygiene management. Notable projects include COVID animations, TB day activities with folk song and dance, community perspectives videos, Mithila art-themed TB murals, and project video summaries. She co-designed and led the ‘COVID Kurakani’ project, featuring televised panel discussions on pathogen sequencing. Additionally, she successfully organized the ‘Lead like a Woman’ national conference, empowering students to learn about leadership and overcome barriers. With 8 years of experience, Bibha leads the organization branding, managing all the organization owned digital media (websites/social media accounts), and diverse publications including the annual report, policy briefs and research summaries.

She has also contributed in writing successful grants for the organization including, COVID Kurakani (conversations), SUSTAIN series (1- 5), AmplifyChange and TB REACH and Global Fund. She engages in developing various reports and documentation, as well as monitoring and evaluation functions.

She is a talented singer and her interests include singing, dancing and art, with a particular interest in traditional Nepali music and dance forms.

Gyanendra Shrestha

Gyanendra Shrestha is the Project Manager for the Epidemic Intelligence project and Eastern Regional Manager. He is an experienced public health professional and project leader, starting as a Statistical officer for Government of Nepal in the year 1997, and later joining BNMT as a drug scheme In-charge, progressing as a district programme coordinator and project manager. He has a deep understanding of the implementation and factors driving successful delivery of community based public health programmes in Nepal. He is responsible for ensuring successful implementation of project; establishing good coordination and networking with project partners, government authorities, major hospitals, health offices, and other development partners.

Gyanendra holds a double master’s degree in Public administration and Population and Rural Development.

Swastika Shrestha

Swastika Shrestha is a graduate with a Masters degree in Global Health from the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin. She works as Research Officer in the project, Breaking the Stigma: An alternative approach to cervical cancer screening in Nepal.

Having had a couple of years of clinical experience as a dental surgeon, she developed an interest in the field of public health after which she pursued her Masters in the same field. Her previous experience of working in university hospitals piqued her interest in research driven tasks. Her areas of interest in research revolve around infectious and non-infectious diseases, sexual and reproductive health and she also likes exploring various social determinants of health. She enjoys working with and learning from people from different walks of life.

Dipendra Panday

Dipendra Panday serves as the Project Manager, Karnali Province, for the GF/UNDP funded TB project based in Surkhet District, Nepal. Previously, he has led the planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of several impactful projects, including the Epidemic Intelligence Project, IMPACT 2 TB, Target TB, and the TB Recovery Project. He has also provided support to projects, CHANGE TB, Accelerate Zero Leprosy, Nourish, Transform TB, TB Vaccine, Enhancing Community Health in Nepal, and the National TB Program, supported by the Global Fund/Save the Children, in his role as District Project Coordinator.

Dipendra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from Tribhuvan University, along with a Community Medicine Auxiliary (CMA) qualification and a Health Assistant (HA) diploma from the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT). He has received extensive training in various areas, including CB-IMNCI, IMAM, TB Modular, Master Training of Trainers (MToT) on Golden Thousand Days, TB Management (e-TB), DHIS-2, M-Health, and life skills.

These qualifications and experiences underscore his expertise and dedication to improving public health outcomes in Nepal.

Simran Bhandari

Ms. Simran Bhandari is Public Engagement Assistant at BNMT. Ms. Bhandari holds a bachelor’s in Public Health. She has previously worked in several sectors of Public Health like Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition, and Reproductive Health. Currently, she assists Public Engagement Officer in developing strategies to strengthen the brand image and enhance public engagement. Maintaining organization-owned websites, developing new posts for social media (Twitter and Facebook), and developing promotional audio/visuals/print materials are other functions carried out by her. Simran is a fun-spirited and friendly person. She loves traveling to new places and making new friends.