Dr. Chonge Kitojo

 Dr. Chonge Kitojo is a development and public health professional with over 20years of experience in   managing and implementing health programs in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in malaria   elimination  and control, COVID-19, and Reproductive, Maternal Neonatal, Child Adolescent Health   (RMNCAH). Currently, she works as a Malaria Project Management Specialist for the U.S. President’s   Malaria Initiative (PMI), providing managerial and technical support to several malaria projects.

  She previously led a human capacity development program for Local Government Authorities and Civil Society Organizations while working with The Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) Tanzania. Dr. Chonge has also worked with Concern Worldwide and VECO Tanzania, where she supported Civil Society programs focused on HIV/AIDS, health, sanitation, gender, and community engagement.

Dr. Chonge holds a PhD in Public Health and is excited about building networks, peer support, and engaging with a diverse group of women leaders who bring different experiences and perspectives that will help each other thrive.

Dr. Julie Gutman

 Dr. Julie Gutman is a paediatric infectious disease specialist and medical epidemiologist who has worked   with the Malaria Branch at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 2007. She   completed medical school at the Sackler School of Medicine, University of Tel Aviv, paediatric internship   and residency at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, CA, paediatric infectious disease fellowship at Emory   University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, and a masters in clinical research at Rollins School of Public   Health, Emory University, Atlanta GA. She is an adjunct professor at Emory University, in the Departments   of Medicine and Global Health. She is the CDC lead for the President’s Malaria Initiative interagency   working group on malaria in pregnancy and an active member of the Roll Back Malaria Working Group on Malaria in Pregnancy.

Dr. Gutman’s primary research focus is on the treatment and prevention of malaria, with a particular focus on malaria in pregnancy. She has worked on a previous study in Kenya evaluating the efficacy of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine or intermittent screening and treatment in pregnancy versus the current standard, IPTp with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), as well as a study in Malawi evaluating IPTp with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine versus IPTp with SP. She has also been involved in studies assessing the efficacy of IPTp with SP at varying levels of parasite resistance to SP, and assessing case management of malaria in pregnancy. She has worked on studies assessing the efficacy of various antimalarials for treatment in children in Malawi and Tanzania. Prior to this, she worked on several projects assessing the prevalence of schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths in Nigeria.