Professional Summary

Nestor Ntakaburimvo is a results-oriented professional with 7 years of experience in healthcare data management, analysis, and Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) practices. He co-founded ARNECH with a vision to translate rigorous data systems into actionable health programme insights across Burundi and the wider region.

His career has spanned major USAID-funded programmes, where he developed and managed comprehensive data pipelines, led indicator reporting, and supported evidence-based programme adaptation at scale. Nestor is known for his ability to bridge technical data expertise with strategic programme management.

Professional Experience

Education

Areas of Expertise

• M&E framework design and implementation for USAID and donor-funded health programmes
• Healthcare data management systems (DHIS2, ODK, REDCap)
• Data visualisation and dashboard development (Power BI, Tableau)
• Statistical analysis and indicator tracking for HIV, maternal health, and family planning programmes
• Capacity building for national M&E systems and local data teams
• Performance-based financing and results reporting

Professional Summary

Dr. Arnaud Iradukunda is a leading researcher with over 7 years of experience in clinical and public health research, and consulting. As co-founder and Research Coordinator of ARNECH, he directs the organisation's scientific strategy and ensures methodological rigour across all research programmes.

Trained at some of the world's most prestigious institutions — including the University of Oxford and Harvard University — Dr. Arnaud specialises in mathematical modelling for global health, disease epidemiology, and evidence-based policy development. He has contributed to landmark publications in journals including The Lancet, The Lancet Neurology, and BMC Infectious Diseases.

Education

Areas of Expertise

• Clinical and Epidemiological study design and analysis
• Mathematical and Statistical modelling of infectious diseases (TB, Malaria, Measles, COVID-19)
• Global burden of disease research
• Vaccine effectiveness modelling and immunisation policy
• Bioethics and research governance
• Health systems strengthening and policy analysis
• Scientific writing and publication in peer-reviewed journals

Selected Publications

Professional Summary

Gildas Irakoze is a seasoned Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist with over 10 years of experience in international development, rural economics, and agricultural development. As Lead of ARNECH's Social and Economic Business Unit, he brings a uniquely multidisciplinary perspective to economic analysis, social business models, and sustainable financing across sub-Saharan Africa.

A multilingual professional, Gildas has worked across Burundi and East Africa on programmes spanning smallholder agriculture, financial inclusion, poverty reduction, and cooperative economic development. His dual expertise in agricultural business economics and social solidarity economics makes him exceptionally well-placed to bridge micro-level community dynamics with macro development strategies.

Education

Areas of Expertise

• Impact evaluation design and implementation for agriculture and rural development programmes
• Financial inclusion research — mobile money, savings groups, cooperative finance
• Value chain analysis for smallholder agriculture
• Social solidarity economy and cooperative development models
• Poverty measurement and socio-economic impact assessments
• Gender-responsive programme design and evaluation
• Qualitative and mixed-methods research in rural contexts

Selected Publications

Professional Summary

Cheilla Izere is a Biostatistician, Data Manager, and AI professional with deep expertise in statistical modelling and artificial intelligence applications in global health research. As co-founder and AI lead at ARNECH, she drives the organisation's data science and digital health innovation capabilities.

Cheilla's career has spanned academic research institutions and clinical research settings in Canada and France. Her work applies advanced statistical methods and machine learning to complex health datasets, enabling more precise and actionable research insights. She is committed to making data science accessible and impactful in resource-limited settings.

Professional Experience

Education

Areas of Expertise

• Statistical modelling and inference for clinical and health research data
• Machine learning and deep learning applications in epidemiology
• Artificial intelligence for health outcome prediction and pattern recognition
• Data management for clinical trials and observational studies (REDCap, SAS, R, Python)
• Survival analysis and longitudinal data modelling
• Natural language processing (NLP) for health text data
• AI ethics and responsible data science in low-resource settings

Professional Summary

Faustin Habimana is a seasoned expert in planification and strategic institutional development, with a distinguished career advising governments, development organisations, and research institutions in Burundi and the broader East African region. His deep expertise in programme design and national planning frameworks makes him an invaluable strategic guide for ARNECH's research and consulting operations.

As a member of ARNECH's Advisory Board, Faustin provides senior counsel on strategic positioning, programme architecture, and the alignment of ARNECH's work with national development priorities and international development frameworks. His perspective bridges government planning processes with the evidence-based approach that defines ARNECH's work.

Advisory Role at ARNECH

• Strategic planning guidance for ARNECH's institutional growth and programme development
• Advisory support for national policy engagement and government stakeholder relations in Burundi
• Oversight on programme design methodologies and planning framework alignment
• Mentorship to ARNECH's research and consulting teams on institutional strategy
• Review of major consulting proposals and programme frameworks for strategic coherence

Areas of Expertise

• National development planning and sectoral planning processes
• Institutional strategy design for public, NGO, and research organisations
• Programme design aligned to national and international development agendas
• Policy advisory and government stakeholder engagement in Burundi
• Organisational development and capacity strengthening

Professional Summary

Emmanuel Nene Odjidja is an accomplished Monitoring, Evaluation and Assessments (MEA) Specialist with extensive international experience across fragile and conflict-affected settings. MEAL Specialist at the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) — covering the Sahel Region and Sri Lanka — he brings a sophisticated, practice-informed perspective to evaluation methodology and programme learning.

Emmanuel's career spans multiple countries and organisations, including work in Ghana, South Sudan, and Burundi, where he has developed and applied innovative evaluation approaches tailored to complex, community-level interventions. His research interests centre on participatory evaluation methods that move beyond extractive assessment to genuinely empower communities and promote inclusive learning.

As a Section Editor (Case Studies) for the Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation, Emmanuel bridges rigorous academic inquiry and applied field practice — a combination that makes him an exceptionally valuable advisor to ARNECH's M&E and research quality agenda.

Current Position

Previous Experience

Editorial & Academic Roles

Research Interests & Advisory Focus

• Participatory evaluation methods that enhance inclusivity and community ownership
• Monitoring, evaluation, and learning system design for resilience and community engagement programmes
• Evaluation frameworks for fragile and conflict-affected settings
• Promoting evaluation as a tool for community empowerment and organisational learning
• Mixed-methods and case study research in development and humanitarian contexts
• Counterfactual and theory-based evaluation in complex adaptive settings

Selected Publications & Contributions

Professional Summary

Professor Emmanuel Barankanira is a distinguished academic and epidemiologist with decades of experience in public health research in Burundi. As Senior Research Advisor to ARNECH, he provides scientific mentorship and senior oversight, ensuring that ARNECH's research meets the highest standards of academic rigour and methodological integrity.

A longstanding collaborator of the ARNECH founding team, Prof. Barankanira has co-authored published research spanning glycaemic control, antenatal care, and health systems in Burundi. His breadth of expertise across epidemiology, biostatistics, and reproductive health makes him a guiding scientific voice for the organisation's research agenda, particularly in the Burundian context.

Advisory Role at ARNECH

• Senior scientific review and peer mentorship for ARNECH's research outputs and publications
• Guidance on epidemiological study design, analytical methodology, and research ethics
• Advisory oversight on Burundi-focused health systems and population health research
• Mentorship of junior researchers and academic interns within ARNECH
• Strategic input on ARNECH's academic partnerships and grant applications

Areas of Expertise

• Epidemiology of non-communicable diseases — diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease
• Reproductive and maternal health research in sub-Saharan Africa
• Antenatal care coverage, spatial distribution, and determinants
• Biostatistical analysis of health survey data
• Health systems research and primary healthcare strengthening in Burundi
• Academic supervision and research capacity building

Selected Publications

Professional Summary

Egide Ngendakumana is a Data Engineer and Business Intelligence Developer based in Strasbourg, France, combining strong technical expertise in data infrastructure with a rigorous academic foundation in applied econometrics and data science. He holds a Master 2 (M2) in Econométrie Appliquée et Data Science from the Université de Lille, one of France's leading research universities.

With hands-on proficiency across the full data pipeline — from extraction and transformation to visualisation and decision-support — Egide brings to ARNECH's advisory board a distinctive capacity to bridge the gap between raw data and actionable research intelligence. His expertise in SQL, Power BI, and ETL development directly strengthens ARNECH's data management, analytics, and reporting capabilities across its research and consulting engagements.

Advisory Role at ARNECH

• Advisory guidance on data engineering architecture and ETL pipeline design for ARNECH's research projects
• Strategic input on business intelligence tooling, dashboards, and data visualisation for client reporting
• Support for the integration of econometric and data science methods into ARNECH's analytical workflows
• Guidance on data governance, quality assurance, and reproducibility standards
• Mentorship on applied data science techniques for ARNECH's research and analytics staff

Education

Areas of Expertise

• Data engineering: pipeline design, ETL development, and database architecture
• Business intelligence and interactive dashboard development (Power BI)
• SQL — advanced querying, data modelling, and relational database management
• Applied econometrics: regression modelling, causal inference, and panel data methods
• Data science: statistical learning, predictive modelling, and data wrangling
• Data quality assurance and governance frameworks
• Translating complex data into actionable insights for research and decision-making

Professional Summary

Dr. Alan Ahishakiye is a Medical Doctor with over a decade of specialised experience in paediatrics and child health. A WHO TDR (Tropical Diseases Research) alumnus and Harvard Medical School-trained physician, he brings an exceptional combination of clinical excellence, global health expertise, and research rigour to ARNECH's Advisory Board.

His background spans frontline paediatric care and international health research, having been shaped by two of the world's foremost institutions in global health: the World Health Organization's Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), and Harvard Medical School. This dual grounding in evidence-based medicine and tropical disease research makes him a uniquely valuable advisor to ARNECH's health-focused research and evaluation work.

Dr. Ahishakiye's advisory contribution to ARNECH draws on more than 10 years of direct paediatric and clinical experience, informing the organisation's engagement with child health outcomes, health systems research, and the application of rigorous clinical evidence to development contexts.

Training & Credentials

Advisory Role at ARNECH

• Senior clinical advisory oversight on ARNECH's child and maternal health research and evaluations
• Guidance on paediatric health outcomes, indicators, and evidence standards in low-resource settings
• Advisory input on tropical and infectious disease research design and interpretation
• Strategic counsel on global health programming and WHO-aligned research frameworks
• Mentorship to ARNECH researchers working at the intersection of clinical medicine and public health evidence

Areas of Expertise

• Paediatric medicine and child health — over 10 years of clinical practice
• Tropical and infectious diseases research (WHO TDR)
• Global health systems strengthening and health policy
• Clinical research methodology and evidence-based medicine
• Child health outcomes measurement and evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa
• Translating clinical evidence into public health programme design and advisory

Professional Summary

Emery Manirambona serves as Scientific Advisor to ARNECH, based in the United Kingdom, contributing to the scientific direction and rigour of the organisation's research programme.

Advisory Role at ARNECH

• Scientific advisory guidance to ARNECH's research programme

Professional Summary

Axel Keza is a research associate at ARNECH, contributing to active projects across global health and data analytics. Working closely with ARNECH's founding team, Axel supports the full research lifecycle — from study design and data collection through to analytical workflows and reporting — gaining hands-on experience across multiple research domains.

His role at ARNECH represents a commitment to developing the next generation of African researchers, building practical research skills in a rigorous and collaborative environment grounded in real-world health challenges in Burundi and the wider region.

Role at ARNECH

• Support for research design and protocol development on active health research projects
• Data collection, entry, cleaning, and quality assurance across ARNECH's field studies
• Assistance with literature reviews, systematic searches, and evidence synthesis
• Contribution to data analysis workflows under senior researcher supervision
• Support for report writing, presentation preparation, and research dissemination activities

Areas of Development

• Epidemiological research methods and public health study design
• Statistical software and data management tools (R, Stata, ODK)
• Health data collection in field and community settings in Burundi
• Scientific writing and research communication

Professional Summary

Elysee Mfisumukiza is a research associate at ARNECH, specialising in fieldwork, data management, and research implementation. His work spans health and social science projects across Burundi and the wider region, where his local knowledge, community relationships, and multilingual capabilities are essential assets for ARNECH's on-the-ground research activities.

Elysee's engagement with communities at the field level ensures that ARNECH's data collection processes are conducted with cultural sensitivity, methodological rigour, and respect for participants. His role is central to maintaining the quality and integrity of primary data that underpins ARNECH's research outputs.

Role at ARNECH

• Field research implementation — community data collection, survey administration, and participant engagement
• Data management, entry, and quality control for primary health and social science datasets
• Coordination of community fieldwork teams and logistical support for field studies
• Support for health facility data collection and health system assessments
• Liaison with community leaders and local authorities for research access and stakeholder engagement

Areas of Development

• Community-based participatory research methods
• Data collection tools and digital survey platforms (KoBoToolbox, ODK, REDCap)
• Health and social science research methods in resource-limited settings
• Research ethics and informed consent procedures in community health research

Professional Summary

Ange Nisabwe is an Administrative and Finance officer at ARNECH at ARNECH, specialising in Accounting and Financing.

Role at ARNECH

• Liaison with organisation leaders and strategic partenerships

Areas of Finance

• Financial analysis and economic evaluation (cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness)
• Development finance and investment strategies in emerging and resource-limited markets
• Financial governance, risk assessment, and compliance frameworks

Professional Summary

Chelysea Irakoze is development economist with academic training from the University of Oxford and professional experience as Economic Policy constultant at the World Bank (Economic Policy Unit) and Monitoring and Evaluation at World Food Program. She brings rigorous quantitative analytical skills and international development finance expertise to ARNECH's Economic and Social Business Unit, enriching the team's capacity to conduct high-quality economic research and policy-relevant analysis.

Her combination of elite academic training and hands-on experience at one of the world's leading development institutions positions Chelysea to bridge economic theory with practical development programming — an asset that strengthens ARNECH's research on financial inclusion, poverty reduction, and socioeconomic inequality in Burundi and beyond.

Professional Experience

Education

Areas of Expertise

• Development economics — poverty analysis, welfare measurement, and impact evaluation
• Quantitative economic research methods — econometrics, regression analysis, causal inference
• International development finance and World Bank operational frameworks
• Financial inclusion and mobile money economics
• Policy research and evidence synthesis for low- and middle-income country contexts
• Gender-disaggregated economic analysis and women's economic empowerment
• Data analysis with Stata, R, and Python for economic research

About

Roaa Tahaa is a Global Health Research Intern at ARNECH, gaining hands-on experience in public health research alongside the ARNECH team. Her internship provides exposure to real-world research design, data analysis, and evidence synthesis in a multidisciplinary global health context.

ARNECH's internship programme is designed to give talented emerging researchers meaningful research experience on active projects — developing the practical skills, analytical rigour, and research ethics grounding needed for careers in global health and development. Roaa has co-contributed to ongoing research at ARNECH including published collaborative work in international journals.

Internship Activities

• Support for active global health research projects under senior researcher mentorship
• Literature reviews and systematic evidence synthesis on public health topics
• Contribution to scientific writing, report preparation, and research presentations
• Participation in team research discussions, journal clubs, and capacity-building sessions

Selected Contributions