About Us

The Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development (CCHSRD) is a Research Centre at the University of The West Indies, St. Augustine. The Centre was established in April 2018 to pursue a program of work in Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) as a means to strengthen health systems in the Caribbean. Health decision-makers in the Caribbean need research evidence that can help address their real-world policy and systems problems. The Centre is committed to advancing the use of the best available evidence in policymaking in both the health and social sectors. The growth of the Centre is an excellent example of The UWI’s alignment of its research agenda with the needs of the Caribbean people.

Mission & Vision

Governance Structure

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board assists with goal setting and monitoring the achievement of our strategic objectives. It meets once per year. The Board’s main functions are to:

Provide advice on the strategic direction of the Centre. This includes its longer-term strategic plans as well as short-term work programmes;
Provide recommendations on funding opportunities;
Help identify relevant collaborators; and
Receive and provide feedback on the Centre’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) reports, including the Director’s Annual Reports.

Current Board

Chairman

Prof Hariharan Seetharaman

Dean, Faculty of Medical Sciences.

The University of the West Indies

St. Augustine

Members

Professor Donald Simeon	Director	CCHSRD, UWI
Dr Stewart Smith	Senior Health System Advisor	Ministry of Health, T&T
Professor Jack Menke		Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Anton de Kom University of Suriname
Professor John Lavis	Director	Mc Master Health Forum
Ms Jacquie Burgess	Convenor	Women Working for Social Progress
Professor Susan Walker		Caribbean Institute for Health Research
Dr Erica Wheeler	Country Representative	PAHO/WHO
Mr Malcolm Watkins	Permanent Secretary	Ministry of Public Health, Guyana

Staff

Professor Donald T. Simeon, PhD, CStat
Professor Donald Simeon is Director, Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development and Professor of Biostatistics and Public Health at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI, St. Augustine.

He is a Chartered Statistician as well as a Fellow and Council Member of the Royal Statistical Society, UK. He is also a Registered Public Health Nutritionist (Trinidad and Tobago and UK). He is a member of the Global Steering Group of the WHO Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet), Chair of the Caribbean Regional Hub of the Planetary Health Alliance as well as Chair or member of various Research Ethics Committees.

Professor Simeon’s professional interests include public health, biostatistics, nutrition, research and data ethics, health policy and systems research, and planetary health. He has published over 75 scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals with over 4,200 citations, in addition to chapters in books/encyclopedia and other professional reports. He has also delivered over 80 presentations at scientific and professional meetings throughout the Americas, Africa and Europe, and was listed among the top 2% most impactful researchers (career-long) in the Stanford University Reports. His h-index is 34 and he has received over 7.8 million USD in academic grants.

Jamelia Anthony
Administrative Assistant