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

Dr Shalini Pooransingh	Head	PHPC,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 Marshall Tulloch-Reid		Caribbean Institute for Health Research
Dr Gabriel Vivas Francesconi	Country Representative	PAHO/WHO
Mr Malcolm Watkins	Permanent Secretary	Ministry of Public Health, Guyana

Staff

Dr Shalini Pooransingh MBBCh, MPH (UK), DTM&H (UK), FFPH (UK)
Dr Shalini Pooransingh is Head, Department of Public Health and Primary Care and the Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI, St. Augustine.

She is a medical doctor with certified public health specialist training from the UK. She is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians, UK. She has over 25 years' experience working in Public Health and has worked in the national health service in the UK and various WHO Regions where her work focussed on healthcare quality, communicable disease control and health security capacity building through implementation of the International Health Regulations in countries. At UWI St Augustine, she is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health where she teaches epidemiology, research methods, healthcare quality and empathy to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She coordinates the Master in Public Health programme. She believes that everyone should have access to quality healthcare and upholds the principles of social justice.

Jamelia Anthony
Administrative Assistant