Dr Uchenna Gwacham-Anisiobi BSc (Hons), MD, MPH
DPhil Student uchenna.gwacham-anisiobi@ndph.ox.ac.uk
Biography
Uchenna is a medical doctor with research interests in maternal and newborn health, health promotion, and healthcare quality improvement. She is passionate about improving health indices and access especially for mothers and newborns in low-middle-income countries. She received her medical education from MHAM College of Medicine, Southwestern University Philippines, graduating cum laude. She also obtained her Masters in public health from the University of Liverpool, finishing with a distinction and was the 'student of the year' for the July 2020 graduation cohort.
Uchenna is a Clarendon/Balliol College/NDPH scholar. Her DPhil research seeks to develop a package of interventions for community-level prevention of Stillbirths in Nigeria, under the supervision of Dr. Manisha Nair, Dr. Charles Opondo, and Professor Jenny Kurinczuk. Before her DPhil, she worked as an Associate for a non-profit (Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation) for about six years, where she led and supported local, regional, and national stakeholder teams to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate several health system interventions mostly in Nigeria and other countries in Africa. During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was one of the technical facilitators for the Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator COVID-19 Collaborative (National Coordination of Multi-sectoral, Multi-level Pandemic Responses Virtual Collaborative). This was a cross‐country learning platform that facilitated rapid problem solving and exchange of best practices for multi‐sectoral and multi‐level coordination of pandemic responses in participating countries. She also founded and serves as a lead facilitator at Genete Resource Centre for women; a health promotion and support platform serving over 200 pregnant and nursing mothers in Nigeria.
Publications
Gwacham-Anisiobi, U.C. and Banke-Thomas, A., 2020. There is no ideal place, but it is best to deliver in a hospital: expectations and experiences of health facility-based childbirth in Imo State, Nigeria. The Pan African Medical Journal, 36.
Banke-Thomas, A., Avoka, C.K.O., Gwacham-Anisiobi, U. and Benova, L., 2021. Influence of travel time and distance to the hospital of care on stillbirths: a retrospective facility-based cross-sectional study in Lagos, Nigeria. BMJ Global Health, 6(10), p.e007052.
Radovich, E., Banke-Thomas, A., Campbell, O.M., Ezeanochie, M., Gwacham-Anisiobi, U., Ande, A. and Benova, L., 2021. Critical comparative analysis of data sources toward understanding referral during pregnancy and childbirth: three perspectives from Nigeria. BMC health services research, 21(1), pp.1-17.
Gwacham-Anisiobi, U. and Banke-Thomas, A., 2022. Experiences of health facility childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of qualitative evidence. Maternal and child health journal, pp.1-12.
Balogun, M., Banke-Thomas, A., Gwacham-Anisiobi, U., Yesufu, V., Ubani, O. and Afolabi, B.B., 2022. Actions and adaptations implemented for maternal, newborn and child health service provision during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos, Nigeria: qualitative study of health facility leaders. Annals of Global Health, 88(1).
Banke-Thomas, A., Avoka, K.O., Gwacham-Anisiobi, U.C., Omololu, O.M., Balogun, M., Wright, K.O., Temitayo Fasesin, T., Olusi, A., Afolabi, B.B. and Ameh, C., 2022. Travel of pregnant women in emergency situations to hospital and maternal mortality in Lagos, Nigeria: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Global Health.
Banke-Thomas, A., Macharia, P.M., Makanga, P.T., Beňová, L., Wong, K.L., Gwacham-Anisiobi, U., Wang, J., Olubodun, T., Ogunyemi, O., Afolabi, B.B. and Ebenso, B., 2022. Leveraging big data for improving the estimation of close to reality travel time to obstetric emergency services in urban low-and middle-income settings. Frontiers in Public Health, 10.
Balogun, M., Dada, F.O., Oladimeji, A., Gwacham-Anisiobi, U., Sekoni, A. and Banke-Thomas, A., 2022. Leading in a time of crisis: exploring early experiences of health facility leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria's epicentre. Leadership in Health Services, (ahead-of-print).
