Notes on Contributors

Arnab Acharya is an economist with a PhD in Microeconomic Theory and Development Economics from the University of Illinois. He also has a master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard University. His publications range from theoretical economics to public health policy, development economics, and empirical political science. He has held academic posts in the US, the UK, and India. He was a Fellow at IDS and a senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He has worked on projects funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Chris Barnett (DPhil, University of Sussex) is the Director of Technical Excellence at Itad, and an Honorary Associate at IDS. He was formerly the Director of the Centre for Development Impact (CDI); a joint initiative exploring innovative ways to evaluate impact. Chris was the Project Director for the impact evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project in northern Ghana. His current research interests include non-experimental methodologies to evaluate impact and causality, power imbalances, and the ethics of evaluation, plus assessing the development impact of investments and other forms of innovative finance (prizes, blended finance, etc.).

Annette N. Brown, PhD is an economist with more than 20 years’ experience combining both research and implementation in international development. She currently directs FHI 360’s Research and Evaluation Strategic Initiative and is the Editor-in-Chief for the R&E Search for Evidence blog. Prior to joining FHI 360, Annette headed the Washington DC office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and served on its executive team. Earlier in her career, Annette worked at both for-profit and not-for-profit development implementers. She is the author or co-author of numerous articles published in public health and social science journals.

Holly M. Burke, PhD, MPH is a behavioural scientist in the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) Division at FHI 360. Holly joined FHI 360 in 2002 where she designs and leads international health research studies. Her expertise is in (1) designing studies that incorporate both quantitative and qualitative research methods to expand understanding of contraceptive and HIV prevention behaviours, and (2) evaluating the impact of programmes, including health communication campaigns, and integrated economic strengthening and health interventions.

Mario Chen, PhD is a biostatistician with more than 20 years’ experience working on a broad range of research projects including clinical trials, impact evaluations, systematic reviews, surveys, and other observational studies. Mario is currently Associate Director of Biostatistics at FHI 360, where he oversees the biostatistical work for FHI 360’s behavioural, social sciences, health services, and other programmatic research agenda. He is also the principal investigator for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) contract set up to support infectious diseases research. Mario is author or co-author of over 70 peer-reviewed publications in the fields of statistics, public health, and infectious diseases.

Tony Dogbe is a co-founder of Participatory Development Associates Ltd. He is best known in Ghana and internationally for the pioneering role he has played in participatory poverty assessments, including access of the poor to services (1995); consultations with the poor (1999); and participatory poverty and vulnerability (2009–10). He is an advocate for community-driven development, citizen-led advocacy, and the inclusion of participatory methodologies for impact studies. He was a member of the team that undertook the impact evaluation of the northern Ghana Millennium Villages Project (MVP). He managed the field teams and the processes for the qualitative studies.

Eva-Maria Egger is an applied economist in the Research and Impact Assessment division of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She researches on migration, climate change, and rural development. Before joining IFAD, Eva-Maria worked with the Migrating out of Poverty Research Consortium at the University of Sussex. She holds a PhD and MSc in Economics from the University of Sussex, UK, and a BA in Political Science and Economics from the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany.

Tom Hilton is a freelance development economist and monitoring and evaluation expert with some ten years’ experience working in private sector development. Having previously worked with Itad and the Gatsby Foundation, he is currently based in Latin America, working on a range of projects relating to market systems development, impact investment, forestry, and climate change.

Dee Jupp, PhD has over 30 years of participatory development and qualitative research experience. She is passionate about people-centred research, and developing and fusing methods to open up spaces for people’s voices, perspectives, and lived reality to be heard and acknowledged by policymakers. Since 2007, she has been particularly involved in using the Reality Check Approach (RCA), an immersive qualitative research method, and she currently advises the global group of RCA practitioners. She also promotes the use of people’s own indicators and categories for assessing change.

David Korboe is an independent development facilitator with a passion for transforming the lives of vulnerable and marginalised groups. He has evaluated and supported development projects for over 25 years. He has also taught participatory methods and social change approaches to development practitioners and led one of Africa’s first participatory poverty assessments in the early 1990s.

Lisa C. Laumann leads FHI 360’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Accelerating Strategies for Practical Innovation and Research in Economic Strengthening (ASPIRES) Family Care project, focused on developing programme guidance on household economic strengthening to keep children and families together. Lisa’s prior work has included programme and country leadership roles in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Haiti, Lebanon, and at the headquarters/global level with Save the Children, as well as time with the International Rescue Committee and the US Peace Corps. She holds a master’s degree in Education and International Development (Stanford University) and a PhD in Comparative Education (University of California, Los Angeles).

Giulia Mascagni is a Research Fellow at IDS and Research Director at the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD), Brighton. Her research interests focus on tax administration and tax policy in low-income countries, particularly in African countries. She is also Research Associate at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, London.

Edoardo Masset is Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence in Development, Impact and Learning (CEDIL), London. Before joining CEDIL, Edoardo was Deputy Director and head of the London office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), which he joined after working for seven years as a Research Fellow at IDS. Edoardo is an agricultural and development economist with extensive experience conducting impact evaluations of development interventions. His core research interests include rural development, poverty and inequality, child nutrition, and the analysis of household surveys.

Emily Namey is Associate Director of FHI 360’s Behavioral, Epidemiological and Clinical Sciences division within the Global Health, Population and Nutrition unit. She has over 15 years’ experience designing, implementing, and disseminating qualitative and mixed methods research across a range of topic areas including infectious disease, maternal and reproductive health, bioethics, economic strengthening, and child protection. She has conducted qualitative and mixed methods research/evaluation training courses in more than a dozen countries and has co-authored several methodological textbooks. Emily has an MA in Applied Anthropology, with an emphasis on public health and medical anthropology, from Northern Arizona University.

Amrita Saha is an IDS post-doctoral researcher and London School of Economics (LSE) Visiting Fellow with over eight years’ experience working on the political economy of development. Her research explores the empirical political economy of trade policy, agricultural commercialisation, innovation, and inclusive structural change. Amrita holds a PhD in Economics (University of Sussex). Her past research roles have been with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Ministry of Commerce, India, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She is particularly interested in working on political economy issues for India and developing countries.