Health and Climate Change in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

Dr. Georgiana Gordon-Strachan

Dr Georgiana Gordon-Strachan is the Director of the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Small Island Developing States. She is also the Director of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit (TMRU) of the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR), which she joined in 2018 as a Senior Lecturer at the Sickle Cell Unit. Dr Gordon-Strachan specialises in epidemiology, health policy, health services research, research methods, and Biostatistics. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry (UWI), an MSc Health Policy Planning and Financing (University of London) and a BSc in Biochemistry and Zoology (UWI). She holds various postgraduate diplomas in Data Analysis, Epidemiology, and Public Policy and Health Economics from the Johns Hopkins University and University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She is the former Director of the Mona Office for Research and Innovation, University of the West Indies, Mona. She has been a project consultant for the World Bank, UNICEF, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) and regional governments including Jamaica, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Gordon-Strachan has been awarded the Mona Campus Principal’s Awards for Research with the greatest Business/Economic Development Impact (2018 and 2009). She is the 2019 recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research.

Ms. Cherie-Ann Small

Cherie-Ann is the Project Manager of the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Small Island Developing States and also the Manager of the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR). She earned a Diploma in Dietetics/Nutrition at the University of Technology, completed a Bachelor of Science Degree (Hons.) in Management Studies (major) Accounting (major) at the University of the West Indies (Mona) and received a Master of Science Degree in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management from the Robert Gordon University (UK). Cherie-Ann oversees the management of the administrative operations of the Institute (CAIHR) by implementing and reviewing operational policies and procedures with a view to improving the quality, productivity and efficiency of the Institute’s research initiatives, post-graduate training and specified services carried out at its four research Units, one of which is in Barbados and three on the Mona Campus. She is part of CAIHR’s senior management team and collaborates with internal and external stakeholders in the execution of the Institute’s Strategic Plan and has direct responsibility for Budget Planning, Financial Control, Human Resource Management, Grant Administration, Property Management, Procurement and Inventory Management.

Stephanie Parker

Stephanie Parker is a Junior Research Fellow jointly with the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Small Island Developing States and the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR). She holds a MSc in Marine Geology (Zhejiang University) and a BSc in Geology (The University of the West Indies). She has experience in research on organic marine geochemistry, coastal processes, geoarchaeology, and micropaleontology. Stephanie has consulted on climate vulnerability and risk assessments, spatial analyses, manuscript translations, and grant/proposal writing.

Kimalie Parchment

Kimalie Parchment is a monitoring and evaluation specialist and public health researcher. He has studied animal biology and economics at the University of the West Indies. Prior to working with the Caribbean Institute of Health Research, he has worked on the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Zika African Indoor Residual Spraying Project in Jamaica. During his time with the project, he developed cost efficient data collection tools and monitoring platform to capture and track mosquito related indicator. The electronic data collection methods used were useful during a dengue outbreak in the island as it allows the both the project and the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) to monitor critical indicators at real time to the community level. The MOHW has since adopted the model for the Environmental Health Unit under his guidance. In addition, he has worked on several articles for peer-reviewed journals based on the improvement of public health systems in Jamaica.