We are ...

Christophe Cox
CEO

Christophe leads APOPO's team, with many years of management experience in East Africa. Christophe has a Master of Science in Product Development & Development Sciences, and developed many of APOPO's technical realizations.

Bart Weetjens
Corporate Affairs

Bart initiated the idea to train rats as an appropriate technology to detect landmines and to screen for tuberculosis. With his years of experience as a product design and development engineer, Bart founded APOPO with support from Professor Mic Billet and his colleagues at Antwerp University. Bart is both an ASHOKA fellow and a SCHWAB fellow.

TeKimiti Gilbert
Head of Mine Action

TeKimiti joined the APOPO team in March 2012 as our Head of Mine Action. Prior to that he had a successful career in the United Nations having held senior operations positions within various mine action programmes. He has extensive practical experience implementing the clearance of landmine and explosive remnants of war contamination throughout the world. TeKimiti graduated from l’Institut Européen de l’Université de Genève with a Master of Advanced Studies in International Security and is a graduate of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy; International Training Course.

Tesfazghi Tewelde
Program Manager, MA Mozambique

Tesfazghi (aka Tess) came on board as Program Manager for APOPO'’s Mozambique Mine Action Program in July 2011. Before joining APOPO, Tess worked for the operations section of the Geneva International Center of Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), and contributed his technical field experience to the land release methodology. Tess brings to our team 11 years of experience in Mine Action operations in Africa, in both humanitarian and commercial sectors. He has a Master of Art in International Relations from Freie University of Berlin, Germany.

Chris Hines
Development Manager

Chris joined APOPO in 2010 in the interest of business development, proceeded to manage the organization's finances, and now leads the development team.  His background includes four years in the corporate sector, a U.S. State Department fellowship, experience at the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva, and a Master's degree in International Public Service.

Dr. Alan Poling
Sr. Behavioral Researcher

Alan has a Ph.D in Psychology and is a professor at Western Michigan University. He is an experienced researcher with more than 250 publications, with articles in 40 different journals. He has particular expertise with within-subject research designs and behaviour analysis and joins APOPO in the interest of furthering its scientific activities.

Dr. Negussie Beyene
Program Manager, TB Tanzania

Negussie has a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and was an Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He worked as Head of Regional Health Research Laboratory and Lecturer of Clinical Chemistry before he pursued his Ph.D. study. He has conducted research in Austria, South Africa and Spain.  Negussie managed APOPO's chemistry laboratory for four years and recently assumed the program manager post for APOPO's TB Operation Program in Tanzania.

Dr. Amanda Mahoney
Head of Training and Behavioral Research

Amanda has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Western Michigan University with a concentration on learning and behavioral processes. She joined APOPO in January 2011 and has helped to oversee and publish APOPO’s tuberculosis detection and landmine detection research. Her experience includes seven years of research and management experience in the field of behavior analysis. 

Kjersti Tokle Fjellhaug
Mine Action Advisor

Kjersti has a Master degree in Gender, Social Anthropology and Development. She has 10 years of mine action background. She worked five years in Angola for Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and Norwegian People´s Aid (NPA). With NPA, she specialised in survey and piloted their first Land Release Project, in collaboration with the GICHD. Kjersti has since been the Mines and Weapons Advisor of the Norwegian Red Cross before “moving” to APOPO where she initially established APOPO´s mine action programme in Thailand. She is now working as a global Mine Action Advisor with base in Geneva.

Dr. Emilio Valverde
Program Manager, TB Mozambique

Emilio Valverde joined APOPO in September 2012 as Program Manager for the TB project in Mozambique. He has a PhD in Medicine, and extensive professional experience in Mozambique, where he lives and works since 1998. Before joining APOPO, Emilio worked for UNDP, Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative and Friends in Global Health. Currently he holds appointments as Adjunct Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Clinical Instructor at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.

Francisco Gregorio
Program Manager, MA Angola

Francisco Gregorio brings to APOPO eighteen years of field experience in Mine Action, having held various positions both at field and managerial level with Norwegian Peoples Aid and The United Nations in Angola;

Beside Mine Action, Francisco Gregorio has a vast military backgorund, he trained and specialzed in Tactical Command of Engineers and Sappers, and holds  a Honours Graduated Diploma in business Administration from Cambridge International College."

Says Frank:  "I am very proud of being part of such a hard working team and able to contribute with all my experience."

Dr. Christiaan Mulder
Epidemiologist

Christiaan holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases from the University of Amsterdam. He has a Masters degree in Biomedical Sciences and a bachelors degree in Health Sciences. His PhD was carried out at KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and was concentrated on the epidemiology of TB among migrant populations in The Netherlands, including quantitative and qualitative studies and cost-effectiveness analyses. He joined APOPO in February 2013 and will contribute to determining and increasing the cost-efficiency of APOPO’s TB detection technology. He will also design and conduct new studies to evaluate APOPO’s technology with respect to first- and second-line TB screening opportunities.  

Kim Warren
Program Manager, APOPO Thailand and Cambodia

Kim came on board as Program Manager for APOPO’s Thailand Mine Action Program in February 2013. Kim has lived in Asia for 25 years and she brings over 14 years management experience working with international organizations in the Asia Pacific region including Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. Kim’s involvement with Mine Action started in 2007 in Cambodia where she worked in partnership with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC). Since then she has worked for the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), DanChurch Aid (DCA) and Handicap International where she managed an Integrated UXO Threat Reduction Programme for four years on the Laos border specialising in Mine Risk Education, Victim Assistance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Her extensive experience is supported by a Master’s Degree in Human Rights.

Shuping Wang
Finance & Administration Manager

Shuping has a master's degree in Accounting from Western Michigan University. She worked at a Fortune 500 company as an accounting consultant in the United States prior to joining APOPO. She also has experience working with several foreign entities operating in China.

Liesbet Van Wijk
Human Resources and Belgium Office Support

Liesbet has 9 years experience in human resources, working mainly as a consultant for various assignments in recruitment, selection, development, coaching and outplacement. Furthermore, she has a background in commercial activities such as prospecting and account management for a wide range of clients, both locally and internationally active. Liesbet has a Masters degree in Translations.

HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium
Honorary President

Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium became the Honorary President of APOPO in 2009, supporting its endeavor towards a better future for vulnerable communities affected by landmines.

Diane Verstraeten
Chairwoman

Diane holds a Masters Degree in Economics and diplomatic sciences, as well as a Master in Management at the Vlerick Management School. She built a career in the Flemish Government, mostly focusing on international cooperation. At present, Diane is honorary Secretary-General of the Flanders International Department, responsible for foreign policy, tourism, development cooperation and export policy.

Professor Mic Billet
Pro-Chairman

Mic is a sociologist and psychologist who lectured at Antwerp University. In the late 1960s he co-founded the Department of Product Development. He also co-founded the department of communication sciences at the University of Antwerp. For almost 20 years, Mic produced numerous socially oriented programs on Belgian Television, raising awareness on difficult social challenges. Mic co-founded APOPO and has been APOPO's chairman since 1998.

Josse Van Steenberge
Vice-Chairman

Josse is APOPO's Vice-Chairperson and honorary Rector of the Antwerp University. Josse has a Ph.D in Law, a Masters degree in Social Sciences and Social Law, and a Bachelors degree in Philosophy. He was Rector of the Antwerp University from 1995 to 2003. He is an active promoter of several academic research and educational projects in Central and South Africa, as well as an initiator of numerous projects promoting the integration of vulnerable groups in the (Belgian) labour market.

Rudy Van Eysendeyk

From 2000 to 2010, Rudy was the General Manager of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, turning this organization into a state of the art touristic company. From 1997 to 2000 he served as Director General to the Flemish Parliament. Rudy holds a Masters degree in diplomatic sciences, and has vast international experience in crisis management in the banking, petro-chemical engineering and construction industries.

Gerrit Ruitinga

Gerrit Ruitinga is the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum NWE, and chairman of the Dutch Petroleum Federation since 2005. He studied at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and Harvard Business School. Gerrit serves on the APOPO board since 2011.

Piet Van Hove

Piet Van Hove is the head of the International Relations Office of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, where he previously studied law. His office is responsible for policy formulation and implementation in the field of internationalization, including cooperation with developing countries. He is also a board member of the European Association for International Education (EAIE).

Xavier Deleval

Xavier Deleval is head of MobileXpense, a successful IT venture launched in 2001 and Non-Executive Director of several private companies. He holds a Masters degree in Engineering and in business administration. Next to his business activities, Xavier is also Vice-President of ETM-KDW, an NGO supporting social integration and education of street children in developing countries.