CEO & Co-Founder

Christophe leads APOPO's team, with many years of management experience in East Africa. Christophe holds a Msc in Product Development & Development Sciences, and developed much of APOPO's technical apparatus.

Head of Mine Action

Håvard has a long and varied mine action background, with involvement in almost all aspects of mine clearance over the past 26 years. He graduated from the Military Officers Academy in Norway after which he went on to become the Head of the Norwegian Engineering component to United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). After his career in the army he joined the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) and set up their programs in Mozambique and Angola. Håvard served as Head of Operational Methods and also briefly as Head of Mine Action and Human security for the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). Håvard joined APOPO in 2016 as Head of Mine Action.

Head of Tuberculosis

Lena joined APOPO in July 2017 as Head of Tuberculosis. She is trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist (PhD) and veterinarian doctor and has substantial practical experience in TB epidemiology, surveillance and epidemic control gained through her work at the Robert Koch Institute, the national public health institute in Germany, and through WHO consultancies and research stays in various African countries. Her special interest lies in improving TB case finding, linkage to care, and prevention of spread through innovative approaches.

Head of Training & Behavioral Research

Dr. Cynthia Fast holds a Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Psychology specialising in Learning and Behaviour and Behavioural Neuroscience from UCLA. Cindy has more than ten years of experience conducting behavioural research with a variety of species including rats, mice, pigeons, hermit crabs, and horses.

Training Manager

Abdullah Ramadhani is the MDR Training Manager and has been with APOPO right from the start. In addition to overseeing the training of all MDR which includes trouble-shooting performance, he coordinates training schedules, performs QA responsibilities as part of the Quality Control Team, assigns MDR trainer tasks, and participates in training activities.

Program Manager MA Colombia

TeKimiti joined the APOPO team in March 2012. 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.

Program Manager MA Zimbabwe

Alessandra joined APOPO in 2017 as Zimbabwe Program Manager. Alessandra has been living in Africa for 12 years, working in Zimbabwe for 7 years for a range of international NGOs, in environmental and livelihood programs. She has a Degree in Natural Sciences and a Masters in International Development and Cooperation.

Technical Advisor Zimbabwe

Lordes Paulino Zavale - is IMAS EOD ( Explosive Ordinance Disposal) level 4 qualified; He has 20 years experience in Mine Action, having worked as Survey officer, Project Manager, Operations Manager and Technical Advisor in Mozambique and abroad. Lordes was responsible for the destruction of over 80 tons of explosive devices from the Mozambican military depot stores. Lordes guaranteed completion of all tasks allocated to APOPO and was involved in senior decision making towards declaring Mozambique a Mine-free country.

Program Manager TB Tanzania

Dr. Georgies Mgode is a Research Fellow specializing on zoonotic diseases including tuberculosis (TB). He is among the pioneer researchers at APOPO TB. He pursued his doctoral degree on TB detection using rats at Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Germany, and identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis odour volatiles detected by rats. He received a Presidential Medal of Invention and Scientific Research, from H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of Tanzania. He has broad research experience and expertise through training at renowned institutions such as the Royal Tropical Institute (Netherlands); Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (Germany); Marseille University (France); and Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (Belgium). He has described a new Leptospira serovar Sokoine causing human and animal leptospirosis. He is a member of the National Steering Committee for Public Health Pesticides, and National Malaria Vector Control Sub-committee.

Trainer Supervisor

Haruni Ramadhani in addition to overseeing the training of all TB-detection rats, which includes trouble-shooting performance, Haruni coordinates TB training schedules, performs QA responsibilities, assigns TB trainer tasks, oversees the health and welfare of rats housed at the TB office, and participates in training activities.</b>

Medical Officer

Joseph is a medical officer serving as a project medical officer particularly for scientific TB studies APOPO is conducting. He oversees patient recruitment and facilitates patient treatment. He is now heading the TB Dar laboratory.</b>

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.

Administrative and Financial Officer Mozambique

Cleide Mondlane is currently finishing her studies on law at ISCTEM (Instituto Superior de Ciencias e Tecnologia de Moçambique). She has been with APOPO since May 2015.

Program Manager TB Ethiopia

Negussie has a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and M.Sc. in Public health with ample experience in biomedical sciences research. He served an Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa University, Head of Regional Health Research Laboratory and Lecturer of Clinical Chemistry in Ethiopia. He has conducted research in Austria, South Africa, Spain and Tanzania. Negussie managed APOPO's Tanzania TB program and chemistry laboratory for seven years. He recently assumed the Program Manager post for APOPO's TB Operation Program in Ethiopia.

Health Officer Ethiopia

Alemu Lakew Sitotaw started his career as a health assistant and progressed as a nurse and then health officer. He has a BA in management. He has served in several government, private and NGO clinics in different capacities for decades. Before APOPO he was a Biomedical Coordinator, Palliative Care & Clinic Head for Mekdim Ethiopia, a local NGO that exclusively serves HIV positive individuals. He oversaw and coordinated Integrated Clinical Services that includes ART initiation, reproductive health provision, treatment of STIs, TB and other opportunistic infections. He brought his ample clinical experience as well as direct engagement with affected communities to APOPO to manage the tracking, treatment initiation and follow up of additional TB cases that APOPO finds in its operation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Director of Grants & Contracts

In 2018 Ashley took on a new role with APOPO as Director of Grants and Contracts. Prior to this Ashley served APOPO in a regional role as Grant & Regional Manager supporting APOPO's mine action programmes in Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Otherwise, since joining APOPO in 2013 Ashley has held progressively responsible posts in APOPO's Mine Action Mozambique Programme. Before joining APOPO, Ashley worked in NGO Management in the United States and Germany, and in the private sector executing international development and aid projects. She holds a masters degree in International Relations.

Program Manager MA Cambodia

Michael joined APOPO as Program Manager of the Cambodian Mine Action Program in April 2018. He brings several years of experience working in Mine Action in Israel and Palestine. After a 10-year career in the Engineering Forces of Israel, he played a key role in establishing a Civilian Mine Action Program there.   In the last 7 years Michael managed and supervised many NTS, TS and Clearance tasks, and also wrote the National Operational Standards, built Training and Accreditation areas, tested equipment, machines and animals, built the Quality Management Operational Setup, and established the Demining R&D Program.   In the last 4 years Michael was in charge of developing and promoting the clearance of the minefields in the West Bank, working closely with Palestinian people and stakeholders. As the person responsible for the international activities in the authority he worked in close cooperation with international organizations, donor countries, associations and other mine action centres.

Human Resources Manager

Liesbet has 9 years experience in human resources, working mainly as a consultant for various assignments in recruitment, selection, development, coaching and outplacement. 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.

MDR Supervisor Angola

In 2003 Alfredo started working with APOPO as a field data collector in the mine action team during the very first mine detection rat trials on a live minefield in Mozambique. He is currently an MDR Supervisor in APOPO's Angola mine action program managing the MDR capacity and carrying out quality control of the operations and ensuring the welfare and performance of the MDR.

Head of Communications

James joined APOPO in 2013. He holds a Masters in Mass Communications and his background includes two decades in wildlife documentary television before basing himself in Zimbabwe from where he spent 7 years covering Southern Africa as a communications consultant for humanitarian organizations.

Head of IT

Bastian Van Mierlo is lead on APOPO’s IT architecture. Bastian, a German national, has an academic degree in computer science and has worked in the IT sector since 1999. Since 2011, he has been working for one of the leading German NGO’s, managing global projects and interacting with many different cultures. .

Head of Public Fundraising 

Robin Toal has been involved with APOPO since 2012 and has driven the development of APOPO's online communities through Social Media as well as elements of Fundraising and Communications. Robin has spent the past decade working in Fundraising and Communications for non-profits around the world. Robin will continue to develop APOPO's online offering in order to raise awareness, develop audiences, and generate income to support our work.

CFO

Ronald Simon joined APOPO as Finance and Administration Manager in September 2015. He holds a Masters degree from the Free University of Brussels and has worked in leading financial positions in various sectors, specializing in donor mechanisms, NGO finance, and resource management. With over 10 years' experience in human resources management Ronald is highly committed to local capacity building. He has worked in Northern, Central and Western African countries.

Cambodia Visitor Center Manager

Benjamin joined APOPO Cambodia in 2017 to set up the visitor center in Siem Reap and provide general support to the program. He has been involved with different organisations within the fields of Humanitarian Mine Action and International Relations. Prior to that, He worked in the private sector in hospitality and event management. He holds a Degree in Business Law and a Masters in International Law.

MDR Supervisor

Thoeun joined APOPO in Cambodian as a mine detection rat supervisor in June 2014. His first assignment was to attend MDR Training in Tanzania for 3 months. Thoeun brings 20 years of experience working in Mine Action in Cambodia and Taiwan. During his work with the Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC), Thoeun completed several training courses in demining technique, basic EOD course, EOD Level 3 Course and EOD Supervisor Course. Thoeun has served as an EOD Technician, EOD Team Leader, EOD member and EDD Team Leader and has been key in nurturing the collaboration with partners such as Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA) and Mine Action Planning Unit (MAPU) in Cambodia.