Esmie Kachikuni is a Public Health Intern at Alanda. She is originally from Malawi but is currently based in the UK. Her undergraduate training is in Social Sciences, particularly in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Malawi (Chancellor College), which gave her a strong foundation in health systems, social policy, and community health, a grounding she has built on ever since. She recently completed a Master’s in Global Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, where she gained interdisciplinary training in global health policy, social determinants of health, and evidence synthesis to strengthen health systems and achieve equity in global health.

She has over five years of project coordination, healthcare administration, and research in Maternal and Newborn Health, gained while working with an INGO in Malawi. During this time she led procurement of medical, surgical, and IT supplies, supported multidisciplinary teams across projects, and collaborated with different teams to support the rollout of an AI-augmented fetal monitoring project. This experience provided valuable insights into the operational realities of health systems.

Esmie is passionate about maternal and newborn health, menstrual health, and health equity among vulnerable and marginalised populations, including people with disabilities. She is particularly interested in research that addresses social determinants of health and leverages lived experience to inform context-specific and inclusive policy and practice in addressing global health challenges in a meaningful and sustainable way. At Alanda Health, she is keen to advance her skills in evidence synthesis and science communication while contributing to work that makes a tangible difference on the ground.