Our People

Meet the Team

At Matahari, our diverse and multilingual team works closely together to bring local relevance to complex global health conundrums – creating visibility, long-term impact, and value to our clients.

Dr Fifa A Rahman

PhD MHL LLB
Principal Consultant, Leeds

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Dr Fifa A Rahman

PhD MHL LLB
Principal Consultant, Leeds

Fifa A Rahman has over ten years’ experience working internationally in civil society and academic settings on HIV, TB, and HCV, including on access to diagnostics, therapeutics, and harm reduction services. More recently, she has been working predominantly on COVID-19, including assessing degree of integration of COVID and TB services in high burden countries, working on global access of antigen rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 on the ACT-Accelerator with WHO and the Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND), and supporting countries and civil society to map resource diversion away from HIV and TB towards COVID, and the impact of people living with the diseases. She is well-connected to numerous Geneva-based global health groups and Geneva-based diplomats, and works closely with a number of LMIC governments and civil society based in LMICs.

Languages spoken: English, Malay, Spanish
Based in Leeds, United Kingdom

Charles Ebikeme

Academic Collaborator
Associate

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Charles Ebikeme

Academic Collaborator
Associate

Charles has over a decade’s worth of experience in global health. He has worked at the intersection of research, policy, and advocacy, focusing on mainstreaming health into sustainable development topics such as climate change and urbanisation. He has managed global research programmes and spearheaded policy and advocacy initiatives globally. Charles is a writer and commentator on science, policy, and global health issues. His work has appeared in The Guardian alongside other outlets. Charles received his PhD in Parasitology from the University of Glasgow. His PhD focused on understanding how drugs work against parasites and how parasites become resistant to drugs. He holds an MSc in Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and a BSc in Biochemistry from University College London.

Languages spoken: English, French
Based in London, United Kingdom

Gisa Dang

MA
Associate Consultant

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Gisa Dang

MA
Associate Consultant

Gisa Dang is a grassroots civil society and human rights advocacy specialist with a focus on human rights-based programming and community leadership. She has extensive experience working in restrictive political environments. As Program Director for Asia Catalyst, Gisa developed and implemented flagship experiential learning programs on organizational management, human rights documentation, and advocacy. She has consulted on the Global Fund sustainability, transition, and co-financing policy, applications of the right to science for health rights advocacy, civil society participation, and treatment access for tuberculosis in the United Arab Emirates, China, and Mexico; authored submissions to the Office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) on the right to science in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals; co-authored a book chapter on transferability of tuberculosis and human rights advocacy (in press); and is working on human rights analysis for COVID-19.

Languages spoken: German, English, Chinese
Based in San Diego, USA

Dr Pedro Villardi

MSc (Bioethics), PhD (Public Health and Social Sciences)
Associate Consultant

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Dr Pedro Villardi

MSc (Bioethics), PhD (Public Health and Social Sciences)
Associate Consultant

Pedro Villardi has over 10 years’ experience working on HIV policies in Brazil and currently is a project coordinator at the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA per Portuguese acronym), working on HIV, stigma, and public health policies. He is well- connected with civil society in Brazil, including groups working on access to medicines, climate change, and indigenous rights, as well as government officials in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Languages spoken: Portuguese, Spanish, English, and intermediate French
Based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dr Claudia Stoicescu

MSc (Social Intervention & Policy Evaluation), PhD (Social Intervention)
Advisor (Harm Reduction)

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Dr Claudia Stoicescu

MSc (Social Intervention & Policy Evaluation), PhD (Social Intervention)
Advisor (Harm Reduction)

Claudia Stoicescu has over 12 years experience in global health research and practice. She is passionate about promoting evidence- based responses to HIV, drug use, and gender-based violence among marginalised groups, with a focus on low- and middle-income contexts. Claudia specialises in quantitative and qualitative survey design, systematic reviewing, and participatory approaches to research and intervention. For the last eight years, she has consulted for and advised governments, international agencies, and civil society – largely in Asia – on the provision of gender-sensitive harm reduction services and formulation of human rights-based drug policies. Claudia received her D.Phil (2018) and her MSc in Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (2010) from the University of Oxford, and is presently a Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded Research Scientist at Columbia University.

Languages spoken: English, Bahasa Indonesia, Romanian
Based in Jakarta, Indonesia

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