Expert

Ann Warner is a gender and policy specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Warner works on a range of projects related to the health and human rights of women and girls.

Warner brings more than 10 years of experience in research and program development in international health and policy issues. Prior to her current position, she served as the special assistant to ICRW’s president, where she directed a research and advocacy project on the social drivers of HIV and AIDS. Before joining the organization in 2008, Warner led a research project for Columbia University and the International Rescue Committee that documented the prevalence of violence against women and girls in two Liberian counties. Warner also worked as the director of development at CARE, where she managed the organization’s relationships with professional foundations and consulted on a post-tsunami development program for CARE Sri Lanka.

Warner won the Global Health Council’s “New Investigator in Global Health” award in 2008 for her work in gender-based violence in Liberia.

Sunayana Walia is a senior youth reproductive health specialist at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, Walia coordinates intervention research projects on adolescent reproductive health and women’s empowerment. She also assists partner institutions to design evaluations and monitor programs.

Walia has extensive experience evaluating life skills programs for adolescent girls and measuring women’s empowerment. She has coordinated several impact evaluations on reproductive and sexual health in India and examined the links between workplace interventions and women’s empowerment. Before joining ICRW in 2001, Walia worked for six years with the Self-Employed Women’s Association in Ahmedabad on a longitudinal research study. She also worked as a research associate with the Indian Institute of Management, where she coordinated an evaluation study on a national residential school program.

Reshma Trasi is an HIV, AIDS and development advisor at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Trasi leads projects that aim to build the capacity of women leaders in society, address stigma and gender-based violence and integrate gender into national HIV/AIDS strategic plans.

Trasi brings more than 12 years of public health, research and management experience in the field of HIV/AIDS, reproductive health research and gender integration. Trasi has led numerous projects, including advising the National AIDS Authority in Cambodia on integrating gender into its AIDS policy and spearheading a six-country analysis that examined the link between HIV programs and women’s empowerment. Prior to joining ICRW in 2007, Trasi coordinated evaluation research at the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS and consulted for the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization.

Kirsten Stoebenau is an International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) gender and population specialist who focuses on women’s reproductive and sexual health.

A global health researcher trained in social demography, Stoebenau brings more than a decade of experience analyzing the social determinants of women’s reproductive and sexual health. Prior to joining ICRW in 2010, Stoebenau was a postdoctoral fellow at Canada’s University of Ottawa, where she led a mixed-method study of the social and economic roots of transactional sex among youth in two regions of Madagascar. She also has worked as a research assistant in the department of population and family health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Stoebenau served in the Peace Corps in Madagascar, where she developed, coordinated and supervised a project to nutritionally enrich a traditional highland Malagasy dish.

Anne Stangl is a behavioral scientist and stigma specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Stangl develops strategies and coordinates efforts to reduce HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

Stangl brings more than seven years of international public health experience in Africa and Asia with a focus on stigma, qualitative and quantitative research methods, research design, statistical analysis and monitoring and evaluation. Stangl’s research centers on HIV- and AIDS-related stigma, particularly as it relates to HIV prevention, care and treatment. Prior to joining ICRW in 2007, Stangl researched and designed studies on HIV prevention and stigma for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Tulane University School of Public Health.

Stangl also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zimbabwe, incorporating lessons on HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention into high school curriculum.

Surendra Kumar Singh is an assistant research officer at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, Singh helps develop research tools and assists with data collection for work focused on preventing HIV and sexually transmitted infections among married women in India.

Singh has more than seven years of research experience. Prior to joining ICRW, he worked for five years at the International Institute for Population Sciences and one year at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. In these positions, Singh helped develop data collection tools, assisted with project monitoring and evaluation and helped write project reports.

Rajendra Singh is a field coordinator at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, he oversees all ICRW projects initiated through the organization’s Mumbai project office.

Singh has more than 13 years of experience working as a research officer. Prior to joining ICRW, he was a research manager at the market and social research organization, Gfk-MODE, an associate project coordinator and senior research officer at the International Institute for Population Sciences, and a research officer for independently organized workshops. In these positions, Singh worked on projects focused on reducing HIV risk and conducted research on patterns of sexual behavior. He has co-authored numerous published papers and has presented his research at national and international conferences on HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, masculinity, gender-based violence and capacity building. Singh also has conducted independent research studies for several institutions.

Ajay Singh is a technical specialist at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this role, he assists with research studies on topics ranging from gender equality in schools to prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In addition, Singh helped develop a comprehensive, large-scale survey to understand men’s attitudes and behaviors on various issues as part of a multi-country study called IMAGES.

Prior to joining ICRW, Singh worked at the Population Council in New Delhi. While there he was part of a pioneering study, “Yaari Dosti,” which tested strategies to promote gender equity in low-income Indian communities. He also worked on a Population Council study on the links between mobility and risky sexual behaviors.

Saroj Sedalia is a technical specialist at the International Center for Research on Women's (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this position, she works closely with the office’s regional director on business development while also providing technical support to ICRW projects related to HIV and violence against women.

Prior to joining ICRW, Sedalia was a research coordinator at the Columbia Center for Youth Violence Prevention, where she organized and implemented a study on adolescent sexual and dating violence. She also undertook an internship at Marie Stopes International, where she conducted research and monitoring and evaluation work in northern Uganda. While completing her graduate degree, Sedalia worked as a field-based research assistant on studies focused on nutrition and reducing tobacco use. And as a Peace Corps volunteer, she worked in Costa Rica on rural community development projects.

Jennifer Schulte is a gender and development specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Schulte helps international development organizations and private sector agencies address gender issues in programs and policies. She has technical expertise in monitoring and evaluation to better understand processes of women’s social and economic empowerment, and has co-authored research on how innovations in technology, economic resilience and social norm change have empowered women and promoted gender equality.

Schulte brings more than six years of experience in gender research in development, gender integration and organizational capacity building. Prior to joining ICRW in 2008, Schulte assessed gender components related to microfinance, microenterprise development and agriculture. She also has evaluated microfinance programs targeting women in Tanzania and consulted on gender and livelihoods for organizations working with refugees and internally displaced women and youth.