Ellena Andoniou
Research Associate
Disciplines
- Geography
Research Interests
- Dr Andoniou has 13 years experience working in the African context, and it began with her masters work exploring sexual behavior change in the context of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Her first in-field experience came when she first served as a Western Heads East (WHE) intern in Mwanza, Tanzania - the project is Western’s community response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. For the last number of years, her work focused on the WHE project which is a research and service-learning program that partners with women’s groups in East Africa to introduce probiotic yogurt to help address the health, social, and economic impacts of the illness. She has an extensive background in HIV/AIDS, nutrition, gender, community health, capacity building, food insecurity, community mobilization and project management.
- Ellena has extensive in-field experience from managing projects in Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda. Her research and professional collaborations have allowed her to work closely with community members, the National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania, The Kenya Medical Research Institute, and other development and health-care organizations in the region. Her previous work also includes activities with the Canadian Physicians for Research and Education in Peace, and the Institute for Global Health Equity and Innovation (UofT), where she helped launch the institute and took on a role in communications and project management. Dr Andoniou is now part of the TSAM team, which helps to improve maternal, newborn and child health in Rwanda.
