Our Team.

Dr. Joëlle SOBNGWI is the Executive Director of the RSD Institute and research associate at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), LSE Health. She is a medical doctor and holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the Université de Paris, XI (France). Joëlle started her research activity in France at the National Institute for Health Research (INSERM), where she completed her PhD in 2009 – University of Paris XI (France). She received the Henri Philippart Public Health Award in 2005 for her contribution to the study on the effect of Male circumcision on the incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases

In 2007, Joelle in collaboration with other researchers, founded the NGO RSD Institute with the purpose of implementing and producing high quality research in the areas of Non Communicable Diseases and Road Traffic Injuries. She was then a research associate in the institution, leading different projects on RTI. Joëlle and colleagues conducted the first published study on the burden of road traffic accidents in Cameroun. The findings of their study were instrumental in getting the government to take serious steps to reduce road traffic deaths, including the use of speed cameras on major highways. Joelle also worked as a senior lecturer in Epidemiology at the Catholic University for Central Africa (UCAC) where she was the head of the Coordinator of the Master of Public Health (2012 – 2015). She teaches epidemiology principles and methods in several universities in Cameroon. She is member of several professional association including the Cameroon Association of Epidemiologists and the International Epidemiology Association. After working for the Clinton Health access Initiative – CHAI – (2015-2018), since 2018, Joelle is a research associate at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), LSE Health, in the Department of Global Health. She has supervised over 25 MPH students and co-authored over 15 scientific articles. Her research interest are in chronic disease prevention through health education, policy analysis, knowledge translation and health system responsiveness. Joëlle is driven by the belief that evidence-based information, smartly made available to individuals, communities, and policy makers, will lead to sustainable improvements in health at all levels.