END Fund gains a board member and head of programs

The END Fund, a private philanthropic initiative, has announced the appointment of Professor Moses John Bockarie and Dr Caroline Karutu as Board Member and Program Manager respectively.

Bockarie has been working in the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) for over 30 years, while Karutu has extensive experience in designing and conducting large-scale public health programs.

Bockarie received his MSc and PhD from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK for his research on neurodegenerative diseases and malaria transmission in Sierra Leone, Gambia and Mali. He also completed postdoctoral studies in the field of neurodegenerative diseases in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the United States.

Bockarie serves as Regional Director for Africa for the Europe and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), where he is also the organization’s legal representative in South Africa. In his new role as a board member, Professor Bockarie will play a key role in supporting innovative technical approaches to ending NTD problems, as well as exploring new sources of funding for NTD programs.

Karutu has been a senior careers expert for almost 20 years. Prior to her most recent appointment, Dr. Karutu was the Chief of Party of the USAID-funded Regional Health Integration project to improve services in eastern Uganda.

As part of her PhD in public health, Dr. Karutu gathered evidence to improve retention of HIV-positive women in programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Kenya. Dr. Karutu’s experience includes identifying and strengthening gaps in health service delivery and building partnerships with governments and local communities for sustainable solutions.