Nance Cunningham Email & Phone Number

Vancouver, Bc, Ca

Vancouver, Canada

Working as part of the EMBARC team of Dr Viviane Lima, researching Hepatitis C, based at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. My interest is in healthcare workers' comfort in encounters with marginalised persons, and patients' perceptions of stigma and its effect on healthcare engagement and health outcomes.

Yangon, Myanmar

Part-time advisor for community-based organisation providing regular health care for chronic conditions for over 500 residents in peri-urban Yangon.• Designed and am carrying out a study of diabetes treatment effectiveness.• Study design includes creation of an evidence base for adjusting the treatment approach, and creating new context-appropriate health education materials in a variety of forms. • Leading the effort to expand services to include viral hepatitis B and C.

Public health projects, including improving health education, exploratory research, monitoring and evaluation, in general translating research and evaluation into tailored activities with maximum impact.

Pakistan

As part of a long-standing, multi-site medical assistance mission, managed two health promotion teams: one in a district hospital, and one in a hepatitis C clinic. Co-authored "Decentralisation, Integration, and Outreach" chapter of Pakistan's national guidelines for HCV. Greatly increased the proportion of hepatitis C patients from the intended beneficiary population, and translated research into strategy and activities.Results included:• identification of barriers to healthcare access through focus groups and surveys; devising ways to overcome them within existing budget,• improving evidence base for interventions by determining contextual determinants of health outcomes, • proposing interventions and innovations based on new analysis, • creation of culturally sensitive locally adapted health communication materials, • team and individual capacity building and training to allow staff to undertake more advanced work, • monitoring and evaluation to adapt and inform prevention and project design

Yangon, Myanmar

Co-founded a successful art gallery in Yangon, expanded into a diverse multi-site business with over 20 employees, where I also mentored four interns. While the gallery has been successful at holding exhibitions internationally and in Myanmar towns that rarely see high-quality art in person, Pansodan also has a social mission that includes peace-building, support for personal creativity, cultural promotion, and language learning.• 2008: planned and founded Pansodan Gallery, which showcases over 200 artists.• 2013: opened to Pansodan Scene, an events venue for exhibitions, launches, workshops and small conferences.• 2016 opened Pansodan Fine Art at Yangon Terminal 1.

Yangon, Myanmar

Continuing in a protection programme which started in 1999, led teams to assess conditions of detention in Myanmar prisons, labour camps, and other places of detention, discussed findings with government officials, worked with authorities to take practical steps for improvement, and handled highly sensitive material in a difficult security context.

Chiang Mai, Thailand And Yangon, Myanmar

I taught intensive Burmese language courses to 8 - 15 learners per class, once or twice per year. Most learners were graduate students. Some courses I taught in tandem with John Okell of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Others I taught alone. The basic level courses were taught on the Okell curriculum when teaching together, or on a rapid program I created, when teaching alone. I designed all the advanced courses I taught, taking advantage of the immersion possibilities, and adapting materials to the interests of the students.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

As an independent collaborator, I wrote a context-appropriate health textbook for migrant and refugee post-secondary schools of the Thai–Burma border. Chapters include hygiene, nutrition, mental health, reproductive health, diseases of public health importance, community action, and behaviour change. See the table of contents by clicking the box below:

Mawlamyaing, Mon State, Myanmar

I supervised the management and administration of the office in charge of ICRC's protection activities for the civilian population of Mon State and Taninthayi Division. • I managed a team of 26 employees.• I represented the ICRC with health and political government officials, liaised with groups related to health or conflict in the region, coordinated with the local Red Cross Societies, and expanded the breadth of contacts. • I conducted frequent field trips to maintain relations with key stakeholders, and collect information for analysis• I reported a continual analysis of the conflict context to the head office, and drafted policy. • I conducted capacity building training for staff. • This was a tense period requiring sensitivity and timely responses to unpredictable changes in the context.• When operations were suspended, I closed down the office smoothly and in advance of schedule.

Assessed conditions of detention and contributed to internal and external reports on civilian protection issues.

Yangon, Myanmar

I monitored and evaluated a health education programme with a particular focus on HIV, and used the results of the evaluation to create new health education materials more targeted for the population.• I measured the effectiveness of health education and wrote guidelines for strengthening it.• I identified the least-informed segments of the public, and found strategies to expand contact with them. • I led a team to create a variety of new low-literacy materials, • I conducted training to improve capacity to produce high-quality context-appropriate materials.• I provided technical knowledge and supporting materials, and kept the team updated on new research relevant to the programme. • I implemented accurate and efficient testing, collected data, and conducted statistical analysis. • I established protocols and provided technical inputs ensuring that future evaluation results could easily be incorporated to improve responsiveness. • I designed a pre- and post-intervention HIV KAP survey.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Experimental Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Master Of Health Science, International Health

This International Health specialisation gave me a grounding in epidemiology, statistics, qualitative data analysis, research methods.

Education record

Ba, International/Global Studies

Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa Dean's List Graduated with honoursOn a foundation of political economy, I chose a focus.