Leah Bohle is a Medical Doctor (Dr. med., MD) and Social Anthropologist (M.A., BA) by professional background. As a Technical Expert and Project Manager she provides technical advice, and carries out consultancies, multi-country program evaluations and implementation research. Key interests include Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (MNCAH). In addition she teaches maternal and child health classes and qualitative research methods at postgraduate and graduate level at Swiss TPH and supervises students. She leads the Psychosocial-Medicine Internship on behalf of the Medical Faculty at the University Basel, responsible for approx. 200 medical students. She has worked extensively in Tanzania and other African countries (Senegal, Kenya, Rwanda, Southern Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Comores, Egypt), Asia and Central Asia (India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan), and Eastern Europe (Kosovo, Moldova).

Current mandates

• July 2019 - present: Project Team Member, Lead Social Scientist - Operational Research Component. Tools for Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (TIMCI) project, funded by Unitaid and led by PATH, introducing novel clinical decision support algorithms (CDSAs) and pulse oximeters at primary health care level for children 0-59 months in Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, India and Myanmar. Coordinating a total of 40 qualitative studies across the five countries.
  
• Ongoing: Teaching and supervision of students. Topics: Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH); Psychosocial Medicine Internship for approx. 200 medical students at the Faculty of Medicine/University of Basel; Qualitative methods including MaxQDA software

Past mandates (selection)

• January 2021 - May 2022: Evaluation Lead; Final external evaluation of the Impact of Air Pollution on Maternal and Child Health in Mongolia, implemented by UNICEF and financed by SDC.
  
• December 2018 - August 2019: Project Manager, Team Member; Assessment of the Adolescent and Youth Constituency (AYC) at the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) hosted at the World Health Organization (WHO)
• September 2018 - October 2019: Coordinator; Competence centre for epidemiological outbreaks in Switzerland 2017-2020; Coordination of Listeriosis investigation in Switzerland, Federal Office for Health (BAG - Bundesamt für Gesundheit)
• January 2018 - December 2018: Project Manager; Review of UNAIDS ACT!2030; UNAIDS, IPPF, PACT. Project management including the coordination of 12 national youth consultants, country case studies and desk studies in 12 countries, survey and eRoundtable.
• April - June 2019: Consultant, Team member;Organization of a panel at Women Deliver 2019 Conference entitled "Mind the Gaps? Close the Gaps! A discussion on how to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized adolescents and youth globally" in collaboration with Medicus Mundi Switzerland (MMS) and the University of Glasgow (UoG) on behalf of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Co-convener: IPPF, PMNCH, HRP/WHO, Batonga Foundation, Love Matters India, The PACT; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_sW9CxO9RU
• October 2018 - September 2017-March 2018: Consultant, Team member; Qualitative study related to the  the use an non-use of the interpreter service among midwives in Basel Kanton; Responsible for qualitative data collection (Team Leader: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Zemp-Stutz); Federal Office for Health (BAG - Bundesamt für Gesundheit) 
• August 2017 - February 2018: Consultant, Lead; Medical Education Reform Project; Evaluation of the Postgraduate University Speciality Training (PUST) for Family Medicine Doctors in Tajikistan,
  Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
• May 2017 - December 2017: Consultant, Evaluation of Familystart, Switzerland. Evaluation team member; focus on postpartum health care provided by midwives in Basel Kanton; Responsible for qualitative data collection (Team Leader: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Zemp-Stutz)  
• December 2016 - present: Project Manager & Team Member, International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), Development of a Global Midwifery Accreditation Programme (MEAP), global. Project management; Technical support: Development of global midwifery accreditation programme criteria with interdisciplinary team including an abbreviated Delphi method with international midwifery experts through an online platform; Two country case studies 
• December 2014 - present: Project Manager, Geigy Foundation, Geigy Jubilee Project Award “Connecting the Dots”, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Project management; Technical lead in development of a three months teaching course focusing on operations research for the Great Lakes Region

Higher education and qualifications

• 2017: Dr. med., Thesis: 'The Social Impact of HIV-Seropositivity and Antiretroviral Treament on Women in Tanga, Tanzania. A Qualitative Study'; Bombo Regional Hospital, Tanga, Tanzania; Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center, Göttingen University; and Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University FU Berlin, Germany (Defense: November 2017; summa & magna cum laude)
• 2003-2011: M.A. & Pre-Diploma in Social Anthropology; Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, Göttingen University, Germany
• 2002-2010: Medical Doctor (MD), University Medical Center, Göttingen University, Germany
  
  

Past professional activities

• July 2013-to March 2022: Project Officer/Manager at the Swiss Centre for International Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
• July 2017-Oct 2017: Visiting Medical Doctor, Department for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
• 2011-2013: Scientific collaborator, Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS) and Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, Göttingen University; research focusing on maternal mortality in Ladakh, India; supervision of BA-theses and teaching interdisciplinary Global Health and Medical Anthropology classes
• 2010-2011: Lecturer, School for Medical Technicians, University Medical Center, Göttingen University
• 2007-2008: Principal investigator for a research project focusing on the social impacts of antiretroviral treatment on HIV-seropositive women in Tanga, Tanzania

Kempers J, Bohle L.F, Topa A, Ross G, Kasymova Z, Yarbaeva S, Rotaru C, Prytherch H. Investment case for two-year post university speciality training in family medicine in Tajikistan: how much is needed for continuing and scaling up the improved education of family doctors?. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020;20:1132. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-020-05953-5

Blake C, Bohle L.F, Rotaru C, Zarbailov N, Sava V, Secula F, Prytherch H, Curteanu A. Quality of care for non-communicable diseases in the Republic of Moldova: a survey across primary health care facilities and pharmacies. BMC Health Serv Res. 2019;19:353. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-019-4180-4

Nove A, Pairman S, Bohle L.F, Garg S, Moyo N.T, Michel-Schuldt M, Hoffmann A, Castro G. The development of a global Midwifery Education Accreditation Programme. Glob Health Action. 2018;11(1):1489604. DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2018.1489604

Martin Hilber A, Blake C, Bohle L.F, Bandali S, Hulton L, Agbon E. Strengthening accountability for improved maternal and newborn health: a mapping of studies in sub-Saharan Africa. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2016;135(3):345-357. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2016.09.008