Dear All,

Please join me in welcoming Catherine Thompson to IHD as the HIV Strategic Lead.

The HIV Strategic Lead directs a comprehensive strategy in key areas of HIV/AIDS – prevention, care and/or treatment.  She will lead the development of a corporate strategy to build institutional capacity and gain international recognition in the area of HIV/AIDS. 

Key roles and responsibilities:

• Lead and direct a comprehensive strategy (institutional and project specific) in one or more key areas of HIV/AIDS – prevention, care and/or treatment and aligned with the priorities of government donor programs such as USAID, CDC, PEPFAR, and DFID.

• Develop and lead a strategy for new business opportunities in collaboration with Abt business development staff.

• Provide organizational leadership in HIV/AIDS, in line with supporting the strategies of governments, donors and other key stakeholders.

• Support the quality and dissemination of HIV/AIDS technical assistance across IHD projects as Chair of the HIVAIDS Technical Working Group, and gain international support and recognition of Abt Associates by disseminating proven innovations and documented results through publications, conferences, and other mechanisms. 

• Supervises and mentor both US- and field-based associate and analyst-level HIV/AIDS staff.

• Provide technical assistance to Abt projects central and field based projects - as needed.

• Serves as technical resource on HIV prevention and AIDS treatment for portfolio managers and field-based staff.

For more than 25 years, Cathy has been working in HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment as well as driving programs in other critical health areas including infectious diseases, family planning and maternal and child health. For the past three years, she worked at FHI360 in the DC office as a Regional Director supporting programs in Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and East Africa. 

Additionally she was the FHI360 Zambia Country Director and the Chief of Party for the Zambia Prevention Care and Treatment Partnership II (ZPCT) in Zambia. 

She also worked for USAID as the Deputy HIV and AIDS Officer in Namibia, leading the development of the Namibia Five-Year HIV and AIDS strategy and in Nepal as the Infectious Diseases Advisor. 

She holds a Masters of Public Health, International Population and Family Health from Columbia University and her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from New York University.  Cathy office location is #5029 and her extension is 5441.