Nasreen Jessani is the Head of the Knowledge, Impact and Policy Cluster at IDS, UK and Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She spearheads the strategic and operational dimensions of a cluster that includes four specialised teams and thirty dynamic staff.

Nasreen is a health policy and systems researcher with a track record working with national and international organisations in global health to advance evidence for impact. Nasreen’s primary research and practice sits at the nexus of health policy and systems research; innovations in evidence-informed policy and practice; and the relationship between academia/HEIs and public policy. Her expertise lies in exploring innovative means of quantifying and describing the social and political dimensions of evidence use in policy and practice – and the subsequent ramifications for systems governance. She is particularly interested in how the sociocultural, technical and political aspects of relationships and networks interact to advance EIDM as well as how structures and incentives shape behaviour within evidence ecosystems. She continues to be curious and challenge traditional and colonial forms of knowledge, knowledge structures and knowledge ecosystems (including those within which she is embedded).

Nasreen’s research and evaluation expertise is complemented by her leadership and management of large projects and programs including her visionary leadership as former Program Officer at IDRC, Canada/Kenya, Head of Strategy for the Africa Evidence Network and contributions to the strategy of the WHO Coalition of Evidence. Nasreen also holds an Associate position at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, USA and serves as on the WHO EVIPNet Global Steering Group and on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Global Health. She is also on the Steering Committee for World Evidence Based Health Care Day, former Associate Editor of Health Research, Policy and Systems Journal and current Consulting Editor of the Evidence and Policy Journal. She has been recognised twice in Canada for her leadership as a Woman in Global Health.

Nasreen co-convenes the IDS short course: Shaping Policies and Progammes with Evidence and Leads the HeatNexus Network Support Programme that brings together 9 projects working at the nexus of Climate induced increased heat and the impact on health. She also teaches Evidence Informed Decision Making (EIDM) relevant courses at Stellenbosch University as well as Implementation Science at Johns Hopkins University. Nasreen is also part of a multidisciplinary team exploring the Vaccine and Regenerative Agriculture Research and Development ecosystems in West Africa.

Nasreen is keen to support prospective Masters and Doctoral students who wish to work on the politics and processes of evidence ecosystems, including the role of indigenous and localised forms of knowledge production, exchange and amplification. She would love to work with students keen to employ participatory implementation and evaluation research methods as well as those exploring metascience topics.

Originally from Kenya, Nasreen has lived and worked extensively in several countries including UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uganda, Senegal, Canada, USA, and South Africa. She holds a DrPH (Johns Hopkins University), MSPH (UNC-Chapel Hill), BSc (McGill University).