Isabel Litwin-Davies
Selected institutional experience
Public work from before Sustenra, across funded programmes, research partnerships, multilateral advisory, and government-facing assignments.
These examples show direct responsibility for how programmes are designed, governed, assessed, and sustained inside real institutions. They are the basis of the judgement Sustenra brings to advisory work.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research, UK (NIHR)
RIGHT programme theory of change
Role: Contributing Author and Programme Architect
UK Department of Health and Social Care funded research portfolio design, programme architecture, and impact framework development. Work conducted under NIHR Official Development Assistance programme.
Worked inside the accountability and results structures funders rely on when judging whether a programme will hold in practice.
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- Developed the programme structure and results framework for a national ODA-funded research portfolio.
- Led stakeholder consultation across funders, academics, and delivery partners.
- Integrated research capacity strengthening and equitable partnerships within award design.
- Set out the programme logic in narrative and visual form, so that implementation and evaluation could be assessed against it.
European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health (ECTMIH)
Global Health Initiatives and Health System Strengthening in Zanzibar
Contribution: Peer-reviewed publication and invited plenary speaker
Presented at the Ninth European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health, Switzerland. Published in the special issue of Tropical Medicine & International Health.
Analysed how funding that runs parallel to national systems, rather than through them, fragments institutional accountability and erodes performance over time.
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- Examined where externally funded health programmes aligned with, or cut across, the domestic systems they operated within.
- Assessed the sustainability risks that arise when funded programmes sit outside national accountability systems.
- Contributed to international plenary discussions on the governance of complex funded programmes.
Britannia Life Sciences
Consumer clinical trial development
Role: Senior Researcher, clinical trial design and oversight
Consumer clinical research, regulatory alignment, evidence generation, and delivery oversight in a private-sector setting.
Worked to commercial timelines and regulatory scrutiny, where the evidence had to support a product decision and withstand external challenge.
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- Supported launch of a consumer trial testing a CBD formulation for hair growth.
- Led protocol development, data integrity oversight, safety review, and implementation supervision.
- Aligned evidence generation with commercial strategy in an evolving regulatory context.
Karolinska Institutet, Health Systems Policy Research Group (HSP)
Multi-country health systems research coordination
Role: Research Coordinator and Group Administrator
Research group operations and coordination across EU Commission-funded projects, WHO committees, and international research collaborations, within the Department of Public Health Sciences.
Coordinated concurrent EU, WHO, and international health systems projects involving more than 50 partners across Africa and Europe.
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- Drafted, reviewed, and submitted research reports, publications, and EU and WHO project reports on behalf of the group’s members.
- Maintained EU financial reports and budget records across multiple concurrent international projects.
- Served as institutional representative in dealings with international partners, government officials, and stakeholders across the group’s project portfolio.
- Worked directly inside the governance and administration of large multi-partner research programmes, including where accountability structures come under pressure when international commitments run concurrently.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
National cancer programme advisory: Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Role: Adviser and Research Consultant
In-country advisory missions to the Republic of Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, assessing national cancer screening programmes and producing recommendations integrated into government health plans.
Final reports from both missions were approved by the respective governments and incorporated into national health policy.
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- Conducted a national stakeholder review in Georgia to develop recommendations for the country’s breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer programmes; produced a report integrated into the national health plan.
- Led a national research mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina to identify gaps and inefficiencies in the country’s cancer programmes, including interviews with government officials, health care providers, and civil society.
Further multilateral, government, and confidential assignments are not listed here.
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