Our People

Violet Murunga has 16 years in public health research and practice including promoting evidence-informed decision-making/ knowledge translation (EIDM/KT). Violet is currently a Senior Research and Policy Associate at the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), where she has been since 2011.

She has extensive experience managing, monitoring and evaluating EIDM/KT projects, conducting rapid evidence synthesis, packaging and communicating evidence, policy and media engagement and strengthening the EIDM/KT capacity of policymakers, media and researchers and their institutions. For example, the Strengthening Use of Research Evidence for Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (enSURE) project funded by NORAD, implemented between 2013 and 2017, which she managed strengthened the EIDM capacity of Kenyan adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) stakeholders including government through expanding ASRH service uptake indicators in the health management information system – used to inform the health sector policy and resource decisions. 

She has published papers focusing on LMIC researchers’ KT capacity, practice and support; factors influencing family planning decisions; factors influencing research uptake and policy implementation.

Violet holds a Ph.D. (Research Uptake) from the University of Liverpool, UK, a Masters of Public Health (Epidemiology) from Florida International University, US, and a Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology) from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her Ph.D. thesis is titled: Micro, meso and macro level factors and interactions that shape knowledge translation capacity and practice within Africa-led research consortia: three case studies.