Introducing Our New MITU RIU Coordinator

The Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU) have recently recruited a new Research into Use (RIU) Coordinator, Amani Beda, to manage research uptake in Tanzania. Here, he tells us a bit about himself and his interest in the role...

Tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Amandi Beda and I’ve been working as an accountant for the last 7 years. My experience started in the private sector, at BP Tanzania as an accountant, then an insurance company (Heritage Tanzania) as a finance manager for a few years. After that, I decided to pursue my MBA at Edinburgh University. I then came back to Tanzania and continued working in finance for Century insurance. But then I felt that I wanted a career change, and this landed me at MITU as RIU coordinator.

What attracted you to this role?

RIU is a quite new in Tanzania, and not many institutions have strong skills in RIU. I wanted to develop myself and development my skillset to explore this area further.

What are you most looking forward to about working at SHARE?

I am looking forward to becoming an RIU professional. Being Tanzanian, I think this can be an important element of capacity building, and I can learn these skills and share this knowledge and support others. I also feel I can learn from the SHARE team in London and from their RIU experiences and advice.

What will you be working on for the next few months?

In the next few months I will be writing research summaries on the formative research findings for Mikono Safi, and engaging stakeholders through our outcome mapping process.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I’m a family man – I like to take care of my kids! But I also like travelling, watching soccer (I’m a Chelsea fan), as well as watching documentaries.