I started my professional carrier as physician staffing an HIV and a TB clinic in a large regional hospital in Cameroon. For the past two decades, I have worked across multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as a clinician, public health practitioner, and researcher. In additional to my MD from the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, I hold a PhD in Epidemiology with minor in Biostatistics and a Master of Public Health on Maternal and Child Health, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have extensive experience with causal inference analyses and with designing and conducting cluster randomized controlled trial. I also have extensive experience in large scale delivery of HIV and tuberculosis prevention, care, and treatment services, particularly in Central Africa. My research has mainly focused on identifying and addressing barriers to optimizing HIV and TB care cascade using a combination of implementation science, cluster Trial, and observational cohort methodological approaches. I have served as member of the scientific advising committee to the National TB Program and as member of Global fund’s Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I also served as member on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Improving the Quality of Health Care Globally. My work has been funded by NIH, CDC, WHO, and private foundations.

Selected papers (students/mentees are underlined)

1.     Edmonds A, Yotebieng M, Lusiama J, Matumona Y, Kitetele F, Napravnik S, Cole SR, Van Rie A, Behets F . The Effect of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on the Survival of HIV-Infected Children in a Resource-Deprived Setting: A Cohort Study. PLoS Med. 2011 Jun;8(6):e1001044.

2.     Patel MR, Westreich D, Yotebieng M, Nana M, Eron JJ, Behets F, Van Rie A . The Impact of Implementation Fidelity on Mortality Under a CD4-Stratified Timing Strategy for Antiretroviral Therapy in Patients With Tuberculosis. Am J Epidemiol. 2015 May 1;181(9):714-22.

3.     Yotebieng M, Labbok M, Soeters HM, Chalachala JL, Lapika B, Vitta BS, Behets F. Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding programme to promote early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding in DR Congo: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet Glob Health. 2015 Sep;3(9):e546-55.

4.     Yotebieng M, Thirumurthy H, Moracco KE, Kawende B, Chalachala JL, Wenzi LK, Ravelomanana NL, Edmonds A, Thompson D, Okitolonda E, Behets F. Conditional cash transfers and uptake of and retention in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission care: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet HIV. 2016 Feb;3(2):e85-93.

5.     Mbonze NB, Tabala M, Wenzi LK, Bakoko B, Brouwer M, Creswell J, Van Rie A, Behets F, Yotebieng M . Xpert(®) MTB/RIF for smear-negative presumptive TB: impact on case notification in DR Congo. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2016 Feb;20(2):240-6.

6.     Yotebieng M, Behets F, Kawende B, Ravelomanana NLR, Tabala M, Okitolonda EW. Continuous quality improvement interventions to improve long-term outcomes of antiretroviral therapy in women who initiated therapy during pregnancy or breastfeeding in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Design of an open-label, parallel, group randomized trial. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017 Apr 26;17(1):306.

7.     Thompson P, Morgan CE, Ngimbi P, Mwandagalirwa K, Ravelomanana NLR, Tabala M, Fathy M, Kawende B, Muwonga J, Misingi P, Mbendi C, Luhata C, Jhaveri R, Cloherty G, Kaba D, Yotebieng M, Parr JB. Arresting vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus (AVERT-HBV) in pregnant women and their neonates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a feasibility study. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Nov;9(11):e1600-e1609.