David-Gathara-headshot

Dr. David Gathara, MSc, PhD

Associate Director, Health Systems Impact and Learning

 | 

Nairobi, Kenya

David brings over 20 years of research and clinical experience at the intersection of health systems, nursing workforce, and newborn and child health. As Assistant Professor of Health Systems at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, he teaches epidemiology, statistics, and health policy and systems in the Sexual and Reproductive Rights MSc. Prior to the Beginnings Fund, David served as the Health Systems Technical Lead for NEST360’s work in Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria, where he developed the small and sick newborn care toolkit, coordinated implementation across health systems, and helped design the program’s impact evaluation. David holds a PhD in Epidemiology from University of Amsterdam and an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Featured Publications

MedRxiv

Implementation Toolkit for Small and Sick Newborn Care: bridging the know–do gap through co-design of a global open-access knowledge management web platform and linked community

March 3, 2026

Read more
BMJ Quality & Safety

Evaluating the effects of increasing nursing numbers on quality of newborn care in understaffed neonatal units in Kenya: a prospective intervention study

October 15, 2025

Read more