Dr Leane Ramsoomar holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master’s degree in Health Promotion (with distinction) from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, an Honors degree in Psychology from the University of Durban-Westville and a BA degree (Cum Laude) from the same university. She is an experienced behavioral scientist with 18 years’ experience in conducting quantitative research, impact evaluations, policy analysis and desk top reviews in the areas of alcohol and other drug use, violence against women and girls and their intersections, HIV/AIDS and in academia. Most recently, she held the portfolio of Research Uptake Manager of the Global UK-AID funded What Works to prevent Violence against Women and Girls, where she led a multi-faceted strategy for research translation in the global South. In addition to managing strategic dissemination and use of evidence in 13 countries across 15 interventions in Africa, Asia and the Middle east, she was an integral part of the efforts to develop capacity for the interpretation and use of evidence to impact policy, programming and funding in these diverse contexts. Leane managed  multiple dissemination platforms, including a dynamic website, which has become an influential public repository of all What Works outputs, and dynamic and influential social media platforms. She was pivotal to the oversight, direction and finalization of over 50 research products, including evidence briefs and reviews, technical reports, synthesis reports, infographics and videos, each tailored to the needs of VAW practitioner, policymaker, donor and research audiences.  Notable successes of research translation under her leadership, include; high-profile local and international media coverage on the issue of VAWG prevention; increased level of demand for What Works evidence from international bodies (e.g. UN Women, UN Trust Fund, WHO); the use of What Works evidence in informing UN Women/WHO RESPECT Framework, the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, the South Africa Gender-based Violence and Femicide National Strategic Plan, and the awarding of multi-year funds for scale up in more than 20 sites in LMIC settings. Leane’s back ground spans research in adolescent alcohol use, alcohol policy work and youth risk behaviour.