Ms Hedwig Deconinck

Post-doctoral assistant

Hedwig Deconinck is Postdoctoral Assistant a.i. at the International Centre for Reproductive Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, where she coordinates and supports scientific research. She holds master degrees in international public health and nutrition, epidemiology and anthropology and a doctoral degree in public health sciences. For her PhD, she studied the complexity to integrate case management of acute malnutrition into national health systems in low-income countries by applying systems thinking.

Hedwig has been working in international public health, in emergency and development contexts on programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, capacity strengthening and knowledge management. Hedwig held positions at the International Committee of the Red Cross, Save the Children, the Université catholique de Louvain, USAID-funded Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project, and the World Health Organization. She has supported policy and strategy development with various health ministries and their partner organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. She designed and facilitated research and training on health and nutrition assessments, interventions and policy development, and health system complexity. She is member of the WHO Guideline Development Group on Severe Wasting, the UNICEF External Advisory Group on Integrating Wasting, the IASC Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Working Group on Acute Malnutrition, and the Advisory Board of the Afghanistan Institute of Nutrition and Home Economics.

Publications of Hedwig

2021 ANSER : five years of global academic collaboration building evidence for sexual and reproductive health and rights policies

Olivier Degomme, Emilie Peeters, Hedwig Deconinck, Alban Ylli, Albana Fico, Gentiana Qirjako, Dorina Ttocaj, Sara De Meyer, Kristien Michielsen, Anna Page, Wina Baeha, Kristi Praptiwi, Miranda van Reeuwijk, Beatriz Manuel, Elin C. Larsson, Carmen Ortiz, Bernardo Vega, Monserrath Jerves, Simukai Shamu, Annemiek Seeuws, Anna Galle, Anne Nobels, Ines Keygnaert, Hazel Barrett, Nina Van Eekert, Tammary Esho, Els Leye, Carles Pericas Escale, Samuel Thuo Kimani, Sofie Thielemans, Dara De Schutter, Remi Moerkerke, Louis De Backer, Viola N. Nyakato, Elizabeth Kemigisha, Wei Hong Zhang, Marleen Temmerman, Lina Hu, Shangchun Wu, Kaiyan Pei, Charlotte Neves de Oliveira, Argyro Chatzinikolaou, Eva Lievens

2019 A new look at population health through the lenses of cognitive, functional and social disability clustering in eastern DR Congo : a community-based cross-sectional study

Espoir Bwenge Malembaka, Hermes Karemere, Ghislain Bisimwa Balaluka, Anne-Sophie Lambert, Fiston Muneza, Hedwig Deconinck, Jean Macq

2018 Exploring the health system for sustainable and integrated acute malnutrition services applying a systems lens : the case of Afghanistan

Shafiqullah Safi, Ahmad Nawid Qarizada, Hedwig Deconinck

2017 Enhancing loco-regional adaptive governance for integrated chronic care through agent based modelling (ABM)

Jean Macq, Sophie Ces, Hedwig Deconinck, Marlene Karam, Anne-Sophie Lambert, Therese Van Durme

2017 Understanding pathways of integrating severe acute malnutrition interventions into national health systems in low-income countries : applying systems thinking to study the complexity of health systems

Hedwig Deconinck

2016 Agent-based modelling to inform health intervention strategies : the case of severe acute malnutrition in children in high-burden low-income countries

Hedwig Deconinck, Carine Van Malderen, Niko Speybroeck, Jean Macq, Jean-Christophe Chiem

2016 Challenges of estimating the annual caseload of severe acute malnutrition : the case of Niger

Hedwig Deconinck, Anais Pesonen, Mahaman Hallarou, Jean-Christophe Gerard, Andre Briend, Philippe Donnen, Jean Macq

2016 Detecting severe acute malnutrition in children under five at scale : the challenges of anthropometry to reach the missed millions

W Hammond, AE Badawi, Hedwig Deconinck

2016 Integrating acute malnutrition interventions into national health systems : lessons from Niger

Hedwig Deconinck, Mahaman Hallarou, Bart Criel, Philippe Donnen, Jean Macq

2016 Low mid-upper arm circumference identifies children with a high risk of death who should be the priority target for treatment

André Briend, José-Luis Alvarez, Nathalie Avril, Paluku Bahwere, Jeanette Bailey, James A. Berkley, Paul Binns, Nikki Blackwell, Nancy Dale, Hedwig Deconinck, Pascale Delchevalerie, Nicky Dent, Maureen Gallagher, Saul Guerrero, Kerstin Hanson, Marko Kerac, Mark Manary, Martha K. Mwangome, Mark Myatt, Kevin P. Q. Phelan, Silke Pietzsch, Núria Salse Ubach, Susan Shepherd, Saskia van der Kam, Antonio Vargas, Sophie Whitney

2016 Understanding factors that influence the integration of acute malnutrition interventions into the national health system in Niger

Hedwig Deconinck, Mahaman Elh Hallarou, Anais Pesonen, Jean Christophe Gerard, Bart Criel, Philippe Donnen, Jean Macq

2015 Agent-based modelling for rethinking the socioeconomic determinants of child health in sub-Saharan Africa

Carine Van Malderen, Hedwig Deconinck, Niko Speybroeck, Jean-Christophe Chiem

2015 Research priorities to improve the management of acute malnutrition in infants aged less than six months (MAMI)

Chloe Angood, Marie McGrath, Sagar Mehta, Martha Mwangome, Mary Lung'aho, Dominique Roberfroid, Abigail Perry, Caroline Wilkinson, Anne-Dominique Israel, Cecile Bizouerne, Rukhsana Haider, Andrew Seal, James A. Berkley, Marko Kerac, MAMO Working group collaborators, Hedwig Deconinck

2014 Information-sharing to improve learning about community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) and its impact

N Dent, Hedwig Deconinck, K Golden, R Brown, A Walsh

2011 Effective therapeutic feeding with chickpea sesame based ready-to-use therapeutic food (CS-RUTF) in wasted adults with confirmed or suspected AIDS

Paluku Bahwere, Hedwig Deconinck, Theresa Banda, Steve Collins

2011 Impact of household food insecurity on the nutritional status and the response to therapeutic feeding of people living with human immunodeficiency virus

Paluku Bahwere, Hedwig Deconinck, Theresa Banda, Angella Mtimuni, Steve Collins

2008 Precision, time, and cost : a comparison of three sampling designs in an emergency setting

Megan Deitchler, Hedwig Deconinck, Gilles Bergeron

2006 The promise of a community-based approach to managing severe malnutrition : a case study from Ethiopia

Miriam S. Chaiken, Hedwig Deconinck, Tedbabe Degefie

2003 The health condition of spinal cord injuries in two Afghan towns

Hedwig Deconinck