Tonya R. Thurman

Tonya R. Thurman is an Associate Professor at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, specializing in programs for vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa. She serves as Country Director for the Tulane International office in South Africa, where she leads evaluation and intervention development initiatives to guide USAID Southern Africa's investment in programs for orphans and other vulnerable children and youth.

Dr. Thurman's research focuses on establishing an evidence-base for programs serving highly vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa. Her expertise spans program design, evaluation methodologies, operations research, and capacity building for initiatives targeting vulnerable children and families. She specializes in monitoring and evaluation in social service delivery, with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS care and support strategies for affected populations.

Her recent publications (2022-2024) demonstrate a strong focus on HIV-related issues among adolescents in South Africa, examining topics including mental health integration, treatment adherence, stigma experiences, and the impact of pandemic stressors. These studies employ advanced methodologies including latent class analysis and cohort studies to understand barriers to care and identify effective interventions.

Dr. Thurman's work has practical applications for improving service delivery, with her research directly informing policy and programming for vulnerable children and families in communities highly affected by HIV. She collaborates closely with local and national stakeholders to ensure her findings translate into improved services for those most in need.

Her research methodology includes rigorous evaluations, longitudinal examinations, randomized control trials, and quasi-experimental studies investigating the impact of HIV prevention and psychosocial support programs. She has developed innovative structured interventions and technology-enhanced program monitoring systems to track service delivery and outcomes among more than a million PEPFAR beneficiaries.