About Us
What makes us tick.
OUR VALUES
Since being founded Maa has grown exponentially, initially starting out as a handful of volunteers based in King’s College London, we now have over 250 students and professionals from across the UK and Bangladesh helping us. Each year we send a group of volunteers on JourneyMaa, our flagship project, which sees them deliver maternal healthcare and educational seminars first hand. Starting in 2018, these patients have been followed up with every two months by our international team to ensure the care we give is sustainable and long term.
Community Centers
Data-driven Approach
Focused Support
OUR FUTURE
Currently our work is focused in two villages in Bangladesh but in the future we hope to expand into more locations. Our long term goal is to establish a Hub-spokes model of care in which mothers have access to immediate treatment in remote villages through ‘spokes’ and more difficult cases can be referred to specialists based in centralised ‘hubs’. After building a stable system in Bangladesh we aspire to replicate this system across more developing countries around the world.
OUR TRUSTEES
Meet the dedicated people behind Maa
Founder & Chairman
Dr. Aqil Jaigirdar is the founder and chairman of Maa. He founded Maa in 2016 after witnessing first hand the disparity in healthcare between the UK and developing countries and provides Maa's strategic vision.
Dr. Jaigirdar graduated from King’s College London with a degree in Medicine (MBBS), as well as an Immunobiology & Infectious Diseases BSc. He is currently a practicing doctor in London.
Trustee
Dr. Usman Haroon is member of the Board of Directors and consults on the strategic direction of Maa. He is also the founder of his own design and photography agency.
Dr. Haroon graduated from King’s College London with a degree in Medicine (MBBS), as well as an Immunobiology & Infectious Diseases BSc. He is currently a practicing general practitioner in North London.
Trustee
Dr. Abdul Rahyead is a medical doctor, the co-host of The Scrubbed In Podcast (Ranked Top 2.5% globally) and the co-founder of Peerr. He is now building a professional network for health and life sciences to connect, collaborate and advance human health.
Dr Rahyead graduated from King's College London Medical School and completed an iBSc in Innovation Technology and Regenerative Medicine.
OUR ADVISERS
Meet the world-leading experts who lend their time and experience to help us deliver the best, most impactful and science-backed approaches to maternal care.
Academic Advisors
University College London
Professor Edward Fottrell is Director of the University College London’s (UCL) Centre for Global Noncommunicable Diseases and Senior Lecturer at the UCL Institute of Global Health with special interests in Epidemiology and Maternal, Neonatal & Child Health. Also a Lancet first author of many papers, he is esteemed in his fields. Dr Fottrell’s work focuses largely on Sub- Saharan Africa and rural areas of Bangladesh.
Academic Advisors
Ibrahim Medical College, Bangladesh
Professor Kishwar Azad is Professor of Paediatrics at Ibrahim Medical College, Bangladesh and senior paediatrician at BIRDEM Hospital, Bangladesh. Professor Azad is involved in creating low cost innovative solutions to improve neonatal and maternal health with Professor Antony Costello, Director of Institute of Global Health, UCL.
Academic Advisors
Former WHO Director, International Centre for Migration, Health and Development (ICMHD)
Professor Quazi Monirul Islam was a Director of the World Health Organisation. He is currently a Senior Specialist at the Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Prof. Islam has also gone on to provide healthcare policy and strategic support to over 90 countries across six continents.
Academic Advisors
ZH Shikder Women’s Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka
Professor Shaikh Zinnat Ara Nasreen is the Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the ZH Shikder Women’s Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka. She was also elected as the Chairperson for the Bangladesh Division of the Royal College Obstetrics.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
UK Director, Executive
Executive
Executive
Executive
UK TEAM
Head of Fundraising
Head of Academics
Head of Public Relations
General Secretary
Head of Campaigns & Media
Head of Finance
Want to get involved?
Supported By
Faculty and students from leading universities support us.
If you’d like your university involved, get in touch with us now.
