CHE Spotlight: Alex Rollinger

Posted on Tuesday 1 September 2026

What was your career route to CHE?

I joined CHE in 2015, returning to York where I had previously studied English Language & Linguistics.  Before joining CHE, I worked as a Research Executive for a private research consultancy firm where we specialised in undertaking projects for the UK Government on national education and training policy.  Before then, I gained several years of experience as an event administrator and coordinator for a major motor-racing circuit in North West England; spent some time as a residential volunteer on a nature reserve in the Scottish Highlands; and had a brief stint as a writer for a small travel guide company in Berlin.

My first role in CHE was as a project coordinator.  I was only the second person to take-on such a role in CHE, and dedicated research project support in our context was still very new.  My fellow coordinator (Ruth Helstrip) and I worked together with our research colleagues to figure out how we could best support CHE’s growing research portfolio, and laid the foundations for project support as we see it in CHE today.  A couple of years later, I transitioned into a project manager role and now support a brilliant team of five project coordinators.  

What have you been working on since you came to CHE and what are you currently doing?

I am the project manager for the Thanzi Programme - a major global health research programme co-led by CHE and colleagues in East, Central & Southern Africa (ECSA).  Our main goal is to generate research evidence, technical capability and policy partnerships, to inform health resource allocation decision-making by governments across the ECSA region and beyond.  

The Thanzi Programme started as a single project (Thanzi la Onse) in 2017, and I was privileged to be part of the team which developed the original grant application.  Since then, I have worked closely with the Programme Director - Professor Paul Revill - and the entire research team on the strategic and operational delivery of the programme.  This includes: building and maintaining relationships with our partners in the UK, Africa and internationally; monitoring, evaluating and reporting on our progress and impact; strategic planning; and overseeing external communications and operational administration.

What I particularly love about my job is the opportunity to meet and work with talented people from all across the world.  Working alongside policy-makers, researchers, technical specialists, and advocates striving to address complex health challenges affecting the most vulnerable communities is incredibly rewarding.

What are your future plans in CHE?

We are entering an unofficial ‘third phase’ of the Thanzi Programme currently in which we are taking the opportunity to broaden our horizons and build new partnerships with ‘non-traditional’ collaborators.  We are already starting to see this pay-off: earlier this year we were awarded the Thanzi Konse (Health Everywhere) grant by The Life You Can Save - the Univesrity of York’s first grant from the philanthropic foundation.  I am excited to see what we can achieve during this next chapter of the Thanzi Programme.

At the moment, I am collaborating with Thanzi Programme coordinators and colleagues in other University of York departments to secure funding for the Thanzi Programme Studentships. This initiative enables staff from African ministries of health and public universities to pursue a part-time distance learning MSc in health economics at the University of York.  We have supported 17 scholars across three cohorts since 2023, and hope to recruit a fourth in 2027.

Outside my core role, I serve as a committee member for York’s local PRISMs network.  This group advocates for higher job security and clearer career progression for Research Professionals in Higher Education.