Amelia Fiske is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. She is trained as a cultural anthropologist and has been working in interdisciplinary bioethics settings since 2017. Her work is situated at the intersection of cultural anthropology, science and technology studies, graphic art, and bioethics.

Associate Professor Kate Gunn leads a team of behavioural science-focused researchers at Adelaide University to understand health and mental health-related strengths and challenges and co-develop and evaluate meaningful solutions to them. She is particularly passionate about improving rural cancer outcomes, drawing upon her experience in rural Australia and work as a clinical psychologist. In 2018 was awarded the prestigious Leslie (Les) J. Fleming Churchill Fellowship to investigate sustainable methods of improving the health and well-being of rural cancer survivors

Dr Rebecca Bergin is a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University. She also holds honorary positions at the University of Melbourne (Department of General Practice and Centre for Cancer Research) and Cancer Council Victoria (Cancer Epidemiology Division). Her research aims to understand and address inequities in cancer outcomes, quality of care and patient experience by optimising pathways to cancer diagnosis and treatment. She has a special interest in early-onset cancers and rural and remote populations.

Dr Charlene Wright is an early-career researcher, research fellow and communications lead of the ECORRA Research Program. Her research focuses on how initiatives can support patients in resource-limited settings, ensuring continuity of care. She combines a strong academic foundation with practical experience, positioning herself as both a strategic thinker and an effective implementer in the field of health and digital interventions.

Professor Nicolas Hart, PhD AES CSCS FESSA is an NHMRC Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship, and Discipline Lead of Clinical Exercise Physiology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His clinical research focuses on improving outcomes for people affected by cancer (i.e., cancer survivors and caregivers), with a sub-specialty in advanced or metastatic cancers. He holds national and international research leadership roles in prominent cancer organisations.

Professor Anna Ugalde (PhD) is the lead of the Equitable Cancer Outcomes across Rural and Remote Australia (ECORRA) research program and is based at Deakin University. She is a cancer researcher with a focus on addressing health inequities through health services research. Her work is characterised by partnership across the sector, deep engagement with communities, and investment in the next generation of researchers. She has an extensive research track record and collaborates across Australia and internationally to advance research methods and understand and implement the delivery of better healthcare.

Hawa Camara is a global health researcher, and implementation scientist committed to advancing women’s health globally. Currently, she is a postdoctoral Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) where she explores how cervical cancer prevention innovations, such as HPV self-sampling and point-of-care diagnostics, can be integrated and sustained in limited resource settings. She holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She also brings over a decade of public health experience across Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the U.S. She aspires to positively change people’s lives as she accompanies them in their professional and personal journey.

Associate Professor Skye Marshall (BNutrDiet (Hons), PhD) is a rural health researcher, currently holding a project management and leadership position with the ECORRA Research Program at Deakin University. A/Professor Marshall has a background of traditional clinical and health services research combined with a high-performance, fast-paced industry research. Marshall’s expertise lays in her ability to integrate outstanding research rigour at all project steps whilst optimising project management, governance, and stakeholder engagemen

Inge Herrmann, an ETH Zurich engineer, is a Professor of Medical Technology Innovation at the University of Zurich, Balgrist University Hospital, and Swiss Federal Labs. Her lab focuses on developing the tools and technologies shaping the future of medicine. These innovations advance diagnostics and therapy, translating into clinical applications and successful ventures. Her achievements include the Eccellenza Professorial Award, Latsis Prize, and Largiader Award.

Suzanne, once the trial manager for 2YoungLives, is now Education, Training and Advocacy Director for Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone. A pharmacist specialised in clinical education, she oversees training onboard the Global Mercy, the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, and leads a land-based team working with the Ministry of Health and University of Sierra Leone to strengthen surgical care. Having lived and worked in Sierra Leone for 15 years, she has extensive experience in health systems strengthening and partnership working, with particular interest in faculty development and clinical skills education.

Dr Charlene Wright is an early-career researcher, research fellow and communications lead of the ECORRA Research Program. Her research focuses on how initiatives can support patients in resource-limited settings, ensuring continuity of care. She combines a strong academic foundation with practical experience, positioning herself as both a strategic thinker and an effective implementer in the field of health and digital interventions.

Dr. Shaheen is working on improving the health care system response to gender based violence (GBV) in Palestine. She investigates the readiness of the health care system to identify and refer women victims of violence. Her primary goal is to improve identification and referral of victims by health care providers, in order to improve women’s health overall.

Dr. Shaheen’s research interests are related to population health, and particularly to women’s health, child health, injuries, violence, environmental health, and mental health. Her research has appeared in many leading international journals including the Lancet, the International Journal of Public Health, European Journal of Pubic Health, JAMA Paediatric, PLoS One, and Archives of Suicide Research. She has successfully supervised several master students, including many women. She also helps to facilitate the development and advancement of young women in public health research careers as a mentor of young research assistants. She is a member of her university’s research ethics committee, and is also an active member of several scientific communities including Child Healthcare Information For All and the International Epidemiological Association.

Most recently, Dr. Shaheen together with collaborators from Brazil, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, was awarded a grant from the British National Institutes of Health Research to enhance identification and referral of GBV cases in reproductive health settings within marginalized Palestinian populations.

Dr. Shaheen was born in East Jerusalem, Palestine. She received her PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2009. Since returning to Palestine in 2011, Dr. Shaheen has carried out her research as an Assistant Professor at An-Najah National University, where she also teaches graduate students in the Masters of Public Health degree, as well as undergraduate students in health sciences.

Dipuo Motshwari is a biomedical scientist and Senior Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council. Her research focuses on genetic and epigenetic drivers of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and related non-communicable diseases among African populations, with the aim of developing affordable, population-specific tools for early detection and prevention. She is part of the CKD in Africa Collaboration, manages a research biobank, and chairs the African Federation of Clinical Chemistry Young Scientists Task Force, supporting capacity building and collaborations across the continent.

Dr. Carl Otto Schell is a consultant physician in internal medicine and cardiology at Nyköping Hospital and researcher in global public health at Karolinska Institute and the Centre for Clinical Research Sörmland, Uppsala University in Sweden. He co-initiated the EECC concept, has worked on implementing EECC in Tanzania and other countries and with UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank.

Dr. Sabra Nazir Husseinis a medical doctor, anaesthesia resident, and project coordinator on the implementing EECC in Tanzania programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

Dr. Abbas Kiwae is a medical doctor, researcher, and project coordinator on the implementing EECC in Tanzania  programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science. His work focuses on strengthening health systems and generating evidence to inform healthcare policy and practice in low-resource settings.

Dr. Anna Hvarfner is a medical doctor and PhD student at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. She has worked on in global Essential Emergency and Critical Care research and training for more than 10 years and is researching the bottlenecks to EECC provision

Manali Mukherjee is a respiratory immunologist at McMaster University, Canada, whose research reveals the biological basis of Long COVID. Her studies identify autoantibodies and inflammatory markers driving persistent symptoms, disproportionately affecting women dismissed as anxious rather than ill. By turning an invisible illness into measurable evidence, she is closing a critical diagnostic gap and advancing equitable, precision-based care for patients worldwide.

Anam Shahil-Feroz is an Assistant Professor at Western University. Her research program leverages digital health technologies to improve maternal health outcomes among underserved pregnant individuals globally. Working primarily in the Global South, she collaborates with patients, caregivers, researchers, clinicians, and communities to co-design equitable solutions. She has over 75 publications, secured $190K as PI and $2.4M as co-investigator, and received numerous awards for her contributions to maternal health research and innovation.

Dr. Sabra Nazir Husseinis a medical doctor, anaesthesia resident, and project coordinator on the implementing EECC in Tanzania programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

Dr. Rafael Shayo is a medical doctor and project coordinator on the implementing EECC in Tanzania programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. He has over five years of experience coordinating quality improvement programmes and multi-country clinical data management.

Elibariki Godfrey Mkumbo is a Social Science Researcher at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, previously with Ifakara Health Institute, bringing 17 years of experience in maternal and newborn health, quality improvement, community interventions, and critical care research. He coordinates the community critical care research and CRISP group at MUHAS, and has a special interest in how behaviour change and mindsets shape healthcare provision and access.

Alma Damasy is a project coordinator for the implementing EECC in Tanzania programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. She has experience in health systems innovations, implementation science, and qualitative research.

Upendo Bandeke is a community member and patient researcher in the EECC community engagement and involvement group ‘CRISP’ – Critically Ill Survivors, Patients and Relatives – which brings together people with lived experience of critical illness. Upendo cared for her brother who became critically ill during several admissions to hospital in Tanzania. Upendo provides firsthand insights about how the health system cares for critically ill patients and the priorities for patients, relatives and the community.

Dr. Pius Kagoma is the Coordinator for Clinical Services in the Division of Health, Social Welfare and Nutrition Services at the Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PMORALG), Tanzania. He is a senior public health specialist with experience in health systems, healthcare management, and leadership. Dr. Kagoma’s research focuses on strengthening the use of high-quality evidence to inform decision-making in the public health system.

Hilda Mushi is a Principal Nursing Officer in the Department of Curative Services at the Ministry of Health, Tanzania. She has extensive experience in strengthening nursing services, health systems, and the delivery of quality healthcare. In her role, she contributes to the development and implementation of national policies and strategies to improve the quality of healthcare and patient outcomes across Tanzania.

Dr Anab Issa is a medical doctor and global health researcher with a background in health systems strengthening and Essential Emergency and Critical Care  implementation in Tanzania. She holds an MPhil in Population Health Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Associate Professor Serene Yoong is an internationally recognised implementation scientist and Co-Director of the Deakin Centre for Global Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) at Deakin University. Her research focuses on improving the translation, scale-up and equitable implementation of interventions to prevent chronic disease. Over the past decade, A/Professor Yoong has established an internationally recognised program of research that has advanced implementation science through implementation trials, methodological innovation, evidence synthesis, systems-informed approaches and digital implementation strategies.

Dr. Godfrey Barabona is an experienced health systems and infectious disease researcher and clinician. He holds a PhD from Kumamoto University, Japan, and a Doctor of Medicine from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania. He serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Kumamoto University and as an Adjunct Lecturer at MUHAS. Dr. Barabona leads research projects in Tanzania, dedicated to building evidence and implementing Essential Emergency and Critical Care.

Dr. Karima Khalid is a Lecturer and Senior Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute in Tanzania. She is a leading critical care expert with over 15 years of experience in clinical care, health systems research, policy engagement, and capacity building, and is actively involved in several WHO and global critical care initiatives.

Dr. Tim Baker is an Associate Professor, Critical Care Physician, and Anesthesiologist with over 20 years of experience in global critical care research, clinical practice, and health systems strengthening. His work focuses on developing and scaling health system innovations, particularly Essential Emergency and Critical Care, to improve outcomes for critically ill patients. Dr. Baker leads international collaborative research and capacity-building programmes, has positions at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and has worked with WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, and EECC Global.

Iris Blom is a medical doctor, climate-health researcher and policy expert. She recently completed her PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, focusing on greenhouse gas mitigation in healthcare systems and its intersection with climate change adaptation, with a specific focus on Kenya. A Schwarzman Scholar with a master’s in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University, she brings a transdisciplinary lens to climate and health. Iris currently serves as Penholder of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health at WHO Europe, Working Group Co-Chair for the Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare, and Research Consultant for LSHTM’s Pathfinder Initiative.

Omneya Attallah is a Professor of Biosignal Processing and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Healthcare at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) in Egypt. She is a founding member of the WeBios Lab, where her research focuses on developing intelligent systems for medical diagnosis and prognosis, long-term patient monitoring, assistive technologies, and stress management. She has been recognized among the top 2% of the world’s most influential scientists by the Stanford/Elsevier database (2022–2024) and ranked in the top 0.05% of global scholars according to the 2024 ScholarGPS rankings. Her awards include the Bioinformatics Sciences Award, the Best Presented Paper Award at the ICICM conference, and travel awards from IEEE and AWC. She has contributed to numerous nationally and internationally funded research projects. Omneya serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Computational Intelligence in Biomedicine and holds editorial roles in several prestigious journals. She is a Senior Member of IEEE and affiliated with several global scientific societies, including ACM and OWSD.

Ângela Gonçalves originally trained in Computer Science at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, where she focused on the development of biologically inspired artificial intelligence algorithms. Following a research stay at the European Space Agency, she was awarded a fellowship to pursue a PhD in Computational Molecular Biology at the European Bioinformatics Institute, earning her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 2012. During her PhD, she investigated the evolution of gene expression regulation during mammalian speciation and developed some of the earliest computational methods for RNA sequencing analysis.

She went on to conduct postdoctoral research in population genomics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In 2017, she received a pump-priming grant from the Cambridge Cancer Centre Early Detection Programme, initiating work on the use of menstrual fluid as a model system for tracking somatic mutations in normal tissues over time.

Since 2018, Ângela has led a joint wet- and dry-lab research group at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. Her research focuses on modeling healthy aging and the evolution of somatic mutant clones in normal and pre-malignant tissues, with the goal of developing methods for cancer prevention and early detection. Since 2022, she has also served as co-lead of the Digital Cancer Prevention group at the National Cancer Prevention Center. Since 2024 she is full Professor at Heidelberg University.

Halima Twabi is a biostatistician from Malawi who employs advanced statistical methodologies and data-driven approaches to understand health issues. Through these approaches, her work identifies factors contributing to health disparities among vulnerable populations such as women and children and assesses intervention effectiveness, especially those affected by HIV infection, in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Her previous work has examined the effects of maternal HIV on adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight and perinatal mortality. Her research has also utilized innovative statistical methods to investigate the influence of unhealthy food consumption on childhood overweight, a growing challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, she was named a Young Affiliate of The World Academy of Sciences and received the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Award for Sub-Saharan Africa. She is a fellow of the DELTAS Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium on the Advancement of Biostatistics (SSACAB) program and a founding member of the Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (Gi-STEAM) network. She currently serves as the Treasurer for both the International Biometric Society’s Sub-Saharan Africa Network (IBS-SUSAN) and its Malawi region. She is currently collaborating on a project ‘Strengthening Women’s Research Network and Capacity to Address Women’s Health in Sub-Saharan Africa’ project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Grand Challenges as a country lead for Malawi.

Alejandra Paniagua-Avila is a Guatemalan medical doctor and early career scientist dedicated to advancing access to recovery-oriented mental health services for all. She has a particular interest in addressing the health and social needs of people living with serious mental conditions associated with psychosis, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Her research is done in partnership with Maya Indigenous populations and other populations that experience health disparities due to historical discrimination and social exclusion. Her work draws from participatory qualitative approaches, epidemiology, and implementation research to design, implement and evaluate mental health interventions in rural Guatemala and other under-resourced settings. Dr. Paniagua-Avila has published more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and presented research findings at multiple scientific conferences. Her work has been published in high-impact journals, including The Lancet – Regional Health Americas. She is a steering committee member of RedeAmericas, a network of mental health researchers and practitioners across Latin America. She is also a co-founder of Asociación para la Salud Mental, a recently established nonprofit that promotes the recovery of people living with serious mental illnesses in Guatemala through research, capacity strengthening, and program development. She is committed to strengthening research capacity for mental health in Guatemala and has mentored more than 10 students and trainees, many of whom have pursued public health and research careers.

Alma Damasy is a project coordinator for the implementing EECC in Tanzania programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. She has experience in health systems innovations, implementation science, and qualitative research.

Dr. Aneth Kaliza is medical doctor, health systems researcher at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, and coordinator of EECC Global Tanzania, with over five years of experience in implementation research and capacity-building programs in global health.

Dr Anna Chapman is a Senior Research Fellow and Implementation Scientist who specialises in the application of theories, models and frameworks to inform knowledge translation.  She has a clinical background in nutrition and dietetics. Dr Chapman is dedicated to implementation research that aims to improve the quality of care provided to individuals with chronic conditions, including appraisal of barriers and facilitators, implementation of interventions and application of implementation science methods.

Associate Professor Serene Yoong is an internationally recognised implementation scientist and Co-Director of the Deakin Centre for Global Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) at Deakin University. Her research focuses on improving the translation, scale-up and equitable implementation of interventions to prevent chronic disease. Over the past decade, A/Professor Yoong has established an internationally recognised program of research that has advanced implementation science through implementation trials, methodological innovation, evidence synthesis, systems-informed approaches and digital implementation strategies.

At the heart of Dr. Uduak Okomo’s work is the desire to decrease preventable deaths from infections in newborn babies. To this purpose, she has studied how neonatal infections are transmitted, and has found that hospital-acquired infections play a significant role. This finding has major implications for clinical and public health interventions and can inform policy at all levels of the healthcare system.

Dr. Okomo completed her undergraduate medical training in Nigeria, followed by paediatric specialist training in Nigeria and The Gambia. She received her PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom. With research funding from the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation, she established a paediatric HIV/AIDS cohort in The Gambia, improving capacity for clinical care and research through mentorship, in partnership with the National AIDS Secretariat. She also led the team that wrote the first national paediatric HIV/AIDS treatment guidelines in The Gambia. With the support of a recently awarded Pump Priming Grant from the Wellcome Trust and in collaboration with UNICEF, she is currently carrying out a facility-based evaluation of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in the country.

She is a Vice President and Chairwoman of the Gambia Chapter of the West African College of Physicians. Dr. Okomo is as passionate about supporting young scientists as she is about improving neonatal survival. She is a visiting Consultant Paediatrician to the National Teaching Hospital and teaches Paediatrics at the School of Medicine & Allied Health Sciences, University of The Gambia. She is a member of the Medical Research Council’s Gambia Women in Science Working Group and helps to facilitate the development and advancement of young girls in biomedical and clinical research careers, through public engagement activities and as a mentor to young African scientists across the region.

Prince is a human rights defender and Executive Director of Lifeline Nehemiah Projects (LNP), a civil society organisation working for the rights of marginalised people, including children, women and people with disabilities. Having himself been a beneficiary of LNP in the 1990s, he has spent over 25 years in various leadership roles within the organisation, becoming Executive Director in 2019. Prince is passionate about engaging and empowering communities and has extensive experience in CEI, including leading community engagement during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. He is also a CEI lead for various global maternal health research programmes at King’s College London and a CEI adviser to the UK’s NIHR.

Andrew is a Professor of Obstetrics and Head of Department of Women & Children’s Health at King’s College London. He specialises in clinical trials in antenatal and intrapartum care including interventions to predict and prevent preterm birth, pre-eclampsia, and reduce global maternal and perinatal mortality. He has an active clinical role in management of high-risk pregnancies, including a specialist award winning preterm birth surveillance clinic. He is the inventor of the CRADLE VSA device, a recipient of the international 2017 Newton Prize for excellence in research and innovation, and a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Lucy is a midwife research fellow at King’s College London with extensive experience working with children, young people and families in Sierra Leone and the UK. She spent several years in Sierra Leone working with war-affected children and, following a 2017 Wellbeing of Women fellowship exploring causes of high adolescent maternal mortality, co-founded 2YoungLives with Mangenda Kamara. Lucy has also worked as a parent-and-child foster carer and ‘hub home carer’ within the award-winning Mockingbird family hub model, and evaluated training and support needs of parent-and-child foster carers, developing resources and a national practitioner network.

Cristina is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at King’s College London. A nurse, midwife and public health practitioner, she has led maternal, child and adolescent health research, with expertise in clinical trials of complex interventions and innovations, implementation science, health systems and policy, systematic reviews, data science and mixed-methods research to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequities in the UK and globally. Her collaborative work has informed national and international guidelines and policy. She is also a co-founder of the UK Chagas Hub and a Google Higher Ed Faculty AI Fellow.

Elibariki Godfrey Mkumbo is a Social Science Researcher at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, previously with Ifakara Health Institute, bringing 17 years of experience in maternal and newborn health, quality improvement, community interventions, and critical care research. He coordinates the community critical care research and CRISP group at MUHAS, and has a special interest in how behaviour change and mindsets shape healthcare provision and access.

Chi Ying Lam is a researcher-practitioner working at the intersection of music education, community music, and healthcare. Her research takes an evidence-informed, interdisciplinary approach to examining how music supports wellbeing, social inclusion, and community development, particularly with migrant and marginalised communities. Chi Ying is a Lecturer in Community Music and Social Justice at the University of Southampton and Director of the Southampton Centre for Music Education and Social Justice. She is also a Neurologic Music Therapy Allied Professional (NMTAP) and a member of the UK Young Academy.

Nathasia is a postdoctoral researcher at the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London and an Alzheimer’s Research UK Fellow. She studies how toxic tau protein disrupts brain cell communication in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. A dedicated advocate for health equity, she leads dementia-focused outreach and public engagement with Black communities across the UK, earning her the 2025 UK DRI Engagement Award. She co-founded Visibility STEM Africa to amplify African voices in STEM and is a Fellow of the Zimbabwe Young Academy of Sciences, bridging the gap between laboratory science and societal impact.

Victor Ekuta is currently a neurology resident at the Morehouse School of Medicine and holds several scholarly appointments, including as a postdoctoral research fellow and Clark Scholar at Penn Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and as Health Equity Scholar with the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). His aim is to specialize in academic neurology as a physician-scientist-advocate.  

Jheannelle Johnson (@JheannelleJ) is one of the Rising Black Scientists Awards’ winners in the category of life and health sciences. After receiving her bachelor’s at Howard University, she’s now completing a Neurodegeneration Computational Fellowship at Stanford University, where her work centers on understanding cell vulnerability in Alzheimer’s disease. She also serves as the development director for the non-profit organization Black in Neuro, whose aim is to empower Black scholars and professionals in neuroscience. In her essay “The sounds of music: Tracing memories and pathways through research and resistance,” she shares how music offered her a window to connect with her grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and this musical connection sparked her journey into studying both the molecular and societal underpinnings of the disease.  

Dr. Simangele Shakwane is a registered nurse, midwifery practitioner and health sciences educator. She obtained her BA in nursing sciences from UNISA in 2011, including her postgraduate qualifications (MA 2015 and PhD 2018). She is a senior lecturer in the Department of Health Studies at UNISA. She has developed a model for teaching intimate care to nursing students. She is currently doing a postdoctoral research project on implementing the mentioned model and collaborating with the National Research Foundation (NRF) for three years (2022-2024). She advocates for transformative knowledge of the touched body with emphasis on respect and integrity of the human body regardless of their diversity (gender, culture and religion).

Dr Anna Chapman is a Senior Research Fellow and Implementation Scientist who specialises in the application of theories, models and frameworks to inform knowledge translation.  She has a clinical background in nutrition and dietetics. Dr Chapman is dedicated to implementation research that aims to improve the quality of care provided to individuals with chronic conditions, including appraisal of barriers and facilitators, implementation of interventions and application of implementation science methods.

Gabriela Montenegro-Bethancourt is a nutritionist and food scientist whose work contributes to strengthen primary health care in rural Guatemala. She works in the most impoverished communities in Guatemala’s to provide health care in Mayan languages and contribute to reducing maternal mortality and child malnutrition, overcoming barriers to the treatment of complex medical conditions, providing optimal care to children and adults with chronic conditions, and promoting access to clean water. Her research is designed to take into consideration nutrition’s broad strategic possibilities, such as empowering women, increasing the availability of nutrient-rich foods, improving access to health services, and design effective policies.

Eugenie Kayitesi is a food scientist, who is trying to improve nutrition, diet diversity and food security in Africa developing unique products from underutilized food sources, as well as improving their nutritional composition and health promoting constituents. The core of her research relates to indigenous, underutilized African plant-based foods, such as legumes, cereals, green leafy vegetables and fruits. Her work has highlighted the importance of using readily available and affordable food crops to create food products with improved nutritional, functional and sensory quality.

Haneen Dwaib has a background in Nutrition and Public Health, and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. She is investigating dietary interventions to tackle obesity as a case of disguised hunger, since the lack of a decent, well-balanced diet causes deficits in the majority of micronutrients and occasionally macronutrients. Her research focuses on studying the gut microbiota and to find non-invasive early detection biomarkers of premature cardiovascular dysfunction and adipose tissue inflammation in pre-diabetic laboratory rats.

Manal Badrasawi is a clinical nutrition scientist from Palestine whose expertise lies in clinical nutrition, women’s health, geriatric nutrition, and public health. As a prolific researcher, she has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals, covering topics such as dietary behaviors, nutritional epidemiology, chronic disease management, and the psychosocial aspects of health. Her work frequently integrates innovative approaches, such as machine learning, to analyze complex nutritional and health data. Dr. Badrasawi has been instrumental in advancing research on food insecurity, aging, and nutritional health in Palestine. She has led and participated in several funded projects, including the Pal-Age Project, which focuses on aging populations, and the development of the Palestinian Food Atlas, a tool for improving nutrition assessment and education. Her commitment to community-oriented research is further exemplified by her role as the principal investigator in studies addressing food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable populations. In addition to her academic and research contributions, Dr. Badrasawi has developed educational resources, including illustrated food exchange lists, nutritional modules for specific patient populations, and a photographic food atlas. These tools are widely recognized for their cultural relevance and practical application in clinical practice and public health interventions.

Hannah Jongebloed is a clinician-researcher, research fellow and psychologist currently undertaking her PhD. She brings extensive experience in project coordination, stakeholder engagement, and health services research. She chairs the ECORRA Advisory committee, who provide pragmatic guidance and support to the ECORRA Trial. Her research utilises are range of methodologies and she partners across government, health services and community groups to drive change.

Alejandra Paniagua-Avila is a Guatemalan medical doctor and early career scientist dedicated to advancing access to recovery-oriented mental health services for all. She has a particular interest in addressing the health and social needs of people living with serious mental conditions associated with psychosis, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Her research is done in partnership with Maya Indigenous populations and other populations that experience health disparities due to historical discrimination and social exclusion. Her work draws from participatory qualitative approaches, epidemiology, and implementation research to design, implement and evaluate mental health interventions in rural Guatemala and other under-resourced settings. Dr. Paniagua-Avila has published more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and presented research findings at multiple scientific conferences. Her work has been published in high-impact journals, including The Lancet – Regional Health Americas. She is a steering committee member of RedeAmericas, a network of mental health researchers and practitioners across Latin America. She is also a co-founder of Asociación para la Salud Mental, a recently established nonprofit that promotes the recovery of people living with serious mental illnesses in Guatemala through research, capacity strengthening, and program development. She is committed to strengthening research capacity for mental health in Guatemala and has mentored more than 10 students and trainees, many of whom have pursued public health and research careers.

Hawa Camara is a global health researcher, and implementation scientist committed to advancing women’s health globally. Currently, she is a postdoctoral Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) where she explores how cervical cancer prevention innovations, such as HPV self-sampling and point-of-care diagnostics, can be integrated and sustained in limited resource settings. She holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She also brings over a decade of public health experience across Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the U.S. She aspires to positively change people’s lives as she accompanies them in their professional and personal journey.

Olka Missaghimamaghani is a PhD student in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia, studying epigenetic changes underlying lineage plasticity in prostate cancer, with a focus on enhancer regulation in neuroendocrine prostate cancer. She completed her master’s research at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Germany, investigating translational regulation in microglia during aging and Alzheimer’s disease. She earned her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Middle East Technical University as a top-ranked student. Alongside research, she works to bridge academia and industry and support graduate career development.

Tumai is a PhD candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, advancing African precision public health through integrated disease modelling using machine learning. Her research develops Africa-specific cardiometabolic disease risk prediction models that challenge Eurocentric approaches, which leave African populations underserved by global health innovation. As DS-I Africa Partnership and Outreach Working Group Co-chair (2026), she fosters collaborations between the consortium and key data science players across Africa. She is also passionate about mentoring young scientists.

Antonia Morita has worked in developing diagnosis and treatment for tuberculosis. Her passions are infectious disease and immunology. She serves as a National Delegate in the European Respiratory Society (ERS), co-lead of working groups in the Global Young Academy, vice coordinator in the Young Academy of Indonesia, editorial board member in the BMC Infectious Diseases, and is active in UNITE4TB and other international organizations. Among her achievements, she earned the Rising Star Award in Prague, s long-term Research Fellowship from ERS and the Faculty for the Future Award from the Schlumberger foundation.