Charles Ssemugabo is a Public Health specialist with undergraduate training in Environmental Health and post-graduate training in Public Health. He is based at Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda where he works as a Research Associate in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health. For the past six (6) years, Charles has been working on strengthening Community Health Workers programmes in rural Uganda in the areas of training, supervision, and motivation; involvement in non-communicable disease prevention and control; gender and ethics. While Charles is continuing to support community health workers programmes, he is also involved with environmental exposures particularly pesticides across the lifespan and how they contribute to the development of non-communicable diseases research and has a keen interest in Planetary and Urban Health. He is happy to engage on public health issues especially those that have a huge bearing on global wellbeing. He also finds pleasure in supporting colleagues at all levels. So, feel free to reach out on cssemugabo@musph.ac.ug or 0779 625182 on social media @cssemugabo8(Twitter) or Charles Ssemugabo (Facebook). “As a board member of EV4GH, he is looking forward to growing and spreading the network in all corners of the world including disciplines beyond Health system and policy research”.

Dr. Paduraru background is dermatology. She obtained a Master Degree in Health Management & Law, at CNAM, France. The academic path continues as MBA candidate at the University of Sheffield. Her career path over a decade is within the MOH of Moldova. Dr. Paduraru served for establishing the ODA coordination mechanism. The success in her endeavor to promote good governance, transparency, accountability and rule of law has been prized through the John Smith Memorial Trust Fellowship in the UK. Dr. Paduraru closely worked with MOH in the Republic of Georgia on a series of recommendations on the PHC Strategy, Strengthening Quality of Care, HR Strategy, Health Financing and PPPs. Currently, she is serving within SEEHN Secretariat, an intergovernmental organization of 9 Member States focused on public health and well-being in the South Eastern Europe Region. “I believe in the UHC and that both the government and citizens have their responsibilities. EVs have a crucial role to find ways for this partnership to be functional in a world with limited resources.”

Bachera Aktar - Empowering Global Health Leaders Bachera Aktar, an EV 2022 from Bangladesh, is a seasoned public health researcher and academic at the James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. Currently pursuing her Ph.D. in International Public Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, she has dedicated over 13 years to health system strengthening in Bangladesh.

Dr. Wang Xin is an accomplished assistant professor and master supervisor at Sun Yat-Sen University's School of Public Health, specializing in health system and policy research. She obtained her Ph.D. in health systems and policy from the Center for Health Management and Policy Research at Shandong University in 2017. Her expertise is in people-centered integrated care for vulnerable populations, particularly those with chronic non-communicable diseases, the elderly, pregnant women, and infants. Dr. Wang leads multiple research projects, including implementing integrated mental and maternal care to prevent perinatal depression. She is a prolific author with over 20 peer-reviewed papers and actively participates in international academic conferences, advocating for improved global health systems. Dr. Wang also contributes to various prominent academic journals and serves on advisory and executive boards in her field.

Zahra Zeinali, a medical doctor from Iran and a member of the EV 2020 cohort, is currently pursuing her DrGH at the University of Washington. Her research interests encompass health workforce and leadership, gender and intersectionality, and the social and structural determinants of health, with a focus on policy. Zahra previously served as the Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region at the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. She is now a candidate for the EV4GH Governance Board (EMRO seat), committed to sustaining the network and collaborating with the board to initiate new endeavors and opportunities. Zahra proposes three key strategies: enhancing the blended training program, expanding and diversifying the EV4GH community, and strengthening alumni engagement and collaboration. Her objective is to further empower young health policy and systems researchers, decision-makers, and professionals through EV4GH.

Sara is a psychologist, with a MA in Social and Community Psychology and a PhD in Community Mental Health. She was born in Colombia and lives in Argentina. She is currently working in different research projects about the psychiatric reform in Argentina and Latin America, with special attention to the mental health users' movement. “My goal as a board member of EV4GH is to contribute to the core idea of the movement: switching the poles”

Charles Ssemugabo is a Public Health specialist with undergraduate training in Environmental Health and post-graduate training in Public Health. He is based at Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda where he works as a Research Associate in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health. For the past six (6) years, Charles has been working on strengthening Community Health Workers programmes in rural Uganda in the areas of training, supervision, and motivation; involvement in non-communicable disease prevention and control; gender and ethics. While Charles is continuing to support community health workers programmes, he is also involved with environmental exposures particularly pesticides across the lifespan and how they contribute to the development of non-communicable diseases research and has a keen interest in Planetary and Urban Health. He is happy to engage on public health issues especially those that have a huge bearing on global wellbeing. He also finds pleasure in supporting colleagues at all levels. So, feel free to reach out on cssemugabo@musph.ac.ug or 0779 625182 on social media @cssemugabo8(Twitter) or Charles Ssemugabo (Facebook). “As a board member of EV4GH, he is looking forward to growing and spreading the network in all corners of the world including disciplines beyond Health system and policy research”.

Radhika Arora’s initial academic training was in broadcast journalism, followed by a Master of Public Health degree. She is presently working with Oxford Policy Management in Delhi on their work on frontline health workers. She also works on project-related knowledge management activities at OPM. Radhika has been actively engaged with the EV4GH program as a co-coordinator for the alumni task force over the past few years, and looks forward to taking this role forward in future.

Dr. Yinzi Jin is an assistant professor and associate bresearcher of the Department of Global Health at Peking University School of Public Health. Dr. Jin received her PhD in health systems and policy from Peking University China Center for Health Development Studies in June 2018. Dr. Jin completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Global Health at Peking University School of Public Health in June 2020. Dr. Jin’s research areas include global health governance, health system and policy, and implementation strategies of prevention and control for chronic non-communicable diseases. Her studies focus on designing and implementing evidence-based interventions to improve the quality of care for patients with chronic non-communicable disease and its acute episodes in low and middle- income countries. She has studied a wide range of innovations including quality improvement in clinical pathways, care management practices, clinical information systems, and integrated healthcare delivery models. She serves as an Advisory Board Member of the BMJ Quality & Safety (Chinese). She has served as Consultant of the Chinese delegation for the Program, Budget, and Administration Committee, Executive Board, and World Health Assembly since 2018, and one of the organizers of the Sub-forum on Healthy Youth of the First Conference of the Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia.

Dr Goran Zangana is a medical doctor from Iraq with experience in acute medicine, public health, epidemiology, health policy and health systems in conflict-affected settings. Dr Zangana is co-founder of a Health Policy Research Organisation. He is an active researcher at the Middle East Research Institute in Erbil of Kurdistan region of Iraq. He has done a PhD at the University of Edinburgh on the politics of introducing the basic packages of health service in the conflict-setting of Iraq. He is currently the Program Manager for the Health and Humanitarian Advancement Network (HUMAN) network in Iraq. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Fragile and Conflict-affected settings thematic working group of Health Systems Global.

Kristof Decoster has a background in political science and has been working at the ITM since October 2007. He currently focuses on the International Health Policies newsletter and network, and has been involved in Emerging Voices since the start of the program. He’s the liaison with ITM in the current EV governance team. “I hope Emerging Voices for Global Health can first of all become truly “networked individuals” and, building on this, become HPSR and global health change agents in their countries, at the regional and global level. And why not, while we’re at it, at the level of the universe :)!”

Dorcus is passionate about creating opportunities for young professionals. One of her desires is to see meaningful engagement of young professionals and women with global health and promoting primary health care for the achievement of universal health coverage. As one of the women in Global Health Sweden, Dorcus continues to promote visibility and recognition of women as leaders and experts in global health. She started her career as a medical officer in rural Uganda and headed a district health system. She has worked within HIV care, capacity building, health management, primary health care, maternal, newborn and child health, research and health systems. She has experience with multilateral and bilateral organisation, governments and within academia and holds a doctoral degree in International Health. “My ultimate goal is to have the voices of young health professionals heard at the global level”

Dr Vladimir S Gordeev is a Senior Health Economist at the Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, Queen Mary University of London. He is also an honorary Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where he has been working since 2013. Vladimir has a diverse background, as a medical doctor and a health economist, his expertise is in health systems financing, financial and social protection, quality of life measures, and economic and policy evaluation. Vladimir is a co-chair of the Emerging Voices for Global Health Thematic Working Group and a member of a board of directors for Health Systems Global, representing the European region in both. “I hope that EV4GH will become a resilient network of bright young public health champions and will connect leaders that will write together new chapters in the history of global public health and health systems”

She continued the research on evidence-based method in the areas of health system and policies, including development of appropriate methodology on evidence synthesis, conducting of systematic reviews on specific health system and policy research topics. She also has experience in teaching the courses related to systematic review or evidence synthesis. She is the also the expert member of WHO Alliance Health Systems Research Synthesis Advisory Group, expert member of China Delegation for World Health Assembly on the areas of WHO financing and Universal Health Coverage, and the committee member of China Young Scholars Federation of Health Management Researches. YUAN, Beibei MD, PhD, Associate Professor in Peking University China Center for Health Development Studies. She got PhD in management from Shandong University in 2011, and worked in Peking University and Karolinska Institutet as a postdoctoral fellow from 2011-2013.

Dr Goran Zangana is a medical doctor from Iraq with experience in acute medicine, public health, epidemiology, health policy and health systems in conflict-affected settings. Dr Zangana is co-founder of a Health Policy Research Organisation. He is an active researcher at the Middle East Research Institute in Erbil of Kurdistan region of Iraq. He has done a PhD at the University of Edinburgh on the politics of introducing the basic packages of health service in the conflict-setting of Iraq. He is currently the Program Manager for the Health and Humanitarian Advancement Network (HUMAN) network in Iraq. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Fragile and Conflict-affected settings thematic working group of Health Systems Global.

Kristof Decoster has a background in political science and has been working at the ITM since October 2007. He currently focuses on the International Health Policies newsletter and network, and has been involved in Emerging Voices since the start of the program. He’s the liaison with ITM in the current EV governance team. “I hope Emerging Voices for Global Health can first of all become truly “networked individuals” and, building on this, become HPSR and global health change agents in their countries, at the regional and global level. And why not, while we’re at it, at the level of the universe :)!”

Radhika Arora’s initial academic training was in broadcast journalism, followed by a Master of Public Health degree. She is presently working with Oxford Policy Management in Delhi on their work on frontline health workers. She also works on project-related knowledge management activities at OPM. Radhika has been actively engaged with the EV4GH program as a co-coordinator for the alumni task force over the past few years, and looks forward to taking this role forward in future.

Dorcus is passionate about creating opportunities for young professionals. One of her desires is to see meaningful engagement of young professionals and women with global health and promoting primary health care for the achievement of universal health coverage. As one of the women in Global Health Sweden, Dorcus continues to promote visibility and recognition of women as leaders and experts in global health. She started her career as a medical officer in rural Uganda and headed a district health system. She has worked within HIV care, capacity building, health management, primary health care, maternal, newborn and child health, research and health systems. She has experience with multilateral and bilateral organisation, governments and within academia and holds a doctoral degree in International Health. “My ultimate goal is to have the voices of young health professionals heard at the global level”

Dr Vladimir S Gordeev is a Senior Health Economist at the Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, Queen Mary University of London. He is also an honorary Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where he has been working since 2013. Vladimir has a diverse background, as a medical doctor and a health economist, his expertise is in health systems financing, financial and social protection, quality of life measures, and economic and policy evaluation. Vladimir is a co-chair of the Emerging Voices for Global Health Thematic Working Group and a member of a board of directors for Health Systems Global, representing the European region in both. “I hope that EV4GH will become a resilient network of bright young public health champions and will connect leaders that will write together new chapters in the history of global public health and health systems”

Dr. Kopano Matlwa Mabaso is a South African medical doctor and author currently reading for a DPhil in Population Health at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Kopano represents Emerging Voices and other young health systems researchers on the board of Health Systems Global. Kopano is the founder of Transitions Foundation, an NGO that provides educational support to young South Africans from disadvantaged backgrounds and is co-founder of Ona Mtoto Wako, an initiative that seeks to take lifesaving antenatal health care to pregnant women living in remote and rural parts of low income countries. Kopano believes that the Emerging Voices are the turning point generation!

Kristof Decoster has a background in political science and has been working at the ITM since October 2007. He currently focuses on the International Health Policies newsletter and network, and has been involved in Emerging Voices since the start of the program. He’s the liaison with ITM in the current EV governance team. “I hope Emerging Voices for Global Health can first of all become truly “networked individuals” and, building on this, become HPSR and global health change agents in their countries, at the regional and global level. And why not, while we’re at it, at the level of the universe :)!”

Sara is a psychologist, with a MA in Social and Community Psychology and a PhD in Community Mental Health. She was born in Colombia and lives in Argentina. She is currently working in different research projects about the psychiatric reform in Argentina and Latin America, with special attention to the mental health users' movement. “My goal as a board member of EV4GH is to contribute to the core idea of the movement: switching the poles”

Pragati is a dentist by education, a public health advocate by profession and a nascent researcher with interest in research ethics, NCDs, and fascinated by implementation science. After completing her Masters in Oral Medicine and Radiology from The Oxford Dental College and Hospital in 2012 she practiced dentistry at a charitable hospital in Bengaluru for a while. Her interest in tobacco control and the strong desire to do something at a population level lead her to ‘discover’ IPH

Prashanth is a medical doctor with a specialisation in public health. For his PhD, he studied organisational change in a local health system setting. He is involved in teaching face-to-face and e-learning courses on health management, health policy and systems research methods. He has an interest in strengthening primary health care and works with wildlife scientists and ecologists on topics related to the interface between health and environment. In his free time, he is a passionate birdwatcher, wikipedia editor, social media enthusiast and a closet-naturalist. “My ultimate goal is to facilitate EV4GH as a disruptive movement that shifts focus of global health and development community towards equitable health worldwide”

Dorcus is passionate about creating opportunities for young professionals. One of her desires is to see meaningful engagement of young professionals and women with global health and promoting primary health care for the achievement of universal health coverage. As one of the women in Global Health Sweden, Dorcus continues to promote visibility and recognition of women as leaders and experts in global health. She started her career as a medical officer in rural Uganda and headed a district health system. She has worked within HIV care, capacity building, health management, primary health care, maternal, newborn and child health, research and health systems. She has experience with multilateral and bilateral organisation, governments and within academia and holds a doctoral degree in International Health. “My ultimate goal is to have the voices of young health professionals heard at the global level”

Dr. Kopano Matlwa Mabaso is a South African medical doctor and author currently reading for a DPhil in Population Health at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Kopano represents Emerging Voices and other young health systems researchers on the board of Health Systems Global. Kopano is the founder of Transitions Foundation, an NGO that provides educational support to young South Africans from disadvantaged backgrounds and is co-founder of Ona Mtoto Wako, an initiative that seeks to take lifesaving antenatal health care to pregnant women living in remote and rural parts of low income countries. Kopano believes that the Emerging Voices are the turning point generation!

Kristof Decoster has a background in political science and has been working at the ITM since October 2007. He currently focuses on the International Health Policies newsletter and network, and has been involved in Emerging Voices since the start of the program. He’s the liaison with ITM in the current EV governance team. “I hope Emerging Voices for Global Health can first of all become truly “networked individuals” and, building on this, become HPSR and global health change agents in their countries, at the regional and global level. And why not, while we’re at it, at the level of the universe :)!”

Arsene Kpangon worked at University of Parakou (Benin Republic) as a Public Health research assistant. As infectious diseases specialist with public health competencies, he is focused on health systems challenges in presence of constraints represented by HIV, TB, and Ebola in Africa settings. Arsene is very present in the activities of overall health, evidenced by his multiple interventions in several discussions on the forum of EVs, publications in the newsletter of international health policies, and his online mobilization against Ebola. “About future of EVGH I think that with daily effort and resilience in EVs group, we would help the world to improve health system conditions”

Asmat Malik, a medical doctor and systems analyst by training with PhD in Health Policy and Systems from the University of Queensland, Australia has been working over 18-years in South and South-East Asia and Africa. He is an international expert on developing Comprehensive Multi-year Plans for Immunization Systems. Having thorough insights in developing health system strengthening initiatives under infrastructure constrained and resource limited settings, he has tested innovative strategies for strengthening health service delivery and translated these initiatives into national health systems and programs. “I wish to see EV4GH “driving global health agenda”

Sophia has completed her Masters in Public Health (MPH). Her interests are Global health, Health policy and planning, and Social and behavioural sciences. “I am glad to be working in EV4GH, which promotes young researchers as myself. I hope this initiative echoes the voices of ‘young dynamos’ across the globe to bring about a positive change in the health systems, especially in the developing countries.”