Anna Odone (Italy),

Professor of Public Health and Director, School of Public Health, University of Pavia

(SAB Chair)

Anna Odone, MD, MSc, MPH, DrPH, PhD, is a public health physician and epidemiologist with a strong academic and policy profile. She is Full Professor and Director of the School of Public Health at the University of Pavia, Italy. 

Professor Odone currently serves as President of the Third Section of the Italian Supreme Health Council, the advisory body to the Ministry of Health responsible for prevention policies, public health strategies and health systems strengthening.

A medical doctor by training, Professor Odone holds a PhD in medical sciences and earned an MSc in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom), and an MPH in health policy and management as a Fulbright Scholar from the Harvard School of Public Health (United States).

She holds several leadership positions across academic, governmental and scientific institutions and has extensive experience collaborating with WHO, the European Commission, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). She is actively involved in several international and regional scientific boards, expert groups and research consortia, contributing to scientific governance and evidence-informed health policy-making.

Her areas of expertise include epidemiology, health policy and management, health systems and services research, and health technology assessment, with a particular focus on the generation, appraisal and translation of evidence into policy. Her work spans communicable and noncommunicable diseases, mental health, and health systems monitoring and evaluation, alongside emerging areas such as digital health, artificial intelligence and data-driven public health.

Sarah Wamala Andersson (Sweden),

Professor of Health and Welfare Technology, Mälardalen University

Professor Sarah Wamala Andersson is an internationally recognized expert in public health, digital health, evidence-informed policy-making and implementation science. 

She founded and leads EBITech (Evidence-Based Implementation of Digital Technologies in Health and Welfare Systems), generating real-world evidence to accelerate effective implementation, scale-up and policy adoption of digital health and AI-enabled innovations.

Her research spans digital health, implementation science, health equity, precision health and healthy ageing, translating evidence into policy, practice and societal impact. She leads international initiatives to strengthen digital health capacity and advance resilient equitable health systems globally.

With over 25 years of leadership experience across academia, government and industry, Professor Wamala Andersson serves on the WHO Strategic Advisory Group on the Global Digital Health Certification Network and advises public agencies, technology developers and international organizations.

Her previous roles include Director General of the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Professor of Health Policy at Karolinska Institutet, Director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Stockholm, and Principal Research Scientist in the pharmaceutical industry.

She holds a PhD in medical sciences (Karolinska Institutet), an MSc in biostatistics (Stockholm University) and a BSc in economics (Makerere University; complemented by postdoctoral training in epidemiology in New Zealand and executive leadership training at Stanford Graduate School of Business). 

She is widely published and an editor of international academic textbooks. Her work bridges science, innovation and policy to advance population health and more equitable, resilient and sustainable health systems. 

Lina Basel‑Salmon (Israel),

Head of Research and Innovation in Genomic Medicine, Innovation Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services and Full Professor, Gabriel Pinkas Chair for the Prevention and Diagnosis of Congenital Anomalies, Tel Aviv University

Professor Basel-Salmon is a paediatrician and a medical geneticist. At Maccabi Healthcare Services she leads genomic medicine strategy, research and implementation. She is a Strategic Committee member of the European Society of Human Genetics and a member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Board of the European Rare Diseases Research Alliance. Professor Basel-Salmon previously engaged with WHO/Europe as a country point of contact on precision medicine. She has served as Head of the Israeli Society of Medical Genetics and National Israeli Coordinator for Orphanet.

Her work spans rare diseases, with more than 20 new diseases and genes discovered, and public health, translating scientific advances into clinical practice and population-level strategy within large health systems. Her expertise covers dysmorphology, paediatric genetics, genomic variant interpretation, research to clinic transition of genomic findings in population-based sequencing projects, and implementation of innovative diagnostic and screening approaches. She brings particular insight into the ethical, equity and governance dimensions of genomic medicine, informed by her work across diverse populations and educational activities in many countries.

Her work at the interface of research, clinical practice and health system implementation equips her to advise on integrating and assessing genomic and precision medicine evidence, identifying emerging knowledge gaps, and translating complex scientific advances into actionable, context-sensitive policy.

Serena Carville (United Kingdom),

Head of Evidence, UK Health Security Agency

Dr Carville is Head of Evidence at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), where she leads the Evidence Review Team and oversees the use of scientific evidence to inform public health advice, guidance and policy. Her work supports high priority decision making on health protection, pandemic preparedness and emergency response, including the development of rapid evidence review methodologies to address emerging threats and urgent policy needs. 

A research methodologist by training, she has more than 15 years of experience in evidence synthesis, guideline development, evidence based practice, health systems research and knowledge translation. She holds a PhD in Human Physiology from King’s College London and began her career in clinical research and European guideline development in chronic pain. 

Prior to joining UKHSA in 2023, she spent 13 years at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, where she served as Associate Director and led multidisciplinary teams developing national and international evidence based guidelines. In this role, she oversaw systematic reviews, supported expert committees and contributed to advances in guideline methodology and evidence appraisal. 

She has also served on the Methods Committee of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO), contributing to the strengthening of international standards for evidence based guideline development.

Katarzyna Czabanowska (Poland),

Professor of Public Health Leadership and Workforce Development, Maastricht University, Netherland

Professor Czabanowska, PhD, Dr habil., holds a Chair in Public Health Leadership and Workforce Development at Maastricht University. She directs the WHO Collaborating Centre on Public Health Leadership and Workforce Development, advancing workforce professionalization, competency based education and leadership, and strengthening across health systems.

Her research portfolio spans public health leadership, workforce professionalization, competency based education and training, workforce planning, organizational development, and systems thinking. Across these domains, her work focuses on strengthening public health systems and improving population health outcomes through evidence based workforce strategies and leadership innovation.

As an internationally recognized expert in public health leadership, workforce development and capacity-building, she advises WHO, the European Commission, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and other international public health organizations.

Professor Czabanowska is a past President of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), where she played a key role in shaping the WHO–ASPHER Competency Framework and leading the development of the WHO–ASPHER Roadmap for Professionalizing the Public Health Workforce in the European Region. She also served as an Academic Board Member of Maastricht University’s think tank on Europe and European policy-making.

An Honorary Member of the UK Faculty of Public Health, she holds academic appointments in Europe and the United States. She has authored more than 200 scientific publications, policy papers and reports and is widely recognized for her contributions to leadership competencies, workforce development, education reform and health system transformation.

Zaure Dushimova (Kazakhstan),

Research Associate Professor, Al‑Farabi Kazakh National University

Professor Dushimova is a clinician scientist with more than two decades of experience in paediatrics, oncology and health system development. She is also Head of the Orphan Diseases Centre at the Kazakh Research Institute of Cardiology and Internal Diseases. 

Her work focuses on oncology, rare diseases, diagnostics and health system organization, with a strong emphasis on translating clinical and scientific knowledge into national health policies and programmes. 

She has held senior leadership roles in major national research institutions and played an important role in the development of cancer control strategies, rare disease frameworks, national protocols and analytical reports for the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan. Her work includes strengthening screening programmes, oncology services and access to care for children and patients with rare diseases. 

She has collaborated with WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer and contributed to regional and international initiatives, including work on inequalities in paediatric cancer. Her experience spans clinical practice, research, education and policy implementation, providing a broad perspective on health system challenges and innovation in care delivery.

Didier Jourdan (France),

Professor of Public Health and Education, INSPE Clermont‑Auvergn

Professor Jourdan is a leading international expert in health promotion, health education and health literacy. He is Professor at the University of Clermont Auvergne, Chair Holder of the UNESCO Chair “Global Health and Education”, and Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Education and Health. His work focuses on strengthening the links between health and education systems and promoting intersectoral approaches to improving population health and reducing inequalities. 

His research examines how health promotion and education interventions can improve health outcomes, strengthen professional practice and support effective implementation of public policies. He has led major international research, training and knowledge exchange initiatives and is actively involved in global collaborations focusing on children’s and young people’s health, health literacy and prevention. 

Professor Jourdan has held a number of senior leadership positions in academia and public health, including Director of the Prevention and Health Promotion Division of the French National Public Health Agency, Director of INSPE Clermont Auvergne and President of the Prevention, Education and Health Promotion Commission of the French High Council for Public Health. He has also served as Vice President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education. 

His extensive experience across research, education, public policy and international cooperation provides a unique perspective on capacity-building, implementation science and the translation of evidence into effective health promotion strategies. 

Anna Kontsevaya (Russian Federation),

Deputy Director for Science and Analytics, National Research Center for Preventive Medicine, Moscow

Professor Kontsevaya is a physician, health economist and public health expert with more than 20 years of experience in epidemiology, prevention policy and health systems research. She leads analytical work on noncommunicable disease prevention and population health, with a strong focus on translating scientific and economic evidence into policy relevant solutions. 

Her research interests include economic evaluation, investment case methodology, epidemiology and policy analysis, particularly in assessing the health and economic impact of preventive interventions. 

Since 2013, she has worked extensively with WHO and UNDP, contributing to the development of investment cases for noncommunicable diseases, mental health and clinical interventions across more than 13 countries. She is Vice President of the Russian Society for NCD Prevention and a Board Member of the Russian Society of Cardiology and contributes to regional and international policy and research networks. 

Earlier in her career, she worked as a clinician and held senior research leadership positions, providing a comprehensive understanding of health systems from care delivery to policy design and implementation.

Dionne Kringos (Netherlands),

Professor of Health Systems and Services Research at the University of Amsterdam; Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Primary Health Care Systems; Deputy Head of the Department of Public and Occupational Health at Amsterdam University Medical Center

Professor Kringos is an internationally recognized expert in health systems and services research, with more than 20 years of experience supporting evidence-informed policy and health system transformation. Her work focuses on health system performance assessment, primary health care, quality of care, equity, sustainability, and the development of indicators and analytical frameworks that translate complex evidence into actionable policy.

She has extensive experience advising WHO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Commission and national governments on health system strengthening, performance assessment and the use of evidence for decision-making. Her research bridges science, policy and practice, with a particular emphasis on making health systems more resilient, equitable and responsive.

Earlier in her career, she held research positions at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), served as Vice-Director of the Amsterdam Public Health research institute, was a research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and was a visiting scholar at the University of Sheffield. She also served on the European Commission's Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health.

As a member of the WHO/Europe Scientific Advisory Board, she contributes expertise in health system performance assessment, methodological rigour, evidence synthesis and the translation of research into practical, policy-relevant guidance for Member States.

Rubeshan Perumal (South Africa),

Professor, University of KwaZulu‑Natal

Professor Rubeshan Perumal is a South African pulmonologist, clinical epidemiologist and public health researcher serving as the Deputy Director of the South African Medical Research Council and CAPRISA TB/HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment Research Unit and as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is an affiliated faculty member of the Global Health Pulmonary Research Pathway in the Division of Pulmonology, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at Columbia University. 

With a focus on reducing the burden of complex infectious diseases, Professor Perumal brings extensive methodological expertise spanning early-phase clinical development, adaptive trial designs, and implementation science. He is a lead or co-investigator on a diverse portfolio of multinational clinical trials, including the ADAP-TIV, TRiAD and TARGET-TB studies, evaluating everything from Bayesian adaptive mHealth interventions to genomic and geospatial pathogen transmission modelling.

A recognized voice in global health governance, Professor Perumal is dedicated to translating rigorous, complex evidence into actionable public health policies for diverse, resource-constrained health systems. He serves on the Scientific Leadership Committee of the Global Virus Network, the Tuberculosis Transformative Science Group of the NIH AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and multiple South African ministerial and national advisory committees for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19. 

His research – focusing on diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to eliminate TB as a public health threat, the development of public health genomic surveillance strategies to enhance disease control, and the building of robust clinical programmes for post-infectious sequelae – has resulted in more than 80 peer-reviewed publications. Professor Perumal’s deep grounding in frontline clinical care and international scientific leadership uniquely positions him to advance cutting-edge, methodologically sound policies for global health security.

Holger Schünemann (Germany),

Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Humanitas University, Italy

Professor Schünemann is a globally recognized leader in clinical epidemiology, evidence based medicine and guideline methodology. He is Director of the Clinical Epidemiology and Research Centre and Director of the Residency Programme in Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Humanitas University. He also co chairs the GRADE Working Group – GRADE has become the internationally adopted standard for assessing the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations in clinical and public health guidelines. 

His work focuses on systematic review methodology, health technology assessment, evidence to decision frameworks and the development of transparent approaches for translating scientific evidence into policy and practice. He has played a central role in reshaping guideline development globally and has contributed extensively to WHO, European Commission and national guideline initiatives. 

Before joining Humanitas University, he held senior leadership positions at McMaster University, where he served as Chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact and later directed Cochrane Canada and the McMaster GRADE Centre. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Italian National Cancer Institute and held academic appointments in Canada, Germany, Italy and the United States. 

Professor Schünemann has authored more than 900 scientific publications and is internationally recognized for his contribution to evidence synthesis, guideline development and methodological innovation. 

Ann Van den Bruel (Belgium),

General Director, Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE)

Professor Van den Bruel is a physician, clinical epidemiologist and internationally recognized expert in evidence based medicine and diagnostic research. She is General Director of the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) and Professor of General Practice at KU Leuven. Her work focuses on the diagnosis of serious illness in primary care, evidence synthesis, health technology assessment and the use of diagnostic innovations to improve health outcomes. 

At KCE, she oversees multidisciplinary programmes in health technology assessment, health system evaluation and clinical guideline development, bringing together scientific, clinical, economic and ethical perspectives to inform health policy and practice.

A general practitioner by training, she obtained her medical degree and PhD in medical sciences at KU Leuven before holding academic positions at the University of Oxford and Utrecht University. At Oxford, she served as Clinical Lecturer, Associate Professor and Director of the NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Cooperative, leading research on diagnostic technologies and evidence generation for clinical decision making. 

Her research addresses diagnostic accuracy, point of care testing, overdiagnosis, serious infections and evidence based policy. She has led major national and international studies and is actively involved in Cochrane diagnostic reviews and international collaborations on diagnostic evidence. During the COVID 19 pandemic she contributed to Belgian government advisory mechanisms on testing and therapeutics.