Scientific Advisory Committee

Dr Marcel Tanner obtained a PhD in medical biology from the University of Basel and an MPH from the University of London. He is Director Emeritus of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (formerly the Swiss Tropical Institute) and Professor of Epidemiology and Medical Parasitology at the University of Basel and at the Federal Institute of Technology.

Since 1977, Dr Tanner’s research has ranged from basic research on the cell biology and immunology of malaria, schistosomiasis, trypanosomiasis and filariasis to epidemiological and public health research on risk assessment, vulnerability, health impact and district health planning. His research, teaching and health planning expertise are based on long experience working in rural and urban areas in Africa (mainly Tanzania, Chad, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire) and Asia (China, Thailand and Laos).

He was co-investigator and coordinator of the first African malaria vaccine trial in 1992 and has participated since then in several major intervention trials on malaria (iron supplementation, intermittent preventive treatment) and schistosomiasis. He has published over 400 original research papers as well as numerous book chapters and reviews.

Dr Tanner also acts as advisor on communicable diseases research and control, health systems strengthening and capacity building in various national and international agencies/bodies and in boards/committees such as e.g. WHO/STAC-TDR, DNDi, CHNRI, INCLEN-Trust. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors at DNDi.

Dr Manica Balasegaram is Executive Director of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and has been instrumental in leading the Partnership through its three-year incubation to an independent legal entity, during which time GARDP launched four programmes and built a skilled and dedicated team with expertise from a range of sectors and backgrounds.

Manica trained as a medical doctor at the University of Nottingham, UK from where he started his career in internal and emergency medicine. From 2001 onwards, he worked as a doctor and researcher in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. He also gained significant experience working in humanitarian emergencies and responses, largely with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

At the end of 2007 he joined the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative as Head of Leishmaniasis Clinical Program – a position he held for four years before returning to MSF as Executive Director of their Access Campaign. He was appointed Director of GARDP in June 2016. He is also currently a board member of the Medicines Patent Pool as well as of FIND’s Scientific Advisory Committee.

Manica’s experience spans clinical and public health practice in infectious diseases and international work on health policy & access to medicines. He has served on numerous technical and health policy panels and expert groups. He also has substantial experience in conducting and overseeing clinical trials and drug development projects.

Prof. Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD, FCAHS is a Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology & Global Health at McGill University, Montreal. He is the Director of McGill Global Health Programs, and Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre.

Madhu Pai did his medical training and community medicine residency in Vellore, India. He completed his PhD in epidemiology at UC Berkeley, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the UCSF.

Madhu serves as a Consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He serves on the STAG-TB committee of WHO, Geneva; Scientific Advisory Committee of FIND, Geneva; and Access Advisory Committee of TB Alliance, New York. He serves as the Chair of the Public-Private Mix (PPM) Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership. He is on the editorial boards of Lancet Infectious Diseases, PLoS Medicine, eLife, PLoS ONE, International Journal of TB and Lung Disease, among others.

Madhu’s research is mainly focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, especially in high-burden countries like India and South Africa. His research is supported by grant funding from the Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has more than 300 publications. He is recipient of the Union Scientific Prize, Chanchlani Global Health Research Award, Haile T. Debas Prize, and David Johnston Faculty & Staff Award. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Dr Ana Rabello is medical doctor, with PhD in Tropical Medicine from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1994. Since 1989 she has been a research scientist at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, current head of the Laboratory of Clinical Research in Infectious Diseases. She also coordinates the Leishmaniasis Clinical Reference Center at the Fiocruz unit, where she also teaches and is a supervisor of the Post-graduate Programme of Health Sciences and of the Post-graduate Programme of Public Health.

Her main research interests are control measures for leishmaniasis, experimental and clinical therapy for leishmaniasis, Leishmania/HIV coinfection, diagnosis of leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. She has published over 95 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr Rabello has been the recipient since 1996 of a Scholarship in Research Productivity from the Brazilian National Council Research. From 2009 to 2012, she coordinated the Fiocruz Programme for Technological Development for Public Health and the Fiocruz Network of Clinical Research. She has also been, since 2012, the coordinator of the Programme for Innovation for Diagnosis and Drugs for Neglected Diseases of Fiocruz and DNDi, in partnership with the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs/Brazilian Ministry of Health.

Dr Thomas White received his B.A. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley – including graduate studies in the Pharmacology Department at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His postdoctoral research on breast cancer was carried out at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco and on antibiotic resistance at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

From 1978-1988, Tom was employed at Cetus Corporation where he held the position of Vice President of Research and directed the research and development of products using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for multiple applications in basic research, molecular evolution, forensics and diagnostics.

From 1989-2000 he worked for Roche Molecular Systems. As Senior Vice President of Research and Development he was responsible for PCR-based tests for the medical diagnosis of genetic diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases, tests for bone marrow transplantation and screening the blood supply for HIV, HCV and HBV, and for developing new applications of PCR for basic research, forensics and the human genome project.

From 2001-2011, Tom was Senior VP of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Celera Corporation. This involved the development and FDA registration of molecular diagnostic products for cystic fibrosis, Fragile-X, HIV drug resistance, hepatitis C virus genotyping, thrombosis, as well as laboratory developed (CLIA) tests for complex common diseases and cancer.

Tom retired in June 2011. At the University of California at Berkeley he is a member of the advisory boards of the Human Rights Center, the College of Natural Resources, and a Trustee of the University of California Press Foundation.

Dr David Alland earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia University, an MD from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and an MSc and DTM&H from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is currently a Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean for Clinical Research, and the Director of the Center for Emerging Pathogens at Rutgers University, New Jersey Medical School.

The Alland laboratory concentrates on diverse aspects of M. tuberculosis molecular biology, epidemiology, and advanced molecular diagnostics, as well as deciphering how antibiotic resistance develops on both the cellular and epidemiological levels. The laboratory interests also include rapid diagnostics of infectious agents for biodefense, intracellular consequences of antibiotic treatment, and the diagnosis of drug resistance.

Over the years, David has been the principal investigator of multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants relating to tuberculosis, rapid detection of sepsis, and biodefense. He served as the Scientific Director of the TB–Clinical Diagnostics Research Consortium (CDRC), and is a member of the Tuberculosis Transformative Science Group of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Network. He has also reviewed numerous grants for the NIH, World Health Organization, Gates Foundation, and Wellcome Trust. He currently has over 114 peer reviewed articles on tuberculosis, and on sepsis diagnosis, including publications in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Nature Chemical Biology, PNAS and other prestigious Journals.

Vice President – Products and Programs, Wadhwani Institute For Artificial Intelligence, Mumbai, India

Dr David Ecker co-founded and managed Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Ibis Biosciences, and Janus-I Science. He has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, over 130 peer-reviewed publications, and over 95 issued US patents. His team has won well over $250 M in government grants and contracts. Major accomplishments include the development of new drug discovery paradigms; antisense and small molecule antibacterial drug now in phase III clinical trials along with the diagnostic technologies known as IRIDICA and a point-of-care diagnostic device known as the Mobile Analysis Platform (MAP).

In parallel with his company responsibilities, David participated in advisory panels for multiple government agencies. He serves or has served on multiple government advisory boards reporting to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, the National Academy of Medicine, the FDA, CDC, and intelligence and law enforcement agencies. From 2011 to 2016 he served as a voting member of the National Preparedness and Response Science Board and National Biodefense Science Board.

Advisor, Uniting to Combat NTDs, Geneva, Switzerland

Dr Octavio Fernandes is currently a clinical pathologist and Vice-President, Operations of Labi Exames, a medical laboratory testing network whose mission is to facilitate healthcare access through diagnostic tests.

He received his medical degree from State University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was Fellow in Infectious Diseases, Hospital of the State University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and received his Master in Parasitology (Fiocruz), a PhD in Tropical Medicine (Fiocruz, UCLA), and an MBA in Health Management (COPPEAD Federal University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Octavio is ex-Associate Professor of Pathology Department, Medical School, State University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ex-Senior Researcher Department of Tropical Medicine, Fiocruz, and Ex- COO DASA.

Senior Research Fellow,
The George Institute for Global Health New Delhi, India

Oommen is an internist, specialized in Internal Medicine from Christian Medical College, Ludhiana and has an Executive MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He has over 20 years of experience in designing and implementing health systems strengthening interventions and health management information systems. He served as clinician with The Leprosy Mission and worked in several TLMs in North India and at Anadaban Leprosy Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Oommen leads a number of innovative public health interventions in low- and middle-income country settings. His interests and expertise include applying, developing, and evaluating digital health interventions for health systems strengthening in LMICs.

He has worked with WHO, leading the implementation of a large vaccine project and information systems-based monitoring for a data and quality tracking system. He serves on the WHO Digital Health Guidelines Development Group and International Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health.

At the George Institute, Oommen leads a research programme in the use of information systems for strengthening clinical care delivery and home-based care, as well as the establishment of the Indian Dialysis Registry in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Sanjeev Krishna is Professor of Molecular Parasitology and Medicine at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London. He is also an honorary consultant in infectious disease and medicine.

Sanjeev maintains a wide-ranging programme of research in malaria, spanning laboratory studies providing new insight into parasite biology, clinical studies aiming to refine treatments for malaria, and research into a newly discovered form of malaria transmitted to humans from monkeys. He also has strong interests in the development of new diagnostic technologies for diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis (TB), which will not only confirm the disease, but also guide the choice of most effective treatment regimes.

Sanjeev’s research focuses on infectious disease, particularly malaria, encompassing diagnostics, the mechanism of action of drugs, identification of new drug targets, and clinical studies of drug responses. His group has a particular interest in parasite transporter proteins, which are targeted by existing antimalarial drugs and are also promising new targets.

In a wide-ranging programme of research, Sanjeev’s group spans basic research into the function of Plasmodium transporters, translational studies on transporters as drug targets, and clinical studies to refine treatments for P falciparum malaria and to understand better P knowlesi malaria, a zoonotic form of malaria affecting parts of South-East Asia.

Sanjeev also has a strong interest in diagnostics. He is principal investigator of a €5.2m EU Framework Programme VII project, Nanomal, which is developing a low-cost point-of-care diagnostic for malaria. As well as rapidly identifying the presence of the parasite, the device will also provide a drug resistance profile. The technology is also being adapted for use with TB, and may be applicable to other tropical infectious diseases.

Patrick Lammie, PhD, is the director for the Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center (NTD-SC), a program of The Task Force for Global Health. In this role, Dr. Lammie provides technical guidance and strategic oversight to NTD-SC’s operational research projects.

Dr Lammie was formerly a senior staff scientist in the Disease Elimination and Control Group in the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He worked at CDC for more than 20 years where his principal focus had been lymphatic filariasis. His laboratory was heavily invested in efforts to develop new tools and strategies to monitor and evaluate filariasis and other neglected tropical diseases.

Dr Lammie serves on the World Health Organization’s NTD Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group and the Executive Group of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis.

Dr Lammie received his doctoral degree from Tulane University and completed doctoral research on the immunology of experimental filariasis.

Dr Rojelio Mejia is Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases and Pediatrics, Laboratory of Clinical Parasitology and Diagnostics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Texas, USA.

He received his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division Clinical Epidemiology & Infectious Diseases, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

My research focuses on developing screening strategies for marginalized populations using point-of-care tests to improve screening and diagnosis in order to make a public health impact. My current work involves rapid point-of-care tests for HIV and related co-infections (hepatitis C, hepatitis B, syphilis) and the development of innovations that improve uptake of self-testing for HIV, multiplex screening for HIV related co-infections for affected populations, and early screening for pregnant women in resource-limited settings.

Website: https://nitikapantpai.com

Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine &  Senior Science Advisor, the World Heart Federation, Geneva, Switzerland

I am a cardiologist and epidemiologist with expertise in clinical trials, prognosis research, systematic reviews, and implementation research. I trained in internal medicine and cardiology in Argentina and did an MSc and a PhD in Epidemiology at the LSHTM where I am the Co-Director of the Centre for Global Chronic Conditions.

I am Editor of the Global Heart Journal and Editorial Advisor of the Cochrane Heart Group.

I divide my time between London and Geneva where I work as Senior Science Advisor for the World Heart Federation.

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/perel.pablo

Dr Amadou A. Sall is a virologist with a PhD in Public Health. He received his scientific education at Universities Paul Sabatier at Toulouse, Paris Orsay and Pierre et Marie Curie in France. His training was done at several laboratories, including Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, Institute of Virology and Environmental Medicine, Oxford, UK, Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, USA, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, New York.

Amadou is currently Head of the Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fever unit at Institute Pasteur Senegal, Director of the WHO Collaborating Center, and Scientific Director of Institut Pasteur de Dakar, which belongs to the Institut Pasteur International network. His research is focused primarily on ecology and evolution of arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fever and diagnostics of the latter viruses is a priority in his laboratory. Dr Sall has worked for 2 years in Cambodia (2002-2004) on hepatitis B and C viruses. He was a Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, New York and worked for a year on pathogen discovery. He has published more than 100 papers and book chapters.

Amadou is consultant and member of expert committees for WHO (GOARN, TDR…), OIE and member of GOARN steering committee. He is the director and founder of the international course on “arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fever diagnosis, prevention, control and outbreak management” organized by Institut Pasteur Dakar in partnership with AMP, Ministry of Health of Senegal and University Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar. He has taught at the University Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar, University of Columbia at New York and Institut Pasteur in Paris. Dr Sall received the Senegal presidential award for Science in 2011 and is a member of the Senegal National Academy of Science and Technology.

Dr Henk Schallig, Senior Scientist at the Department of Medical Microbiology – Parasitology Unit of the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Henk leads the Experimental Parasitology group (Department of Medical Microbiology) of the Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, whose focus is on the development, evaluation and implementation of innovative diagnostic tools and strategies for parasitic diseases. Translating high-tech diagnostics towards more field applicable and near patient tools is a top priority of the group.

They also study emerging drug resistance, perform drug efficacy studies and lead compound identification. The main diseases within their purview are malaria, Leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis and cryptosporidiosis, but in principle the group covers all aspects of parasitology and parasites. Of particular attention is mother and child health (for example malaria in pregnancy). Currently the group is expanding their research focus towards the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of undifferentiated fevers, which are emerging as a consequence of declining malaria prevalence. In this field, they also work towards the containment of emerging drug resistance that is caused by over prescription of antibiotics and antimalarials due to inappropriate diagnostic and treatment procedures.

Managing Scientist, Exponent, Boston, USA

Dr Alexis Sauer-Budge specializes in the intersection between biology and materials. Trained in chemistry and biophysics, she applies her interdisciplinary experience to the development and design analysis of products for the medical device, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. She has particular expertise in clinical diagnostics (the testing and identification of biological materials), including nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), proteins, microbes (bacteria, fungi, antimicrobial resistance), and human specimens (blood, urine, saliva, etc.). Throughout her career, Alexis has been involved in the research and development of biosensors, sample preparation techniques, microfluidic devices, anti-fouling coatings, devices for the continuous monitoring of biomarkers, implants, 3D bioprinting, bench-top instrumentation, and multi-functional surgical tools.

She assists clients in device and diagnostics design, identification of microbial and chemical contaminants, assay development (immunoassays, nucleic acid tests, cell-based assays), testing of the impact microbial growth on materials, biocompatible/non-fouling coatings, and scale-up for manufacturing. She works with companies at all stages as well as in the government and legal sectors. She is an active participant in peer review, including serving as a standing member of an NIH review committee and has published more than 35 articles. An accomplished inventor, she often participates in the assessment and protection of intellectual property.

WHO NTD Consultant, Geneva, Switzerland