Lancet WHS Academic Alliance Commission on Academic Responsibility

WHS Academic Alliance and the Lancet Commission on Academic Responsibility

About the Commission
Working Groups
Meet the Commissioners

The Commission brings together leading global experts to explore the responsibilities of academia in health research, the role of science in society, and how trust in science can be strengthened worldwide.

Partners

Meeting Hosts

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE)

Supporting Partners

About the Commission

The WHS Academic Alliance and the Lancet Commission on Academic Responsibility, Trust in Science and Societal Change brings together leading global experts to explore the responsibilities of academia in health research and the role of science in society. Over a two-year period, the Commission will develop evidence-based recommendations to strengthen integrity, inclusivity, and relevance in health research, promote equitable participation worldwide, and rebuild public trust. Its findings will be shared at the World Health Summit and through a joint communication strategy by The Lancet and the WHS, ensuring impact across academic, policy, and public audiences.

This Commission is timely and will play a transformative role in enabling collaboration between academics and practitioners to ensure that public health learning is both globally informed and locally and contextually grounded. Reforming public health education is critical and without change, we risk leaving future generations unprepared for the enormous challenges that lie ahead.

Sabina Faiz Rashid

BRAC University, Bangladesh

Exploring the social accountability of academic institutions is key to the current global context where trust in science, faith in universities and the role of research is being questioned. This exploration is not just important to those within the academy but also those who interact with it, fund it, regulate it and use the products generated – in other words all of society. The current geopolitical context around the world also makes an in-depth analysis of these issues very relevant as governments and the higher education sector debate the right balance between academic freedom and governance of institutions.

Adnan Hyder

Boston University, USA

The Covid-19 experience underscores the great need for this Commission especially as we focus our efforts on preparedness and response to future pandemics and integrating evidence as a core pillar of the preparedness efforts. Trust in science and the role of evidence is also in focus during the current geopolitical environment and challenges to the prioritization and investments in science and in evidence-based health interventions. This topic is therefore even more urgent and relevant to the current context.

Rhoda Wanyenze

Makerere University, Uganda

Working Groups

Working Group One

High-Level Symposium, Feb 05, 2026

Academic Responsibility in a Fragmenting World

This high-level symposium on “Academic Responsibility in a Fragmenting World”, co-hosted by the World Health Summit with the Manipal Academy for Higher Education (MAHE), marked the launch of the WHS Academic Alliance Lancet Commission on Academic Responsibility.

Coordinating Chair

Axel R. Pries

World Health Summit

Chair of the WHS Academic Alliance Executive Committee

Axel Radlach Pries (MD, PhD) is President of the World Health Summit, the leading global platform for health, since January 2021. A physician and physiologist by training, he directed the Institute of Physiology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin from 2001 to 2015, significantly contributing to cardiovascular and microcirculation research. He served as Dean and Executive Board Member of Charité from 2015 to 2022, where he advanced structures for biomedical research and initiated the establishment of the Charité Center for Global Health. Between 2018 and 2020, he led the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) as CEO and from 2018 to 2019 was President of the Biomedical Alliance in Europe. Since 2023, he is also Prorector of the Danube Private University in Krems, Austria.

Co-Chairs

Sabina Faiz Rashid

BRAC University Gulshan

Sabina Rashid (PhD) is Professor, Mushtaque Chowdhury Chair in Health and Poverty and was former Dean at the BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She was trained in Critical Medical Anthropology from the Australian National University and has later been teaching three courses in the Master of Public Health program at the School since 2005. Her research critiques dominant biomedical paradigms by centering lived experiences and structural factors that shape the health and lives of disadvantaged populations. Over the last two decades, Dr. Rashid has developed a robust qualitative research portfolio that examines how gender, poverty, urban precarity, and social exclusion affect the health and well-being of families and adolescents in Bangladesh. She founded the Centre of Excellence for Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and co-founding the Centre of Excellence for Urban Equity and Health within the school.

Rhoda Wanyenze

Makerere University Kampala

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Rhoda Wanyenze (MBChB, MPH, PhD) is the Dean of Makerere University School of Public Health. She has vast experience in infectious disease research, capacity building, and program management, especially in HIV and TB and has also conducted several studies in maternal and child health. Prior to joining MakSPH, Dr. Wanyenze was the Program Manager for the Makerere University Joint AIDS Program. Her work has been funded by the NIH, CDC, and Global Fund, among others. She has developed and sustained several national and international research and service collaborations. Dr. Wanyenze is very active in public health policy leadership in Uganda and globally. She has served on various technical committees of the MoH and other agencies and boards of several organizations in Uganda and globally.

Other Members of the Steering Committee

Adnan Hyder

Boston University

WHS International President 2023 (WHS Academic Alliance Member)

Adnan Hyder (MD, PhD, MPH) is Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, USA. A physician and public health scholar, he is highly regarded for his work on health systems and policy, injury prevention, noncommunicable diseases, and bioethics in low- and middle-income countries and has published over 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Previously he served as Senior Associate Dean for Research & Innovation and Professor of Global Health at George Washington University, and prior to that several years in senior roles across health systems, international health, and bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. He holds international leadership and advisory roles with the World Health Summit, World Health Organization and other global health institutions. Prof. Hyder currently also Chairs the Lancet Commission on Global Gun Violence & Health.

Ilona Kickbusch

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva

WHS Council Co-Chair

Ilona Kickbusch (PhD) is a global health leader and Founder of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She is the director of the DTH Lab at the University of Geneva. Her expertise includes the political and digital determinants of health, Health in All Policies, and governance of global health. She publishes widely and serves on many prestigious commissions and boards, including the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, She co-chaired the Lancet–Financial Times Commission on “Governing Health Futures 2030.” She had a distinguished career at WHO, helping shape the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and WHO’s Healthy Cities Network, She directed the Global Health Division at Yale University School of Public Health and led the first major Fulbright programme on global health. She has received many academic honors and prizes as well as the German Bundesverdienstkreuz. (Order of merit)

Sabine Kleinert

The Lancet

Sabine Kleinert (MD) is Deputy Editor at The Lancet and Research Integrity and Risk Management Lead for The Lancet Group of journals. She is a member of the Leadership Team of The Lancet Group. She served as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (2006–2012) and has held key roles in the World Conferences on Research Integrity since 2007, including Governing Board membership until 2025 and co-chairing the 3rd, 4th, and 7th conferences. Her background is qualification as a medical doctor in Germany and training as a Paediatrician and Paediatric Cardiologist in the UK, Belgium, Australia, and the USA.

Academia is faced with a new challenge in the fragmented world. There is a huge gap between the justice and prosperity that could be enforced by science, and what is happening in the real world. We should put together all efforts to make peaceful life possible for all humans round the globe; and we can.

Ali Jafarian

Tehran University of Medical Science, Iran

At a time of growing polarization and misinformation, strengthening trust in science is vital – especially in global health, where evidence-based decisions save lives. Academic responsibility means producing rigorous knowledge while ensuring transparency, accessibility, and engagement with societies. This Lancet Commission is a timely opportunity to reinforce the role of universities in countering disinformation and supporting societal change through integrity and dialogue.

Valérie Amiraux

Universite de Montreal, Canada

We live in the ‘post truth world’ and traditional information platforms and guidance sources have come under significant challenges. Academia is a pillar which still has some remaining values and respect and the Lancet WHS Academic Alliance Commission is bringing together stakeholders to identify approaches for Academia to be a credible voice for science and societal change. I am pleased to be part of the Commission and look forward to engaging with my peers across the World to shape the outputs.

Cherian Varghese

Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India

Commissioners

Valérie Amiraux

Universite de Montreal

WHS Academic Alliance Head of Delegation

Valérie Amiraux (PhD) holds a PhD from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and has been Professor of Sociology at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Arts and Science since 2007. For ten years, she held the Canada Research Chair for the Study of Religious Pluralism. Since 2007, her work has also focused on the place of pious citizens and religious minorities in secular societies. A strong dimension of her academic engagement lies in knowledge transfer beyond academia, including through innovative formats such as exhibitions, comic strips, and web documentaries. Since 2020, she has served as Vice-Rector responsible for Global Engagement and has been responsible for First Peoples since 2025. In 2017, she was elected to the Royal Society of Canada and awarded France’s Order of Academic Palms in 2025.

Hiram V. Arroyo

Universidad de Puerto Rico

Hiram V. Arroyo (MPH) is Professor and Director of the Department of Social Sciences at the School of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, where he leads academic programs in public health education and health promotion. He holds degrees in health education and a doctorate in Higher Education, and his career has focused on advancing research, training, and policy in global and international health. He directs the WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre for Training and Research in Health Promotion and Health Education and coordinates key regional networks, including the Iberoamerican Health Promoting Universities (RIUPS) and the Inter-American Consortium of Universities and Training Centers in Health Education and Health Promotion (CIUEPS).

Bachera Aktar

Brac University Bangladesh

Bachera Aktar (MPH) is a health systems researcher and public health practitioner with over 15 years of experience in community-based public health programmes and research across rural, urban, and humanitarian settings in Bangladesh, funded by major international donors, and contributing to urban health systems strengthening. She currently serves as Deputy Director of the Center of Excellence for Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (CGSRHR) at the BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), BRAC University, where she is also a faculty member and course coordinator in the Master of Public Health (MPH) programme and supervises student thesis work. Her expertise spans gender, health systems and policy research, health equity, urban and humanitarian health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal, child, and adolescent health and nutrition, implementation research, community-based participatory research, participatory action research, community-centric health interventions and monitoring and evaluation.

Chang-Chuan Chan

National Taiwan University

WHS Academic Alliance Delegate

Chang-Chuan Chan (PhD) is Professor at the Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences in the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, and former Dean of the College and Director of its Global Health Center and Population Health Research Center. Trained in air pollution control, industrial hygiene, and public health, with graduate degrees from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a BSc from NTU, he has led air pollution and environmental epidemiology research for over two decades and published over 200 articles on exposure and risk assessment. Internationally, he serves in advisory and leadership roles with APRU’s Global Health Program, the WHS Academic Alliance, ASPPH, and Board of Directors, Center of Asia Pacific Resilience Innovation (CAPRI).

Patricia Davidson

University of New South Wales

Patricia M. Davidson (PhD) is a Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Fellow and Co- Director of the International Centre for Future Health Systems at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. She has served as President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Wollongong and Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Trained in nursing and health systems research, Davidson focuses on improving outcomes for people living with chronic and complex conditions, with particular attention to the social determinants of health and the development of intervention models for at-risk populations.

Fernando de la Hoz Restrepo

National University of Colombia

Fernando de la Hoz Restrepo (PhD, MD, MCSI) is Professor and Vice Dean for Research at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where he leads research strategy and academic development in public health and epidemiology at the School of Medicine. A physician with a master’s and PhD in epidemiology, he has directed the Instituto Nacional de Salud of Colombia, led the National Science and Technology Programme in Health at Colciencias, and heads the Research Group in Epidemiology and Evaluation in Public Health. He was a member of the WHO vaccine evaluation advisory committee and, with more than 250 indexed publications, contributes widely to national and international work in health economics and epidemiology.

Sapna Desai

Population Council Institute

Sapna Desai (PhD, MPH) is a Senior Fellow at the Population Council Institute in New Delhi and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. She has spent over 20 years working on women’s health, community-based women’s groups and sexual and reproductive health in India. She currently leads SAHELI, a multi-disciplinary study on women's health that partners with academic, government and community-based partners to translate evidence to action. She previously led the national health program of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India's largest organisation of women workers, and co-founded the Evidence Consortium on Women's Groups. Desai is adjunct faculty at JPG BRAC School of Public Health in Dhaka and at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and MS from the Harvard TH School of Public Health.

Seydou Doumbia

University of Sciences, Techniques and Technology of Bamako

Seydou Doumbia (PhD, MD) is Emeritus Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and Director of the University Clinical Research Center (UCRC) at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technology of Bamako (USTTB). Trained as a physician with a PhD from Tulane University, Doumbia leads global infectious disease research (including malaria, leishmaniasis, HIV/TB and emerging infectious diseases), and has directed multiple NIAID/NIH-funded research programs. He also supports regional capacity building and multicountry clinical research collaboration in West Africa and has worked with a wide range of African, European, and U.S. research partners.

Abdul Ghaffar

AKU Karachi

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Abdul Ghaffar (MD, PhD) is a health policy entrepreneur and a respected leader in global health. His services to the Health Policy and Systems Research Community were recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. For more than 35 years, he has conducted, commissioned and promoted the use of policy relevant knowledge for improved policy, especially in resource poor settings. Appreciating his public services, in 2016, Government of Pakistan awarded him with a civil award, entitled as “Pride of Performance”. His ability, attitude and knack in nurturing and mentoring young leaders, earned him an election to the Alpha Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in 2002 and in 2013 he received the “Knowledge for the World” Award from Johns Hopkins University. He has authored more than 170 peer reviewed papers including the influential WHO’s Strategy on Health Policy and Systems Research. He is a Professor at Aga Khan University, Karachi; Health Services Academy, Islamabad; University of Birmingham and an Associate Faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Academia has a critical role in shaping equitable health systems by developing practice-oriented skills, fostering interdisciplinary and community-centric approaches, and translating evidence into policy and action. Strengthening trust in health requires sustained investment in research, training, mentorship, and capacity-building that equip practitioners to generate, interpret, and communicate evidence responsibly. At a time of growing uncertainty and polarization, the opportunity lies in positioning academic institutions as spaces that cultivate critical thinking, accountability, and leadership, fostering meaningful societal change.

Bachera Aktar

Brac University, Bangladesh

The world is experiencing very challenging complex science-related societal changes including rapid erosion of trust in science and scientists which urgently call for careful critical examination of society’s roles in arresting these down-hill trends while building much stronger collaborative scientific developments, for fair use of science to benefit all humanity and a healthy planet. There is need to safeguard the health of not only for today’s humans, other living things, and our environment but for future generations as well. We must guard against the unscrupulous dual use of advancements.

Nelson Sewankambo

Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Uganda

Growing geopolitical shifts, digital transformation, and the manipulation of media have led to an eroding in the trust of science and the position of universities in society. A critical role of the academy is to steward knowledge with integrity, clarity, and methodological rigor. Open data, reproducibility, ethical, and transparent communication are critical in addressing misinformation and disinformation. Universities are a public good shaping societal values, workforce capability, and policy through education, research, and critical inquiry. We have much work to do in gaining the trust of our students and the communities we serve as well as countering forces that seek to squash debate and suppress freedom.

Patricia Davidson

University of New South Wales, Australia

Biljana Gjoneska

Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Biljana Gjoneska (MD, PhD) is a Research Associate at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, where she works at the interface of social neuroscience, behavioral science, and public policy. Assuming various leadership roles in prominent Big-Team-Science collaborations, she aims at improving generalizibility of scientific findings and promoting open-science practices through cutting-edge, cross-cultural research. Dr. Gjoneska has coordinated national participation in EU-funded projects and serves as national coordinator for the Young Physicians Leadership programme by the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), as well as a member of IAP’s Communication, Education and Outreach Committee. Her work is published by leading scientific journals, including Lancet, Nature and Science publishing group.

Sofia Gruskin

University of Southern California

Sofia Gruskin (MA, PhD) is Director of the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH) and a Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Law at the University of Southern California. Trained in multidisciplinary global health and human rights scholarship, Gruskin leads the Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health Division at the Keck School of Medicine and holds faculty appointments at the USC Keck School of Medicine and Gould School of Law. With emphasis on data and measurement, governance and digitilization, her research spans HIV, sexual and reproductive health, child and adolescent health, healthy longevity, noncommunicable diseases, health systems, and sustainability. She also serves on major international advisory bodies, including the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board and multiple Lancet commissions, and was awarded USC’s Distinguished Professorship in March 2024.

Philip C. Hill

University of Otago

Philip C. Hill (MD) is the McAuley Chair in International Health and Founding Director and Co-Director of the Centre for International Health at the University of Otago. Trained as a medical practitioner and specialist in public health and infectious diseases, Hill has extensive clinical epidemiology and tuberculosis research experience, including six years at the UK Medical Research Council unit in The Gambia and current work spanning TB and pneumococcal research. He also holds international roles and collaborations across multiple regions, including an adjunct professorship at Fiji National University and a long-standing TB research collaboration with the University of Padjadjaran in Indonesia.

Yangmu Huang

Peking University

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Dr. Yangmu Huang is a tenured Associate Professor and Deputy Director in the Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, an adjunct researcher at the Institute for Global Health and Development, Peking University, and a doctoral supervisor. With training in public health and postdoctoral research in pharmaceutical sciences, she works on health innovation and equitable access, focusing on medical product R&D, affordability and access, and preparedness and response. She holds leadership roles in professional associations and advises governmental and UN system partners, including annual participation in China’s delegation to the World Health Assembly and the WHO Executive Board.

Ali Jafarian

Tehran University of Medical Science

WHS International President 2019

Ali Jafarian (MD) is Professor of General Surgery at Tehran University of Medical Sciences and a leading figure in liver transplantation, where he has held key leadership roles including Dean of Medical school and President of the Iran’s largest Medical University, leading major initiatives to strengthen education, research, and healthcare infrastructure. A pioneer of liver transplantation in Iran, he has advanced national capacity through complex surgeries, research leadership, and specialist training, while contributing to the Iranian Liver Transplant Research Center and publishing on liver and organ transplantation in international journals. He has also played a major role in medical education training and faculty capacity building focused on leadership.

Laura Magaña

Global Network for Academic Public Health (GNAPH)

WHS Academic Alliance Delegate

Laura Magaña (PhD) is President and CEO of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) and Founding President of the Global Network for Academic Public Health (GNAPH). With more than 35 years of experience in higher education, she has held senior leadership roles in Mexico and internationally, including Dean of the School of Public Health at the National Institute of Public Health. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications on learning environments, educational technology, and public health education. Under her leadership, ASPPH has expanded its global reach and advanced transformative initiatives in Framing the Future 2030, workforce development, data modernization, leadership development, climate and health, healthy longevity, and artificial intelligence in academia.

Yodi Mahendradhata

Universitas Gadjah Mada

Yodi Mahendradhata (MSc, PhD) is Dean and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, and leads the WHO–TDR–supported South East Asia Regional Training Center for Health Research. He serves on the WHO EVIPNet Global Steering Group and holds advisory roles with the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the BMJ Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Board. He currently serves as Commissioner on the NUS-Lancet Pandemic Readiness, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation (PRIME) Commission, chairs the Indonesia One Health University Network, and serves on the governing board of SEAMEO TROPMED. His work focuses on implementation science, knowledge translation, global health, and health systems strengthening, with extensive publications in high-impact journals. He is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Royal Society of Public Health, Editor-in-Chief of the ASEAN Journal of Disaster Health Management, and an editorial board member of several leading global health journals.

Melissa Miles

Monash University

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Melissa Miles (PhD) is the Academic Director (Research Culture) in the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at Monash University, Australia. She led the development of this multi-national university's innovative Responsible Research Culture Framework, which aims to advance excellence and innovation, foster productive research cultures, and generate meaningful benefit in partnership with governments, industries and communities. In her previous role as Associate Dean, Research at Monash University's Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, she led a major program of strategic development and implementation centred on research excellence and positive societal impact. Her personal research focuses on the importance of visual culture in the public sphere and transnational relations, particularly in times of geopolitical crisis and transition.

Elizabeth Molloy

The University of Melbourne

Elizabeth Molloy (PhD) is Deputy Dean, Education in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She is also Professor of Work Integrated Learning in the Department of Medical Education, Melbourne Medical School. Professor Molloy is responsible for education strategy and implementation in the Faculty. Key areas of change over the past three years have included the launch of a collaborative interprofessional curriculum across 14 health courses, staff and student upskilling to improve feedback engagement, and the embedding of a clinical education strategy and risk framework across the faculty. Her research focuses on workplace learning, feedback and assessment, interprofessional education, and teacher professional development. In 2015, Liz received an inaugural Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professions Education and in 2019 received a Karolinksa Fellowship Prize for Excellence in Research in Medical Education. She is a board member of the Melbourne Teaching Health Clinics (MTHC).

Creating meaningful societal, environmental and economic benefit requires not simply scholarly rigor, but opening new avenues for working securely across fields, industries and borders.

Melissa Miles

Monash University, Australia

Academic responsibility with equity is our commitment!

Rocío Sáenz

University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica

Presently the interconnected crises — from migration and conflict to climate change, rising inequalities, and future pandemics — demands a fundamental shift in how we train public health professionals. Traditional education models no longer meet the complex demands of our global context. Curricula must be reformed to integrate science, the arts, ethics, and lived experience, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and systems-level understanding. Public health education should be interdisciplinary and responsive to real-world challenges.

Sabina Faiz Rashid

BRAC University Bangladesh

Christine Ngaruiya

Stanford School of Medicine

Christine Ngaruiya (MD) is Director of the Stanford Emergency Medicine International Global and Population Health Section and Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, where she leads population health programmes. She completed a fellowship in global health and international emergency medicine at Yale University and holds an MSc and Diploma from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with research on noncommunicable diseases, epidemiology, and implementation science primarily focused on Africa. She holds leadership roles with CUGH’s Research Committee, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, on the board of Movement Health, and the editorial board for PLOS Global Public Health contributing to WHO initiatives on global NCDs. She is a past fellow of WomenLift Health, the National Academy of Sciences and Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum.

Sanjay Pattanshetty

NIMS University

WHS Academic Alliance Delegate

Sanjay Pattanshetty (MD) is an academic leader in public health and governance currently serving as a Professor and Director at the NIMS Institute of Public Health and Governance, NIMS University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. In this role, he provides strategic direction for research, teaching, and policy engagement in public health, with a focus on strengthening evidence-informed policy and bridging the gap between academic research and real-world health decision-making. He has a strong interest in health diplomacy, global health governance, and multidisciplinary approaches to public health challenges, and contributes to scholarly discussions on how health intersects with international relations, policy, and governance. Prof. Pattanshetty’s academic work includes contributions to research on public health security, governance frameworks, and policy interventions across global and community settings. His publications span topics such as health diplomacy, disease prevention and control, and the integration of international relations theory into health security analysis.

Nelson Sewankambo

Makerere University College of Health Sciences

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Nelson K. Sewankambo (MD) is Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine at Makerere University, was both a former Dean of Makerere Medical School and President of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences. Trained as a physician and clinical epidemiologist, Sewankambo has led major initiatives to strengthen medical education and research capacity, including serving as President of the African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth), a principal investigator for multi-institutional research training consortia, alongside being one of the Founders of a long-standing 35-year-old HIV/AIDS research population consortium, the Rakai Health Sciences Program. He also holds international distinctions and roles, including Fellowship in TWAS and the African Academy of Sciences and external affiliation with the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.

Abla Sibai

American University of Beirut

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Abla Mehio Sibai (PhD) is Professor of Epidemiology and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon. Trained in cardiovascular disease epidemiology and social demography, with degrees from AUB and a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, she has led extensive research on the health and wellbeing of older people in contexts of conflict and socio political unrest and has authored more than 200 journal articles. She co founded Lebanon’s Center for Studies on Aging and AUB’s University for Seniors, and serves in international advisory roles with several public and UN agencies, as well as the WHO Science Council. She is the recipient of several awards, including the 2020 L’Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Award for Africa and the Arab States.

Yik Ying Teo

National University of Singapore

Member of the WHS Academic Alliance Executive Committee and Head of Delegation

Yik-Ying Teo (PhD) is the Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore. He is also Vice President (Global Health) overseeing the University’s Office of Global Health. Prior to his Deanship, he was the Founding Director of the School’s Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR) and also served as the Director of the former Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER) from 2015 to 2017. He is presently a member on the Council of Scientists for the International Human Frontier Science Program, as well as a governing board member of the Regional Centre for Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network for Southeast Asia.

Cherian Varghese

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Cherian Varghese (MD, PhD) is Professor and Head of the Prasanna School of Public Health at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, where he leads academic, research, and capacity-building initiatives in public health. A physician with postgraduate training in radiation oncology, health management, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Tampere, he has worked at all levels of the World Health Organization since 2001 and led global noncommunicable disease (NCD) management at WHO Geneva, including the development of WHO HEARTS, updates to WHO PEN, second edition of NCD “best buys,” and cancer pain management guidelines. He has authored over 100 publications on NCDs and health systems, received multiple international awards, and is a fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) in Clinical Epidemiology.

Tracey Weissgerber

University of Coimbra

WHS Academic Alliance Member

Tracey Weissgerber (PhD) is an Invited Research Coordinator and leads the EXCELScIOR ERA Chair meta-research team at the University of Coimbra. While she was originally trained as a physiologist, her research now focuses on meta-research and the science of science. Her research examines strategies for improving the rigor, transparency and reproducibility of research, as well as research assessment reform. Focus areas include improving the reporting of open and reproducible methods, developing automated screening tools to identify common problems and beneficial practices, and rewarding graduate students for implementing reproducible, reusable and open practices in their thesis research. Her work has informed journal policy changes aimed at strengthening data visualization standards.

Secretariat

Marinus Fislage

WHS Academic Alliance

In Memoriam

Rocío Saenz

University of Costa Rica

Rocío Sáenz (MD) was a physician and professor of health promotion and health systems at public universities in Costa Rica. Trained in public health, Sáenz led health sector reform and public health policy, including serving as Costa Rica's Minister of Health and coordinating the country's Social Council of Government. She also contributed to global and regional health initiatives, including membership on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries and service with the Central America Council of Health Ministers.

Lancet WHS Academic Alliance Commission on Academic Responsibility

WHS Academic Alliance and the Lancet Commission on Academic Responsibility

About the Commission

Working Groups

Concepts and Measures of Academic Responsibility Over Time

Drivers of Academic Transformation

Academic Institutions of the Future

Academic Institutions: Societal Engagement and Impact

Academic Responsibility in a Fragmenting World

Meet the Commissioners

About the Commission

Working Groups

Concepts and Measures of Academic Responsibility Over Time

Drivers of Academic Transformation

Academic Institutions of the Future

Academic Institutions: Societal Engagement and Impact

Academic Responsibility in a Fragmenting World

Meet the Commissioners