Dr. Jibril Abdulmalik, is a Senior Lecturer & Consultant Psychiatrist with the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. Dr Abdulmalik is passionate about mental health advocacy and policy development. He contributes a weekly column, since 2016, titled ‘Your Mental Health & You’ for a national daily, The Nigerian Tribune on Thursdays.
In 2019, he founded the Asido Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Mental Health Advocacy organization, which promotes mental health awareness and combats stigma and discrimination www.asidofoundation.com.
He has published 72 peer-reviewed articles and served as Mental Health Consultant to the West African Health Organization (WAHO).

Dr. Seye Abimbola is a health systems researcher from Nigeria. He is currently a senior lecturer at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney in Australia, where he teaches global health and uses realist methods and theories from institutional economics to study health system governance. Dr Abimbola is also the editor in chief of BMJ Global Health, and the current Prince Claus Chair in Equity and Development at Utrecht University, where he is working on justice in global health research.

Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa is a Paediatrician and an Infectious Diseases Epidemiologist. The clinical track of his work is in general paediatrics and infectious diseases. The overall aim of his research is to generate evidence for vaccine policy in Africa. His current research is focused on vaccine seroepidemiology research including its application to estimating population immunity, force of infection and vaccination coverage in African settings, and on the managing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine programmes in Africa with only pneumococcal carriage data. He received an EDCTP Career Development Fellowship in 2005 and was awarded the MRC/DFID Africa Research Leader Fellowship in 2018. He is a member of the Kenyan National Immunisation Coordinating Committee, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group, the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme’s Advisory Group, and the WHO Technical Advisory Group for RSV Vaccines.

Dr. Sheila Appiah-Pippim is a psychiatrist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. She is also involved in tutoring clinical year students of the University of Ghana medical school.
Dr. Appiah-Pippim obtained her medical degree from the School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ashanti Region of Ghana in 2011. She is a member of the faculties of Psychiatry for both West African College of Physicians and the Ghana college of Physicians.

Dr. Tolulope Bella – Awusah is a Senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She obtained her medical degree from the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, and fellowship in Psychiatry from the West African College of Physicians. She works as a leader of multidisciplinary teams in the sectors of health, education and juvenile justice. She is the Acting Director of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH), Head, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria, and President of the African Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (AACAMH).

Dixon Chibanda is a clinical psychiatrist and associate professor at the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Research Centre and the Director of the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI). Chibanda started developing the Friendship Bench approach in 2006 with the explicit objective of taking what he had learned in his clinical practice and research, to meet the needs of millions of people struggling with mental health that have no access to services. He now leads the team to scale it up across the southern African country. Dr Chibanda supervised on the International Diploma in mental health, human rights and law at the University of Pune, India in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) 2006–2010. As a senior registrar in psychiatry at Harare Central Hospital, he led the team that developed Zimbabwe’s national mental health policy 2003–2006. Chibanda graduated in medicine from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia in 1993. He holds Master’s degrees in psychiatry (2004) and epidemiology and public health (2007) from the University of Zimbabwe and a PhD in psychiatry from the University of Cape Town (2015).

Professor Sir Tumani Corrah KBE FWACP is Emeritus director of the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia and Founder and President of the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF). Established just over 5 years ago, AREF focusses on talented emerging health researchers in the continent providing them with stepping-stones to a successful research career in Africa for Africa. Research that will impact on policies to improve health and save lives in Africa and World-wide. Tumani is Past President of the West African College of Physicians.

Dr. Osahon Enabulele is a Chief Consultant Family Physician. Holds a Masters’ Degree in Health Planning and Management (MHPM). Holds the prestigious Fellowship of Nigerian Medical Association (FNMA).
Past President of Nigerian Medical Association. President of Commonwealth Medical Association. Chairman, Socio-Medical Affairs Committee of World Medical Association (WMA). WMA Council Member. WMA Executive Committee Member. Coordinator, Coalition of African National Medical Associations. Life Member, SOFPON and WONCA.
Delivered over 45 public Guest lectures/Keynote addresses.
Has several publications, including “Enabulele, O. Covid-19 Pandemic: A Possible Reversal Mechanism for Outward Medical Tourism by African Political Leaders. World Medical Journal. 2020; 66(3):15-22.
Received over 50 awards.
Married with children.

Dr. Akye Essuman is a Senior Lecturer in Family Medicine and Geriatrics in the Department of Community Health, University of Ghana, Accra, and a Consultant Family Physician at the Family Medicine Department, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. He is also an associate faculty at the Centre for Ageing Studies, University of Ghana.
Dr. Essuman was the first Ghanaian to graduate with a Fellowship in Family Medicine from the West African College of Physicians in 2005. He is currently the Chair of the Faculty of Family Medicine in Ghana, having served in previous positions as Secretary, Training Coordinator and Chief Examiner. He has considerable international experience through his collaboration with family medicine & primary care institutions and organisations in Africa, Europe, and the USA. He serves as the West African Representative on the Executive Committee of Primafamed Network – an organisation of academic institutions in sub- Saharan Africa with global partners which among other objectives, seeks to build interprofessional capacity at the primary care level. Dr. Essuman’s passion is to see the practice of family medicine firmly rooted in the health delivery system in Ghana, thus his research seeks to explore the impact of community- orientated primary care in the health delivery system in Ghana.

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Dr. Ihekweazu trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist and has over 20 years’ experience working in senior public health and leadership positions in several National Public Health Institutes, including the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the UK’s Health Protection Agency, and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Dr. Ihekweazu has led several short- term engagements for WHO, mainly in response to major infectious disease outbreaks around the world including the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Dr. Kondwani Jambo is a Viral and Mucosal Immunologist. He completed his Master of Science degree in Human Immunity in 2005 and then a PhD in Immunology in 2011, from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Afterwards, he did his postdoctoral training at the MLW and Cornell University, and later returned to establish his research group at the MLW. Dr Jambo was awarded the Wellcome Intermediate Fellowship in 2015 and then the MRC African Research Leader in 2020. His research focuses on understanding immune responses in mucosal tissues including nasal, lung and gut. Currently, his group is working on understanding the interplay between natural- and vaccine-induced immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan African populations, with an aim of optimising vaccination strategies in low COVID-19 vaccine coverage settings.

Penda Johm is a social scientist specialized in medical anthropology and based at the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene at Tropical Medicine (MRCG at LSHTM). Penda is also a PhD candidate at the LSHTM, and her PhD research explores women in the Gambia’s acceptance of maternal vaccinations as well as related health system factors. She holds a BSc from Carleton University and an MSc from King’s College London. Penda hopes to make a positive impact by improving policy related to public health and health interventions in her home country of The Gambia.

Dr. Mohammadou Kabir Cham is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians, Faculty of Family Medicine, the Chairperson of the Faculty of Family Medicine The Gambia Chapter, and an Immediate Vice President of the College Gambia Chapter. Dr. Cham is currently the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of The Gambia as well as the Chairperson of the Gambia Government / Medical Research Council The Gambia Joint Ethics Committee.
Dr. Mohammadou Kabir Cham has a long-standing professional experience in the health sector with over four decades experience in Leadership and Management of Health Services at national and international levels.

Beate Kampmann, MD, PhD, FRCPCH, FMed Sci, is professor of Paediatric Infection & Immunity at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She directs the Vaccine Centre at LSHTM and divides her working time between London and The Gambia, West Africa, where she leads the vaccine research at the MRC Unit-The Gambia in West Africa. She trained in Germany, France, USA, South Africa and the UK and holds an MD from the University of Cologne and a PhD from Imperial College, UK. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the UK and the West African College of Physicians and an MRC Senior Researcher. Her translational research portfolio focuses on innate and acquired immune responses to infection and vaccination, including in pregnant women and infants and the conduct of clinical trials of novel vaccines and adjuvants. She is the director of IMPRINT- the IMmunising PRegnant women and INfants network, a UKRI-GCRF-funded multi-disciplinary and global network of scientists, clinicians and public health representatives with a special interest in vaccines for pregnant women and newborns and has published over 250 articles. Her team developed the LSHTM COVID-19 vaccine tracker which provides a comprehensive overview over the vaccine pipeline, results of clinical trials and global vaccine implementation.

Henry is a pioneer consultant in Family Medicine in Ghana who has had extensive experience in medical education at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and in clinical practice. He is the immediate past Africa Regional President of the World Organisation of Family Doctors. He is a member of several boards under Food & Drugs Authority, Ghana; Medical and Dental Council, Ghana; Ghana Tertiary Education Commission and West African College of Physicians. He is a member of the Africa Union Joint Signal Management Group which is monitoring COVID-19 vaccine safety across Africa. He is currently the Vice Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Shabir Madhi is Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; and co-founder and co-Director of the African Leadership Initiative for Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE). Professor Madhi completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of the Witwatersrand, qualifying as paediatrician in 1996 and obtaining his PhD in 2003. He currently also holds the positions of Director of the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytical Research Unit (VIDA) and is Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases of Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation. He currently serves as the Chair of the National Advisory Group on Immunization in South Africa and is a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) since 2019.Shabir has co-authored over 460 scientific publications since 1997. His research has focused on the epidemiology, and clinical development of lifesaving vaccines against pneumonia and diarrheal disease. Over the past decade, he has focussed on vaccines being developed for immunization of pregnant women for the benefit of the women and their young infants. He is leading the first two COVID-19 vaccine studies being undertaken in Africa.

Dr. Uduak Okomo is a Paediatrician and Clinical Assistant Professor at the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Calabar (Nigeria), followed by the postgraduate fellowship in Paediatrics of the West African College of Physicians in 2009. She completed her Master of Science degree in Epidemiology in 2010 and then a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health in 2018, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
Her research is focused on better measurement and reduction in the burden of newborn mortality in developing countries, particularly neonatal infections, infection control, antimicrobial resistance, and stillbirths. Currently, her group is working on understanding on the aetiology and transmission dynamics of serious infections in newborn in the community and hospital settings, infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance, and stillbirths. She has served on several technical and advisory committees, including the WHO Sepsis Expert Technical Group.

Dr. Oluwalana is a paediatrician and clinical researcher with the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia. She has several years of experience in clinical paediatrics with interest in paediatric infectious diseases and neonatology. She trained in medicine at the University of Ibadan, and postgraduate paediatrics training at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, obtaining the fellowship of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria in paediatrics. Her research experience spans the Gambian 9 valent pneumococcal vaccine trial, clinical trials in Oxford, and maternal immunization trials. She currently coordinates a maternal RSV vaccine trial.

Olayinka Omigbodun is Professor of Psychiatry and Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. She is also Consultant in Child and Youth Psychiatry at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. From 2011 to 2020, she was pioneer director of the University’s Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH) from which over 150 graduates have completed a Masters’ or Postgraduate diploma in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) from 14 African countries. Olayinka is a past Chief Examiner & Training Coordinator in the Faculty of Psychiatry, West African College of Physicians (WACP) and President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) from 2010 to 2014. She has published over 120 journal articles and book chapters.

Dr. Adaeze Oreh is a Consultant Family Physician and Country Head of Planning, Research & Statistics for Nigeria’s National Blood Transfusion Service with over 18 years of private and public healthcare experience. Dr Oreh is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians (Family Medicine) and holds an MBBS degree from University of Nigeria and Masters of Science (MSc) degrees in International Health Management from Imperial College and Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in addition to certification in Leadership, Strategic Project Management and Public Policy from the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Oxford University Saïd Business School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government respectively.
Her interests include equitable healthcare, primary healthcare, blood safety, infectious diseases, global health systems and services strengthening, and health policy. In January 2021, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre for Women and Development named Dr Adaeze Oreh a recipient of the former President of Liberia’s 2021 Amujae Leadership Award.

Dr. Amadou A Sall is the CEO of Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal and the chairman of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and director of the WHO collaborating centre for Arboviruses and viral haemorrhagic fever. Dr Sall is a virologist with a PhD in Public health. Dr Sall is an expert in epidemics response and control more specifically for arboviruses and viral haemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Zika, Yellow fever).

Victor is a medical doctor and the founder of Nigeria and one of Africa’s biggest youth-led and user-led youth mental health networks, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI). With an MSc in Global Mental Health from Kings College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Victor worked as the Senior Campaign Officer for United for Global Mental Health and the Co-Chair of the Child and Youth Working Group of the Global Mental Health Action Network before moving on to a new position with the MHPSS Collaborative, hosted by Save The Children, in Copenhagen Denmark, as the MHPSS and Youth Engagement Advisor. Victor’s work and experience over the years have put him at the forefront of the global discourse on youth mental health and he is very passionate about conversations regarding the decolonization of mental health as well as representation in the global mental health sector.

Dr. Oghenebrume Wariri is a Paediatrician and Clinical Research Fellow at the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. He completed his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Benin (Nigeria), followed by the postgraduate fellowship in Paediatrics of the West African College of Physicians. He holds an MSc in Global Health from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom funded by the competitive British Chevening Scholarships.
He is a doctoral candidate in Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His research aims to understand the broader social and geographic factors that impact country-level immunization systems in West Africa. His doctoral training is funded by two prestigious international research fellowships; the EDCTP career development fellowship and the Wellcome Trust/Imperial College London Global Health fellowship.

Dr. Chizoba Wonodi is an Associate Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Nigeria country director at the school’s International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC). She also serves as the director for immunization for the USAID-funded five-year MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership project. She is a public health physician with interests in vaccine research, policies, and programs to improve immunization access, coverage, and equity within integrated primary healthcare systems. Dr. Wonodi has nearly 30 years of public health experience and is a recognized leader in the immunization field, where she has mentored many, assisted countries’ immunization programs and led several multi-million-dollar research and implementation projects on innovative ways to improve capacity building, vaccination uptake and accountability for immunization services. Her most recent work is on understanding and addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
Dr. Wonodi obtained her medical degree from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and her masters and doctorate in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar. She founded the Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA) in 2016 as a platform to mobilize a grassroots movement to promote equitable access to vaccinations at country and global levels. She is a member of the Gavi CSO Constituency Platform Steering Committee and represents the Constituency as an observer at the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) for immunization. She has won several awards; her most recent being the 2021 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School’s Excellence in International Public Health Practice Award.