Dr. Andrew Kambugu is the Sande-McKinnell Executive Director at the Uganda Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Makerere University. A Ugandan physician and researcher, he specialises in infectious diseases and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Andrew has held various leadership roles at IDI, including Head of the Research Programme and Head of the Prevention, Care, and Treatment Programme. He has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and currently serves as the president of Researchers for Global Health (R4GH), a global health research consortium.

Dr. Christine Sekaggya is an Internal Medicine Physician at Mulago National Referral Hospital and a Senior Research Scientist at the Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University College of Health. Her research focuses on HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and non-malignant haematology. She has led clinical trials and pharmacokinetic studies related to tuberculosis drugs and has conducted case-finding studies involving community health workers and private pharmacies for TB screening. Additionally, she has worked on projects aimed at integrating the management of non-communicable diseases within TB care. Christine is also a member of the WHO Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target Product Profiles for tuberculosis diagnostics and serves on the WHO Technical Advisory Group for dosing of tuberculosis drugs.

Jan Fehr is a Professor of Global Health & Mobility and Head of the Department of Public & Global Health at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI) at the University of Zurich (UZH). He is also Chief Physician at the Centre for Travel Medicine (ZRM), the only WHO Collaboration Centre for Traveller’s Health. Jan specialises in internal medicine and infectious diseases, focusing on global health challenges through collaboration with partners in the Global South. His research interests include HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, vaccinology and emerging infectious diseases. He is a One-Health delegate for UZH in the UNA Europe Alliance and serves on various committees related to vaccination and travel medicine.

Dr. Lena Robra has been heading the Academic Engagement team at Swissnex in India since 2021. She is a trained biochemist who now connects the dots between Switzerland’s research and education ecosystem with India but occasionally also extends to South Asia or the African continent. She has a strong interest in antimicrobial resistance and constantly thinks about engaging ways to connect people and experts across disciplines. Before she joined Swissnex, Lena led the Bengaluru Sustainability Forum, an entity formed by Bengaluru’s academic institutions aimed at bringing the UN SDGs to the local context. She holds a PhD in Biology from the National Science Institute/Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Dr. Valerie Luyckx is a Senior Scientific Officer in the Department of Global and Public Health at the University of Zurich. She is a nephrologist with a background in public health and global health ethics, having practised across multiple health systems. Her work focuses on ethics and priority setting for kidney disease care in resource-limited settings. Valerie advocates for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the promotion of kidney health through the attainment of the SDGs, emphasising the connections between poverty, infections, maternal health and the environment in relation to NCDs. Additionally, she champions quality kidney care through education and local capacity building.

Dr. Nicole Borel has her research focus in the field of infection pathology, specifically on the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and host-pathogen interactions. She graduated from the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Since 1999, she has been working in research, teaching and diagnostic services in the field of Veterinary Pathology. In 2008, she received the Venia Legendi (Habilitation) at the University of Zurich entitled “Chlamydial abortions in ruminants: serological, epidemiological and diagnostic investigations“. Since 2007, she has been the official international expert for chlamydial abortion in sheep and goats designated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). In the past, she fulfilled research assignments in the USA (University of Louisville, KY), Germany, Ukraine, Turkey and Namibia. Since April 2020, Nicole has been an Associate Professor at the Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich.