Germán Andrés Alarcón Garavito
Global representative
Research fellow / University College London
Germán Alarcón is a Colombian nurse and global health scholar interested in addressing global health challenges and in evidence-based global health research focused on health inequities, health policy, mental health, and nursing care. Germán previously received an MSc in Global Health & Development from University College London (UCL) and achieved certification in Public Policy Analysis at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is a research fellow at UCL Department of Applied Health Research and a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (ΣΘΤ).
Zahra Zeinali
EMR representative
Doctoral Student (DrGH), Department of Global Health, University of Washington
Dr. Zahra Zeinali is a medical doctor and global health scholar from Iran. She obtained her MD from the Iran University of Medical Sciences, her MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and has started pursuing a Doctor of Global Health Leadership and Practice degree at the University of Washington in 2022. Zahra brings over seven years of global public health experience at the local, national, and international levels, starting with her co-founding the Iranian Medical Students’ Association and leadership in the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, where she led MENA region medical student associations and represented medical students in international multistakeholder events for a such as the World Health Assembly. She also brings a wealth of experience working at the interface of evidence and policy, particularly around health workforce planning and gender transformative leadership in health systems. She has been part of multiple international research initiatives, including the Rockefeller Foundation-Boston University 3-D Commission on Health Determinants, Data and Decision Making, and the Global Health 50/50 research initiative. She is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Health Equity and an editor for PLoS Global Public Health. She has been recognized for her work as an Emerging Voice for Global Health by Health Systems Global in 2020. She is now a board member at the Emerging Voices for Global Health. Her research focuses on creating conditions conducive to achieving health and well-being for people by leveraging policy mechanisms that impact the social and structural determinants of health with a strong intersectional gender lens.
Fadima Inna Kamina YAYA BOCOUM
Francophone Africa representative
Researcher / Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé/ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Fadima is a health economist and sociologist interested in generating evidences for policy and decision makers through research focused on health policy and system in Africa. Fadima completed a maitrise in sociology from University of Ouagadougou, MSC in health economics from CESAG, and PhD in public health from University of Western Cape. She is researcher at Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS) in Burkina Faso. She is member of AfHEA and Women in Global Health.
Nandini D P Sarkar
ITM liaison to the board
Post doctoral researcher, Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
Dr. Nandini D P Sarkar is a post-doctoral researcher in the Health Systems and Equity unit at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, Belgium. She holds a joint doctorate degree (cum laude) from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the University of Barcelona, Spain. Her doctoral thesis focused on the challenge of equitable quality mental health coverage in eastern Uganda. A health psychologist from India, Dr. Sarkar’s research interests focus on integrated health service provision, mental health, quality of care, and human behavior as related to health and illness – particularly in low- and middle-income countries. She has over a decade of experience with qualitative research methodologies, and most recently is working with complexity-driven Realist Evaluation methodologies.
Tatiana Paduarru
Co-chair, Treasurer, European Region Representative
Technical Officer, South Eastern Health Europe Network (SEEHN)
Dr. Tatiana Paduraru, a global health leader with a background in dermatology, holds a Master’s in Health Management & Law from CNAM, France, and an Executive MBA with merits from the University of Sheffield. Over a decade, she has made significant contributions within Moldova's Ministry of Health, establishing an ODA coordination mechanism and promoting governance and transparency, earning the John Smith Memorial Trust Fellowship. Dr. Paduraru has also advised the Georgian MOH on PHC Strategy and health financing. Currently, she serves at the SEEHN Secretariat, advocating for public health and well-being across South Eastern Europe.
Xin Wang
Western Pacific Region representative
Associate Professor, School of Public Health, SUN Yat-Sen University
Dr. Wang received her PhD in health systems and policy from Center for Health Management and Policy Research in Shandong University in 2017. She received joint training in China Center for Health Development Studies of Peking University during June 2013-December 2014, and in Center for Health Economics and Policy Analysis of McMaster University (Canada) during January 2015-January 2016. Dr. Wang’s research area is health system and policy. Her studies focus on people-centered integrated care for vulnerable populations (patients with chronic non-communicable diseases, the elderly, pregnant women and babies), organizational integration in rural health systems of low and middle-income countries.
Bachera Aktar
Co-Chair, South-East Asia Region Representative
Deputy Director, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh Doctoral Student, International Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
Bachera Aktar is a Bangladeshi health systems researcher and academic with 15+ years of experience in health systems research and community-based public health interventions in urban, rural and humanitarian settings in Bangladesh. Her work experience and expertise include sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health and nutrition, urban health systems and health services in humanitarian settings, mixed-method research, community-based participatory research approaches, participatory action research, implementation research, community-centric health interventions, gender, power and intersectional analysis, and social-political determinants of health. In addition to her current research and administrative roles at BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, she is also a Faculty member, MPH course coordinator and thesis supervisor. Prior to joining BRAC University, she worked for BRAC (the largest southern-led NGO) Health Program for eight years and managed its largest maternal, newborn and child health program in rural Bangladesh. Bachera is an EV alumnus from the 2022 cohort.