Emerging Thought Leaders

PhD candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Allie Gaines is a non-communicable disease epidemiologist and a PhD candidate jointly at Imperial College London and The George Institute for Global Health, focusing on food policy and the sustainability of the packaged food supply. She is a member of the Grantham Institute’s Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training programme. Her research primarily involves the use of large population databases connecting climate change information to food supply and nutrition data. Professionally, she has worked in healthcare technology, product design and computer science. Allison is working on ensuring people know that by making small changes in the food supply chain, we can make big differences to the environmental impact of food production.

By making more information available, Allie aims to influence consumers, industry and ultimately policymakers to take progressive steps forward to reduce the environmental impact of packaged foods and beverages and improve health of people and planet.

PhD candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Ania Anderst (they/them) is a PhD Candidate at Guuna-maana (Heal) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program. Guided by Dharawal and Bidjigal community members, Ania’s PhD explores meanings of home and desired outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in social housing. They aim to broaden dominant understandings of home and housing so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social housing tenants come closer to what they need in housing and home, to support social and emotional wellbeing. Their research applies Indigenous research methodologies and methods (e.g. yarning) and qualitative research methods (e.g. semi-structured interviews), conducting research at the interface of two worldviews to develop new knowledge (interface methodology). Ania is dedicated to research that reflects the lived experience of people for whom research is for, and apply equity, decolonising approaches and a relational way of working in all aspects of their research.

PhD candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Dr. Anthony Paulo Sunjaya is a medical doctor originally from Indonesia and currently a final-year Scientia PhD scholar (similar to a University President’s scholarship). His research focuses on the development and implementation of user-centred digital health tools including artificial intelligence to improve outcomes in patients with chronic diseases including chronic breathlessness, asthma, COPD, heart failure, anxiety, diabetes and those with multiples of them (multimorbidity). Dr. Sunjaya’s research expertise includes mixed-methods studies, clinical trials, meta-research, and health economics and outcomes research.

He is Co-Founder of BantingMed, a diabetes care startup, which aims to reduce the burden of diabetes globally supported by UNSW Sydney and The George Institute. He is a keen advocate for greater research translation and partnerships between research, industry, community groups, and government to solve society’s complex challenges.

He is currently Visiting Researcher at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals (UK), Honorary Research Fellow at Imperial College London, President of the UNSW Postgraduate Council, Board member of Arc@UNSW, and was formerly President of the UNSW ASEAN Society.

Senior Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health

Bindu Patel is a Senior Research Fellow with the Health Systems Science division at the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, Australia, and Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at University of New South Wales.

Bindu is interested in contributing to equitable, effective and efficient health service delivery and health promotion strategies which address the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) globally. Bindu’s research is focused on use of implementation science theories and frameworks to effective adoption and scale-up of NCD innovations, and collaborative and coordinated multisectoral health policy and action. Bindu’s current research includes a Health in All Policies approach to the NCD problem and evaluation of implementation and scale-up of the WHO Package of Essential NCD interventions in Fiji.

PhD Candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Chen Chen's research is focus on stroke management, especially BP management mainly in low-middle-resource settings. She has participated as research fellow and/or clinical research associate in several large scale randomized controlled trials, such as the Intensive Ambulance-delivered Blood Pressure Reduction in Hyper-Acute Stroke Trial(INTERACT4), and the Third, Intensive Care Bundle With Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trial (INTERACT3), to improve management strategy of acute stroke in China. Chen Chen is striving to improve people’s perception of clinical trials, to enable more people to think of them as a carefully managed alternative option and get more people involved. Get to know clinical trials with emerging thought leader Chen Chen.

Research Assistant, The George Institute for Global Health

Gloria Benny holds a master’s degree in Development and a bachelor’s degree in Medical Sociology. She is developing her expertise in qualitative research. She has over five years of experience working with tribal communities in southern and central India, and with various rural communities in the southern India. Gloria has a strong interest in research topics within the ecosystem of Health systems and Social Participation in Health. Currently her work is focussed on Universal Health Coverage and health equity.

Research Manager, The George Institute for Global Health

Sarah Iqbal is a Research Manager at the George Institute for Global Health, India. She has a PhD in Biochemistry from Aligarh Muslim University, India and has worked briefly as a postdoctoral fellow before transitioning into research administration. Using her experience Sarah is working on improving the impact pathway to understand how policies affect research and how research creates impact.
 

Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health

Dr Amy Vassallo is a Research Fellow in the Global Women’s Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health. Her research focusses on understanding sex and gender-based blindness and bias within health and medical research and evidence-based solutions, including policy reform, to address these gaps. She is passionate about using innovation and evidence to improve health related outcomes for all.

Research Officer, The George Institute for Global Health

Bincy switched to research some years ago – finding it to be creative, intellectual and fulfilling, and a large part of her (her identity). Troubled by questions of the impact (in the short, medium, and long term) of her research on the lives of urban homeless people she works with, she is keen to translate her vision of research by working on/implementing ideas of co-production.

PhD Candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Faraidoon is a medical doctor from Kurdistan, Iran, and a researcher at The George Institute for Global Health. Faraidoon is interested in studying headache disorders, especially migraine disease, contributing to growing awareness of the need for headache-specific research and starting a headache-specific research group based on headache patients’ needs.

Faraidoon is interested in social media and engagement with scientists, healthcare providers and people with headache disorders.

Research Assistant and PhD candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Yakubu trained as a family physician in Nigeria. His past research/advocacy efforts have focused on the expression of family medicine within an African context and understanding learning needs of trainees in family medicine. He is a PhD Student at The George Institute and UNSW Sydney. His Thesis will focus on human rights-based approaches for a sustainable global health workforce.

Program Manager, The George Institute for Global Health

Mercian Daniel has a M.Phil. in psychiatric social work and a Ph.D. in public health. He has over 15 years of clinical, research, program implementation, and teaching experience working at different global, national, and regional hospitals, institutes, universities, and NGOs. Currently he provides operational leadership on the SMART mental health trial and leads a study (ANUMATI) to enhance resilience among older adolescents living in urban slums.

Research assistant, The George Institute for Global Health

Priya is an aspiring researcher who believes in empowering the community to improve their health and develop solutions that best fit their needs. She has experience in extensive fieldwork, team building, and management. She is keen on developing leadership quality to engage stakeholders to improve health accessibility in remote settings. She holds a Master’s in Public health from the SRM University, Tamil Nadu.

Senior Lecturer, The George Institute for Global Health

Sanne Peters is an Associate Professor at The George Institute for Global Health and Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London. She holds a joint appointment at UMC Utrecht. Her research focuses on sex differences in the aetiology, prevention, and treatment of non-communicable diseases, mainly cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Using large databases, she aims to quantify where those differences exist and to identify the underlying factors.

Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health India

Dr Siddhardha Devarapalli believes that research and teaching experience builds the confidence to influence change for good. Siddhardha trained in Population Studies with a Master of Population Studies from International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai; M.Phil/Ph.D in Population Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University and works in Public health, Epidemiology and Health systems at the Institute of Health Systems, Hyderabad and the George Institute for Global Health, India.

PhD candidate, The George Institute for Global Health

Xuejun Yin's research has a strong focus on interventions that can have the greatest impact on health outcomes at a population level, and involves both qualitative and quantitative methods. She has participated in large scale cluster random control trials, population implementation studies around salt reduction strategies in low and middle-income countries, and exploratory studies to improve the health system and inform health policies in China.