Dr. Zhang Puhong, Senior Research Fellow, Associate Professor and doctoral supervisor of the University of New South Wales.

He is currently the Associate Director of The George Institute for Global Health(China). The main research areas are diabetes management, nutrition and lifestyle, maternal and child health and digital health.

He is currently a member of the Standing Committee of big data branch of Chinese Nutrition Society, a member of the Standing Committee of medical and industrial integration of Chinese Institute of Command and Control, and China leader of Action on Salt China Unit.

In the past 10 years, as the project leader, he has been funded nearly 20 research projects by Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD), the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the State Ministry of Science and Technology, the British Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Australian Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and other institutions, with a total scientific research fund of 170 million. The projects cover the vast majority of provinces, cities and autonomous regions in China.

More than 80 scientific research papers have been published in journals including The Lancet, BMJ, PLoS Medicine, Hypertension, Nutrients and JMIR.

He has led the establishment of more than 20 information systems, including “Salt Reduction Promotion”, “EduSaltS Cloud classroom”, “Food prophet”, “SmartDiabetes”, “1000 days”, “mHealth-based Integrated Management for Children with Illness” and Mobilephone-based electronic data collection system”, which are used to support public health education, disease management and the improvement of scientific research.

Professor Vivekanand Jha is a Senior Professorial Fellow at The George Institute, Chair of Global Kidney Health at the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, and Past President of the International Society of Nephrology. He served as Executive Director of The George Institute for Global Health India from 2013 to September 2026.

He has wide-ranging research interests, including understanding the health and societal impact of kidney diseases around the world and the development of affordable, scalable and sustainable primary and secondary prevention tools.

He has worked with many organisations including the WHO to develop clinical practice guidelines and advocacy papers, has lectured extensively around the world, and is a prolific writer and editor.

Maoyi Tian is a honorary senior fellow working in The George Institute China. He received his Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from University of York, UK and his MSc of Biomedical Engineering from University of Oxford, UK.

He graduated with his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is currently a MPhil candidate in Epidemiology in The University of Sydney. His main research focus is using mobile health and health technology for chronic disease management and prevention in the primary care setting, particularly the integration of the mobile health or health technology into the existing health care system.

Dr Kotwal is a clinical nephrologist at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney; Program Head of the Renal and Metabolic Division at The George Institute for Global Health and a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW. Her research interests include novel and pragmatic clinical trials and she is passionate about increasing clinical trial access for patients with kidney disease and personalised medicine. Dr Kotwal is the Academic Project Director for the GKPTN and the principal investigator for the Glomerular Disease Registry and Biobank in Sydney. She has expertise in translating research into clinical practice and in-depth knowledge of statistical techniques, epidemiology and clinical trial design.

Abdul Salam is a clinical and public health researcher interested in cardiovascular disease prevention. He is particularly interested in developing, evaluating, and implementing novel low-cost pharmacological interventions. He has experience in clinical trials, systematic reviews and qualitative health research. Abdul Salam has a Master of Pharmacy (Pharmacology) from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India, and a PhD in Medicine from The University of Sydney, Australia.

Blake is a health economist holding positions as Program Lead – Health Workforce economics in the Centre for Health Systems Science at the George Institute for Global Health and Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney. He is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow with expertise in health economic evaluation, health systems research and discrete choice experiments. Blake’s research examines the better use of economics in health policy, specifically focusing on vulnerable populations around the world. He has health policy experience having previously held positions at the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (Senior Economist, 2013-2017) and the NSW Treasury (Policy Analyst, 2011-2013). He currently serves as an Economics expert on the Evaluation Sub-Committee of the Medical Services Advisory Committee providing economic advice on funding applications to Medicare. Blake is involved in a number of international collaborations: he worked on the core team of the Lancet Nigeria Commission and is the lead technical advisor on discrete choice experiments for the health stream of research under the Anti-Corruption Evidence Consortium funded by UK aid.

Professor Sunil Badve is a senior staff specialist nephrologist at St. George Hospital, Sydney and Conjoint Professor at UNSW Medicine and Health. His medical education has been at the University of Mumbai and the University of Ottawa. He also has a PhD from the University of Queensland. He is a fellow of the American Society of Nephrology.

Professor Badve’s primary research focus is in clinical trials, meta-analyses and epidemiology, particularly in progression of chronic kidney disease, anticoagulation and treatment of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease. He has received more than $12 million NHMRC research funding as a chief investigator.

Professor Badve is the Nephrology Subspecialty Editor for the Internal Medicine Journal and serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Jagnoor Jagnoor is a global leader in injury prevention and trauma care, serving as Program Lead of the Injury at The George Institute for Global Health. She is Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Injury Prevention and Trauma Care.

With a background in injury epidemiology and global health, Jagnoor's research explores the impacts of injury, the social and economic determinants of injury burden, and the effectiveness of interventions to reduce harm and support recovery among populations experiencing vulnerability. She brings deep expertise across injury surveillance, road safety, drowning, falls, burns, whiplash, and mild traumatic brain injury, underpinned by a strong commitment to equity, system strengthening, and data-driven decision-making.

She has made significant contributions to policy reform, including informing compulsory third-party insurance models in Australia and contributing to national injury prevention strategies in Asia and Africa. Her research and advocacy have shaped global drowning prevention efforts and health systems responses to injury in resource-constrained settings.
In 2024, Jagnoor convened the Safety 2024 Conference, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, bringing together global experts to accelerate action on injury prevention and safety promotion.

In addition to her research leadership, Jagnoor serves on multiple advisory and governance boards, where she contributes her expertise to advance public health, evidence-informed policy, and research equity.

Alexandra Jones is a public health lawyer and researcher leading a program of work on regulatory strategies to promote healthier, more sustainable diets. Her work uses an innovative mix of law and science to generate evidence that supports policymakers to design and implement policies with maximum public health impact. She works closely with UN agencies, national and state governments, public health and consumer organizations, and academic collaborators to translate evidence into effective action.

Ali’s current research interests include food labelling, composition, pricing and marketing policies. She also supports the Institute’s growing work on the commercial determinants of health. Her PhD explored Australia’s Health Star Rating system and similar front-of-pack nutrition labels used worldwide. Its impact can be seen in important reforms to the Health Star Rating system, and in the terms of international food standards being developed in this area.

Ali has previously worked on global tobacco control, and in health and human rights. She holds a PhD in Medicine and Health from the University of Sydney, a Master of Laws in Global Health Law from Georgetown Law (Washington, D.C.), and a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of Sydney. Ali is currently supported by an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship.

Baldeep joined The George Institute in November 2015 and currently works as a Senior Project Manager for the INTEGRATE Study. She has 15 years of experience in project management in the higher education sector. Over the last ten years, Baldeep spearheaded a landmark, Trans-Tasman medical education evaluation and workforce planning project of national and international significance.

Baldeep has a Bachelor of Mathematical & Computer Sciences, an Honours degree in Psychology and a Masters in International Studies.

Premjith is Research Manager at The George Institute for Global Health, UK. He looks after the administrative matters of funding applications and funded projects.

Dr. Lili Song MD PhD, is the Head of Stroke division, senior research fellow at The George Institute China, and senior lecturer at Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales. She has been a neurologist for 15 years and has clinical research experience for 8 years. She has worked in several GI stroke clinical trials (ENCHANTED, INTERACT, SAVE, HeadPost, TRIDENT, BEYOND 7, etc), with Professor Craig Anderson, providing academic input as well as day-to-day operational direction.

She joined The George China from 2016 and currently manages several large scale clinical trials including INTERACT3, INTERACT4, ENCHANTED2 and TRIDENT CHINA - as the main research fellow and the global project lead. She holds several small seed grants from GI and World Heart Foundation and she has successfully awarded a MRC joint funding as CIB in 2019. She is a reviewer for several high-ranking clinical journals including Stroke, Cerebrovascular Diseases and Stroke, etc. She has been selected one of 2018 Emerging Leaders by the World Heart Foundation. Now she is co-supervisor for 2 PhD students.