Comprehensive analysis supports routine use of metabolic drug for people with all levels of kidney function
Inika Sharma
Inika Sharma is a research assistant working at the Meta Research and Evidence Synthesis Unit. Inika has a background in Psychology, having received her MSc in Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology from King’s College London. Prior to that, she completed her undergraduate in Psychology (BA Hons) from the UC Berkeley. She has varied previous research experience, primarily in the fields of mental health and child development. Her research interests include effective and accessible interventions for mental illness that can be feasibly administered in LMIC (Low- and Middle-Income Country) settings. She has previously worked as a researcher at IIM Bangalore.
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Dr Elisa Pineda
Dr Elisa Pineda is an expert in food systems, public health nutrition, and spatial epidemiology. She currently holds an Imperial College Research Fellowship at the George Institute for Global Health, where she leads interdisciplinary research at the intersection of nutrition, health policy, and climate change. Her work focuses on transforming food environments to promote healthy and sustainable diets, reduce diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and mitigate environmental impact.
She is Principal Investigator of the SASS (Salt Substitutes to Address Sodium-Related Disease in the UK) project, which investigates the potential of potassium-enriched salt to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease. She also leads research on food environment interventions and their effects on dietary behaviour and planetary health.
Dr Pineda is Chair of the Food Environment Group at Imperial College London and an affiliated research fellow at the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Innovation (CHEPI). She also holds an honorary fellowship at the School of Public Health, where she contributes to academic collaborations on sustainable diets and nutrition policy.
She has a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition from University College London (UCL), an MSc in Nutritional Science from the Food and Development Research Centre (CIAD) in Mexico, and a BSc in Chemical-Biology with a specialisation in Food Technology from the University of Sonora, Mexico.
Dr Pineda has held international roles in both research and policy. She served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, contributing to the Global Database on the Implementation of Nutrition Action (GINA) and providing technical support for global nutrition policy analysis. She has also contributed to obesity forecasting in Europe with the UK Health Forum, and led research on food environments and obesity in low- and middle-income countries, as well as on dietary patterns and breast cancer risk.
She has taught extensively at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At Imperial College London, she has delivered courses in the School of Public Health and the Imperial College Business School, and previously taught public health nutrition, community nutrition, and sustainable food systems in Mexico and the UK, including at University College London and the Global Centre for Healthy Food Environments (Sprink).
Dr Pineda is an active member of international networks, including the UK NCD Working Group and INFORMAS (the International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support), contributing to global advocacy and evidence-based policymaking to improve nutrition environments.
She is currently accepting PhD students interested in food systems, food environments, sustainable diets, and the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
Recent media features include an interview covering health taxes in the European Union and a conversation on BBC World Service's What in the World programme exploring why some sugary drinks are getting more expensive.
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Professor Simon Finfer AO
Professorial Fellow in the Critical Care Division at The George Institute for Global Health, Adjunct Professor, University of New South Wales and Professor of Critical Care, School of Public Health, Imperial College London.
Simon leads the Sepsis Research Program at The George Institute which is focussed on the design and conduct of robust high-quality RCTs that will reduce death and disability due to sepsis in Australia and around the world.
Simon has obtained over $50M in research funding and authored or co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers with 20% of those in the highest-ranking medical journals. He served as a guest editor for the New England Journal of Medicine from 2012 to 2014 and is currently an editor of the Oxford Textbook of Critical Care and the Critical Care Section Editor of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine.
Simon was a founding member and is a past-Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Clinical Trials Group, past chair of the International Sepsis Forum, and past Vice President of the Global Sepsis Alliance. He is the Director of the Australian Sepsis Network and Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance.
A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Simon was appointed an Officer (AO) in the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020 for “distinguished service to intensive care medicine, to medical research and education, and to global health institutes”
Professor Simone Pettigrew
Professor Simone Pettigrew is the Head of Food Policy. She has qualifications in Economics, Marketing, and Consumer Psychology. Her broad areas of expertise include behavioural psychology, health promotion, health policy, communications, social marketing, and intervention research.
Along with nutrition, her substantive areas of research include obesity, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, active transport, and healthy ageing. Simone sits on numerous advisory committees and regularly performs research consultancies for NGO and government entities. To date, she has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers and produced more than 160 technical reports for NGOs and government departments.
See Professor Pettigrew's full CV here.
Professor Stephen Jan
Stephen Jan is Head of the Health Economics and Process Evaluation Program and Co-Director, Health System Science at the George Institute for Global Health and Conjoint Professor at the University of New South Wales.
He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney, a Director of the Sax Institute and an Associate at both the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. He is a current NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and has previously held posts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) in Sydney. Stephen has over 20 years of experience in health economics, has published over 200 scientific articles and authored two textbooks in health economics.
He has worked closely with various governments of different levels, both in Australia (Commonwealth and State) and overseas, with international agencies such as the WHO and industry. His areas of expertise are economic evaluation, health financing, health sector priority setting, Indigenous and global health issues and the economics of chronic disease.
Professor David Peiris
Professor Peiris plays a lead role in developing and implementing the institute’s research strategy. He is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, and is a locum GP with Miwatj Health visiting Galiwin’ku, Elcho Island.
David is passionate about strengthening primary health care worldwide. He is focussed on overcoming the challenges of delivering affordable, high-quality health services and programs to communities across the globe. His research is underpinned by health systems science, a dynamic and emerging discipline that includes health services research, health policy and systems research, and implementation science.
David has published extensively and leads several grants testing innovative strategies to improve access to high-quality primary health care. He is a former Australian Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy, based at the Harvard School of Public Health, and was the elected co-chair of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases Committee for Hypertension Control from 2012 to 2015. He sits on several government, non-government and research advisory committees. He is a Lancet commissioner focussed on evidence-based implementation in global health and pandemic preparedness.
Anchal Rastogi
Anchal Rastogi is the Chief Data & Digital Officer at The George Institute for Global Health, leading the Institute’s global data and digital transformation strategy. Based in the Hyderabad office, Anchal is responsible for modernising systems, strengthening digital infrastructure, and unlocking the full value of one of the Institute’s most powerful assets – its data. He works closely with colleagues across research, operations, and corporate services to ensure platforms are secure, connected, and built to scale.
Anchal joined The George Institute in 2025 from GE Healthcare, bringing nearly two decades of experience shaping IT strategy and delivering complex transformational programs across the medical device, semiconductor, and financial services sectors. In his most recent role as Global Director of Data & Analytics, he led enterprise-wide initiatives in digital transformation, machine learning, generative AI, cloud data platforms, and CRM implementation.
He has successfully led global, cross-functional teams to develop and deploy data-driven solutions that improve both clinical and strategic business outcomes. Alongside his leadership credentials, Anchal is a recognised thought leader and a passionate advocate for the power of data, AI, and emerging technologies.
Anchal holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science & Engineering and post graduate leadership programme in Business Analytics and AI from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He holds a deep personal interest in robotics and Internet of Things systems and is committed to building a digitally confident, agile Institute equipped to collaborate globally and act with clarity and precision.