Dr Maha Taysir Barakat is assistant minister for Health and Life Sciences in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director general of the UAE Frontline Heroes Office. She previously served as chair of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, director general of the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi, and as co-founder, medical and research director, and consultant endocrinologist at the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi. Dr Barakat has also served as a member of the Social Development Committee of the Executive Council of the Government of Abu Dhabi, as well as a board member for several Abu Dhabi government entities.

Jason Carter is chairman of the Board of Trustees for The Carter Center and a partner at the law firm of Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore in Atlanta, Georgia. As the grandson of The Carter Center’s founders, Mr Carter has been involved with the center’s programs for 20 years, working to advance peace and health across the globe. In addition to his work at the center, he combines a successful litigation practice with a strong commitment to public service, receiving numerous awards, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Stuart Eizenstat Award. From 2010 to 2015, he served in the Georgia State Senate, and in 2014, was the democratic nominee for the Governor of Georgia.

Dr Chris Elias is the president of the Global Development Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversees the division’s portfolio in emergency response, polio eradication, immunization, primary healthcare, and global funds and agencies. A common theme of these programs is innovative and integrated delivery, including an emphasis on strengthening primary healthcare systems, with a focus on areas with the potential for high-impact and sustainable solutions that can reach hundreds of millions of people. Prior to joining the Gates Foundation in February 2012, Dr Elias worked in a variety of positions and countries for international nonprofit organizations, most recently serving as the president and CEO of PATH. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Thoko Elphick-Pooley is the executive director of Uniting to Combat NTDs, a global advocacy and resource mobilization organization working to end neglected tropical diseases. She is also one of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers advisers and co-chair of the G7 Taskforce on Global Health. Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and educated in business administration and international development, Ms Elphick-Pooley has a wealth of experience in strategic leadership, partnership development, advocacy, and international relations. Prior to working at Uniting to Combat NTDs, Ms Elphick-Pooley held roles with Sightsavers, Education Action, Practical Action, CIVICUS, and a number of organizations in Zimbabwe, including for UNESCO.

Dr Soonman Kwon, Ph.D., is the former dean of the School of Public Health at Seoul National University. He is also the founding director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Health Systems and Financing. Dr Kwon previously served as chief of the Health Sector Group at the Asian Development Bank and president of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, a research and development agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Dr Kwon has taught at the University of Southern California School of Public Policy, held visiting positions at several renowned academic institutions, and served as the president of key academic societies within Korea.

Tsitsi Masiyiwa is the co-founder and chair of the Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies. In 1996, she established the Higherlife Foundation with her husband, Strive, to support African countries to achieve upper-middle income status, working across education, health, food security, and disaster preparedness. She later established Delta Philanthropies in 2017 as a vehicle for impact investing and grantmaking. Mrs Masiyiwa is widely recognized as a leading African philanthropist, social entrepreneur, and champion for gender equality and serves as chair to Co-Impact, the END Fund, and as a founding board member of the African Philanthropy Forum.

Dr Ren Minghui is a professor of global health at Peking University in China. He was the former assistant director-general at the World Health Organization (WHO) for Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases from 2016-2022, overseeing programs for HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, non-communicable diseases, and mental health. He also represented the organization on the boards of several global health entities, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, UNAIDS, and Unitaid. Before joining the WHO, Dr Minghui spent nearly three decades working in public health in China, notably as the director-general for the International Cooperation in China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Dr Maria P. Neira is director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization. Prior to this role, she served as Vice Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs in Spain and president of the Spanish Food Safety Agency. A medical doctor by training, Dr Neira began her career with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), working in several African countries during armed conflicts. Dr Neira was awarded the Médaille de L’Ordre National du Mérite by the government of France, the Extraordinary Woman Award by HM Queen Letizia of Spain, and was named among the top 100 policy influencers in health and climate change by Apolitical.

Dr Peter Piot is the former director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He also serves as special advisor to the President of the European Commission, EU Chief Scientific Advisor on European and Global Health Security, and a visiting professor at several renowned academic institutions. Dr Piot was the founding executive director of UNAIDS and served as undersecretary general to the United Nations. He co-discovered the Ebola virus in 1976 and led pioneering research on HIV, women’s health, and infectious diseases. In 1995, he was made a baron in his native Belgium, and in 2016 received a UK knighthood.