A new organisation will bring together experts on global health to tackle major diseases.
The chief medical officer of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline will give the keynote address at a conference dedicated to finding new ways to tackle diseases which disproportionately affect developing countries.
The Cambridge Global Health Commercialization & Funding Roundtable has been organised by three Gates Cambridge scholars and two other students and takes place this Thursday and Friday.
Ellen Strahlmanfrom GlaxoSmithKline will give the keynote address on Thursday and Friday is reserved for a series of panel discussions on the theme of tuberculosis, including social entrepreneurship in TB delivery, global health funding and TB vaccines.
Among those taking part are Christopher Dye, Director of Health Information in the Office of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization; Patrick Gihana-Mulenga, the Rwanda High Commission Commercial Attaché; Bina Rawal, Head of Clinical Development in the Technology Transfer Division of the Wellcome Trust; Davino Sena, Head of Science and Technology at the Embassy of Brazil in London; Shelly Batra, President of OperationASHA; Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director of the Serum Institute of India Ltd; and David Brown, Adviser of One World Health. Global experts in tackling health problems, including academics, funding and investment companies, biotechnology companies and vaccine manufacturers are also taking part.
Gates Cambridge scholar Julia Fan Li [2008] is the chairperson of the GHCF Roundtable. The organising team is Priya Khetarpal, Tomas Niklitschek and Gates Cambridge scholars Nicole Person-Rennell [2011] and Diana Pirjol [2011].
The Roundtable was set up to examine entrepreneurial activity in global health and to explore opportunities and business models to reconcile healthcare innovation and access. It brings together entrepreneurs, scientists, civil society, investors, funders, academics and ecosystem participants to explore business models in the discovery, development and delivery of global health innovations.
Its aims include sharing best practices of existing business models, stimulating new thinking upon the catalytic resource providers of both grant and investment-funding and encouraging awareness and public engagement on the issue of global health.
“We are really excited to be examining biomedical innovation from a holistic perspective.” says Julia Fan Li, “and pleased to welcome passionate global health experts from all over the world to Cambridge.”
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Photo credit: Creative Commons, Ray Butler, CDC and Microbe World.
