Augustine Asante is a health economist with over 15 years of experience researching health financing equity and health systems in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). He has worked extensively in the Asia-Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa, evaluating complex health systems interventions, including assessing the impact of health financing and human resources for health reforms on equity of access to health services. A significant part of his research focuses on evaluating how the burden of paying for health care and the benefits from public spending on health are distributed across different population groups. These evaluations seek to provide the critical evidence needed by governments to reform their health financing systems as they move towards universal health coverage (UHC).

He has led the implementation of large health financing and systems projects in several Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan African countries, including Indonesia, Cambodia, Fiji, Timor-Leste, Rwanda and Ghana. Dr Asante has consulted for key multilateral and bilateral organisations, including the World Bank, WHO and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He was the healthcare financing project coordinator for the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) in 2019-2020.

Firew Bobo is a health systems researcher from Ethiopia with significant experience in maternal and child health research and research into health systems equity and efficiency in low- and middle-income countries. His PhD, from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), examined the equity in access to quality maternal and child health services in sub-Saharan Africa. The study sought to improve understanding of the complex factors that contribute to disparities in maternal and child health outcomes on the African continent. Firew is experienced in statistical analysis of large-scale survey data to inform the design of interventions aimed at reducing disparities in maternal and child health outcomes. His specific analytical skills include decomposition analysis, causal modelling, multilevel analysis and geospatial modelling. He has a particular interest in translating research evidence into policy to support policymakers and practitioners in the African region to improve equity in access to high-quality maternal and child health services. Dr Bobo currently works as the health financing expert for the Fenot Project, a collaborative project of the University of British Columbia and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Dr Michael E. Otim is a Ugandan Australian health economist who has worked (Teaching, Research and Community Engagement) for many years in Uganda, Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He holds a Bachelor of Economics with Honours degree from Makerere University in Kampala (Uganda), a Master of Economics (Hons) from Monash University Australia and a PhD in Public Health specializing in Health Economics from the University of Melbourne in Australia. His research focus in the use of evidence in resource allocation in Public Health, and on Health Economics and Policy, especially priority setting in healthcare, the application of economic principles in decision-making, and costing of complex health interventions/programs. He has led several projects, including economic evaluation component of large clinical trials, economic evaluation of Singapore national Tobacco Control program, and the assessment of the costs of respiratory infections with cough and asthma among adolescents. He has been working in Academia and Government Health Sector for more than 20 years. He has been a teaching and research academic at the Universities of Melbourne; Deakin; Sydney; Australian Catholic University (ACU), and the University of Sharjah. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor and Acting Head of Department of Public Health and Behavioural, Science in Dubai Medical University in the UAE.

Sefa Awaworyi Churchill is Professor of Economics at the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University, Australia. He is also Director of the Centre for International Development at RMIT University. He holds a PhD in Economics from Monash University and previously worked with Princeton University as a Fung Global Fellow. As an applied economist, his inter-disciplinary research focuses on health, development, and energy economics. He has published over 120 books, book chapters and journal articles in a wide range of fields and is recognized as one of Australia’s leading economists and social scientists. In 2020 and 2021, he was named by The Australian among Australia’s top 40 young researchers and top 5 in the broad field of social science. RePEc also ranks him among the top 10 economists in Australia over the last decade. He has experience working on consultancy projects for various policy agencies and international development organizations. Sefa has been the recipient of a number of prestigious academic research awards and grants including grants from the Australian Research Council and an Endeavour Fellowship Award, a government scheme which allows Australia’s highest performing researchers to conduct research in alignment with the government’s strategic priorities. Sefa also serves as editor for multiple leading journals in his field of research.

Kingsley Agho is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Australia. Before joining Western Sydney University, he had research and teaching experience at the University of Sydney and the University of Newcastle in Australia. Kingsley is the Director of Global Maternal and Child Health Research Collaboration (GloMACH) and the founding member of The South Asia Infant Feeding Research Network (SAIFRN). GloMACH and SAIFRN seek to improve infant and young child feeding practices and reduce infant mortality in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Kingsley has a track record of over 260 full-length peer-reviewed journal research articles (h-index = 57, Google Scholar, February 22, 2023) and has published 153 of his 260 publications since 2017. He has supervised 21 PhD and 2 Masters by research students and currently supervising 10 PhD students.

Ms Andrea Osei holds a Diploma in Nursing (General Nursing) qualification and has experience working as a nurse at the Asokore Ahmadiyya Hospital.