Roly is a Professor in Global Health with an interest in malaria control and elimination and health systems strengthening through the use of quality and process improvement. He has more than 25 years’ experience in malaria clinical trials, chemoprevention, programmatic policy and strategy, health financing and much more. He was the director of the Malaria Elimination Initiative at the University of California San Francisco between 2011- 2021 where he led a team of researchers in all aspects of malaria elimination developing the Malaria Elimination Toolkit, supported the development of regional initiatives for malaria elimination (Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network and the Southern African Development Communities Elimination 8 (E8)), was involved in several influential publications supporting the move towards malaria elimination and eradication goals. At LSHTM he has led the Unitaid Plus project in collaboration with Population Services International, evaluating large scale pilot roll out of perennial malaria chemoprevention (PMC) and now leads the new UKRI and FCDO jointly funded OPTiMIX project - Optimising the mix of malaria interventions including malaria vaccines, malaria chemoprevention and PBO-LLINS, as well as the Coefficient Giving funded AMDR Action project. 

Deepa is a global health strategist with 15+ years of experience advancing malaria programs and health systems across Africa. She specialises in strengthening surveillance systems, translating data into action, and shaping strategies that accelerate progress toward elimination. Her work spans WHO, NGOs, and private-sector collaborations, where she bridges technical rigor with practical implementation. Deepa is deeply committed to health equity and enabling countries and communities to lead their own health futures.

Deus is a Principal Research Scientist at Ifakara Health Institute and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is also the head of Genomics Laboratory at NIMR and a research Professor at Kampala International University in Tanzania. His team is implementing different projects on genomic surveillance of malaria parasites and vectors, and other pathogens. He is a member of the American society of tropical Medicine and hygiene (ASTMH), the Fellow of ASTMH (FASTMH), and a recipient of several awards including the ASTMH’s Alan J. Magill Fellowship of 2019. He is also a member of Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria Network (MalariaGEN) and other networks/associations. He is a co-founder of the Pathogen Diversity Network Africa (PDNA), Tanzania Society of Human Genetics and African Society of Antimicrobial Resistance. He is currently supporting the Tanzanian National Malaria Control Programme and the World Health Organization in the use of research evidence for decision and policy making to support malaria control and/or elimination.

Dr Rosario Martínez-Vega is a medical doctor and epidemiologist with expertise in malaria research, surveillance, and policy responses to antimalarial drug resistance across Africa. Through the AMDR Action initiative, she works with global and regional partners to advance earlier and more coordinated responses to emerging artemisinin resistance, translating evidence into actionable strategies for countries and global health partners. She also collaborates with researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on malaria chemoprevention implementation and resistance-related studies. Her background includes strengthening health data systems and program monitoring in humanitarian health settings, with field experience across Africa and Asia.

Gulnaz is a programme manager with over 8 years of experience across global health and international development. At LSHTM, she has spent the past four years supporting the delivery of the Unitaid Plus Project in collaboration with Population Services International. She currently manages the UKRI- and FCDO-funded OPTiMIX project and the Coefficient Giving-funded AMDR Action project, with a focus on bringing structure and steady delivery to multi-stakeholder programmes.