Asma Elsony, MD PhD, Sudan

Asma Elsony is the Director at the Epidemiology Laboratory for Research and Public Health (EpiLab) in Khartoum, Sudan. She was a member of the Board of Directors for the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (UNION) for 12 years, and the UNION President from 2003-2007. Asma’s interests include tuberculosis/HIV, lung disease, epidemiology and public health. She serves as a technical expert for several global organizations and is currently a member of the Technical Review Panel (TRP) for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund) and a WHO expert for Geneva and the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Gunnar Bjune, MD PhD, Norway

Gunnar Bjune is Professor Emeritus at the University of Oslo, Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine in Norway. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards at the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Epidemiology Laboratory for Research and Public Health (EpiLab) in Khartoum, Sudan. His interests include global health with an emphasis on infectious diseases, health programs addressing control of infections and implementation research, tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases (from molecules to arts), and training of health personnel for research. Gunnar has also served on several boards and task forces for WHO, the University of Oslo North-South Council, and the Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU) /Norad Fellowship Programme. 

Tehmina Mustafa, MD PhD, Norway/Pakistan

Tehmina Mustafa is Professor at the University of Bergen, Centre for International Health, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine in Norway. She is also a Pulmonology Consultant at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway. Tehmina’s interests include extrapulmonary TB, epidemiological, clinical and basic laboratory research on immunology, pathology and diagnosis of disease, diagnostic delay, and development of better diagnostic methods for TB.

Einar Heldal, MD PhD, Norway

Einar Heldal is a Senior Medical Officer at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, Norway. He was Head of the TB Registry in Norway from 1994 to 2005, and is a Consultant for the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (UNION). Einar’s interests include TB epidemiology and registries, use of routine TB data for management, operational research, DOTS, MDR-TB, latent TB infection, ethics, migration, prison health, TB mortality, and BCG vaccination. He has extensive experience supporting and reviewing TB programmes in South America, Africa, Russia, and South-East Asia, and has collaborated with many non-governmental organisations.

Abraham Aseffa, MD PhD, Ethiopia

Abraham Aseffa is the Unit Head for Research for implementation at TDR (Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases)/WHO-UNICEF-UNDP-World Bank. Previously, Abraham served as the Acting Deputy Director General for Research and Innovation, Senior Scientist, and Director at the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His interests include infectious disease epidemiology, immunology, tuberculosis, leprosy, leishmaniasis, meningitis, HIV, and malaria. Abraham is dedicated to strengthening regional partnerships in clinical trail capacity building and health research ethics. He has served on WHO/TDR, WHO and EDCTP advisory bodies.