Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted was the Director for Nutrition, Health and Food Security Impact Area Platform, CGIAR until early this year. She was previously the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish. She was awarded the 2021 World Food Prize for her ground-breaking research, critical insights, and landmark innovations in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems. She was awarded the 2021 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award for research innovation. 

Shreehari Acharya is a public health professional with over 15 years of experience working across Asia, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Currently, he serves as Program Manager of the CSO Platform at ALIGHT South East Asia, based in Thailand, where he leads regional initiatives to strengthen health and community systems, supports civil society engagement, and promotes equitable access to malaria and other health services, particularly for remote, marginalized, ethnic, mobile, and migrant populations.

Neil Morrison, PhD, is the Chief Strategy Officer at Oxitec, a pioneering biotechnology company focused on solving some of the world’s most urgent agricultural and public health challenges through sustainable, genetically engineered insect solutions.

Dr. Lek Dysoley is the Deputy Director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control (CNM), Ministry of Health, Cambodia. He serves as the National Focal Point for Malaria Case Management. His leadership plays a central role in Cambodia’s national strategy to eliminate malaria by 2025, with a specific focus on Plasmodium vivax radical cure, G6PD testing implementation, and surveillance system strengthening.

Dr. Caroline Lynch is a regional advisor for Medicines for Malaria Venture for the Asia Paciic region. She is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

In her current position, Dr. Lynch works on all aspects of access from regulatory approval, evidence into policy, policy change processes and quality implementation to contribute to improving the coverage of vivax malaria radical cure.

Aya Yajima is a public health specialist and the Regional Advisor on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) in the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office. She coordinates with WHO Headquarters, Country Offices, donors and partners to provide technical support for Member States in the Region for accelerating control and elimination of NTDs.