Commissioners

 
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Professor Jeffrey Sachs (Chair)
University Professor
Columbia University (USA)

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development. Professor Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and is a University Professor, Columbia's highest academic rank. Sachs was Director of the Earth Institute from 2002 to 2016. MORE

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Dr. Salim Abdool Karim
Caprisa Professor for Global Health in Epidemiology
Mailman School of Public Health (USA)

Salim S. Abdool Karim, FRS, is a South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist widely recognized for scientific contributions to HIV prevention and treatment. He is Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban, and CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at Columbia University, New York. He is the Chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19. MORE

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Dr. Lara Aknin
Distinguished University Professor
Simon Fraser University (Canada)

Dr. Lara Aknin is a Distinguished Associate Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, former Fellow with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a co-associate editor of the World Happiness Report. She has received a Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Sciences and the President's New Researcher Award from the Canadian Psychological Association. MORE

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Dr. Joseph Allen
Associate Professor of Exposure Assessment Science
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (USA)

Dr. Joseph G. Allen is an assistant professor of exposure science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-author of Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, with John Macomber at Harvard Business School. He began his career conducting forensic health investigations of sick buildings across a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, biotechnology, education, commercial offices and manufacturing. MORE

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Ms. Kirsten Brosbøl
Founder
Parliamentarians for the Global Goals (Denmark)

Kirsten Brosbøl is the founder of Parliamentarians for the Global Goals – a new global initiative for parliamentarians who work on the 2030 agenda. Kirsten was an Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University in 2019/2020. She is a former MP and Minister of Environment of Denmark, and she founded and chaired the Danish Parliament’s All-Party Group on the Sustainable Development Goals. MORE

Ms. Francesca Colombo Head of Health Division OECD (France)

Francesca Colombo, M.Sc., is Head of the Health Division at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She is responsible for work on health, which aims at providing internationally comparable data on health systems and applying economic analysis to health policies, advising policy makers, stakeholders and citizens on how to respond to demands for more and better health care and make health systems more people centred. MORE

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Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron
Honorary President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and former Senator in the Mexican Congress (Mexico)

Gabriela Cuevas Barron studied Political Science at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), in addition to having participated in numerous programs and diplomas related to public administration. She was elected Federal Member of Parliament for the first time when she was 21 years old. Since then, she has been three times Federal Member of Parliament, as well as Local Member of Parliament, and a Constituent Member of Parliament in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City. MORE

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Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa
Former President
UN General Assembly
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense (Ecuador)

María Fernanda Espinosa is an academic, diplomat and politician with more than 30 years of professional experience in academia, non-governmental and international organizations, and has had leadership positions within the Government of Ecuador. She is regarded as an expert in international affairs and the United Nations, defense and security, sustainable development, the environment, climate change, gender equality, and indigenous peoples’ rights. She has a vast experience in intergovernmental negotiations and is recognized as an international advocate of multilateralism and women’s rights and empowerment. MORE

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Dr. Vitor Gaspar
Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department
IMF (USA)

Vitor Gaspar, a Portuguese national, has been Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund since 2014. Prior to joining the IMF, he was a Special Adviser at Banco de Portugal. He served as Minister of State and Finance of Portugal during 2011–13. He also held a number of positions in European institutions. Notably, he was director general of research at the European Central Bank from 1998–2004. MORE

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Dr. Alejandro Gaviria
President
Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)

Alejandro Gaviria completed his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the Antioquia School of Engineering (Universidad EIA). He also has a master’s degree in Economics from Universidad de los Andes and a PhD in Economics from the University of California San Diego. MORE

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Sir Andy Haines
Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK)

Andy Haines is a Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health with a joint appointment in the Dept of Public Health, Environments and Society and in the Dept of Population Health. He was previously Director (originally Dean) of LSHTM for nearly 10 years, up to October 2010, having previously been Professor of Primary Health Care at UCL between 1987-2000. Haines worked part-time as a general practitioner in North London for many years. MORE

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Dr. Peter Hotez
Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine (USA)

Peter Hotez MD Ph.D. is a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development and Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics. He is a vaccine scientist who led the development of vaccines to prevent and treat neglected tropical diseases and coronavirus infections. MORE

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Dr. Phoebe Koundouri
Professor
School of Economics, Athens University of Economics & Business (Greece)

Professor Dr. Phoebe Koundouri holds a PhD and MPhil in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Cambridge (UK). She is Professor (Chair) of Sustainable Development at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business, and the President of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists (EAERE). She is listed in the 1% of most-cited women economists in the world. MORE

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Dr. Felipe Larraín
Professor of Economics
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)

Felipe Larraín is Professor of Economics at Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago and member of the Executive Board of the Center of Economic and Social Policies (CLAPES UC). He was Chile’s minister of finance from 2010 to 2014, and from 2018 to 2019. He is also a member of the UN Leadership Council for Sustainable Development. MORE

Dr. Jong-koo Lee
Professor of Family Medicine
Seoul National University College of Medicine (Korea)

Lee is in charge of undergraduate and graduate education and research for Family Medicine/Primary Health Care, public health policies on global health, and infectious epidemiology at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health. During his time with the Korean government, he developed programs and systems for primary health care and renewed public health programs in Korea. He directed the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2011. MORE

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Dr. Muhammad Pate
Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population
The World Bank (USA)

Muhammad Ali Pate is the Global Director, Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Global Practice of the World Bank and the Director of Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF), based in Washington DC. Dr. Pate, a U.S. and Nigerian national, was until recently the Chief Executive Officer of Big Win Philanthropy, based in the UK, and prior to that held several senior positions, including that of Minister of State for Health in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. MORE

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Ms. Gabriela Ramos
Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences
UNESCO (France)

Gabriela Ramos is Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO. Gabriela previously served as the OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20 and in this capacity supports the Secretary General’s strategic leadership and ensures that the Organization delivers on its mandates. She is responsible for the contributions of the OECD to the global agenda, including to the G20, G7, and APEC. She also oversees the Global Relations Secretariat, which works with over 100 countries around the world. Her work as Sherpa contributed to the Leaders’ commitment to the G20 Brisbane gender target in 2014 and the creation of the W20. MORE

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Dr. Srinath Reddy
President
Public Health Foundation of India (India)

Prof. K. Srinath Reddy is the President of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and has headed the Department of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was appointed as the First Bernard Lown Visiting Professor of Cardiovascular Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in and presently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard. He is also an Adjunct Professor of the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University and Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. MORE

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Dr. Ismail Serageldin
Co-Chair
Nizami Ganjavi International Center (Egypt)

Ismail Serageldin, Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the new Library of Alexandria, inaugurated in 2002, is currently, Emeritus Librarian, and member of the Board of Trustees of the Library of Alexandria. He serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions, including as co-Chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), and serves as Patron of the International Science Council (ISC). MORE

Dr. Rajiv Shah
President
The Rockefeller Foundation (USA)

Dr. Shah serves as President of the Rockefeller Foundation, a global institution with a mission to promote the well-being of humanity around the world. In 2009, he was appointed USAID Administrator by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  Dr. Shah reshaped the $20 billion agency’s operations in more than 70 countries around the world by elevating the role of innovation, creating high impact public-private partnerships, and focusing US investments to deliver stronger results. MORE

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Dr. John Thwaites
Chair
Monash Sustainable Development Institute (Australia)

John Thwaites is a Professorial Fellow at the Monash University, Chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and ClimateWorks Australia, Chair of Melbourne Water, Director of Fair Trade Australia New Zealand, and Chair of the National Sustainable Development Council, which has developed the Transforming Australia: SDGs Progress Report 2018. John is also Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). MORE

Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Co-Chair
Nizami Ganjavi International Center (Latvia)

Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga was President of Latvia (1999-2007), President of the World Leadership Alliance/Club de Madrid (2014-2019). Currently Co-chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center. She was Special Envoy on the United Nations reform and official candidate for UN Secretary General in 2006, Vice-chair of the Reflection group on the long-term future of Europe, and Chair of the High-level group on freedom and pluralism of media in the EU in 2011-12, as well as a member of two High-level groups on European security and defense in 2015 and of the Team of Advisors to UN ECOSOC on UN development in 2016. MORE

Dr. Chen Wang
President
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (China)

Dr. Wang is also the Director of the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Beijing, China. He has long been engaged in the clinical practice, research, and teaching of respiratory medicine and has special expertise in pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, pulmonary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD, Chronic Bronchitis Emphysema), new respiratory infectious diseases and tobacco epidemiology. Dr. Wang has published more than 250 articles in authoritative international medical journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and Annals of Internal Medicine. MORE

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Dr. Miriam Khamadi Were
Vice Chair
The Champions of AIDS-Free Generation (Kenya)

Miriam Khamadi Were qualified as a Medical Doctor from Kenya’s University of Nairobi in 1973. Were became Head of the Department of Community Health at the University of Nairobi in 1982. In 1985, she was appointed Head of Health and Nutrition at UNICEF Ethiopia, and subsequently was Representative and Chief of Mission for the World Health Organisation in Ethiopia from 1990 to 1993. From mid-1993 to 2000, she was Director of the UN Population Fund Country Support Team (UNFPA/CST) for East, Central, and Anglophone West Africa, and retired in 2000 at the age of 60 years. Among the outstanding international honours awarded to Were are the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize and The Queen Elizabeth II Gold Medal for Public Health in the Commonwealth. MORE

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Dr. Lan Xue
Cheung Kong Chair Distinguished Professor and Dean
Schwarzman College (China)

Dr. Lan Xue is a Cheung Kong Chair Distinguished Professor and Dean of Schwarzman College. In Tsinghua University, he also serves as a Deputy Director of Strategic Research Institute for Engineering, Science and Technology, Director of China Institute for S&T Policy, Co-Director of Global Institute for SDGs. His teaching and research interests include STI policy, crisis management, and global governance. From 2000-2018, he served as Associate Dean, Executive Associate Dean, and Dean of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University. MORE

Dr. Min Zhu
Chairman, National Institution of Financial Research
Tsinghua University (China)

Dr. Min Zhu assumed the position of Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on 2011. Previously he served as Special Advisor to the Managing Director of the IMF from 2010 to 2011. Mr. Zhu was a Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, being was responsible for international affairs, policy research, and credit information. Prior to his service at China’s central bank, he worked as a Chief Technical Advisor for China's Agenda 21 at the United Nations Development Program. MORE