Mercian Daniel is Senior Research Fellow in, Mental Health Program at George Institute India. He has done his M.Phil. from Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi and his Ph.D. from JNU, New Delhi.

He has over 15 years of research and program implementation working in different capacities at Deptt. of Psychiatry, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi; IIMC, Dept. of Communication Research, New Delhi; Praxis, New Delhi and Save the Children, Calcutta. More recently, he was with PHFI working in reproductive health and urban health governance projects. He has also taught postgraduate students at Delhi School of Social Work, New Delhi and prepared MSW curriculum for St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata.

His research interest lies in evaluating the impact of different forms of anti-stigma campaigns in mental health, first-person accounts of living with mental illness and its contribution to policy narratives, the social determinants and gradient in mental disorders.

Dr Laura Downey leads The George Institute’s global program for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). She is a conjoint Senior lecturer in health economics and policy in the School of Population Health at UNSW, and an Advanced Research Fellow in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, UK.

Dr Downey’s research is focused broadly on evaluating health system performance in relation to UHC goals, and developing innovative solutions to support equitable access to high quality, affordable care for the world’s most at-risk populations. She is a Senior Investigator and the Capacity Strengthening co-lead of a £10million NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Environmental Change, where her research focuses on community-driven multisectoral intervention design, delivery, and evaluation to strengthen health systems to protect populations in India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh from environmental issues such as extreme heat and air pollution. She was an expert member of the Health Economics advisory group to the UK Infected Blood Inquiry (2020-2024), whose work directly informed recommendations made by the Inquiry Chair to the UK Government on behalf of the tens of thousands of individuals who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis A, B, and C by the National Health Service. She was also an advisor to the Indian federal government between 2015 -2019 to support the establishment of a core Health Technology Assessment (HTA) function within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and remains an active advisor to the Indian Institute of Public Health in Shillong, and the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Dr Downey has active research collaborators across Asia, Africa, and Europe and has worked in partnership with global institutions such as the World Health Organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank. She has held previous positions with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) UK, the Centre for Global Development Europe, and University College London.

Dr. Devarsetty Praveen is a public health expert with deep knowledge of epidemiological research and a strong focus on using system-based innovations to tackle inequities in chronic disease care. He serves as the Director of the NIHR-funded Global Health Research Center for NCDs and Environmental Changes, as well as the Director of the Primary Health Care Research Consortium Secretariat. In these roles, he leads research efforts that are policy-relevant and aim to strengthen high-quality primary health care systems globally.

Dr. Praveen has extensive experience in designing and implementing large-scale primary care research projects, particularly using digital health strategies (e/m-health) in countries such as India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Thailand. He applies mixed-methods research and implementation science to integrate proven evidence into routine practice, improving access to quality health care.

He is the elected Co-Chair of the Hypertension Research Program within the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, a network of major research funding agencies dedicated to addressing chronic non-communicable diseases. Dr. Praveen holds a PhD in Medicine from the School of Public Health, University of Sydney.

Alice is a Research & Policy Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, based in the UK office. Alice joined The George Institute in early 2023 to work on the MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equity) project, an initiative to develop a UK-based policy for integrating sex and gender considerations into biomedical research.

A social scientist by background, Alice’s research interests sit at the intersection between gender and health. Prior to joining TGI, she worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where her research focused on the influence of social norms on family planning programmes and prevention of gender-based violence. She is particularly interested in how institutional norms and policies can shape women’s health and healthcare, and is passionate about translating research in this area into real-world impact.

Alice holds an MA in Social Anthropology of Development from SOAS, University of London, and a BA in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford.

Associate Professor Naomi Hammond is the Critical Care Program Head at The George Institute for Global Health. She also works part-time as the Intensive Care Clinical Research Manager at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Naomi holds several other appointments including NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow; Conjoint Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales; an Editorial Board Member for Australian Critical Care Journal; Chair of the Australian Critical Care Nurses Research Advisory Panel; and Senior Research Fellow with the Australian Sepsis Network.

Naomi is a clinical nurse researcher and has led a program of sepsis research through international collaborations including facilitating 4 clinical trials in COVID-19 in India.  She leads the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Point Prevalence program. She has also undertaken international point prevalence studies including a large epidemiological study of patients with sepsis in Indian ICUs. Called the SIPS (Sepsis in India Prevalence) study, it has provided vital insights into changing epidemiology with different sepsis definitions, bacteriology, and antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Naomi’s main research interests include fluid resuscitation, sepsis, fever management, knowledge translation and implementation research, health economics, and long-term outcomes post-critical illness. Naomi has experience supervising and mentoring medical trainees, nursing staff, PhD, Masters and medical students in both the clinical and academic environment.

Additional to Naomi’s academic portfolio, she also has extensive clinical trials operational management experience including finance, regulatory processes, personnel, project and program management in a clinical and NGO environment.

Associate Professor Clare Arnott is Director of the Cardiovascular Program at The George Institute for Global Health and Associate Professor in Medicine at UNSW Sydney. 

A/Prof Arnott’s research focuses on women’s heart disease, heart failure, cardiovascular imaging, and cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) disease. Her work has significantly influenced national health policy and clinical management. 

As an experienced clinical trialist and the recipient of $28 million in research funding, A/Prof Arnott is an expert in investigating novel cardiometabolic treatments and pregnancy-related cardiovascular diseases including pre-eclampsia and pulmonary hypertension. 

She is also Pagent Director of Heart Lung Clinical Research at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Director and Founder of the Women’s Heart Clinic at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and Senior Staff Specialist Cardiologist at St Vincent’s Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.

A/Prof Arnott is a Fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand and the European Society of Cardiology, and member of the ANZACT Steering Committee, as well as serving on the editorial board of Heart, Lung and Circulation. 

Blake is a health economist holding positions as Program Lead – Health Workforce economics in the Centre for Health Systems Science at the George Institute for Global Health and Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney. He is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow with expertise in health economic evaluation, health systems research and discrete choice experiments. Blake’s research examines the better use of economics in health policy, specifically focusing on vulnerable populations around the world. He has health policy experience having previously held positions at the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (Senior Economist, 2013-2017) and the NSW Treasury (Policy Analyst, 2011-2013). He currently serves as an Economics expert on the Evaluation Sub-Committee of the Medical Services Advisory Committee providing economic advice on funding applications to Medicare. Blake is involved in a number of international collaborations: he worked on the core team of the Lancet Nigeria Commission and is the lead technical advisor on discrete choice experiments for the health stream of research under the Anti-Corruption Evidence Consortium funded by UK aid.

Dr Trieu is a leading expert in global food policy and sodium reduction, currently serving as the Co-Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Population Salt Reduction at The George Institute for Global Health. With a distinguished career in public health, Dr Trieu has advanced nutrition policies and programs aimed at reducing diet-related diseases worldwide, particularly among disadvantaged populations.

Dr Trieu holds a PhD in Medicine from The University of Sydney, Australia and has received several prestigious fellowships, including the NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and the National Heart Foundation of Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship.

As Program Lead - Nutrition Implementation Research at The George Institute, Dr Trieu plays a pivotal role in shaping effective food policies and innovative nutrition programs. Her work focuses on the practical application and implementation of evidence-based nutrition approaches. This includes leading a program of work to change the world’s salt supply from regular to potassium-enriched salt as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular diseases.  As well as developing and adapting Food is Medicine programs for disadvantaged communities in Australia. Her expertise extends internationally, providing guidance and support to many low- and middle-income countries in implementing evidence-based strategies for better health outcomes.

In addition to her research, Dr Trieu serves as a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, where she contributes to the academic development of future public health leaders.

Dr Trieu continues to make significant impact on improving global nutrition and reducing the burden of diet-related diseases through strategic policy and research.