Global Social Determinants of Health

Salma Abdalla, a Sudanese medical doctor, is an Assistant Professor in Global Health and Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. She was the Director of the Rockefeller-Boston University 3-D Commission on Determinants of health, Data science, and Decision making. She also served as a secretariat member for the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research focuses on understanding how microsocial forces shape the health of the population. In particular, she studies how data on the social, economic, and commercial determinants can be used to inform decision-making on health and health equity in different contexts. She also studies the effects of trauma on global population mental health. She has published over 50 scientific journal articles, co-authored 8 reports and policy briefs, and co-authored 9 book chapters.
Dr Abdalla was also engaged in advocacy efforts to incorporate the voices of young people in setting the global public health agenda for a number of years. She was elected the Secretary General of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations for the term 2013-2014. She was also named an emerging voice in global health in 2018 and a Moremi fellow for young women leadership in Africa in 2012.

Blessing is a Senior Research Scientist and Head of Urbanization and Wellbeing. Blessing works on migration, urbanization, adolescent reproductive behavior and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa under the Urbanization and Wellbeing research program. He holds a PhD in Sociology, Master of Arts degree in Sociology from Brown University (USA) and an MSc from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria).

Blessing joined APHRC in 2008 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow from Brown University (USA). He previously worked at APHRC as a Research Intern and Travel Scholar between August 2004 and June 2005. Prior to joining APHRC, Blessing worked at Abia State University, Nigeria since August 1988 as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Sociology and promoted to a Senior Lecturer between 1999 and 2002.

In her current role, Ms. Pace is responsible for advancing the U.S. international health agenda through multilateral and bilateral forums. Reporting directly to the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), she is the Office of Global Affairs’ lead on setting priorities and policies that promote American public health agencies and interests worldwide.

Ms. Pace oversees HHS’ engagement with foreign governments and international institutions as well policymaking bodies such as the G7, G20, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and World Health Assembly. Previously, she served as President & Executive Director of Global Health Council (GHC) and was also a member of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. At GHC, she advocated for increased federal investments in global health, in the face of budget cuts to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, United States Agency for International Development, and World Health Organization (WHO).

Prior to her role at GHC, Ms. Pace spent over a decade working with community-based organizations and grassroots leaders in countries across Africa and Asia on campaigns calling for person-centered access to health. Additionally, she has held positions on various global and regional advisory committees and boards that focus on equity and inclusion. Ms. Pace holds a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in human biology from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in international health & human rights with the distinction of Delta Omega from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Naveen Rao is the Senior Vice President of the Health Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation where he leads the Foundation’s efforts to shape the field of Climate and Health, transforming the world’s health systems to be more equitable, inclusive and resilient to climate change and improving the ability to predict, detect, and respond to climate-sensitive disease threats.

Dr. Rao previously led the Foundation’s Covid-19 pandemic efforts, including the Global Vaccination Initiative, which increased vaccination uptake in low and middle-income countries, as well as the Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Initiative, which strengthened global pathogen surveillance and response around the world.

Dr. Rao joined The Rockefeller Foundation after a 25-year career with Merck & Co., Inc., where he most recently led Merck for Mothers, the company’s 10-year, $500 million initiative to reduce maternal mortality around the world. Prior to Merck, he was the Associate Director of the Department of Medicine at Beekman-Downtown Hospital and practiced Internal Medicine in New York City for 10 years.

Dr. Rao is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Dr Rasanathan is a public health physician with a strong background in health policy and systems research and extensive experience working at different levels of the World Health Organization and within the wider UN system. During his almost 25 years working in health systems, career highlights have included serving as Incident Manager for WHO for the COVID-19 response in Cambodia, helping to drive the development of the Sustainable Development Goal health agenda while at UNICEF, contributing to the work of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, co-writing the 2008 WHO World Health Report on primary health care, and running meningococcal vaccine trials that enabled vaccine licensure and roll-out in New Zealand.

Dr Rasanathan served as an elected board member of Health Systems Global from 2016-2020, was a Rockefeller Foundation Global Fellow in Social Innovation from 2013-2014 and is a member of the Forum on Microbial Threats of the US National Academy of Medicine.

An Indonesian development practitioner and public health advocate, currently serving as the Founder and CEO of the public health non-profit Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI). A psychologist by academic training, her professional journey has gone across consulting companies, government and national public institutions, and multilateral organizations.