Strep A Burden of Disease Working Group

Professor Michael Baker is a public health physician, epidemiologist, researcher, and science communicator based in the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington.  

He has a long-term research focus on rheumatic fever and Streptococcal disease which has included surveillance, descriptive epidemiological studies, aetiological studies (case-control, record linkage), intervention evaluations, burden of disease analyses, and research syntheses.  

He leads the Health Protection Aotearoa Research Centre (HPARC) which focuses on infectious diseases and environmental health. The group has active research projects in these areas, including  rheumatic fever, respiratory infections, and improving infectious disease surveillance.

Michael took a leading role in shaping New Zealand’s Covid-19 pandemic response, particularly the elimination strategy.  He was a member of the Government’s Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group throughout the pandemic. 
Michael has a strong interest in science communication and evidence translation and is the inaugural director of the Public Health Communications Centre Aotearoa (PHCC), which he established in February 2023. 

Andrea Beaton is a Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Cardiologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She is a founding member of the Rheumatic Heart Disease Research Collaborative in Uganda (RRCUganda.org), where she spearheads initiatives to combat rheumatic heart disease on a global scale.

Dr. Beaton holds leadership positions with the American Heart Association, the World Heart Federation, and the World Health Organization, where she serves as Co-Chair of the RHD Guideline Development Group. Her work is supported by a remarkable network of mentors and collaborators dedicated to the shared mission of eliminating RHD. Dr. Beaton lives in the US with her four children and her extraordinary husband, who inspire her commitment to making the world a healthier and more equitable place for all. 

Professor Asha Bowen OAM is a clinician scientist working across the Perth Children’s Hospital as a paediatric infectious disease specialist and The Kids Research Institute Australia (formerly Telethon Kids Institute) as Head of the Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention Team.  
Asha has more than 15 years’ experience leading infectious diseases research and investigator-initiated clinical trials focused on issues significant to Aboriginal child health and ARF prevention. Asha focuses on primordial and primary prevention of Strep A related diseases through a comprehensive healthy skin program and exploring new opportunities for prevention through early diagnosis at the point of care. 

Dr Jeffrey Cannon is a senior health economist and researcher at The Kids Research Institute Australia. His research focuses on understanding the interactions between health, economic, and social values and developing and applying analytic models to facilitate policy decisions.

He earned a PhD in Health Economics from the University of Western Australia in 2019 and previously received an Honours degree in Mathematics after a BSc (Mathematics) and BBus (Finance) dual degree. Dr Cannon’s PhD thesis included the first-ever estimates for the health and economic burdens of all major group A Streptococcal (Strep A) clinical manifestations and the potential value of vaccines in Australia. Following his PhD, Dr Cannon took up a post-doctoral position at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston during 2019-2022, where he was a scientific lead in developing a Full Value of Vaccines Assessment for Strep A vaccination globally. 

Dr Thomas Cherian is a Managing Partner at MMGH Consulting, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Before this, he worked at WHO in Geneva for 17 years, where he served as the Coordinator for the Expanded Programme on Immunization and before that as the Coordinator for Implementation Research in the Initiative for Vaccine Research. He also holds the position of Senior Associate in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.  
Before joining WHO, Dr. Cherian was a Professor of Paediatrics at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, where he did his medical and postgraduate training in paediatrics. Subsequently, he did a 3-year fellowship in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

Dr. Cherian has authored or co-authored over 170 scientific articles and book chapters. His main research interests have been related to acute respiratory infections in children. His research has contributed to the case management protocols for acute respiratory infections in children and to policy development for the use of Pneumococcal and Hib vaccines worldwide. During his tenure as the EPI Coordinator at WHO, he oversaw the rollout of new vaccines in low- and middle-income countries and the measurement of their impact. He established the WHO sentinel site surveillance network for invasive bacterial infections and diarrhoeal diseases.

Through MMGH Consulting, Dr. Cherian continues to support multi-national agencies, including WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi with immunization policy, strategy, programme implementation and evaluation. 

Professor Mark E Engel is a researcher based in the SA Cochrane Centre, SA Medical Research Council, South Africa, where he serves as the unit director.  Initially a medical laboratory scientist, he was later a Harvard University fellow in Public Health in 2001, before pursuing a career in epidemiology. Following completion of his MPH degree, he was awarded a PhD from UCT in 2013 for a large longitudinal study on the epidemiology of RHD in Cape Town children.

Prof Engel networks with African colleagues to apply a wide range of investigative approaches, from molecular to population-based research to all aspects of Rheumatic Heart Disease. In 2016, he established the AFROStrep Study, in efforts to improve the understanding of the role of group A streptococcus in RHD development and inform putative vaccines under development. His work, supported over the years by the SA National Research Foundation, the SA Medical Research Council, the American Heart Association and NIH in the USA, has been presented both nationally and internationally. He has an excellent academic record, teaching health research methods and having successfully supervised to completion, a number of students undertaking MPH, MSc and PhD degrees. Finally, Prof Engel is a member of the African Union/Pan-African Societies of Cardiology Education Taskforce and the Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARC) Diagnostic Network. 

Dr Theresa Lamagni is a Section Head Healthcare-Associated Infection & Antimicrobial Resistance Division of the UK Health Security Agency and designated epidemiologist for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Streptococcal Diseases in London. She has worked in public health for over 25 years. During this time she completed an MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a PhD on the epidemiology of invasive GAS infections in Europe at the University of Helsinki.  Theresa has strategic responsibility for the national surveillance of streptococcal diseases, providing expert support to outbreak and incident response and contributing to the development of an evidence base to inform disease prevention programmes. She has authored over 180 peer-review papers, 4 clinical microbiology book chapters and 4 national public health guidelines and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 

Prof. Renata Mendoza, MD, MSc, is a Paediatric Cardiologist and Coordinator of Pediatric Cardiology at the State Children’s Hospital of Feira de Santana (Bahia, Brazil). She is a Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of Feira de Santana (UEFS), a PhD candidate at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), and serves as the Principal Investigator for Brazil in the Acute Rheumatic Fever Diagnostic Network (ARC Network).

Professor Hannah Moore OAM is an infectious disease epidemiologist with joint appointments at The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University. She is the newly appointed Theme Head, Infectious Diseases at The Kids where she co-leads the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology team.
 
Her research focuses on data-driven science through population-based data linkages, epidemiological analyses, and community engagement – translating her research into better informed vaccination programs targeting respiratory infections. She has developed expertise in the epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in young children, where her research was pivotal in WA Governments’ decision to establish the first and most comprehensive RSV infant immunisation program in the nation. Raising awareness of RSV, understanding community burden and attitudes, and evaluating the impact of prevention measures is a major focus of her research program, funded by a $2.5M Perron Program Grant and a $3.4M NHMRC Partnership Grant. She has previously contributed to state and national influenza vaccination policy. Prof Moore also contributes to awareness of the global burden of Strep A diseases with her involvement in the US$11M-funded Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium (SAVAC 2.0) where she established the first Burden of Disease Working Group in 2020.
 
Prof Moore is currently a Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Fellow and has been awarded >$19M in research funding, co-authored >165 papers, a TEDxPerth speaker and the WA Premiers Science Early Career Scientist Award (2015). She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Western Australia. In 2024 she was named Curtin University Faculty of Health Sciences Mid-Career Researcher of the Year and honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to epidemiology research.

Kim Mulholland is an Australian paediatrician, trained at Melbourne University and the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. With post-graduate training in immunology, respiratory medicine and tropical medicine he joined the Medical Research Council Laboratories, Gambia in 1989, where he developed a program of research covering all aspects of the problem of childhood pneumonia. This included studies of the aetiology, clinical signs, and treatment of pneumonia cases, with particular reference to very young infants and malnourished children. These studies helped to guide WHO policy in the field and contributed to the development of the strategy of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), as well as guiding oxygen and antibiotic management for hospitalized children.

In the Gambia he also worked on several projects relating indoor air pollution to pneumonia. His Hib vaccine trials were the first to demonstrate the capacity of a conjugate vaccine to prevent bacterial pneumonia, and paved the way for Hib vaccine introduction in Africa. While in Gambia he chaired the MRC/Gambia Government Ethical Committee for 3 years. After six years in the Gambia he joined WHO HQ where he oversaw the development of standardized methods for the evaluation of pneumonia vaccines in developing countries. At WHO he was also the focal point for air pollution in the Child and Adolescent Health Department and helped design the RESPIRE study in Guatemala. He also co-chaired a review of ethics at WHO HQ.

Since leaving WHO in 2000 he has continued to work in the pneumonia field with particular emphasis on vaccines. He was one of the founders of the Global Action Plan for Pneumonia, and one of the leaders of the successful Hib Initiative project that saw the introduction of Hib vaccines into the poorest countries of the world. During the same period he established leading pneumococcal microbiology and immunology laboratories at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI), Melbourne, along with major pneumococcal field research programs in Vietnam, Fiji and Mongolia. He established the Centre for International Child Health at MCRI in 2001 and remained involved in Global Health leadership at MCRI until the end of 2025. In Mongolia he works with the National Center for Communicable Disease (NCCD) on pneumonia control in children and adults. He has also led HPV research programs in Mongolia, Vietnam and Ethiopia. He has worked on RSV research projects for over 30 years, most recently in Mongolia and Vietnam. He has co-led the IVI typhoid research project in Fiji since 2012.

He has been involved in the oversight of many vaccine trials, serving on steering committees or DSMBs for a range of vaccines including Pneumococcal, Dengue, RSV and Covid-19 vaccines. From 2019-2025 he was a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), and he has served on Working Groups covering pneumococcal vaccines, measles & rubella, Covid-19 vaccines, Dengue vaccine and RSV. He currently serves on the Boards of the INCLEN Trust, India and the International Society of Pneumonia and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD). He serves as a regular lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, the University of Nagasaki, Japan and the Mahidol University, Thailand.

Dr. Shamim A Qazi is a paediatrician with over 40 years of experience in infectious diseases, as well as clinical and implementation research. He served for 20 years at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, in the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, until his retirement. Before joining WHO, Dr. Qazi was Associate Physician at the Children’s Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, Pakistan. Since his retirement form WHO, he has been working as a consultant in child and newborn health.

Dr. Qazi has authored or co-authored over 230 scientific articles and book chapters, and contributed to 40 WHO documents. At WHO, he led the identification of research priorities in clinical, epidemiological, implementation, and operational research related to the management of common childhood illnesses, including respiratory and neonatal infections and antimicrobial resistance. He developed grant proposals, mobilized funds, and coordinated, monitored, and provided technical support for over 30 single-site and multi-country research projects aimed at improving pneumonia and sepsis management globally.

He played a key role in developing and updating WHO guidelines for newborn and child health—particularly for the management of pneumonia and sepsis based on emerging evidence. He contributed to the revision of WHO training materials for the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM), and hospital care of common childhood illnesses. Using the CHNRI methodology, he led and contributed to several global, regional, and country-level research prioritization exercises for MNCH.

Dr. Qazi led the development of the Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and co-led the integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners. He has also provided technical assistance to low- and middle-income countries to adapt and update their national policies in line with WHO guidelines, and has served on several global advisory committees on maternal and child health research and management.

Dr Vivek Sagar is a researcher with expertise in the molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of Group A Streptococcus (Strep A). His work has focused on understanding the diversity, virulence factors, and genomic characteristics of Strep A strains in India. Dr Sagar has contributed to advancing knowledge on the burden and transmission dynamics of Strep A and its links to severe complications such as rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.

He has been affiliated with the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India, where he has collaborated across microbiology, biotechnology, and public health disciplines.

Dr Jean‑Marc Ségalin is a public health physician and infectious diseases specialist currently leading the RHD Centre as Directorate of Health of French Polynesia. Since taking on the role in 2020, he has led efforts to strengthen RHD prevention, screening, surveillance, and community awareness programs across the Pacific region. He has also contributed to regional and international collaborations focused on rheumatic fever and Strep A prevention in Pacific populations.

His current work focuses on reducing the burden of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease through echocardiographic screening, public education campaigns, and strengthening early diagnosis and treatment pathways for Strep A infections. Dr Ségalin is involved in fostering international Pacific collaborations to improve research, prevention strategies, and long-term control of RHD in endemic settings.

Dr. Sima Tokajian is a Professor of Microbial Genomics at the Lebanese American University. Her research integrates genomics, metagenomics, bioinformatics, and bacteriology to study human microbial pathogens, with a focus on antimicrobial resistance, pathogen evolution, and molecular epidemiology. She has led investigations on high-priority bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae complex, as well as national efforts in SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Lebanon. Dr. Tokajian plays an active role in regional and international collaborations, serves on multiple academic and institutional committees, and is committed to mentoring graduate students and expanding genomic research capacity across the Middle East. 

Dr. Brian Wahl is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Wahl has worked for almost twenty years to advance the prevention and control of infectious diseases, focusing on low- and middle-income countries. His primary research areas include a broad range of vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and Bordetella pertussis.

Dr. Wahl leads field studies and uses modeling to address questions about infectious disease control performance, optimization, and equity. He is also passionate about strengthening public health research and epidemiology competencies among health professionals in various settings, including India and Nepal. Before joining Yale University, Dr. Wahl was a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

David Watkins is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. He studies health system reform and policy implementation challenges, with a particular emphasis on non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Much of his work uses rheumatic heart disease as a tracer condition for non-communicable diseases more broadly. His research team works in three thematic areas: (1) population and economic modeling to support policy analysis, (2) integrated healthcare delivery, and (3) use of evidence in policy formulation. His work has been featured in several high-impact journals, and has been an advisor to, or member of, numerous international committees, task forces, commissions, and working groups related to global health policy and systems. He also continues to practice as an internal medicine specialist at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He received a bachelor of science from Rhodes College and a doctor of medicine from Duke University before moving to Seattle, where he completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Washington, an MPH through the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and a research fellowship in health economics with the Disease Control Priorities Network. 

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