In 2023, the Digital Transformation for Health Lab’s (DTH-Lab) Regional Youth Champions (RYC) were invited to share a short essay on what a digital first health system means to them by answering one of the following questions:
In this collection of essays, seven RYC reflect on a special priority area affecting global health governance and how digital first health systems offer a promising way forward in improving the health and well-being of young people in a digital age.
These essays informed the development of a global report, Building a blueprint for digital first health systems: Findings from global youth consultations. Read the full collection of youth authored essays here in the partnering document to the global report: Creating digital first health systems with young people.
Louise Holly has more than 20 years’ experience of global policy analysis, research and evidence-based advocacy focused on advancing the health and rights of children, adolescents and youth. Following roles with Save the Children and UNICEF, Louise worked as an independent consultant for several years supporting the Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030 and other organizations including Transform Health and PMNCH. In July 2023, Louise became the Policy and Research Coordinator at the DTH-Lab where she coordinates the consortium’s knowledge generation, analysis and policy influencing work.
Whitney Gray is the Youth Engagement Coordinator at the Digital Transformations for Health Lab. She has a degree in pre-medical biology and medical ethics and holds two Masters degrees in Public Health and International Affairs. Ms Gray’s experience includes biomedical research, health systems strengthening, global health governance and civil society engagement. With a longstanding desire to advance the health and wellbeing of all, she works to improve the inclusivity of actors in the design and implementation of research, policy and solutions for health.
Arundhati Rajan is a Research Assistant at DTH-Lab and facilitates the creation and execution of DTH's projects in collaboration with DTH's India partner- KCDH-A. She holds a double-major in Economics and Computer Science at Ashoka University and is interested in digital health, more specifically, quantifying the impact of digital health interventions on biological outcomes. She has worked on multiple research-intensive initiatives with renowned organizations in the public health space.
Ilona Kickbusch is the Director of the DTH-Lab. She is a visiting professor at the University of Geneva, the founding director, chair and senior distinguished fellow of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. She is known throughout the world for her expertise and is a sought after senior adviser and key note speaker. Her areas of expertise include the determinants of health, health in all policies, and global health governance. She advises countries on their global health strategies, trains health specialists, and is involved in German G7 and G20 health activities. She publishes widely and serves on various commissions and boards. She has been awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz) in recognition of her invaluable contributions to innovation in governance for global health and global health diplomacy. She has also been awarded the WHO Medal in recognition of her contribution to global health.
Professor Anurag Agrawal is Dean, BioSciences and Health Research, Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, India, and former director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, a national laboratory of CSIR, India. After completing graduate medical education at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, he further trained in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA, followed by a PhD in Physiology from Delhi University. His primary research is in respiratory biology and broader interests are in a new vision of health and healthcare seen through the lenses of emerging technologies. He serves on numerous national and global advisory groups, recently chairing the World Health Organization technical advisory group for SARS CoV2 viral evolution, the Lancet-Financial Times commission for governing digital health futures, and serving on the pandemic preparedness subgroup at the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence. He received the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize in 2014, the Sun Pharma Foundation award in 2020, and is a fellow of the Indian national science and medical academies.
Dr Rohinton Medhora is a founding member of the DTH-Lab and special advisor. He is professor of practice at McGill University's Institute for the Study of International Development and distinguished fellow and former president at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Previously, he was vice president of programs at Canada’s International Development Research Centre. He is chair of the board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, serves on several other boards of non-profits, and sits on the Commission on Global Economic Transformation, co-chaired by Nobel economics laureates Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz. In 2021-22 Rohinton chaired the Ontario Workplace Recovery Advisory Committee.
