Falcon Awards for Disease Elimination

ABOUT THE FALCON AWARDS – WESTERN PACIFIC

The Western Pacific region presents a vast and diverse landscape, with many remote and hard-to-reach areas. Within this demographic and geographic context lie both challenges and opportunities for disease elimination. Many countries in the Western Pacific Region grapple with limited financial and healthcare resources, which hinder their continued progress towards elimination. When coupled with climatic and societal shifts, populations in the region face heightened risks for poor health.

While evidence of the linkages between climate and health is growing more evident, further research is essential to deepen our understanding of these dynamics. While progress has been made in eliminating diseases across the region, significant challenges persist. A comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach, drawing upon the expertise and resources of academia, government, communities, and civil society is needed. This is why, this year, GLIDE is launching its third iteration of the Falcon Awards with a focus on the Western Pacific Region, by inviting proposals for formative research and advocacy initiatives which aim to:

Generate evidence to advance the elimination of infectious diseases in the Western Pacific Region Disseminate knowledge to enhance understanding and catalyse action for disease elimination. Support local or regional advocacy efforts to advance disease elimination. Raise awareness for disease elimination strategies and approaches. Cultivate partnerships with civil society aimed at advancing elimination through new approaches that enhance knowledge or evidence around the transmission, control, elimination, and eradication of infectious diseases

AWARDS STRUCTURE

Through this iteration of the Falcon Awards, GLIDE will award up to 10 winners in June 2024 following a thorough evaluation by a jury of global health experts.

Formative research proposals selected by the jury will receive a sum of up to US$30,000 to conduct their 6-month research projects.

Advocacy initiative proposals will receive up to US$10,000 to implement their initiatives over 6 months.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible applications are those that aim to provide catalytic support to disease elimination efforts for Vector-Borne Diseases, Neglected Tropical Diseases or climate infectious diseases across the region through advocacy campaigns initiatives or formative research projects. Institutions or entities that fall within the following categories are welcome to apply:

1. National or regional academic or research institutions.

2.Public, private or non-governmental sector institutions.

3. Consortia, coalitions or networks may apply but must meaningfully include an academic institution, Civil Society Organization (CSO) or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) based in the eligible countries list.

4. Any interested Pacific Island national with demonstrated experience in infectious disease elimination in the Region, as well as early career researchers are encouraged to apply.

Apply Now

JURY

Dr Kazim SANIKULLAH

Team Lead (Neglected Tropical Diseases), the Integrated Communicable Disease Control Unit (ICD), the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) Dr Kazim SANIKULLAH is the Team Lead/Focal Person for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) at the Integrated Communicable Disease Control Unit (ICD) in the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO). Dr Sanikullah is trained Medical Doctor, a Fulbright Scholar, and a Public Health expert with a masters degree in Public Health from the George Washington University in Washington DC, USA. He specializes in communicable diseases and Health Systems with a strong focus on cross-cutting and multisectoral disease response, disease and service integration, access to essential health services to the unreached, key and vulnerable populations especially in hard-to-reach areas and challenging operational environments. Within the spectrum of communicable diseases, his particular expertise lies in NTDs, Malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS. His professional experience spans various organizations including the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan, International NGOs, and the Global Fund Headquarters in Geneva where he supported High Impact countries in Asia and Africa and 30 other countries across the globe for nearly ten years.

Dr Louise Makau-Barasa

Senior Director, Programs at The END Fund An experienced global public health leader that has successfully supported philanthropic investments on behalf of private and public entities across multiple countries. Her work has focused on improving access to diagnostic and treatment for infectious and non-infectious diseases. She has overseen multi-million dollar portfolios in the health, education and economic empowerment sector and also served as Chief of Party for USAID-funded HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs in Ivory Coast and Ethiopia. She led the first privately funded national Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) programs in Rwanda and Burundi, that served as the genesis of the END Fund. She recently served as a Visiting Scientist at Harvard University, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, researching on prostate cancer in sub-Sahara Africa, and as an Adjunct at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and West Chester University of Pennsylvania, USA. Louise hold a Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) from UNC, a Master of Sciences in Global Economic Development from Eastern University, St. David’s, Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from E.S.L.S.C.A Business School, Paris France. Outside of work, Louise enjoys a variety of music genres , playing the guitar, exploring the outdoors, gardening and spending time with her family.

Dr Patrick Lammie

Director, Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center (NTD-SC) Patrick Lammie, PhD, is the Director of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center (NTD-SC), a program of The Task Force for Global Health. In this role, Dr. Lammie provides technical guidance and strategic oversight for the Coalition for Operational Research on NTDs (COR-NTD), an operational research portfolio managed by NTD-SC on behalf of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and UKAid. Dr. Lammie spent more than 25 years as a senior staff scientist in the Disease Elimination and Control Group in the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where his research was focused on lymphatic filariasis and integrated serosurveillance. He continues to support efforts to develop new tools and strategies to monitor and evaluate filariasis and other neglected tropical diseases. Dr. Lammie has served on the World Health Organization’s NTD Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group, on the Regional Program Review Groups for PAHO, AFRO, SEARO and WPRO and is currently serving as chair of WHO’s NTD Diagnostic and Technical Advisory Group. He also serves as the co-chair for the Strategic Technical Advisory Group on Disease Elimination for PAHO.

Ms Camilla Burkot

Senior Technical Adviser, the Global Health Division, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) A global public health and development professional with more than 10 years of experience in strategic policy advising and research on global health and aid effectiveness. She is currently Senior Technical Adviser in the Global Health Division, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), where she enables effective health programming by providing evidence-based public health advice, quality-assuring program designs, and supporting coordination. Prior to joining DFAT in 2019, she was based in Western Province, Papua New Guinea supporting health information systems and operational research on drug-resistant tuberculosis with the Burnet Institute. Camilla holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University and a BA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge.

Ms Diana Yousef

Technical Adviser, GLIDE Ms Diana Yousef Technical Adviser, GLIDE Diana is a global health expert with extensive experience in leading, designing and implementing operational research projects, public health programs and Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as the South-East Asia region and Africa. Prior to joining GLIDE, Diana worked with Global Health Development/Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (GHD/EMPHNET), where she led projects implemented throughout the MENA and South-East Asia Regions. Her expertise also extends to training and capacity building. Diana has extensive experience in pandemic preparedness and response and training rapid response teams in the MENA region. During her time at EMPHNET, Diana also worked on projects to support polio eradication efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Additionally, Diana also worked as a researcher at the University of Western Australia (UWA), where she obtained her MPH, and developed profound insights into the global health and infectious disease landscape in the Western Pacific Region. Motivated by her ongoing commitment to improve global public health standards, Diana is keenly focused on advancing the knowledge and strategies required for the elimination and eradication of Neglected Tropical Disease (NTDs), malaria, polio and other infectious diseases.