WHO Summit Secretariat

Tanja Kuchenmüller leads the Evidence to Policy and Impact unit in the Research for Health Department/Science Division at WHO. The unit has the dual mandate of (1) strengthening country capacity in generating, translating and using the best available research evidence in policies and practice, and (2) providing leadership on policies in research to ensure access and scale-up. Previously, she led the knowledge translation work at the WHO Regional Office for Europe and coordinated a related unit on Knowledge Management, Evidence and Research for Policy-Making unit. In the past, Tanja also worked on public health-related initiatives with the United Nations Development Programme and the German Development Service.

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Dr Matthias Helble is a Scientist in the Evidence Research Policy Unit of the Research for Health Department of WHO in Geneva. Previously, he worked as Senior Economist in the Economic Research Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila and at the ADB Institute in Tokyo. He started his professional career at the World Bank, before moving to WHO and then to the World Trade Organization. His research focuses the topics of health and international trade and has been published in numerous scientific journals. He is the lead author of several flagship publications of international organizations and has co-edited eleven books. Matthias holds graduate degrees in economics from the University of Tübingen (MSc), University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA), and Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (PhD) and was a research fellow at Yale University.

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Bastien Kolt is a Technical Officer in the Research for Health Department, Science Division, of the World Health Organization (WHO) and part of the WHO Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Secretariat. Through his work he strives to improve methods and processes that effectively translate evidence into public health policy. Bastien has published several peer-reviewed journal articles on the impacts of social protection and nutrition interventions on health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. He holds a Master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University and previously held research and operations positions at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World Bank in Washington, DC.

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M. Rahim Azami is a public health professional specializing in social determinants of health in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). After two successful years with the Science Division at WHO headquarters, focusing on evidence-informed health policies, he is now an epidemiologist with the WHO Health Emergencies Program. With over 10 years of international experience, Rahim, a trained medical doctor, holds advanced degrees in development studies and public health. His expertise includes managing and evaluating programs on maternal, child, and adolescent health, aging populations, food security, and public health nutrition. Rahim is dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to global challenges and is passionate about global health, health policy, research evidence, public health data, development, equity, and equality.

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Elena Sartorius is a Programme Assistant in the Research for Health Department, Science Division, of the World Health Organization. She has been serving the organization across different departments and units since 2009. Elena holds a Master of Arts degree in oriental languages. She is also an experienced journalist, having worked for Swiss, Canadian and Haitian media on development and natural disaster issues. In her spare time she writes children stories and works on missionary projects in Switzerland and the Caribbean.

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Davi Romão is co-founder and former Deputy Executive Director at the Veredas Institute, the first Brazilian NGO specializing in evidence-informed social interventions. Davi has coordinated and supported the development of several evidence syntheses, evidence maps, and other initiatives to promote evidence-informed decision-making and knowledge translation in Brazil. Davi has also worked as a research coordinator at the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and as a research consultant at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and at the Center for Effective Global Action – UC Berkeley (CEGA). He holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford, and a MSc in Social Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of São Paulo.

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