Independent Review Committee

Key characteristics

Since its inception, the structure and composition of the Gavi IRC have been considered effective due to key characteristics:

the committee relies upon a wide range of experts in public health, epidemiology, development, finance and economics
the committee is based on a system of peer review
the committee is independent

Governance and legal structures

The Gavi Board

The IRC is directly accountable to the Gavi Board and communicates its recommendations to the Gavi Board. The Gavi Board makes the ultimate decision on whether to approve the funding of new country grants. The Gavi Board also has the responsibility for communicating its decision to countries, via the Gavi Secretariat.

Keeping in mind the realistic planning timelines, countries should target a submission deadline that meets their implementation timelines.

New proposals IRC

The mandate of the new proposals IRC is to review each application for all types of new support, to enable a more holistic view of the broad portfolio of support Gavi provides to countries, rather than looking at each new application in isolation from the others, and to make recommendations to the Gavi Board.

This review should consider the information available to countries within current guidelines and application forms and ensure that any new proposal contributes to achieving:

the Gavi mission - ‘To save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries’
the Gavi's strategic goals

It also ensures that each new application for support complies with the eligibility criteria, established according to the Gavi guidelines for new proposals of support.

Round opening (on the portal)	2023 Deadline for submission	2023 IRC meeting (indicative dates)
~2mths prior	17 January	13–24 March
~2mths prior	18 April	19–30 June
~2mths prior	18 July	19–29 September
~2mths prior	3 October	27 Nov – 8 Dec

IRC Membership

Members of the Independent Review Committee consist of specialists from a broad range of expertise.

IRC members generally serve a term of three years. This term may be renewed for another period of up to 3 years. Upon reaching the second term limit IRC members will not be eligible to serve on the IRC for at least 1 year. During their term IRC members may be called upon to serve on the IRC for review of country plans or requests for extensions for which he or she has specific relevant skills.

Terms of Reference for the IRC

Range of expertise

The increasing complexity of new proposals and the subsequent grant monitoring requires an IRC with a broad range of expertise in areas such as:

Routine immunisation programmes, especially at country level
Management of campaigns
Delivery of health services including child and adolescent health
Health systems strengthening and management
Epidemiology and disease control
Cold chain and logistics
Financial and budget analysis
Gender and equity

The IRC should also consist of technical experts knowledgeable on the developing country context and relevant issues, including in a variety of fields related to immunisation and health systems, and who have practical experience working in or with developing country governments, civil society, and other partners in those contexts. In addition, the IRC should be geographically diverse, with a male and female representation consistent with Gavi’s Gender Policy and Guidelines on the Gavi Board Gender Balance.

Each IRC member is asked to sign a confidentiality and conflict of interest statement and will not come from Vaccine Alliance partner agencies, and have not taken part in technical assistance to or pre-review processes of country applications.

Biographies of the IRC members

List of IRC pool members

	Name	Areas of expertise
1	Zenaw Adam	HSS, innovative strategies, data quality, project management, human capacity building, MCH, NVS/epidemiology, measles
2	Borja Cuervo Alonso	Access to primary healthcare services in low resource settings; HSS; disaster risk reduction; emergency relief; support to refugees and IDPs
3	Alvaro Alonso Garbayo	Health systems development, immunization, NGOs, fragile countries, cholera outbreaks, humanitarian health
4	Beatriz Ayala-Öström	HSS, supply chain management and resilience, system investments for vaccine preventable pandemics, project management, implementation and evaluations
5	Andrew Azman	Infectious disease epidemiology, cholera, hepatitis E, water and sanitation related diseases, infectious disease dynamics, vaccine study design, seroepidemiology
6	Saidou Pathé Barry	HSS, national health strategies, policy dialogue in the health sector, M&E, primary health care
7	Sabine Beckmann	Public health, community-based primary health care, routine and mass vaccination campaigns and supply chain management, M&E, technical assistance
8	Blaise Bikandou	HSS, policy development, vaccine preventable diseases, epidemiology, health programme management and administration
9	Francois Boilloit	Disease control, health system development and reform, health financing, development assistance for health
10	Diego Buriot	Public health interventions, communicable diseases, fragile and crisis settings
11	Brent Burkholder	Epidemiology, vaccine programmes and disease control, outbreak investigations
12	Lisa Cairns	Immunisation policy, epidemiology, M&R control, national immunisation programme reviews
13	Aleksandra Caric	Immunisation, vaccine safety and regulation, programme management and administration
14	Valerie Chambard	iSC Expert in vaccine management, EVM assessment and cold chain inventory and gap analysis
15	Rochika Chaudhry	Primary Health Care, outbreaks, epidemics and emergency response, malaria, health finance, health policy and planning, M&E
16	Dah Cheikh	Organization and management of vaccination programmes, HSS, vaccine campaigns, trainings
17	Sadia Chowdhury	Reproductive Health, HSS, child health services, programme delivery, M&E of health programmes
18	John Crump	Infectious diseases, epidemiology, outbreak responses, typhoid
19	Henrique D’Alva	Cold chain, EPI logistics
20	Teklay Desta	Managing immunization program, Vaccine Preventable Disease surveillance and outbreak investigation, New vaccine introduction and data management
21	Ousmane Dia	HSS, project/program management, capacity building, supply chain management of health commodities, vaccine and cold chain management
22	Mohamed Dramé	HSS, health policy dialogue, process & impact evaluation, health financing, human resource for health, community health, immunization systems
23	Rene Dubbeldam	National health policies, essential medicines strategies, child health programmes, community health, epidemiology
24	Linda O'Neal Eckert	Infectious diseases, vaccine preventable disease policy and program development, epidemiology
25	Ogijo Arome Emmanuel	Compliance, financial management, risk management, operations
26	Emmanuelle Espié	Infectious diseases epidemiology, outbreak investigation and response, epidemic preparedness, vaccinology, vaccine effectiveness and safety, capacities building in LMIC
27	Tene-Alima Essoh	Vaccine clinical development and advocacy for market access,HSS, new vaccine introduction, strategies addressing vaccine hesitancies and pharmacovigilance.
28	Peter Fonkwo	Health programme design and management, routine &mass campaigns vaccination, HSS, EPI M&E
29	Kate Gallagher	Infectious disease epidemiology and vaccine delivery
30	Eleonora Genovese	Health specialist, HSS expert in conflict countries, hard-to-reach communities, epidemics
31	Djordie Gikic	HSS, proposal development, immunisation systems evaluation, service delivery, health policies
32	Melita Gordon	Gastroenterology, disease surveillance, typhoid, vaccine trials
33	John Grundy	Health policy, campaign delivery, HSS, programme evaluation
34	Eusèbe Hounsokou	Emergency programmes, refugee health/conflict settings, ebola, equity
35	Natasha Howard	Health policy, social epidemiology, immunisation service delivery, fragile setting, strong academic background
36	Yilchini Ishaku	Cold chain and vaccine logistics management, routine immunization, new vaccine introduction, EVM, HSS
37	Hector Izurieta	Immunisation campaign management, public health, measles control, epidemiology, policy making
38	Philippe Jaillard	Health system strengthening, health and immunization supply chain management, new vaccine introduction, training and educational engineering
39	Barbara Johnson	Public health laboratory assessments, diagnostic laboratory training, development differential diagnostic testing algorithms, improving diagnostic assays
40	Jean Rostand Kamga	Financial & budget analysis, management and governance, audits, financial investigations
41	Toagoe Karzon	Project funding, financial reporting and budget control, conducting audits
42	Henry Stanley Katamba	Infectious and non-communicable diseases epidemiology incl. malaria, M&E of health programmes; strategic partnerships, health research and advisory
43	Tcha Landry Kaucley	Cold Chain, vaccine logistics, EPI monitoring & evaluation, public health management
44	Wassim Khrouf	Financial & budget analysis, audits, project assessment
45	Joses Kirigia	HSS efficiency and productivity analysis; costing and economic evaluation of public health programmes; analysis of economic burden of disease
46	Per Kronslev	Pharmaceutical supply chains serving public health
47	Stefano Lazzari	Outbreak, epidemic and emergency response, HSS, monitoring and evaluation, grant management
48	Dominique Legros	Epidemiology of infectious diseases (incl. cholera), surveillance, vaccinology, operational research, management of outbreaks and of complex emergencies
49	Rose Leke	Immunology of parasitic infections, particularly malaria. Global Health, HSS, training of the next generation of scientists
50	Dafrossa Lyimo	Immunisation campaign management, public health, health systems management, health policies, disease control
51	Tippi Mak	Vaccinology and scientific reviews for immunisation policy, safety and regulation. Late-phase vaccine development, epidemiologic research and primary care
52	Viviana Mangiaterra	Child health, epidemiology, HSS, immunisation programmes
53	Osman Mansoor	Immunisation programmes, epidemiology & monitoring, measles control, cold chain & logistics
54	Florian Marks	Public health, vaccinology and policy making, outbreak responses, campaign evaluations
55	Jean-Pierre Matwanga	Budgeting, financial management, procurement, portfolio/project management, grant management
56	Anne McArthur-Lloyd	NVS introduction; immunization system strengthening and assessment; training and community engagement
57	Mark Miller	Epidemiology, vaccine research, public health, outbreak investigations, disease control
58	Abdul-Aziz Mohammed	Immunization Supply Chain with expertise in vaccine Management; cold chain planning and supply chain strengthening; vaccine management and cold chain assessment
59	Nkengafac Villyen Motaze	Vaccinology, infectious disease epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, systematic reviews, evidence-based practice and pharmaco-epidemiology
60	Sandra Mounier-Jack	Immunisation programmes, health systems strengthening, HPV vaccine, measles elimination, health policy and health financing
61	Kondwani Msampha	Financial & budget analysis, HSS, global health and integrated service delivery
62	Pierre Corneille Namahoro	Cold-chain logistics, health and pharmaceutical supply chain, HSS, project design and management, M&E and financial management
63	Alex Nartey	Health financing, public financial management, project management, funds and grants management
64	Sophie Newland	Health technology evaluation and introduction; cold chain equipment inventory and maintenance data management; and healthcare waste management systems
65	Benjamin Nkowane	Vaccine preventable disease programmes, implementation of mass vaccination campaigns, technical support for field operations in security risk areas, epidemiology and reproductive/sexual health
66	Mathieu Noirhomme	Public health, HSS, health policy dialogue, health financing, design thinking & service design, universal health coverage
67	Cornelius Oepen	HSS, urban health, health security, mass vaccination/campaigns, evaluation of research programmes
68	Abiola Ayodeji Ojumu	Child health and immunisation programs,HSS, strategic planning and health policy development, supply chain management,NVS introduction planning and execution
69	Jean Marc Olive	Immunisation programmes, emergency strategies & disaster relief, measles elimination
70	Walter Orenstein	Assessment of vaccine effectiveness, vaccine hesitancy&enhance uptake, polio eradication and measles elimination
71	Edward Ouko	Auditing and public financial management, governance, monitoring and evaluation
72	Bolanle Oyeledun	Health systems strengthening, MNCH, immunisation, adolescent reproductive health & HPV, programme assessments and evaluations
73	Femi Oyewole	Role of laboratories in disease control at various levels of health care delivery. Designing, implementing and evaluating activities in the area of vaccine-preventable diseases
74	Jean-Paul Paolo	Supply chain management, cold chain logistics, vaccines management, EVMA, e-LMIS, waste management, supply chain costing
75	Michael Park	Programme management and evaluation, primary care, health systems and public health
76	Elisabeth Paul	Health systems and policies, health financing, universal health coverage, performance-based financing, aid effectiveness
77	Obed Philip	Procurement and supply chain management and governance, vaccines management and system design, public health logistics management
78	Giorgi Pkhakadze	Public health, HSS, project/program design, planning, M&E, control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, change management
79	Robert Pond	HSS, NVS, validation of immunization coverage estimates, assessment/reinforcement of countries’ approaches to data quality assurance
80	Susan Rackstraw	Health strategy, design, policy and program implementation in fragile and emergency settings, planning, budgeting and financial management, establishment and review of policy and governance mechanisms, HSS
81	Bastiaan Remmelzwaal	Cold chain and vaccine management, EVM assessments, Facility and Equipment Maintenance and Inventories and pharmaceutical supply chain management
82	Chandrakant Ruparelia	HSS, disease outbreak response, innovations to improve access to healthcare, and integration of health services, implementation of national guidelines, quality improvement
83	Helen Saxenian	Health financing, public financial management, costing, economic evaluation, public-private engagement in immunization, fiscal policies for health
84	Soleine Scotney	Health and immunisation systems strengthening, PHC (including infectious diseases, MCH), vaccine market dynamics, supply chain management, health programme implementation, policy development, budgeting, M&E
85	Jim Setzer	Health information systems, HSS, disease surveillance, programme and policy planning, M&E, strategic planning
86	Mario Stassen	Immunization supply chain logistics (iSCL) and Cold chain logistics, quality assurance incl. vaccines, health systems strengthening and management, bridging the gap between strategy and operations
87	Simon (Sam) Sternin	Global health generalist, HSS, disaster management, coverage and equity, CSOs
88	Gavin Surgey	Health economics and financing; HSS; health technology assessment
89	Ousmane Amadou Sy	Financial and grant management; technical assistance; public health policy; program design/planning and implementation; health and community systems strengthening
90	Patricia Taylor	Routine immunization, new vaccine introduction, MNBCH, community and urban health, health information systems, capacity development
91	Joanne Thomson	Public health, gender equality, disability and social inclusion, development of humanitarian good practice standards, programme design and evaluation
92	Abdelmajid Tibouti	Financial & budget analysis, health economics, health financing strategies, monitoring and evaluation
93	Oyewale Tomori	Laboratory systems and support for infectious disease prevention, diagnosis and control
94	Vivien Tsu	Epidemiology, new public health interventions, women's reproductive health, HPV, JE
95	Beena Varghese	Evaluation of health interventions including cost and cost-effectiveness analysis; design of research methods for health systems analyses; and health financing
96	Margaret Watkins	Immunisation campaign management, epidemiology, public health interventions, outbreaks, evaluations
97	Erika Wichro	Pandemic preparedness planning and outbreak response, HSS, re-emerging infectious diseases, risk assessment, ebola, polio, measles, malaria, public health, strategic crisis management, epidemiology
98	Charles Shey Wiysonge	Vaccinology, HSS, vaccine hesitancy, epidemiology, systematic reviews, programme management
99	Aregai Woldegebriel	Epidemiology, SIA, MNCH, outbreaks, monitoring and evaluation