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)	Deadline for submission	IRC meeting (indicative dates)
~2mths prior	19 January 2021	8–19 March 2021
~2mths prior	4 May 2021	28 June–9 July 2021
~2mths prior	15 September 2021	8–19 Nov 2021

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	Borja Cuervo Alonso	Access to primary healthcare services in low resource settings; HSS; disaster risk reduction; emergency relief; support to refugees and IDPs
2	Beatriz Ayala-Öström	HSS, supply chain management and resilience, system investments for vaccine preventable pandemics, project management, implementation and evaluations
3	Saidou Pathé Barry	HSS, national health strategies, policy dialogue in the health sector, M&E, primary health care
4	Sabine Beckmann	Public health, community-based primary health care, routine and mass vaccination campaigns and supply chain management, M&E, technical assistance
5	Blaise Bikandou	HSS, policy development, vaccine preventable diseases, epidemiology, health programme management and administration
6	Francois Boilloit	Disease control, health system development and reform, health financing, development assistance for health
7	Brent Burkholder	Epidemiology, vaccine programmes and disease control, outbreak investigations
8	Diego Buriot	Public health interventions, communicable diseases, fragile and crisis settings
9	Lisa Cairns	Immunisation policy, epidemiology, M&R control, national immunisation programme reviews
10	Aleksandra Caric	Immunisation, vaccine safety and regulation, programme management and administration
11	Valerie Chambard	iSC Expert in vaccine management, EVM assessment and cold chain inventory and gap analysis
12	Dah Cheikh	Organization and management of vaccination programmes, HSS, vaccine campaigns, trainings
13	Sadia Chowdhury	Reproductive Health, HSS, child health services, programme delivery, M&E of health programmes
14	John Crump	Infectious diseases, epidemiology, outbreak responses, typhoid
15	Henrique D’Alva	Cold chain, EPI logistics
16	Teklay Desta	Managing immunization program, Vaccine Preventable Disease surveillance and outbreak investigation, New vaccine introduction and data management
17	Ousmane Dia	HSS, project/program management, capacity building, supply chain management of health commodities, vaccine and cold chain management
18	Modibo Dicko	Supply chain management, introducing innovative technologies, management systems and practices in health supply systems
19	Mohamed Dramé	HSS, health policy dialogue, process & impact evaluation, health financing, human resource for health, community health, immunization systems
20	Rene Dubbeldam	National health policies, essential medicines strategies, child health programmes, community health, epidemiology
21	Linda O'Neal Eckert	Infectious diseases, vaccine preventable disease policy and program development, epidemiology
22	Tene-Alima Essoh	Vaccine clinical development and advocacy for market access,HSS, new vaccine introduction, strategies addressing vaccine hesitancies and pharmacovigilance.
23	Peter Fonkwo	Health programme design and management, routine &mass campaigns vaccination, HSS, EPI M&E
24	Kate Gallagher	Infectious disease epidemiology and vaccine delivery
25	Djordie Gikic	HSS, proposal development, immunisation systems evaluation, service delivery, health policies
26	Melita Gordon	Gastroenterology, disease surveillance, typhoid, vaccine trials
27	John Grundy	Health policy, campaign delivery, HSS, programme evaluation
28	Bradley Hersh	Health policy, immunisation, outbreaks, campaigns, measles control
29	Natasha Howard	Health policy, social epidemiology, immunisation service delivery, fragile setting, strong academic background
30	Hector Izurieta	Immunisation campaign management, public health, measles control, epidemiology, policy making
31	Barbara Johnson	Public health laboratory assessments, diagnostic laboratory training, development differential diagnostic testing algorithms, improving diagnostic assays
32	Jean Rostand Kamga	Financial & budget analysis, management and governance, audits, financial investigations
33	Toagoe Karzon	Project funding, financial reporting and budget control, conducting audits
34	Tcha Landry Kaucley	Cold Chain, vaccine logistics, EPI monitoring & evaluation, public health management
35	Wassim Khrouf	Financial & budget analysis, audits, project assessment
36	Joses Kirigia	HSS efficiency and productivity analysis; costing and economic evaluation of public health programmes; analysis of economic burden of disease
37	Per Kronslev	Pharmaceutical supply chains serving public health
38	Stefano Lazzari	Outbreak, epidemic and emergency response, HSS, monitoring and evaluation, grant management
39	Dafrossa Lyimo	Immunisation campaign management, public health, health systems management, health policies, disease control
40	Tippi Mak	Vaccinology and scientific reviews for immunisation policy, safety and regulation. Late-phase vaccine development, epidemiologic research and primary care
41	Osman Mansoor	Immunisation programmes, epidemiology & monitoring, measles control, cold chain & logistics
42	Viviana Mangiaterra	Child health, epidemiology, HSS, immunisation programmes
43	Florian Marks	Public health, vaccinology and policy making, outbreak responses, campaign evaluations
44	Anne McArthur-Lloyd	NVS introduction; immunization system strengthening and assessment; training and community engagement
45	Scott McKeown	Epidemiology, information systems, health service delivery, immunization incl. campaigns, cold chain maintenance
46	Mark Miller	Epidemiology, vaccine research, public health, outbreak investigations, disease control
47	Kondwani Msampha	Financial & budget analysis, HSS, global health and integrated service delivery
48	Vittal Mogasale	Health and vaccine Economics, communicable diseases control, epidemiology, surveillance, advocacy and policy
49	Sandra Mounier-Jack	Immunisation programmes, health systems strengthening, HPV vaccine, measles elimination, health policy and health financing
50	Pierre Corneille Namahoro	Cold-chain logistics, health and pharmaceutical supply chain, HSS, project design and management, M&E and financial management
51	Alex Nartey	Health financing, public financial management, project management, funds and grants management
52	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
53	Mathieu Noirhomme	Public health, HSS, health policy dialogue, health financing, design thinking & service design, universal health coverage
54	Cornelius Oepen	HSS, urban health, health security, mass vaccination/campaigns, evaluation of research programmes
55	Jean Marc Olive	Immunisation programmes, emergency strategies & disaster relief, measles elimination
56	Bolanle Oyeledun	Health systems strengthening, MNCH, immunisation, adolescent reproductive health & HPV, programme assessments and evaluations
57	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
58	Michael Park	Programme management and evaluation, primary care, health systems and public health
59	Elisabeth Paul	Health systems and policies, health financing, universal health coverage, performance-based financing, aid effectiveness
60	Obed Philip	Procurement and supply chain management and governance, vaccines management and system design, public health logistics management
61	Giorgi Pkhakadze	Public health, HSS, project/program design, planning, M&E, control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, change management
62	Bastiaan Remmelzwaal	Cold chain and vaccine management, EVM assessments, Facility and Equipment Maintenance and Inventories and pharmaceutical supply chain management
63	Chandrakant Ruparelia	HSS, disease outbreak response, innovations to improve access to healthcare, and integration of health services, implementation of national guidelines, quality improvement
64	Helen Saxenian	Health financing, public financial management, costing, economic evaluation, public-private engagement in immunization, fiscal policies for health
65	Jim Setzer	Health information systems, HSS, disease surveillance, programme and policy planning, M&E, strategic planning
66	Craig Shapiro	Management of immunisation programmes, policy development, public health, cold chain evaluation, HSS activities
67	Simon (Sam) Sternin	Global health generalist, HSS, disaster management, coverage and equity, CSOs
68	Gavin Surgey	Health economics and financing; HSS; health technology assessment
69	Ousmane Amadou Sy	Financial and grant management; technical assistance; public health policy; program design/planning and implementation; health and community systems strengthening
70	Patricia Taylor	Routine immunization, new vaccine introduction, MNBCH, community and urban health, health information systems, capacity development
71	Joanne Thomson	Public health, gender equality, disability and social inclusion, development of humanitarian good practice standards, programme design and evaluation
72	Abdelmajid Tibouti	Financial & budget analysis, health economics, health financing strategies, monitoring and evaluation
73	Oyewale T. Tomori	Laboratory systems and support for infectious disease prevention, diagnosis and control
74	Vivien Tsu	Epidemiology, new public health interventions, women's reproductive health, HPV, JE
75	Beena Varghese	Evaluation of health interventions including cost and cost-effectiveness analysis; design of research methods for health systems analyses; and health financing
76	Margaret Watkins	Immunisation campaign management, epidemiology, public health interventions, outbreaks, evaluations
77	Karen Wilkins	Immunisation campaign management, proposals development, monitoring and evaluation, DQ assessments
78	Charles Shey Wiysonge	Vaccinology, HSS, vaccine hesitancy, epidemiology, systematic reviews, programme management
79	Aregai Woldegebriel	Epidemiology, SIA, MNCH, outbreaks, monitoring and evaluation