External Advisory Board
Anushka Patel, MBBS, SM, PHD, FRACP, FCSANZ - Board Chair
Anushka Patel, MBBS, SM, PHD, FRACP, FCSANZ, is a Professor of Medicine, UNSW Sydney and a cardiologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia. She undertook her medical training at the University of Queensland, with subsequent postgraduate research degrees from Harvard University and the University of Sydney.
As the vice-principal director and chief scientist at the George Institute for Global Health, she has a key role in developing and supporting research activities across the organisation. Her personal research interests focus on developing innovative solutions for delivering affordable and effective cardiovascular care in the community and in acute care hospital settings.
She currently leads research projects relating to these interests in a number of countries including Australia, China, India and Indonesia. She is supported by a Principal Research Fellowship from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Mary Bassett, MD, MPH
With more than 30 years of experience in public health, Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, has dedicated her career to advancing health equity. She is currently the Director of the Harvard François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights and the FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to joining the FXB Center, she served as New York City’s Commissioner of Health from 2014 to 2018.
Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH
Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH, is executive director of Ariadne Labs and a global expert on primary care policy and delivery. He previously served as director of Ariadne Labs’ Primary Health Care Program. He is a core founder of the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative, a partnership that includes the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation dedicated to transforming the global state of primary health care.
In his research, he has examined the rapid rise of chronic diseases throughout Polynesia, implemented global public health treaties to reduce the burden of tobacco use, and improved the measurement and delivery of primary care in Ghana, Costa Rica, and Estonia. A nationally recognized expert on US health policy, he also serves as a senior advisor for primary care policy at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
He practices primary care at Brigham and Women’s South Huntington clinic, a team-based primary care practice in Boston that he helped found. He is an assistant professor of medicine and health care policy at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
D. Prabhakaran MD, DM, MSc, FRCP, FNASc
D. Prabhakaran MD, DM, MSc, FRCP, FNASc, is a cardiologist and epidemiologist by training. He is an internationally renowned researcher and is currently the Vice President- Research & Policy, Public Health Foundation of India, Executive Director of Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, India and Professor (Epidemiology) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He heads the Centre for Control of Chronic Conditions at PHFI which is a joint initiative of four leading institutions (Public Health Foundation of India, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and Emory University). This center conducts cutting edge research in the prevention of chronic diseases in India and the developing world.
His work spans from mechanistic research to understand the causes for increased propensity of cardiovascular diseases among Indians, to developing solutions for cardiovascular disease through translational research and human resource development.
Karen Sliwa, MD, PhD, FESC, FACC, DTM&H
Karen Sliwa, MD, PhD, FESC, FACC, DTM&H, is widely recognised as a world expert in cardiovascular diseases, with a particular interest in reducing mortality in women with cardiovascular disease in maternity. She has contributed to better understanding on the pathophysiology, treatment options and awareness of peripartum cardiomyopathy, a global disease particularly prevalent in African populations. She leads several inter-Africa research projects, which have had a major impact for creating knowledge about cardiovascular diseases common in Africa, leading to changes in policy. Her considerable experience in setting up simple, cost-effective registries and web-based data entry platforms have had a major impact on planning several innovative research projects and has facilitated the training of physicians from several African countries. Her research from bed-to-bench-to-bedside population studies have led to a much better understanding of cardiovascular diseases in pregnant women and to improved care.
Over her distinguished career she has served in many notable roles, including that of President of the South African Heart Association (2014-2016) and as President of the World Heart Federation (2019-2020).