The Conference Scientific Committee coordinates the development of the scientific programme of The Union World Conference on Lung Health.
Professor Katharina Kranzer is a clinical microbiologist and epidemiologist. Katharina is currently based in Zimbabwe, a high TB/HIV and MDR-TB burden country, where she leads several TB focused studies on diagnostics, transmission, comorbidities, rehabilitation and social protection. She has a keen interest in capacity building both with regards to laboratory and research capacity.
Katharina leads two large fellowship programs across six African countries funded by the Wellcome Trust and EDCTP focused on PhDs and postdocs. From 2015-2018, she directed the National and Supranational TB Reference Laboratory (SRL) in Germany. In her capacity as SRL Director she supported training, quality control and drug resistance surveys in several Central Asian and African countries.
Conference Scientific Committee members
Members have a two year term and will serve on the committee for 2025 and 2026.
| Name | Key expertise | Gender | Region |
| Katharina Kranzer (Chair) | Clinical microbiologist, physician, epidemiologist, diagnostics, screening | F | Africa |
|
Anete Trajman (local representative) |
Internal Medicine, TB Researcher with focus on Prevention, Diagnosis and Implementation Science | F | South America |
| Chidimma Ezeobi (TB section) |
Digital Health Specialist, TB /HIV, implementation research |
F | Africa |
| Melanie Dubois (Adult and Child Lung Health section) | Pediatric ID physician, epidemiology, implementation science | F | North America |
| Jyoti Mathad (HIV section) | Obstetrician, immunologist | F | North America |
| Garima Bhatt (Tobacco Control Section) | Public health researcher, Tobacco cessation, advocacy, policy | F | Europe |
| Finn McQuaid | Mathematical modeller | M | Europe |
| Hojoon Sohn | Health Economist, diagnostics, epidemiologist | M | South-East Asia |
| Sarah Bernays | Social scientist, vulnerable populations, implementation science | F | Asia-Pacific |
| Sadia Shakoor | Microbiologist | F | South-East Asia |
| Julio Croda | TB transmission (geospatial), prisons, vaccines | M | Latin America |
| Joseph Baluku | Chronic pulmonary disease incl NCDs | M | Africa |
| Pranay Sinha | Physician, epidemiologist, health economist, nutrition | M | North America |
| Justin Denholm | Physician, clinical research, ethics, policy | M | Asia-Pacific |
| Celso Khosa | TB diagnostics, implementation science, digital health/AI for TB screening and decision support | M | Africa |
| Zahedul Islam | UCAP representative | M | Europe |
| Kobto Koura | Director, Union TB Department | M | Europe |