Media enquiries
The PHSSR brings together unmatched expertise, with leading specialists who are at the forefront of health research, policy, and innovation. If you want to hear more about our work or need comment or insight on areas of specialty addressed by the work of the PHSSR, we can connect you with leaders in the field.
The PHSSR Steering Committee is made up of representatives from each of the global level member organisations that have been selected based on their capabilities as leading academic, non-governmental, life sciences, healthcare, and business organisations. The biographies below provide details of the Steering Committee’s experience and areas of expertise for which they can provide comment.
The specialty areas covered by our Steering Committee include: Health system governance, financing, and workforce, medicines and technology, health service delivery, population health and environmental sustainability.
Alistair McGuire
Professor of Health Economics
London School of Economics
Expertise: Health system financing
Professor Alistair McGuire is Professor of Health Economics and Head of Department and Chair of Health Economics at the Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics.
He has pursued an interest in the economics of health care for over thirty years. His research covers all topics in health economics, including international comparisons, economics of the hospital, the public and private sector interface, cost-effectiveness analysis of health technologies, and health economics alongside clinical trials. He also has extensive teaching experience and has written numerous books, articles and reports, as well as been involved in major clinical trials as the lead health economist.
Alistair has acted as an advisor to several governments and governmental bodies, including the United Kingdom (UK) government, the UK Competition Commission, the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), the German Institut fur Qualität Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen (IQWiG), as well as for a number of international bodies (including the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the International Monetary Fund) and pharmaceutical and health insurance companies.
Prior to his current role he was Professor of Economics at City University, London, and a tutor in Economics at the University of Oxford. Alistair has also been a Visiting Professor at Harvard University, the University of Sydney, the University of York, and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.
Shyam Bishen
Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare; Member of the Executive Committee
World Economic Forum
Expertise: Health system financing, health system governance
Dr. Shyam Bishen is Head of the Centre for Health and Healthcare and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum.
As a senior healthcare executive he has over 25 years of global experience in healthcare public-private partnerships, strategy development, mergers and acquisitions and business development. He was previously a regional and deputy director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle for seven years where he was responsible for partnering to harness advances in healthcare to save lives. Before that, he spent more than 20 years in the private sector, including his role as vice president and general manager of Merck (MSD) in New Jersey where he headed up emerging markets strategy and innovation.
Shyam was previously an Assistant Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He earned a PhD from the University of Newcastle and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Moz Siddiqui
Director of Partnerships
WHO Foundation
Expertise: Workforce, technology, service delivery
Moz Siddiqui the Director of Partnerships at the WHO Foundation.
He is a global health innovator who works with the private sector to solve some of the world's most pressing health problems. As the Director of Partnerships at the WHO Foundation, he leads the development and implementation of innovative partnerships to accelerate progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
His expertise lies in adapting disruptive innovations such as drones, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain to solve global health challenges. He has worked on a wide range of projects, from using drones to deliver medical supplies in remote areas to using AI to predict outbreaks of disease.
Moz is a passionate advocate for using technology to improve the lives of people around the world. He believes that technology has the potential to save lives, improve health outcomes, and reduce the cost of healthcare. He is committed to working with the private sector, governments, and non-profits to bring innovative solutions to market.
Prior to joining the WHO Foundation, Moz led Private Sector Partnerships and Innovation at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. He has also worked in Bangladesh with Prof. Muhammed Yunus in incubating social businesses and in Pakistan on creating access to healthcare for low-income communities. He holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Global Health and Development.
Iskra Reic
Executive Vice President, International
AstraZeneca
Expertise: Health system financing, medicines and technology, health service delivery
Iskra Reic is the Executive Vice President for AstraZeneca, responsible for the company’s commercial operations.
Since joining AstraZeneca in 2001, Iskra has held a variety of in-market, regional sales and marketing, and general management roles. Her earlier roles included Head of Commercial Operations for Croatia and the Balkans and Head of Specialty Care for Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa. In 2014, she was appointed Country President for AstraZeneca Russia, leading it to become a top three prescription medicine pharmaceutical company. Iskra’s responsibilities expanded in 2016 to cover both Russia and the Eurasia area, where she led a 1500-strong team across this complex and dynamic region.
Iskra has an International Executive MBA from the IEDC-Bled School of Management in Slovenia and trained as a Doctor of dental surgery at the Medical University of Zagreb, Croatia. She is currently working to complete a PhD in Strategy and Leadership.
Jan-Willem Scheijgrond
Vice-President Government and Public Affairs
Philips
Expertise: Medicines and technology, health service delivery, population health, environmental sustainability
Jan-Willem Scheijgrond serves as Vice President Government and Public Affairs at Philips, where he heads up the global network within Philips.
He is responsible for relations with governments and related stakeholders to address societal challenges, in particular the impact of increasing geopolitical tensions, trade, digital transformation, and the transformation towards a more resilient and sustainable health system. He is also responsible for partnerships with international organisations such as the United Nations, intergovernmental partnerships and served as Commissioner on the Reproductive Justice Partnership of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) ensuring follow up on the ICPD25 commitments. He is also Chair of the United Nations Global Compact Netherlands.
Jan-Willem started his career at the United Nations Environment Program where he developed best practice guides relating to cleaner production for emerging markets. Subsequently, he held a number of sustainability and government affairs related functions at the BLC Leather Confederation, Epson, and Hewlett-Packard. He then joined Philips in 2009 as Senior Director within the Corporate Sustainability Office and held responsibility for risk and reputation management.
Jan-Willem holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Technology from Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
Syaru Shirley Lin
Chair of the Board
Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI)
Expertise: Health system governance, health system financing
Syaru Shirley Lin is the founder and chair of CAPRI (the PHSSR Asia-Pacific Regional Hub since early 2023 and coordinating country reports in the region), research professor at the Miller Center, a non-resident senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution and teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Her book, Taiwan’s China Dilemma, analyses the impact of the evolution of Taiwanese national identity on cross-Strait economic policy. Lin is currently writing a book on the challenges facing high-income societies in Asia-Pacific, including inequality, demographic decline, inadequate policy and technological innovation, and threats to public health and environmental sustainability. Her commentaries frequently appear in both English and Chinese media. Previously, she was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where she led the firm’s private equity and venture capital efforts in Asia, where she led the firm's private and venture capital efforts in 12 countries in Asia Pacific, with a focus on technology in China.
She joined the World Economic Forum affiliate session “Collaborating to Build Resilient and Sustainable Health Systems” on 25 May 2022, in Davos, discussing the need for economic prioritization of health infrastructure and the contributions of the Asia-Pacific in global supply chains and global resilience.
During the PHSSR 2022 Global Summit, she moderated the panel on “Future-proofing healthcare systems through data and digitalization.” The discussion included leading experts from academia, government, and the private sector exploring different avenues to enhance the resilience of healthcare systems worldwide by using data and technology.
Shirley currently serves as a director of Langham Hospitality Investments, Goldman Sachs Asia Bank, TE Connectivity and MediaTek. She is also a director of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, which supports the development and adoption of new therapeutic medical technologies, and an advisor to the O’Neill-Lancet Commission on Racism and Structural Discrimination and Global Health. Her background in finance and research on innovation has exposed her to the numerous challenges surrounding health system financing and governance, which she has applied to the PHSSR project for the past 18 months.
Shirley graduated, cum laude, from Harvard College and after retiring from Goldman Sachs, and earned her Masters and Doctorate from the University of Hong Kong.