Alliance News
AI and Health Behavior Change: Promise and Reality in LMICs
As the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to expand across industries, its potential to revolutionize health behavior change programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is becoming a focal point of global health conversations. Join us on December 3 for “Smart Health, Smart Choices: Leveraging AI for Behavior Change in Global Health,” organized by the Alliance in collaboration with Population Services International (PSI). The hybrid event, held at the Microsoft Africa Development Centre in Nairobi, will serve as the final convening of the Alliance’s 2024 AI and Global Health Discussion Series. The event will bring together practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to examine when and how AI and SBC can be most effectively and responsibly deployed in LMICs.
Alliance’s Initiative on Strengthening Multi-Sector Partnerships Seeks Participants in Nov. 12 Design Workshop
On November 12, the Alliance will convene a virtual design workshop to test tools that enhance partnership effectiveness and gather feedback from selected participants. The session, open to 2-3 multi-sector partnerships involving three or more organizations, will provide a space for partners to prototype the tools, discuss their applicability, and refine them for their own use, and broader use. Ideal partnerships to participate will represent organizations from different sectors—such as government, civil society, and private industry—working together to improve health outcomes in marginalized communities.
PATH, Pfizer, and the Bay Area Global Health Alliance Partner to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance in Senegal and Tanzania Using an Outcomes-Based Financing Mechanism
During the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2024 Annual Meeting, PATH, in partnership with the Bay Area Global Health Alliance and Pfizer, announced a Commitment to Action: Outcomes-Based Financing as a Tool to Curb AMR in LMICs. This commitment aims to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and incentivize antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) through an innovative outcomes-based financing mechanism.
Exploring How Generative AI Can Be Used to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals, on the sidelines of UNGA 79 and Climate Week
As global leaders gathered in New York for UNGA 79 and Climate Week in September to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain at the forefront of the global agenda, on the sidelines, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, Accenture, NetHope, the Society for International Development United States, and the United Nations Association–National Capital Area co-hosted an evening networking reception on September 24 that explored how the SDGs can be advanced through Generative AI (GenAI).
Mpox Outbreak Declared a Global Emergency, Alliance Members Take Action
“World health leaders must deploy rapid support and flexible funding to countries affected in Africa to stop mpox from spreading further,” wrote Vanessa Kerry, Seed Global Health.
In response to the mid-August declaration by WHO that mpox is a global emergency, Alliance member organizations are mobilizing.
UNGA 79 and Climate Week | Acting Together to Shape the Development of Our Future, Alliance Members Gather in NYC
In September 2024, the United Nations General Assembly will convene in New York to confront complex global challenges during its 79th session (UNGA 79). Included in the high-level agenda is the Summit of the Future, as well as High-Level Meetings on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the existential threats posed by sea-level rise. In parallel, Climate Week will bring together over 600 events and activities across NYC, with Nature, Food Systems and Health as a key theme. The Bay Area Global Health Alliance and many of its members will be in NYC to take part in the action that is shaping the development of our future.
New Report on Narrowing the Know-Do Gap, Exploring the Intersection of Implementation Science and Health Equity
Considerable advancements and significant investments in global health have marked recent years; yet numerous evidence-based interventions continue to fall short of their full potential. By leveraging the multidisciplinary and multi-sector strength of its members, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance explored these challenges through the lens of implementation science in our new insights report. The project engaged nearly 150 global health leaders across various disciplines and sectors to inform and enhance the design, implementation, and scalability of health solutions.
Empowering Frontline Health Workers with AI: Navigating Pitfalls and Possibilities
On June 25, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance hosted its third virtual convening on AI and Global Health, bringing together leaders from diverse sectors to explore how artificial intelligence has the potential to support these essential workers and facilitate care at the last mile.
Building Bridges, Uniting for Impact: 2024 Annual Meeting
“Global health really is a team effort,” said Colin Boyle, Alliance board chair and Lecturer at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, opening the Bay Area Global Health Alliance’s 4th Annual Meeting, where multisectoral members convened on May 21 to discuss bridging gaps and enhancing collaborative efforts across various sectors to tackle pressing health issues worldwide.
Global Health Career Panel
The path to a career in global health is rarely straightforward. This theme emerged during a panel discussion hosted by Stanford University and the Bay Area Global Health Alliance on May 15. The event featured professionals from the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, Roche Diagnostics, PATH, Google, and Stanford, who shared their unique career journeys. Moderator Sara Anderson, and panelists Joanna Sickler, Neha Agarwal, Claudia Amar, and Cyan Brown came from diverse backgrounds in politics and advocacy, business, engineering, nursing, and medicine.
Navigating Imperfect Data: Challenges and Solutions for AI-Powered Healthcare in Low-Resource Settings
On Thursday, May 9 the Bay Area Global Health Alliance hosted their second convening of the 2024 Discussion Series on AI and Global Health. The convening offered insights from thought leaders, innovators, and changemakers who are navigating the potential of AI to power a dynamic shift to prioritize service delivery over data collection.
A Vision of Equity for All: The Alliance Joins UC Davis Grand Challenges and Healthy Davis Together to Develop a Blueprint for Equitable Pandemic Response
View UC Davis' Pandemic Preparedness Roadmap website page. Among the many lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States was an understanding of the critical need for collaborative, multisector responses to emerging health concerns. The response in the United...
Optimizing Multi-Sector Partnerships to Accelerate Health Equity
Considerable advancements—and significant investments—have been made in global health. Numerous evidence-based interventions, however, fail to reach their full potential, hindered by systemic barriers that can exacerbate health inequities. The Bay Area Global Health Alliance, (the Alliance) recently undertook a study to leverage the multidisciplinary, multi-sector strength of its members to address these challenges through the lens of implementation science.
AI Demystified: Practical Insights and Real-World Applications
On Wednesday, February 28 the Bay Area Global Health Alliance hosted AI Demystified: Practical Insights and Real-World Applications, the first virtual convening in its AI (artificial intelligence) and global health discussion series. The discussion explored how Alliance members PATH, Pendulum, and Viamo overcame challenges and leveraged AI’s transformative power to increase their global health impact.
AI & Global Health Discussion Series
About the Alliance’s AI and Global Health Series: The intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Global Health holds enormous potential to revolutionize healthcare, improve access to medical services, and address global health challenges. Leveraging AI...
Decolonizing Healthcare Innovation with Dr. Matthew Harris
On Thursday, January 25, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance joined Alliance member Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign in co-hosting Dr. Matthew Harris, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Public Health Medicine and Honorary National Health Service Consultant in Public Health Medicine at Imperial College London, to discuss his newly released book, Decolonizing Healthcare Innovation: Low-Cost Solutions from Low-Income Countries.
Fireside Chat with Raj Panjabi
Dr. Raj Panjabi, a prominent physician, entrepreneur, and former White House official, shared his rich experiences and insights with the global health community at a fireside chat hosted by the Bay Area Global Health Alliance at Accenture’s San Francisco office on January 10. The chat and reception immediately followed the Alliance’s rich panel on healthcare in emerging markets held at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference: Reimagining Healthcare in Emerging Markets: The Future of Healthcare Innovation and Investment
On Wednesday, January 10, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance hosted a panel discussion, Reimagining Healthcare in Emerging Markets: The Future of Healthcare Innovation and Investment at the renowned J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
The State of the Alliance 2023
As 2023 comes to a close, we reflect on what the Bay Area Global Health Alliance has accomplished, how we have shifted to meet the moments and our members’ needs, and where we need to go to advance global health equity and innovation.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi Awarded First-Ever Bay Area Global Health Alliance Leadership Award
On Monday, October 30, 2023, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi received the first-ever Bay Area Global Health Alliance Leadership Award for her unwavering HIV/AIDS response leadership and contributions to advancing global health and equity throughout her career.
Insights to Action: Ideation on Implementation for Equity Convening
Too often, promising health interventions do not reach the world’s most vulnerable or are not effectively adapted to community needs and constraints, resulting in critical needs remaining unmet and growing health inequity. On Thursday, October 26, 2023, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance’s Insights to Action event explored practical solutions to close the gap between what we know and what we do, using the lens of implementation science to advance health equity.
The Alliance Joins Leaders at White House Roundtable on AI and Health
Last week Sara Anderson, Executive Director of the Alliance, was honored to be part of the White House Roundtable on AI and Health. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy convened a distinguished group of leaders from across sectors to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) can be safely deployed to improve health outcomes, with a special breakout session on the use of AI to improve public health and global health. To prepare for the meeting, the Alliance sought input from our multi-sector members and key stakeholders on what three-four points they would make if they were at the table.
Exploring the Intersection of Implementation Science + Health Equity
Too often, promising health interventions do not reach the world’s most vulnerable communities or are not effectively adapted to community needs and constraints, resulting in significant unmet needs and growing health inequity. The Bay Area Global Health Alliance, as a multi-sector network and trusted, neutral convener, seeks to better understand this problem and propose practical solutions to close the gap between what we know and what we do, using the lens of implementation science, in order to advance health equity.
UNGA 78 | Historic Convening of Three High-Level Meetings on Health, Members Gather in NYC
For the first time, the UN General Assembly will convene three High-Level Meetings on ending tuberculosis (TB), delivering universal health coverage (UHC) and strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response during its 78th session (UNGA 78) in New York in September 2023. To elevate and advocate for global health, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance will be attending UNGA 78, along with Alliance members.
Jaime Sepúlveda, Global Health Pioneer, Steps Down
UCSF Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics Jaime Sepúlveda is stepping down as executive director of UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences, which he has led for the last 12 years. “It has been a true honor to serve with Jaime. We are deeply grateful to him, not just for his great achievements in global health and his support for the Alliance from its initial conception, but also for the support and mentorship he has provided so many, myself included,” said Colin Boyle, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and chair of the Alliance Board of Directors.
New Alliance Board Members
The Alliance is pleased to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors. Jeremy Alberga is the program development and strategy director with UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences. Natasha Sunderji is the global health and nutrition lead for Accenture’s social impact practice, Accenture Development Partnerships. She also co-leads Accenture’s Health Equity Center of Excellence.
Connecting the Last Mile to the Global Health Community
“When you talk about the last mile, we are truly at the very last mile. As a rural hospital in Zimbabwe, we don’t often get the chance to interact with global health organizations to identify ways we can partner, share learnings, and deepen our impact. Being a member of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance has enabled us to connect with leaders in global health and share our work in a way we haven’t before.” – Major Mereki, Head, Chidamoyo Christian Hospital. Spring outreach resulted in new partnerships with Alliance members MedShare and Fistula Foundation for the rural hospital to improve the delivery of maternal healthcare to Chidamoyo’s rural, last-mile patients.
Salient Advisory on Innovations in Digitizing Health Supply Chains in Africa
On August 8, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance hosted Salient Advisory for a presentation on the findings from their latest market intelligence report that provided insights on funding trends, uptake of digital supply chain solutions by governments, the diverse range of identified supply chain solutions, and more. The report is the first pan-African landscape of health supply chain innovators on the continent and tracks nearly 350 technology-enabled innovators digitizing supply chain processes in Africa.
An Alliance Conversation with Baraka Impact Finance: The Role for Private Sector Capital in The Funding of Global Health Solutions
On July 20 at UCSF, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance hosted Baraka Impact Finance for a conversation on innovative financing for global health in emerging markets. The discussion highlighted the potential of private capital to drive impactful health solutions, the growing interest in impact-focused investments, and the need for greater collaboration between investors, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits to address the challenges faced in global health financing.
Health Equity, AI, and Partnership: 2023 Annual Meeting Highlights
“The ambitious agenda [of Africa CDC’s Digital Transformation Strategy] over such a huge continent cannot be achieved unless every available resource is harnessed. And that can only be done through cross-collaboration partnerships,” said Africa CDC’s Chief Digital Health Adviser, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, at the Bay Area Global Health Alliance annual meeting on June 6. Attending were more than 125 members and guests, both online and in person at UCSF.
WHA76 | Opportunity to Bolster Global R&D Capacity, Members Go to Geneva
“This year’s World Health Assembly represents a pivotal moment to advance policy reforms to deliver a more fit-for-purpose, equitable research and development (R&D) ecosystem,” stated the Global Health Technologies Coalition. To accelerate global health innovation and deliver health for all, they recommend WHO member states “take collective action now to establish more inclusive, globally distributed R&D systems and approaches.”
Celebrating Bay Area Global Health Leaders
At the 2023 Consortium of Universities in Global Health (CUGH) meeting, two Bay Area Global Health Alliance members were honored for their extended commitment to the field of global health. Dr. Michele Barry, Stanford’s senior associate dean of global health, was given the Distinguished Leadership Award for her extraordinary contributions to global health. It is the highest honor given by CUGH. Michael Reid, assistant professor of medicine, UCSF, co-director of STRIPE, and director of the IGHS Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, was presented with the Thomas Hall-Nelson Sewankambo Mid-Career Leadership Award.
Maternal Health: Optimizing Safe Delivery Roundtable Discussion
More than 4.5 million women and babies die annually during or immediately after childbirth, according to a recent United Nations report. Most of these deaths are preventable with access to quality care. The Bay Area Global Health Alliance, together with Merck for Mothers, convened a small group of members in April 2023 to discuss the challenges and opportunities of ensuring safe delivery in both urban and rural impoverished communities.
Recent Presentation by Friends of Chidamoyo to the Stanford Global Health Club
The Alliance welcomed Dr. Major Mereki, director of Alliance member Chidamoyo Hospital in northwest Zimbabwe, with a series of meetings, including a presentation through Stanford University’s Center for Innovation in Global Health to Stanford University’s Global Health Club of postdoc students and Stanford faculty. The conversation included insights into how a hospital in an extremely remote area manages to serve an impoverished community of 70,000 through power outages, currency risk, limited staff, and limited resources.
Informal Gathering of Partners to Discuss Rural Healthcare Delivery
The Alliance hosted an informal gathering of members including: Fistula Foundation, Kapnek Trust Zimbabwe, Friends of Chidamoyo, UC Berkeley, UCSF Bixby Center for Reproductive Health, Stanford University, and Viamo to share experiences in rural healthcare delivery. Digital innovations such as the Butterfly Ultrasound device, which attaches to a cell phone and provides access to specialists for image analysis, were discussed as critical for low-resources settings.
WHO Tech Task Force and Bay Area Global Health Alliance Joint Meeting
On February 15, the Alliance hosted a meeting marking the third anniversary of the formation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tech Task Force. Representatives from Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon and other tech companies joined Alliance members for networking and short presentations by Andy Pattison, Team Lead Digital Channels, WHO and his esteemed WHO colleagues, Drs. Ruediger Krech, Director, Health Promotion and Vinayak Prasad, Program Manager.
African Health-Tech and Supply Chains: How Innovations Can Accelerate Health Access and Equity
“Locally tailored innovations are showing immense promise to yield benefits for healthcare in African and other low- and middle-income countries,” writes Friends of the Global Fight in its insights report stemming from a convening of African health supply-chain innovators discussing how supply chains can deliver equitable access to health.
PSI Plenary at the Global Digital Health Forum 2022
Alliance member Population Services International (PSI) hosted a Global Digital Health Forum session on strengthening the role of social media in advancing global health. The session featured Christine Odour – PSI, Andy Pattison – World Health Organization, Erin Nilon – Johnson & Johnson, and Gladys Mugambi – Ministry of Health in Kenya. Hema Budaraju, Senior Director of Product – Health and Social Impact, Google Search and Board Co-Vice Chair of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance moderated the discussion.
Highlights from 2022 | Growth and Impact of our Multi-Sector Alliance
Together with your engagement, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance has had a busy and productive year. Below you will find highlights, which we believe speak to our ability as a community to identify and advance opportunities to promote global health equity and innovation. As always, we welcome your feedback and continued involvement as we work to accelerate our collective health impact around the world.
Preventing the Next Pandemic: A Roundtable Discussion
On November 15, UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences and the Bay Area Global Health Alliance co-hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on how to prevent the next pandemic. The online conversation featured award-winning science writer and author Laurie Garrett and other colleagues.
A Fireside Chat on Youth, Mental Health and Digital Innovation at YTH Live Global 2022
Alliance member ETR’s YTH Live Global conference gives leaders in public health, education, content development, technology and youth advocacy the tools and strategies to positively shape youth, tech and health.
Policy Briefing I Update from D.C.
On October 13, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance and the Center for Global Health Innovation brought together premier global health advocacy organizations to update members on the US government’s global health budget, the impact of the pandemic on policy, new initiatives to spur innovation, and how to elevate equity in the global health agenda.
Google Search Centers Public Health and Sustainability
At the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, Alliance member Google reinforced its commitment to health by announcing the launch of new Search features to help Americans access public food benefits and health care services.
Zenysis Technologies Pledges $5 Million to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment
On September 19, Alliance member Zenysis Technologies announced a $5 million pledge, consisting of in-kind support in the form of technology and services, to The Global Fund’s seventh replenishment.
Building Community Resilience Against the Health Effects of Wildfires and Air Pollution | Climate Health Convening
As California experiences a record-setting heat wave, Bay Area Global Health Alliance members Americares, Stanford University, Public Health Institute, UCSF, and Google had a virtual conversation on September 8, 2022 exploring the impact of wildfires, heat, and air pollution on the health of communities in the United States.