The Partnership Board is the governing body of the Partnership and leads the Partnership in the drive towards achieving the vision through its strategies and associated operational plans.
In May 2023, the RBM Partnership named a new Board to lead the global organisation into a new era and drive momentum to end malaria for good.
This highly representational new Board includes individuals with deep expertise and experience at a senior decision-making level, as well as representation from across the Partnership, including malaria-affected countries, private sector, civil society, donor funding organisations, and entities outside the malaria and health sectors.
Marijke Wijnroks is Head of the Strategic Investment and Impact Division at the Global Fund, overseeing four departments: Access to Funding, Health Financing, Technical Advice and Partnerships, and Community, Rights and Gender. She was Chief of Staff at the Global Fund between 2013 and 2022 and served for a period of nine months as Interim Executive Director in 2017. Marijke is a medical doctor who worked in South Sudan, Uganda, Bangladesh and El Salvador for NGOs and the UN. Before joining Global Fund, Marijke was Ambassador for HIV/Aids and Deputy Director for Social Development in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands, overseeing policy development on HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender, education and civil society.
Yvonne Chaka Chaka is a South African singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, humanitarian and teacher. Dubbed the "Princess of Africa, Chaka Chaka was the first Black child to appear on South African television in 1981. She has shared the stage with and performed for leading lights such as President Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth II, Richard Branson, Bono, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey. In 2004 while performing in Gabon, one of her backing singers contracted malaria, sadly passing away. Touched by this tragedy, Yvonne became the Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.
A leading advocate for humanitarian issues affecting women and girls, her Princess of Africa Foundation champions for change in health and education across Africa. She is the first African female recipient of the World Economic Forum Crystal Award, was chosen as one of the 100 World Class South Africans, voted the 8th most powerful musician by Forbes magazine and further voted among the World’s 100 most influential women by Women Deliver.
Sherwin Charles is a Co-founder of Goodbye Malaria and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. He has more than a decade of experience in the banking and financial services industry and began his career at Ernst & Young. In 2006, he joined the Nando’s team, focusing on finance and treasury. He helped Nando’s grow their support for malaria elimination, becoming one of the first African corporates to donate to the Global Fund and with Nando’s support launched Goodbye Malaria with Robbie Brozin and Kim Lazarus.
Dr Lola Dare is an award-winning community physician, epidemiologist, public health practitioner, development consultant, social entrepreneur and irrepressible global health advocate for women, girls, young persons for over 30 years. She has championed the application of evidence and data for policy, evaluation and accountability demand functions of a broad range of non-state actors including civil society and community-based organizations, private sector and the media. She is currently the President of CHESTRAD Global Development Synergies, a trail blazing and award winning African-led social enterprise operating in Africa, Europe and North America with its headquarters office in Nigeria. She has served in many roles in governance mechanisms in Africa and internationally, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, GAVI and the African Union. Dr Lola Dare is a graduate of the College of Medicine University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s foremost College of Medicine, and holds a Master’s degree in Epidemiology.
Sarthak Das is the Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance. His over 25 years of experience as a public health scientist, development practitioner, and global health policy advisor spans diverse Asia-Pacific settings, in countries such as Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, as well as in West Africa.
Sarthak joined APLMA from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where he holds appointments as Research Scientist in the Dean’s Office & Department of Health Policy and Management, and Senior Advisor for Research Translation & Global Health Policy at the Harvard Global Health Institute.
Sarthak holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard College, an MPH from the Yale School of Medicine and a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Dr. Isaka is currently the Director of Social Sectors at the East African Community Secretariat. Prior to that role, Dr. Isaka worked as Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) following the appointment by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania in 2021.
Irene has also served as a Secretary General for the East and Central Africa Social Security Association (ECASSA), an organization that oversees more than 21 social security institutions, and Director General of the Social Security Regulatory Authority (SSRA). At the SSRA, Irene set up systems and processes for the newly established Authority, including leading the review and harmonization of legal and regulatory Frameworks in the social security sector and facilitating the merging of five Pension Schemes in 2018. Under her leadership the country scored well both at the National and International level in terms of reduction of implicit pension debt and reduction of administrative costs, with SSRA receiving an International Social Security Association (ISSA) innovation award and an African Union Award.
Irene holds a Doctorate degree (PhD) in Economics from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, a Master’s Degree in Economics specializing in Econometrics and Monetary Economics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.
Dr Helen Jamet,
Deputy Director, Vector Control, Malaria, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr Helen Jamet has more than 20 years of experience in malaria prevention, research and vector control product development. She joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2018 as Deputy Director, Vector Control in the malaria programme strategy team.
Helen worked in the private sector from 2007 to 2018, where she was responsible for product development and defining the pathway to bring new products to market, including the first next-generation long lasting insecticidal mosquito net. Prior to joining the private sector, Helen was based in Tanzania, where she conducted field research and evaluated mosquito traps being developed for the African market.
Helen holds a PhD in Infectious Diseases and a Master of Science in Medical Parasitology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science (Hons) in Applied Biology from the University of Leeds in the UK. She is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene and the Royal Entomological Society.
Prof Isabella Oyier
Isabella Oyier is Associate Professor and Head of the Biosciences Department at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Program (KWTRP). She is currently a Calestous Juma Fellow, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to integrate malaria molecular epidemiology into routine surveillance in Kenya. She is also a Global Research Fellow at Reuben College, University of Oxford. Her research work focuses on integrating malaria molecular epidemiology into routine surveillance in Kenya, a project that partners with the Division of National Malaria Programme to implement malaria molecular surveillance activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led testing efforts for the Coastal region in Kenya and co-ordinated regional genomic surveillance in collaboration with Africa CDC and WHO-Afro.
Her research interests are in Plasmodium falciparum malaria molecular epidemiology, focusing on the spatial and temporal use of molecular tools to: 1) examine genetic variation in merozoite antigens that are potential candidates for blood stage vaccines and its impact on naturally acquired immunity; 2) define complexity of infection while examining the impact of interventions or changes in malaria epidemiology; 3) distinguish persistent infections and reinfections in both therapeutic efficacy studies and in longitudinal follow up of asymptomatic individuals; and 4) monitor drug and diagnostic resistance molecular markers.
Professor Julio Rakotonirina is the Director of Health and Humanitarian Affairs at the African Union Commission, a role he has held since October 2022. Prior to that, Professor Julio was based in Madagascar and served in various roles within the health system: in primary health care, as Director at a University Hospital and as Minister of Public Health for Madagascar from 2019 to 2020. He has over 20 years of experience gained across various African countries, particularly in Madagascar, Benin, and Comoros, as an Expert-Consultant, Medical Doctor, Specialist in Public Health (PhD) and Professor in Epidemiology. He has strong and evolving skills in health system management and in epidemic management, and as a researcher has conducted research and evaluation and co-authored various scientific articles. (www.researchgate.net/profile/Julio_Rakotonirina)
He is actively involved in International and African multidisciplinary expert networks, including DEMOSTAF project, Demography Statistics for Africa, and the Partnership to Enhance Technical Support for Analytical Capacity and Data use for Malaria, TB and HIV in Southern and Eastern Africa.
David Walton
US Global Malaria Coordinator, President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)
David Walton is the US Global Malaria Coordinator for PMI. His over 20 years of global health experience includes working as a physician on the ground in Haiti to fight cholera and on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Prior to joining PMI, David served as the Senior Director of Global Health at the Butterfly Network, Inc., co-founder of Build Health International, and worked 15 years with Partners In Health. He was also previously an Associate Physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He holds an MD from Harvard Medical School, a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, and trained in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as the first Doris and Howard Hiatt Global Health Equity resident.
Joseph WATO is an International Relations expert and Civil Society leader with expertise in health diplomacy. A long-time national and international advocate in the fight against malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, he is a member of the Civil Society Global Platform for Malaria Elimination (CS4ME) and a member of the Global Fund Advocate Network (GFAN) Speaker Bureau. He is also the National President of the Coalition of CSOs for Health Financing and CSU in Cameroon (COFIS-CSU), Executive Director of the Pentecostal Advocates for Socio-Economic Development (PENASED) and has sat as a member of the Global Fund's Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) in Cameroon representing NGOs and associations fighting against malaria.
He is currently one of two Board members at the RBM Partnership to End Malaria representing Civil Society, and is a Member of the Developing Country NGOs Delegation (DCNGO) to the Global Fund Board.
United Nations Office for Project Services
The United Nations Offices for Project Services (UNOPS) serves as the host of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. UNOPS serves in an ex-officio function on the Partnership Board.