Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance appointed global health leader Professor Helen Rees as the Chair of its Vaccine Investment Strategy (VIS) Steering Committee. Prof Rees is an expert in vaccine implementation and delivery, vaccine research and development, regulatory science and infectious disease epidemiology.
The VIS Steering Committee guides Gavi’s evidence-based process to identify new and under-used vaccines of the highest importance to Gavi-supported countries and with the greatest need for financial support. The VIS enables Gavi to take stock of the vaccine landscape to assess the cost, impact, value and programmatic feasibility of relevant products. The VIS also provides partners, manufacturers and Gavi-supported countries with key information to support planning over a longer time horizon.
Prof Rees is Executive Director of Wits RHI, the University of Witwatersrand’s largest research institution which focuses on HIV/TB and other infectious diseases and vaccines, reproductive health and climate change and health. She is a Personal Professor in the University of Witwatersrand’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Co-Director of Wits African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE), a Wits University flagship programme. She is also an Honorary Professor in the Department of Clinical Research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and an Honorary Fellow in Murray Edwards College, Cambridge University. She has received an honorary doctorate in Science from the University of London and an Honorary Doctorate in Laws from Rhodes University in recognition of her work in regulatory science.
As Chair of the VIS Steering Committee, Prof Rees will provide guidance to Gavi’s process of developing the Vaccine Investment Strategy 2024 (VIS 2024), an 18-month evidence-driven process, which will inform the Gavi Board’s final investment decisions in June 2024. VIS 2024 will evaluate new vaccines and passive immunisation products anticipated to be available by 2030, as well as potential incremental investments for the existing Gavi portfolio and recommendations on vaccine prioritisation, particularly in a post-pandemic context.
“It is a privilege to have Prof Rees lead the VIS Steering Committee. She brings wide insights, experience, expertise and passion to the Gavi mission, as the Alliance moves to take stock of the vaccine landscape for the coming years,” said Marta Tufet, the Head of Policy at Gavi. “Prof Rees and the Committee’s input, guidance and support will inform Gavi and stakeholders in planning over a longer time horizon.”