Emerging thought leaders

Alejandra Piragauta is a Research Assistant within the Injury Prevention team in the UK. She is a qualified dentist from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and holds two Master’s degrees: one in Anthropology, Health, and Community Development from the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, and another in Public Health from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK.
Alejandra has contributed to various research projects, primarily focusing on qualitative methodologies within the field of road safety. Her work reflects a strong commitment to community-centred approaches and public health. One of her key aspirations is to expand the impact of The George Institute’s work across Latin America by establishing a regional network dedicated to injury prevention and health equity.

Baldeep (Bal) Kaur is the Blood Pressure Program Manager and a Senior Project Manager at The George Institute for Global Health, Australia. With over 22 years of experience in clinical research and the higher education sector, she brings a strategic, hands-on approach to managing complex studies and cross-sector initiatives.
Bal leads the operational delivery of large-scale hypertension and cardiovascular trials and plays a key role in developing trials, particularly in the primary care setting. She currently oversees a national GP network for hypertension research under the SYNERGY grant and manages the NEXTGEN-BP trial, a randomised controlled study on hypertension management in primary care.
Bal is also a qualified ICH-GCP trainer, contributing to research quality. She is passionate about innovative trial design, collaboration across research areas, and strengthening the impact of primary care research. Through the Emerging Thought Leader program, she aims to raise the global profile of the Blood Pressure Program and support unified, strategic messaging across The George Institute's K-Salt, CVD, Blood Pressure, and Women's Health programs.

Dr. Elisa Pineda is a research fellow at the Food Policy Division at The George Institute for Global Health UK. She was awarded with the Imperial College Research Fellowship to study the impact of food environment interventions on food choices and global warming. She is also an honorary fellow at the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Innovation and the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. Her research interests encompass spatial epidemiology, nutritional science, public health, food systems, food policy, and environmentally sustainable diets.
Elisa holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition from University College London (UCL), an MSc in Nutritional Science from the Food and Development Research Centre (CIAD) in Mexico, and a BSc in Chemical-Biology with a specialty in Food Technology from the University of Sonora in Mexico.
Throughout her career, Dr. Pineda has worked on assessing the food environment and its association with obesity in middle-income countries and the assessment of dietary patterns and breast cancer risk. She has also collaborated on the construction of the Global Database on the Implementation of Nutrition Action (GINA) with the World Health Organization (WHO) and obesity projections in Europe in partnership with the UK Health Forum.

Dr Emily Atkins is a part-time Senior Research Fellow, and economic evaluation lead in Health Systems Science at The George Institute for Global Health and a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney. Dr Atkins’ recent focus has been on economic evaluation alongside trials and the health economics of blood pressure lowering medicines. She is also the economic evaluation lead for the UNSW Clinical Research Unit, supporting academics to conduct high quality clinical trials and ensuring economic evaluation is embedded to generate the necessary information for implementation. She is leading the economic evaluations of six blood pressure interventions currently being trialled in Australia, plus interventions in social determinants of health, diabetes, back pain, tuberculosis, methamphetamine use disorder, and cancer. She would like to see economic evaluation embedded in all trials conducted at The George Institute.

Gabriela Cipriano Flores is physician and academic researcher based in the UK office. She is part of the Women’s Health Program, and her work encompasses climate change, gender, and public health. She is currently working on the Heat in Pregnancy – India project. Her research explores how climate adaptation policies can better account for the lived experiences of underserved women, particularly in the context of heat exposure and reproductive health.
As a researcher, she is committed to making the fruits of her work visible and actionable. She wants to bring evidence into arenas where policy and funding decisions are made. She is particularly focused on learning how to communicate research in a language that resonates with decision-makers, ‘sell’ the importance of science-backed interventions, and secure support for solutions that science tells us are vital.
Gabi holds a MSc in Health and International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a MBBS from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.

Jeffrey is an early-career academic nephrologist, Conjoint Senior Lecturer affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine & Health at the UNSW Sydney, and postdoctoral research fellow at The George Institute for Global Health.
He has expertise in the management of cardiovascular disease in patients with kidney disease. He has an exceptional track record of research from his PhD program of work which has influenced at least 10 major international clinical practice guidelines on the management of oral anticoagulant therapy in patients with kidney disease. He serves on 3 national and 2 international advisory committees that provide strategic direction on clinical research in Australia and globally, including the CARI Guidelines Steering Committee and the Australasian Kidney Trials Network CKD Working Group. He is a former editorial intern with the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
His longer-term goal is to improve the lives of people with kidney disease by working as a nephrologist, epidemiologist, and implementation scientist, undertaking high-impact research that can guide chronic disease policy, practice, and advocacy both in Australia and globally.

Jessica Smith is Project Manager of the Join Us research register at The George Institute, Australia. She holds a Master of Public Health and has 8 years of experience working in health related project roles. She has worked across government and non profit organisations and has a keen professional interest in health research equity and health literacy. During the Emerging Thought Leader program she will be focusing on optimising engagement and recruitment in studies.

Krishna Nandakumar is currently working as a Research Assistant in the Cardiovascular team at The George Institute for Global Health, with a master’s in public health (Health Policy). Her work mainly focuses on evidence synthesis, mixed-method studies, and health systems research.
She is deeply passionate about contributing to accessible and affordable medicines and driving equitable, effective, and efficient health service delivery—especially in low- and middle-income countries. Krishna is particularly interested in exploring AI-driven, cost-effective interventions in cardiovascular care.
Through her work, she aims to shape research-informed policies that promote health equity and improve access to essential healthcare in resource-limited settings.

Manmeet Kaur Bhatia is a public health researcher and mental health facilitator, currently working as a Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, India. She holds a Master’s degree in Development from Azim Premji University and an MSc in Public Health from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. Her work lies at the intersection of mental health, gender, and community-led care systems.
She manages Manthan, a pioneering initiative aimed at promoting the mental wellbeing of transgender persons in Delhi-NCR through a structured peer support model. The project is implemented in close collaboration with transgender peer leaders, community-based organisations, and mental health professionals, and delivers weekly sessions focused on emotional regulation, self-care, trust-building, and healthy relationships.
Manmeet’s role spans designing the intervention, training and mentoring peer leaders, overseeing implementation, and co-facilitating reflection spaces for both participants and facilitators.
She is deeply committed to shaping public health systems that centre dignity, voice, and belonging—particularly for communities that have historically been excluded from care. he brings a collaborative and creative leadership style and is eager to deepen these strengths through the Emerging Leader Program.

Naushad Alam Khan is a Senior Project Manager in the Mental Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health, India. He holds an MBA in Public Health Informatics from Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, and certifications in Project Management Fundamentals, he brings over 10 years of experience driving public health innovation on the ground.
Naushad has led implementation and research efforts across key health areas including adolescent health, reproductive and child health, WASH, and non-communicable diseases. At The George Institute, he currently leads a randomized controlled trial on adolescent mental health, overseeing the full project lifecycle, from strategic planning and field execution to monitoring, data systems development, and multi-stakeholder collaboration
His work is rooted in a deep commitment to improving health outcomes in low-resource settings. He has previously contributed to national and regional programs by designing scalable implementation models, strengthening information systems, and building multidisciplinary teams. Naushad is particularly passionate about the automation of field implementation and the role of data-driven systems in transforming program delivery.

Rakesh Kamal is the Sustainability Manager at The George Institute for Global Health, with nearly 15 years of experience in climate policy advocacy, project implementation, and communications. His work spans grassroots action in India to global climate platforms, and he has held key roles at Suno India, Climate Reality, CSE, and ICLEI South Asia. At The George Institute, he is advancing organisational sustainability, climate reporting, and staff engagement. Rakesh combines technical expertise with a passion for climate justice and storytelling. He is based in Brisbane and holds degrees in Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences. In this program, Rakesh is focusing on how best to communicate research emissions and sustainability goals to internal teams, the public, and policymakers—translating data into meaningful action.

Siaa is an early career researcher with a background in Life Sciences (Microbiology) and formal training in clinical research methods. As a Research Officer at The George Institute, India, she manages the TReAT (TeleREhabilitation after knee ArThroplasty) trial and is responsible for monitoring progress, data management & implementing the process evaluation plan. Additionally, she is involved in the Environmental Impact Assessment project which aims at establishing a baseline assessment of carbon emissions associated with TGI India’s workspaces and research endeavours. She is eager to maximize the impact of this project, with a special focus on developing strategies to reduce carbon emissions due to the conduct of clinical trials.

Shane is a Senior Project Manager, Safety Manager & Medical Monitor at The George Institute for Global Health, working across our global teams. Shane is involved in the operationalisation and management of complex global multiple trials across multiple therapeutic areas across all geographical areas worldwide. Shane also leads safety management and medical monitoring for our global project operations teams
Shane is a physician with training in gastroenterology, surgery, internal medicine and holds a master’s degree in International Regulatory Affairs.
His key areas of interest patient are patient safety, pharmacovigilance and medical oversight of clinical trials methodology. He intends to improve TGI’s safety management services as part of the ELT program.

Dr. Shyamashree is a medical doctor holding an MSc in Clinical Research. Currently, as a Research Consultant at The George Institute for Global Health, India, she is involved in central monitoring of trial data for a large multi-centre clinical trial in India. She has contributed to managing a survey with clinicians and trialists in India about the challenges they face in trial recruitment, and their perspectives of patient and public involvement and engagement in trials. Her research interest lies in fostering more patient centric and inclusive clinical trial design for low socio-economic countries. Currently, she is undertaking an initiative to understand stakeholder perspectives on recruitment, engagement, and involvement of patient and public from underrepresented groups in trials in the Indian context. Through a series of surveys and workshops with diverse stakeholders, she aims to gain comprehensive knowledge in this area and contribute to a more equitable trial ecosystem.

Tom is a Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health at Imperial, as well as working as a General Practitioner in London. His research focuses broadly on 1) understanding the global burden of hypertension and Multiple Long-Term Conditions and developing strategies to improve holistic care for people with these conditions, and 2) evaluating the use of AI and digital health tools to improve healthcare delivery.
In his research, Tom combines his experience as a primary care physician with his expertise in quantitative research, including the analysis of large electronic health record datasets. He completed his PhD in December 2024, exploring methods and applications for clustering people with Multiple Long-Term Conditions. Before his PhD, Tom was deputy theme lead for the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London and led evaluations of digital health interventions. Since 2017, he has been part of the global May Measurement Month blood pressure screening campaign and now acts as a trustee and lead statistician.