GAN Symposium Speakers

Dr Sarah Rylance

Dr. Sarah Rylance works at the World Health Organization headquarters as the Medical Officer responsible for Chronic Respiratory Diseases in the Non-communicable Diseases Department. Sarah graduated from Nottingham University Medical School (UK) in 2000, completed specialist training in Paediatrics and worked as a clinician for 20-years, including 8-years in sub-Saharan Africa. Her experiences as a doctor, researcher and teacher in Tanzania and Malawi have fuelled her passion to improve the prevention, diagnosis and management of chronic respiratory diseases, particularly in resource-limited settings, through integrated primary care approaches.

Sarah completed her PhD in Malawi (through Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), exploring the interplay between chronic respiratory symptoms, lung function and air pollution exposure in both children and adults, and evaluating a task-shifting intervention to improve long-term asthma care.

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GAN gratefully acknowledges funding from the University of Auckland and Wellcome (Grant number 203919/Z/16/Z) as well as sponsorship from AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline that has helped to make the GAN Symposium 2024 possible. We thank the speakers and the organisations they represent for their contributions including securing their own funding to enable their participation. The Symposium programme was developed independently by the GAN Steering Group.

Professor Emeritus Innes Asher University of Auckland New Zealand
Dr Karen Bissell University of Auckland New Zealand
Dr Sainimere Boladuadua University of Auckland New Zealand
Professor Cass Byrnes University of Auckland New Zealand
Professor Chen-Yuan Chiang International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Taiwan
Professor Asma El Sony Epidemiological Laboratory (Epi-Lab) for Public Health, Research and Development Sudan
Dr Sunia Foliaki Massey University New Zealand
Professor Luis Garcia-Marcos Universidad de Murcia Spain
Dr Shami Jayasooriya University of Sheffield United Kingdom
Professor Refiloe Masekela University of Kwazulu-Natal South Africa
Professor Eva Morales Universidad de Murcia Spain
Professor Kevin Mortimer University of Kwazulu-Natal South Africa
Professor Neil Pearce London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine United Kingdom
Professor Helen Reddel Global Initiative for Asthma Australia
Dr Sarah Rylance World Health Organization
Dr Sabrina Sapsford University of Auckland New Zealand
Dr Nishtha Singh Asthma Bhawan India
Dr Marie Stolbrink Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine United Kingdom