The Science Council has been recently established by the Director General of the World Health Organization to provide guidance on the science and research strategy of the organization.
The Science Council will have the following functions:
Evaluate urgent, high priority scientific issues and provide input and guidance on translating them to public health impact in furtherance of WHO’s mission;
Identify current and new science and technology issues that WHO needs to address, including global health threats, and new advances with a potential for direct or indirect impact on global health;
Provide strategic orientation to WHO’s actions in science, research and innovation;
Participate in the rapid and confidential review of WHO normative products, when requested by the Director-General; and
Undertake other duties and functions consistent with these Terms of Reference, when requested by the Director General
SAGE meets at least twice a year, with working groups established for detailed review of specific topics prior to discussion by the full group. Priorities of work and meeting agendas are developed by the Group in consultation with WHO.
Members
Science Council is currently comprised of 9 members, who serve in their personal capacity and represent a broad range of disciplines encompassing many aspects of science, ranging from basic research to public health implementation science.
Members are recruited and selected as acknowledged experts from around the world in the fields of basic science, translational and clinical research, social sciences, epidemiology and public health.
The current members are:
Chair
Harold Varmus
Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at the Meyer Cancer Center of Weill Cornell Medicine, USA
Members
⦁ Salim Abdool Karim
Director of the Centre for the AIDS program of research in South Africa (CAPRISA), South Africa
⦁ Edith Heard
Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany and Professor College de France
⦁ Adeeba Kamarulzaman
Director, CERiA and President, International AIDS Society, Malaysia; Professor of Medicine & Infectious Diseases, University of Malaya
⦁ Mary-Claire King
Professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
⦁ Abla Mehio Sibai
Professor of Epidemiology and Interim Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
⦁ Denis Mukwege
Gynaecologist and world leading specialist in treating survivors of wartime sexual violence, Democratic Republic of Congo
⦁ Jean William (Bill) Pape
Director and Founder of GHESKIO, Haiti
⦁ Yongyuth Yuthavong
Senior Specialist, National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, NSTDA, Thailand
Source : Centre de Presse de l’OMS
