In this webinar, our expert panel from Southeast Asia will aim to address the big question: “Can we bridge the gap between science and politics in the race to vaccinate against COVID-19?” Setbacks to vaccine equity will be analysed from a regulatory and ethical point of view, with attention drawn not only to ‘what happened’ but also ‘what will’ and ‘what should’ happen. The current vaccine dynamics and its impact on public health will be set in the context of social determinants of vaccine access.

Click here to download the event flyer

Speaker bios:
Amina Mahmood Islam (moderator)
Deputy Director, Programme Development and Business Administration, SDGHI

Amina Mahmood Islam is the Deputy Director for Programme Development and Business Administration at SDGHI. Amina has expertise in implementation of national level health programmes, global health strategies and multi-country collaborations. Her research interests are in health system strengthening through development of primary care capabilities. Her current responsibilities lie in bringing together the multiple parties involved in research, education, policy development and capacity building across the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre and regional collaborators in a way that builds synergies. Previously, she was Deputy Director of the Signature Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School. Prior to working with Duke-NUS, Amina was the Deputy Representative for the United Nations Population Fund Country Offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Dhaka, Bangladesh.


Professor John CW Lim
Founding Executive Director of the Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) and Policy Core Lead, SDGHI

Professor John CW Lim is the founding Executive Director of the Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) at the Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School (Duke-NUS), Policy Core Lead at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute, inaugural Chairman of the Consortium for Clinical Research & Innovation Singapore and Senior Advisor at Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH). He is Professor of Practice at Duke-NUS and the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. Formerly Chief Executive Officer of Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority and Deputy Director of Medical Services (Industry & Research Matters) in MOH, Professor Lim has also held other senior positions in Singapore’s Health and Education ministries. His current roles promote capacity building and scientific excellence for health products regulation and health policies in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific.


Dr Susann Roth
Advisor and Chief of Knowledge Advisory Services Center, Asian Development Bank

Susann leads ADB’s knowledge management and innovation program and heads ADB’s knowledge advisory service center. Before this role, she launched ADB’s Operational Plan for Health 2015-2020 which brought back the health sector in ADB. Susann piloted innovative health sector interventions for regional health security and pandemic preparedness at ADB. Susann holds a Medical Doctor degree and a PhD from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and a Master of Public Health and Policy from the University of the Philippines. She has been trained in general surgery, emergency medicine and tropical diseases in Germany the US and the Philippines. She served as Adjunct Professor at LKY School of Public Policy in Singapore from 2016-2018. The World Health Organization invited Susann to their external technical advisory group for innovation and digital health in 2019. She is trained in futures strategic thinking and foresight techniques, and in change and knowledge management.


Dr Swee Kheng Khor
Independent Health Policies Specialist

Dr Khor is a Malaysian physician specialising in health policies and systems, with fellowships in Chatham House, United Nations University and Institute for Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia, and with international experience in the public, private, non-profit and think tank sectors. Previously, he held progressively senior roles in four other practice areas (clinical medicine; refugee & disaster relief; clinical research; and healthcare anti-corruption). In these roles, he was based in Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, China and France, covering over 90 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He holds postgraduate degrees in internal medicine (Royal College of Physicians), public health (Berkeley) and public policy (Oxford).