Leaders & Advisors

SPARK NTD brings together leading scientists, clinicians, industry experts, and global health innovators to guide the program and support participating teams.

Program Leadership

Guiding SPARK NTD

The SPARK NTD leadership and operational team oversees strategic direction, partnerships, fundraising, program operations, and educational activities.

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Dr. Douglas Häggström
Innovation Program Manager, Leading House Africa

University of Basel

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Prof Tulio de Oliveira
Director, CERI & Pro-VC for Business, Industry & Foundation Partnership

Stellenbosch University

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Dr Richard Gordon
Consultant and Head Business Development and Innovation at CERI

Stellenbosch University

Independent Experts and Mentors

The SPARK NTD Indepent board has representatives of Academic partners and Industry/PDP partners, Clinicians, Government, Entrepreneurs etc. The board support raising funds, Approve Strategy, Advice on program and connect to broader ecosystem.

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Prof Lyn-Marie Birkholtz
Professor in Biochemistry & Co-director of the African Centre for Therapeutics Innovation (ACTI)

Stellenbosch University

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Dr Karim Bagaté
Director Of Clinical Operations & Safety

Pharmalys Ltd

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Dr Lucien Gazi
Consultant in Drug Development | Clinical Trials Expert | Capacity Strengthener | Professional Coach
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Glaudina Loots
Health Innovation Specialist

SAMRC and University of Pretoria

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Prof Pascal Mäser
Head of Unit, Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology

Swiss TPH

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Dr. Eugenio de Hostos
Director of Research and Preclinical Development for the Drug Development Program

PATH

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Prof Steven Schow
Adjunct Professor, Chemical and Systems Biology Advisor

Stanford University

Scientific Advisory Board

Expert Guidance Across Disciplines

Our Scientific Advisory Board provides expertise spanning drug development, diagnostics, vaccines, regulatory science, and global health policy to ensure SPARK NTD projects receive the highest-quality guidance.

Drug Development

Diagnostics

Regulatory Science

Global Health Policy

Clinical Research

Vaccines

Vector Biology

Implementation Science

Mentors

Project-Level Expert Support

Each project is supported by a dedicated mentor team with expertise tailored to project needs. Mentors come from academia, industry, product development partnerships, regulatory agencies, and public health organisations. This group has expertise spanning drug development, diagnostics, vaccines, regulatory science, and global health policy to ensure SPARK NTD projects receive the highest-quality guidance.

Become a Mentor

Share your expertise to help advance promising NTD innovations. SPARK NTD mentors provide transformative guidance that accelerates projects from discovery toward real-world impact.

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