The recording of this webinar can be viewed here.

This round-table discussion by some of the top thinkers in the field provided critical reflections on the concept and application of resilience in health systems research, including rethinking in the light of COVID-19. The webinar was co-hosted by ReBUILD for Resilience and the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies.

The panel, chaired by Professor Sophie Witter, co-Research Director for ReBUILD for Resilience, included:

Karl Blanchet is a Humanitarian Public Health and Health Systems Research Professor at the University of Geneva and Director of the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies. Karl is also the co-Chair of the SYSTAC European Hub.

Edwine Barasa is the director of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Nairobi programme, heads its Health Economics Research Unit (HERU) and is a visiting professor of health economics at the University of Oxford.

Rifat Atun is a Professor of Health Systems at Harvard University and the Health Systems Innovation Lab Director at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. The first strand of his research focuses on health systems performance and the design, implementation and evaluation of health system reforms. The second strand analyses innovation in health systems.”

Gina Teddy is a Lecturer and has been the co-chair for the teaching and Learning TWG for Health Systems Global since 2018. She is the founder and former Coordinator of the Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research (CHESPOR) at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Gina is a health systems practitioner and an implementation researcher with a particular interest in promoting HPSR across the African Region.

Steve Thomas is the Edward Kennedy Chair of Health Policy and Management and the Director of Health Policy and Engagement for the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. He is also a Health Research Board Research Leader with his RESTORE programme, focused on health system resilience and reform. He led the Trinity team in support of the Oireachtas Committee for the Future of Healthcare and its production of Slaintecare, now the Irish government’s chief health reform programme.

Mickey Chopra is a lead health specialist at the World Bank, and global solutions lead on service delivery. An important strand of this work on service delivery has been on how to adapt service delivery in challenging settings, especially in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Alastair Ager is Emeritus Professor of Institute for Global Health and Development, QMU, Edinburgh: His work has focused on health systems resilience in contexts of fragility, including those impacted by conflict, forced displacement and climate change.

Stephanie Topp is an Associate Professor of Global Health and Development at James Cook University in Australia and on the Board of Directors of Health Systems Global.  Her research and teaching focus on health workforce governance with a particular focus on how power, accountability and trust influence health policies, systems and service delivery.