Public notice of proposed second term members of Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO)

27 April 2026
Call for consultation

Deadline: 11 May 2026, 17:00 CEST

Relating to the new call for experts issued on 30 July 2025

Following a public call for experts and rigorous selection process, the World Health Organization announces the proposed membership of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) in its second term (2026-2028). As per WHO processes for transparency in provision of technical/normative advice to WHO, this public notice is followed by a two-week comment period. Appointments to SAGO are subject to this comment period and relevant WHO practices and procedures.

Twenty-four (24) members were selected for invitation to SAGO in its second term, to serve for a 2-year period (2026-2028). They are to serve in their personal capacities to represent the broad range of disciplines relevant to emerging and re-emerging pathogens. In evaluating the applications submitted, consideration was given to attaining an adequate distribution of technical expertise, geographical representation and gender balance.

  1. Afreenish Amir is the Project Director Antimicrobial Resistance (US CDC Project), National Institutes of Health, in Islamabad, Pakistan. She is originally from Pakistan.
  2. Prof Esam Ibraheem Azhar is the Head of the Special Infectious Agents Unit - Biosafety Level 3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is originally from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  3. Prof Stuart Blacksell is a Professor of Tropical Microbiology at the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, UK and the Biorisk and Zoonosis group leader, Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), Thailand. He is originally from Australia.
  4. Prof Isaac Bogoch is Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Infectious Diseases Specialist at the Toronto General Hospital, Canada. He is originally from Canada.
  5. Dr Sukanta Chowdhury is a Scientist and Team Lead for the One Health Research Unit, Infectious Diseases Division at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is originally from Bangladesh.
  6. Prof John Drake is a Professor the at the Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, USA. He is originally from the United States.
  7. Prof Christian Drosten is the Head of the Institute of Virology at Charité in Berlin, Germany. He is originally from Germany.
  8. Prof Isabella Eckerle is the Director of the Geneva Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases at the University Hospitals of Geneva and the Medical Faculty, University of Geneva in Switzerland. She is originally from Germany.
  9. Prof Rabeh El-Shesheny is a Professor of Virology at the Center of Scientific Excellence for Influenza Viruses (CSEIV), National Research Centre (NRC) in Giza, Egypt. He is originally from Egypt.
  10. Dr Maria Dolores Fernandez-Garcia is a senior scientist at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, National Centre of Microbiology in Madrid, Spain. She is originally from Spain.
  11. Prof Thea Fischer is a Professor of Virology at the University of Copenhagen and Head of Clinical Research at Nordsjaellands Hospital in Denmark. She is originally from Denmark.
  12. Dr Ekhlas Hailat is a One Health, Animal Health and Zoonotic Diseases Specialist and One Health Senior Consultant in Amman, Jordan. She is originally from Jordan.
  13. Dr Hideki Hasegawa is the Director of the Influenza Research Center in the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan Institute of Health Security in Tokyo, Japan. He is originally from Japan.
  14. Dr Erik Karlsson is Head of the Virology Unit in the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He is originally from Sweden and the United States.
  15. Prof Jean-Claude Manuguerra is the Head of the Environment and Infectious Risks Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. He is originally from France.
  16. Dr Chinwe Ochu is a Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Abuja, Nigeria, and a Doctor of Public Health candidate at the Milken Institute School of Public Health of the George Washington University in Washington DC, USA. She is originally from Nigeria.
  17. Dr Maxwell Otim Onapa is a Professor at the Department of Public Health, Busitema University in Tororo, Uganda. He is originally from Uganda.
  18. Prof Gustavo Palacios is a Professor at the Global Health Emerging Pathogens Institute in the Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, USA. He is originally from Argentina and the United States.
  19. Prof Leo Poon is a Co-Director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Global Health Institute and the Chair of Public Health Virology in the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong SAR, China. He is originally from Hong Kong, China.
  20. Prof Sunit Kumar Singh is the Director of the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research (ACBR) at the University of Delhi in India. He is originally from India.
  21. Dr Katharina Summermatter is the Head of the Biosafety Center and Managing Director of the Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory at the Institute for Infectious Diseases at the University of Bern in Switzerland. She is originally from Switzerland.
  22. Prof Marietjie Venter is the Research Chair of the Emerging Viral Threats, One Health Surveillance and Vaccines in the Infectious Disease and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI) & School of Pathology, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is originally from South Africa.
  23. Dr Supaporn Wacharapluesadee is a Senior Researcher at The Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases Clinical Center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, and an Affiliated Researcher at Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. She is originally from Thailand.
  24. Prof Linfa Wang is a Professor in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. He is an Australian citizen educated in Shanghai (BSc) and California (PhD).

Pursuant to WHO’s rules and practices, and in order to enhance WHO’s management of conflicts of interest, as well as strengthen public trust and transparency in connection with WHO advisory groups involving the provision of technical advice, the names and affiliations of the individuals selected for SAGO Membership, second term (2026-2028), are now disclosed for public notice and comment.

Should you wish to comment on the two new individuals, please send your comments to SAGO@who.int with subject, “Public comments on SAGO members,” by 11 May 2026, 17:00 CEST.

WHO will treat the comments received through this public notice and comment process confidentially. Comments and perceptions brought to the attention of WHO through this process are an integral component of WHO’s conflict of interest assessment policy and will, subject to WHO’s rules, practices, and policies, be carefully reviewed by WHO. WHO reserves the right to discuss information received through this process with the relevant expert and otherwise within the Organization as appropriate, with no attribution to the provider of the information. WHO, may, in its sole discretion, take appropriate action in accordance with its rules, practices, and policies, based on any information received.