Co-facilitator

Deo is the Head of Research and Global Partnerships at AirQo, where he coordinates multi-disciplinary research efforts towards new approaches for tackling air pollution in African cities. He is committed to advancing research capacity in the global south, particularly through leveraging novel solutions and cross-border collaborations to tackle global challenges. His research focuses on transdisciplinary cross-border collaborations for tackling urban air pollution in low-resourced settings, largely concerned with developing continuous air quality networks, air pollution sources, and advancing the critical interface between science and policy.

His extensive research experience includes overseeing the co-design of air quality programmes in over 10 cities across Africa, and significantly contributing to the development of contextual frameworks to advance air quality and climate agenda, including the UNEA 6/10 resolution on advancing regional cooperation for air quality, the East Africa vehicular emission limits, and the first air quality regulations for Uganda. He also initiated the annual network forum as a platform for multilateral knowledge sharing and partnerships for solutions in Africa. Deo has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Makerere University, an MSc in Energy and Environment from Glasgow Caledonian University, and completed a PhD in Environment and Geosciences from the University of Portsmouth.

Co-facilitator

Pallavi Pant is Head of Global Initiatives at the Health Effects Institute, fostering high-quality research and effective science-based communication.
She is an air quality scientist with more than 15 years of experience working on air pollution and health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Her research has focused on air quality, source apportionment, and exposure assessment.

Dr. Pant has contributed extensively to public engagement, capacity strengthening, and science communication, working to increase awareness of air pollution and its health impacts globally. She serves on editorial boards for Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health and PLOS Global Public Health and chairs the Governing Board of OpenAQ. She also advises global air quality and health efforts through her roles on advisory committees for the World Health Organization and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

Her research and perspectives have been featured in high-impact media such as Scientific American, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Dr. Pant holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health from the University of Birmingham, UK and a Masters in Environmental Sciences from the TERI School of Advanced Studies, India..

Dr Babatunde Ajayi is a global health consultant with extensive experience in Global Health, Disaster Epidemiology, and Environmental Health gained across impactful positions in global establishments, including the Centre for Reproductive Health Research and Innovation, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Lagos State Government. He is a public health fellow of Erasmus Mundus.

He obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) degree from the Lagos State University before proceeding to the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where he was awarded a master’s in public health and subsequently a Master’s in Business Administration at Warwick Business School. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.

Prof. Albert Presto is a Research Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a member of CMU's Centre for Atmospheric Particle Studies (CAPS). Dr. Presto's research focuses on pollutant emissions from energy extraction and consumption and the subsequent atmospheric transformations that these emissions undergo.

Dr Rose Alani is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Lagos, Nigeria, with over 18 years of experience in teaching and research work on Environmental/Analytical Chemistry. She is involved in air pollution, climate change, and environmental sustainability-related research and has over 30 articles in reputable journals.

Dr. Alani has supervised over 32 BSc and 64 Postgraduate students and is a Fellow of (FIPAN), a member of the Chemical Society of Nigeria (MCSN), and several other professional organisations.

Dr. George Mwaniki is the Head of Air Quality for WRI Africa, based in Addis Ababa. His work focuses on working with stakeholders across the continent, including policymakers, civil society, communities, the private sector and academia towards improving air quality and reducing its negative impacts on health, ecosystems and economies.

Before joining WRI, George worked as a consultant on air quality and climate finance. In this capacity, he supported several institutions and countries across Africa, among them Rwanda, Togo, Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, DRC and Niger among others. He was also the lead consultant at UNEP in the implementation of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution one on air pollution.

Prof Rebecca Garland is an atmospheric scientist and a Professor at the University of Pretoria. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the Scientific Steering Committee for International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) and a founding member of the African Group on Atmospheric Sciences (ANGA) under IGAC.

Prof. Tolullah Oni is a Public Health Physician Scientist and urban epidemiologist, and leads the Global Diet and Physical Activity Research Group at the University of Cambridge.

She completed her medical training at University College London, postgraduate medical training in the UK and Australia, a Master's in Public Health at the University of Cape Town, and her research doctorate in Clinical Epidemiology at Imperial College London.

She established and leads (as an Honorary Associate Professor) a Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE) at the University of Cape Town.
She has published over 80 manuscripts in high-impact journals.

Dr Assah is a Senior Lecturer of epidemiology and public health at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé and Deputy Director of the Health of Population in Transition Research Group, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

He qualified in Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon, and subsequently trained in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Cambridge, UK. A 2005 Gates Cambridge Scholar, he has been a Wellcome Trust Training Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Mugarura Martha Nyakato has over 15 years of experience serving the Government of Uganda. She has extensive experience in analysing, managing, planning and disseminating information related to the urban sub-sector. Martha is the Assistant Commissioner of the Environment and Urban Design Division in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

Martha has a Master of Science (MSc) in Urban Management and Development from the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), Rotterdam (Netherlands), a Postgraduate Diploma in Urban Governance and Management from Uganda Management Institute, Kampala (Uganda) and a Bachelors of Urban Planning from Makerere University, Uganda.

Francis is an environmental scientist with wide-ranging interests in the atmospheric sciences, human health and sustainable cities. He trained as a physical chemist, and he uses this fundamental knowledge to develop novel instrumentation and probe systems of interest.

Francis has active research projects in the broad areas of air pollution, climate change, fundamental aerosol chemistry and microphysics, and city resilience.
He leads the ‘A Systems Approach to Air Pollution (ASAP) East Africa’, which is taking a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling air pollution in the study cities of Nairobi, Kampala, and Addis Ababa.

Victor is an environmental exposure specialist with a focus on environmental monitoring and assessment in atmospheric and aquatic compartments (air, water and biota). He has extensive experience in pollution control and policy evaluation and has delivered on projects and consultancies across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Victor has a deep interest in the development of norms and best practices to address environmental issues – such as air pollution and climate change – and their integration into policies and strategies.

He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Nairobi, Kenya and contributes expertise to various initiatives aimed at promoting improved air quality in Africa. Victor joined HEI’s Global Initiatives as a Consulting Research Fellow in 2022 and currently serves on the Implementation Team of the African Group on Atmospheric Sciences (ANGA).

Engineer is a Professor and Chair, at the Department of Computer Science at Makerere University. He believes in the transformative power of computational technology and intelligence to tackle complex societal challenges and improve people's lives.
As a brainchild of the AirQo Project, Engineer leads the team as a Principle Investigator, offering strategic direction of the project.

Engineer is passionate about research, and his research outputs draw focus on Computer Science-driven solutions to the prevailing world challenges, especially in the developing world setting.
He holds a BSc. in Computer Science from Makerere University an MSc. and a PhD in Computer Science from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.