Professor Trần Xuân Bách among the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) of the Pandemic Fund.

HÀ NỘI — Professor Trần Xuân Bách at Việt Nam National University, Hà Nội, has been appointed as a member of the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) of the Pandemic Fund operated by the World Bank Group (WB) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Bách, 41, who became the youngest professor in Việt Nam at the age of 32, is also a Health Economist and Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University, specialises in decision-analytic modelling to guide the development and assessment of health technologies and policies.

With extensive experience consulting for United Nations agencies, international organisations, and governments across Asia, his work focuses on identifying cost-effective interventions, evaluating health services and innovations, and strengthening health systems. His efforts address critical global health challenges, including HIV/AIDS, substance use, mental health, and pandemic preparedness and response.

He has received numerous international research awards, including the 2025 CUGH’s Velji Faculty Leader in Global Health Innovation Award, the 2024 IBTN LMIC Investigator Award, the 2023 ISPOR LMIC Research Excellence Award, the Hopkins Center for AIDS Research’s International Research Award, and was a runner-up for the 2022 APEC Research Prize on Healthy Women, Healthy Economies.

The Pandemic Fund was established in September 2022, with US$2 billion in support from G20 countries, the WB, the WHO, and international organisations. This is an initiative to increase investment in the field of pandemic prevention and response (PPR) through the provision of additional long-term financing, towards key areas such as infectious disease surveillance, laboratory systems, diagnostics, and health team capacity building.

As of November 2024, the fund has allocated nearly $1 billion to 47 projects in 75 countries, mobilising an additional $6 billion from domestic and foreign partners.

The TAP provides technical advice to the Pandemic Fund's Governing Board. The TAP supports the Pandemic Fund with its goal of financing projects and activities that help strengthen capacity building and implementation of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) under International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) and other internationally endorsed legal frameworks, consistent with a One Health approach.

The key functions of the TAP include to ensure that the Governing Board is kept apprised of the latest knowledge and developments related to PPR, including the status of PPR capacity at country, regional and global levels, emerging lessons and priorities, and significant developments in the areas of broader PPR governance and oversight.

The TAP also advises the Governing Board on funding priorities and critical gaps in pandemic PPR, as well as on funding allocation decisions, by providing analysis and evidence-based recommendations, based on an evaluation of individual funding proposals submitted to the Pandemic Fund through the Call for Proposals process.

The TAP comprises of a core group of 30 multidisciplinary experts and is chaired by Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Assistant Director-General, WHO. — VNS