Dr Velislava Petrova

Is a research fellow with UNAIDS working on healthcare innovations to address the needs of the Global South. Also a consultant at Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), she holds a joint position as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and King’s College, University of Cambridge.

Highlights

Velislava endorsed the need for innovation, highlighting the sense of public responsibility and financial commitment the scientific community has contributed. However, although cross-sector technology is essential, so is local capacity building, tackling economic insecurity, political regularity and legislation.

All stakeholders need to work together, listen to members of the global south and to move away from providing aid to investing in mechanisms that offer economic empowerment, investment growth.

“We need to work a lot more with countries in the global south to understand what the real needs are, to understand what the real gaps are in order for us to provide solutions through education and research.”