Here we share news and updates from around our Network. 

GHBN Summer School 2025

The 14th Annual GHBN Summer School was held in Cape Town in September 2025. 54 participants from 15 countries explored topics ranging from mental health and climate change; bioethics in contexts of conflict; ethical challenges faced by minority groups in medicine; and ethics and AI—including a lively debate on whether AI should guide end-of-life decisions—to comparative ethical frameworks, navigating between empirical and normative bioethics, and the future of the field amid today’s geopolitical shifts. A moving bioethics “pilgrimage” through the Castle of Good Hope was a highlight of the week. We left with renewed courage, sharper insight, deeper friendships, and a shared resolve to champion the value of bioethics. 

Dr Alex Phang Kean Chang - GHBN Early Career Research Fellow

Alex Phang Kean Chang, based at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pathology. In addition to his teaching role, he serves as the Head of the Unit of Medical Research Ethics at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. He holds three Master’s Degrees—one in Pathology, one in Public Health, and another in Health Research Ethics—as well as a PhD in Pathology. He is also a faculty member for the Master of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE) programme at Universiti Malaya in collaboration with the Berman Institute of Bioethics and Johns Hopkins University. With the GHBN, he's currently working on the ethical and governance challenges surrounding the practice of precision medicine. His broader research interests include research ethics, public health ethics, and ethics of emerging technologies.

Dr Deborah Nyirenda - GHBN Early Career Research Fellow

Deborah Nyirendais an Associate Group Head for Community Engagement and Bioethics at Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme (in Blantyre, Malawi) and a Career Track Lecturer in Qualitative Research in Global Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Her research focuses on strengthening ethical community engagement, and public and patients’ involvement in medical research conducted in the global south. Prior to this post, she completed a PhD that focused on critically examining community engagement in health research conducted in Malawi..

Dr Nguyen Thanh Ha - GHBN Early Career Research Fellow

Nguyen Thanh Ha is a Senior Researcher in the Social Science and Implementation Research team at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Her projects look at the implementation process and ethical aspects of clinical trials in low- and middle-income settings. She has a PhD in Public Health from the Univ of Oxford. Her thesis explored vaccine acceptance and socio-cultural factors that shape vaccination-related behaviours in rural multi-ethnic areas in Vietnam. Her work focuses on addressing social and health inequities for marginalized and vulnerable communities.

Wellester Alvis - GHBN Early Career Research Fellow

Wellester Alvis is a research fellow with the Global Health Bioethics Network at the Universiti Malaya in Malaysia. He has an MBBS and a Master's in Medical Ethics and Medical Jurisprudence. He is currently working with his team to do carry out ethics and governance work in the implementation of precision medicine in the LMIC context. His research interests include bioethics, medical ethics and the ethical transfer of knowledge to practice.

Dr Yolandie Ralfe - GHBN Early Career Research Fellow

Yolandie Ralfe, based at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) is a Medical Anthropologist with a PhD in Public Health, a Master's in Health Science (Medical Anthropology), and a background in nursing. She has over ten years of experience conducting and coordinating various research projects ranging from ethnographies to randomised controlled clinical trials. She is a trained Clinical Research Associate with extensive experience and knowledge of GCP, ICH guidelines, and the ethical requirements of conducting clinical and behavioural research in South Africa.  Her main areas of focus include sexual and reproductive health, including HIV prevention, the impact of climate change on access to health care services, and the ethics of clinical trials in the South African setting.

In 2021 GHBN celebrated ten years!

GHBN 10th anniversary highlights

We are delighted to celebrate ten years of the GHBN. We are so proud of our Bursary Fellows, Senior Fellows, PhD students (totalling almost 70 in number) and all our members who've accomplished an incredible amount in the past decade. Read about our activities from 2012-onwards. Read more