The McGill International TB Center’s International Community Advisory Board (CAB) was founded in 2022. Its mandate is to review specific projects that members propose and to advise more generally on research priorities for the Centre.
We are also forming a pan-Canadian CAB with emphasis on members from major Canadian cities where current research projects are ongoing. This Pan-Can CAB will liaise with the international CAB.
Current International CAB members:
Nandita Venkatesan
Nandita Venkatesan is recognized for her work in making essential generic multidrug-resistant TB drugs more accessible in India and globally. She’s been a member of the WHO’s Civil Society Task Force on TB and the Lancet Commission on TB. A TB survivor, her community engagement initiatives include an address before the 2018 United Nations General Assembly.
Tenzin Kunor
Tenzin Kunor is a Global Policy Senior Associate at RESULTS, where he works to advance health equity through policy and advocacy. A survivor of multi-drug resistant TB, he is a member of We Are TB, a survivor-led advocacy organization, and co-chair of the TB Roundtable, a coalition of experts, researchers, implementers, and advocates working to end TB in the U.S. and around the world.
Zolelwa Sifumba
Dr. Zolelwa Sifumba a lecturer at Walter Sisulu University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in Umtata, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Drawing on her lived experience with occupational TB, she works to amplify the voices of patients and frontline healthcare workers in research, policy, and practice. She has served with organizations such as TB Proof and the Global Fund, and has engaged with international platforms including the WHO, the Skoll World Forum, and Commonwealth Day events.
Handaa Rea
Ms. Handaa Enkh-Amgalan is a book author, public speaker, and advocate for ending tuberculosis (TB) and its attached stigma by leveraging storytelling to humanize TB and make a social change. In 2021, her debut book "Stigmatized" became an Amazon bestseller in its category and a top new release within a week of its publication. Most recently, Ms. Enkh-Amgalan delivered an opening speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York at the second high-level meeting on TB, calling world leaders for urgent action to end TB and the associated stigma, which contributed to the Political Declarations of TB being approved and adopted worldwide in 2023.
Priya Amin
Priya contributes to the global TB effort as a survivor advocate, bringing a grounded perspective forged by overcoming pulmonary TB and presumed extrapulmonary TB. She actively dedicated nearly six years to the TB movement. She contributed to national initiatives and dialogue, including being a part of the launch of TB People Canada, while also engaging in global discussions. She looks forward to sharing her expertise to inform national and global initiatives, ensuring that patient insights consistently guide research, public awareness campaigns, and direct patient support strategies.
