Senior Research Fellow in Health Systems Science and Economics
Laura Downey is a senior research fellow in health systems science and economics at the George Institute for Global Health, a senior lecturer in the school of population health at the University of New South Wales Australia, and an honorary fellow at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. Her research is focused broadly on evaluating health system performance in relation to Universal Health Coverage goals and developing innovative solutions to support equitable access to high quality, affordable care for the worlds most vulnerable populations. Previously, Dr Downey was a technical advisor in global health at the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI) based at the Centre for Global Development, where she worked with governments in low and middle income countries to support improvements in evidence-based health policy in relation to value for money of healthcare investment and quality of care delivery. She has held research and policy positions at the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) UK, University College London (UCL) UK, and the University of New South Wales, Australia. Dr Downey has been closely involved in numerous health system reforms in India between 2015 and 2020, and remains a health policy mentor for the Indian Council of Medical Research and a distinguished fellow of the Indian Institute of Public Health. She has worked with country partners across Asia, Africa, and Europe in partnership with global institutions such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the World Bank.
