From 1 March 2025, the Expert Group for Aid Studies has been strengthened with Martina Björkman Nyqvist, professor in economics and Executive Director of the Mistra Centre for Sustainable Markets, and Anna Mia Ekström, Professor of Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology.
In the photo: Martina Björkman Nyqvist and Anna Mia Ekström (photo of Anna Mia by Martin Stenmark)
‘We are very pleased with this fantastic reinforcement of expertise in health and social sustainability. The expert group is now complete and I look forward to our joint work to develop Sweden’s development aid,’ says Torbjörn Becker, chair of the expert group.
Martina Björkman Nyqvist is the Carl Bennet and Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Professor in Economics at the Department of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics. She is also the Executive Director of the Mistra Centre for Sustainable Markets (Misum), affiliated with Jameel-Poverty Action Lab (J-Pal), a CEPR Research Fellow, and a BREAD Affiliate.
Martina researches social sustainability issues in low-income countries, focusing on child poverty, child health and children’s learning. Her research focuses on generating evidence-based insights to improve aid projects and policies through randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in Africa and India. She has conducted research projects in Uganda, Nigeria, Lesotho, India, and Sweden and has collaborated with several leading aid organizations, including USAID, the World Bank, Living Goods, BRAC, the Ministry of Health in Uganda, Pratham India, the MacArthur Foundation, among others.
‘I look forward to contributing to the EBA with my experience in evaluating aid projects through impact evaluations and my collaboration with aid organisations around the world. It is crucial that aid is based on robust and science-based insights to maximise its impact’, says Martina Björkman Nyqvist.
Anna Mia Ekström is Clinical Professor of Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology with a focus on HIV at the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet. For the past 25 years, she has led large international research projects in Europe, Africa and Asia, in areas such as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), HIV and emerging infections (Ebola, Zika, COVID-19, MpoX), vaccine access and health systems.
Anna Mia holds a variety of expert and management positions. She is the team leader of the Global and Sexual Health research group with more than 50 multidisciplinary international researchers, chair of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine Access to Global Markets (MVAC), chair of the Sida Scientific Council, and more. In addition, she is a clinically active consultant in infectious diseases at the Infectious Diseases Clinic/Venhälsan, Södersjukhuset. And now also a member of the Expert Group for Aid Studies.
‘I hope to contribute in my area of expertise, health. In the current world situation, there are many areas that need to be developed, not least sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Sweden is a world leader in this area and, as things stand globally, very few countries are pushing these issues, which is why it is so important that we do so. And to do it effectively, we need more research and evidence,’ says Anna Mia Ekström.