Charles Shey Wiysonge is a Senior Research Officer and Vaccinology Programme Manager at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Charles is currently working on synthesis of research evidence on health system interventions for improving childhood immunisation; evidence-based strategies for improving communication about childhood immunisation with parents and communities; and systematic reviews of interventions for prevention of HIV infection. He is also the manager of the Vaccines for Africa Initiative (VACFA) and author with several Cochrane Review Groups. He previously worked for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in Cameroon and has been a consultant on vaccines and immunisation for WHO and the GAVI Alliance.

Claire Glenton is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services. Her research interests are largely within the field of implementation research, including systematic reviews of complex health intervention and methods for disseminating systematic review evidence to decision makers. She is currently involved in the development of systematic reviews of both quantitative and qualitative research evidence concerning the use of lay health workers for maternal and child health. She is an editor for the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group.

Gregory Hussey is the Director of the Vaccines for Africa Initiative (VACFA) and Deputy Dean responsible for research in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Greg is also a Professor in the UCT School of Child and Adolescent Health, and a former Director of the UCT Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine as well as the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative. He has been a part-time World Health Organization (WHO) consultant for the past 15 years in the following sections: Expanded Program on Immunization, Division of Child Health and Development, and Vaccine Research and Development. He currently serves on a number of international committees including the WHO Tuberculosis Vaccine International Advisory Group and the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety. He served on the 2010 Conference Coordinating Committee for the Second Global Forum on TB Vaccines; was the chair for the basic science track for the SA 2010 TB conference and was operations research track co-chair for the 2009 International AIDS Society Conference. He has also served on a number of International Data Safety Monitoring Committees for new paediatric vaccines. In addition, Greg is a member of a number of important national scientific advisory committees in South Africa; including the National Advisory Group on Immunisation (which he chairs), the National Health Research Committee, and the Board of National Health Laboratory Services..

Dr Hassan Mahomed (MBChB, MMed (Public Health)) is currently the co-director of the South African TB Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He is responsible for TB vaccine field site activities. He has been at SATVI for seven years. Previously he spent 5 years with the City of Cape Town Municipality as an Epidemiologist. He qualified as a doctor through UCT in 1985 and became a public health specialist in 1996 also through UCT.

Jessica Kaufman is a Research Officer in the Centre for Health Communication and Participation in the Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She is currently working on the 'Communicate to Vaccinate' project and is responsible with Natalie Galak for the evidence mapping and taxonomy development stages. She has recently contributed to a book produced by the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group entitled, 'The Knowledgeable Patient: Communication and Participation in Health.'

Leyla Hussein Abdullah is is a "Master of Public Health" student at the University of Cape Town and works as a research officer with the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at the University of Cape Town. She is currently working on evidence-based strategies for improving communication about childhood vaccinations with parents and communities; and also a systematic review on "Public stewardship of private for-profit health care in low- and middle-income countries" with the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group.

Linda Anderson is completing her 'Master of Public Health' at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She is particularly interested in communications within the health sector, and increasingly in the use of the Arts in public health promotion, and community resilience. Current research projects include: Communicate to Vaccinate; and a local project exploring adult service gaps and their impact on chronically ill adolescents and young adults transitioning from paediatric services to adult ones in Melbourne.

Natalie Willis is a Research Officer in the Centre for Health Communication and Participation in the Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She is currently working on the 'Communicate to Vaccinate' project and is responsible with Jessica Kaufman for the evidence mapping and taxonomy development stages. She is undertaking a Master of Public Health at La Trobe University and has an interest in the reproductive health knowledge of couples seeking infertility treatment.

Priscilla Robinson is an epidemiologist and Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University. She is the programme co-ordinator for several post graduate degrees in the School of Public Health. Her research interests include the control of communicable diseases, risk communication, and the use of the Arts in public health promotion. Some of her current projects include the evaluation of an Aboriginal Health Promotion Service in Western Australia, the effects of climate change on tourism along the Murray River in northern Victoria, and communicable diseases in China. She is also an Editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Sara Bensaude De Castro Freire is the coordinator of scientific projects and publications at the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) where she is responsible for coordinating and ensuring the appropriate linkages of various scientific collaborations, projects and initiatives with a focus on the social determinants of health, health promotion in sustainable development, health promotion systems and Non Communicable Diseases prevention and control. Before joining the IUHPE in 2008, her work focused on the reduction of social health inequalities both at the French and European level. Sara has also worked with various organizations and in different settings, as an anthropologist, where her work mainly related to community based approaches and responses to HIV/AIDS and sexual violence. Sara holds a Masters in Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and a Masters in Public Health and Development from the University Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.

Simon Lewin is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services and the Medical Research Council of South Africa. His current work is largely within the field of implementation research, including systematic reviews of complex health interventions; the development and evaluation of strategies for changing professional and consumer behaviours and the organization of care; and methods for synthesizing the findings of qualitative studies. He is currently working on evidence-based strategies for improving communication about childhood vaccinations with parents and communities; evaluations of interventions to improve adherence to TB treatment and HAART in South Africa; and on a large EU-funded project focused on supporting the conduct and uptake of systematic reviews and randomized trials in low- and middle-income countries. He is an editor for the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Review Group.

Sophie Hill is the Head of the Centre for Health Communication and Participation. As Coordinating Editor for the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group, she works with the Group and with the international community of researchers to build evidence in systematic reviews of interventions to communicate with and involve people in their health. Associated with producing systematic reviews are projects such as 'Communicate to Vaccinate', which is contributing the building blocks to the accumulation of knowledge, through developing a shared language to describe and understand interventions in practice. Sophie is leading the evidence mapping and taxonomy stages of the 'Communicate to Vaccinate' project. Sophie is the editor of 'The Knowledgeable Patient: Communication and Participation in Health,' which will be published in August.

Vivian Lin is the Chair of Public Health (and was Head of the School of Public Health from 2000-2005) at La Trobe University in Melbourne. She was previously the Executive Officer for the Australian National Public Health Partnership. She has held senior positions within the NSW Health Dept, the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, and the Victorian Health Dept (and its successors), where she has had responsibility for policy, planning, and program development across a wide range of health issues. Vivian is currently the Vice President for Scientific Affairs for the International Union of Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE). She has been a member of the boards of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, the inaugural President of the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria (2000-2009), convenor of the Australian Network of Academic Public Health Institutions (ANAPHI), policy convenor for the Public Health Association of Australia, and a member of the Australia-China Council. Vivian consults for the World Bank, World Health Organization, and the UK Dept for International Development, particular in China and the Asia-Pacific Region, on health systems and health promotion. She is an advisory editor for health policy for Social Science and Medicine and serves on the editorial boards of Australian Health Review, Australian Journal of Primary Health, and Health Education Research. Vivian received her educational qualifications at Yale (BA) and UC Berkeley (MPH and DrPH). She has authored a number of key texts used in Australia, including health planning, public health practice, and evidence-based health policy.

Xavier Bosch-Capblanch is a Medical Doctor, with an official speciality degree in Public Health and MSc in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Spain). He is currently Project Leader and Deputy Head of the Systems Performance and Monitoring Unit, at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Basel). He is also Honorary Lecturer at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Bosch-Capblanch started his career working as a clinician in Spain and he has been living and working in rural settings of Sub-Saharan Africa for 10 years. Over the years, he progressively moved from clinical work to health care management, public health and project management. His areas of expertise include health information and evidence around health systems interventions. In the former, he has been involved in numerous initiatives to assess the quality of routine administrative and surveys data, has led several surveys in different countries and has lectured on data and information for decision making. A significant part of this work is directly related to vaccination coverage data. In the latter, he has been involved in several Cochrane systematic reviews and has led initiatives to bridge the gap between research evidence and management and policy making, also in the area of immunisation.