The people who convene the Forum
AHRIFF is coordinated by the South African Medical Research Council with an organising committee of leading funders, and a programme built each year by chairs and moderators drawn from the funder community itself.
Hosted by the South African Medical Research Council
The SAMRC has hosted every AHRIFF meeting since 2021, providing the secretariat, the programme design and the continuity that lets commitments made in one year be followed up in the next.
The organising committee sets the annual theme, curates the call-to-action sessions, and decides which communities of practice need a satellite meeting. Its composition is deliberately mixed: a national research council alongside global philanthropies, a continental public health agency and the Grand Challenges country programmes — so that no single funder’s agenda shapes the room.
Every edition closes with a post-meeting survey that asks delegates what worked and which topics should return. The 2026 programme is being built on that feedback: innovative financing models and the valley of death were the standout requests, followed by innovation scaling and entrepreneurship programme coordination.
Held at the SAMRC in Cape Town. The secretariat manages invitations, the annual programme, the narrative report and follow-up between funders after each meeting.
The committee also convenes focused sessions between annual meetings — including the drug and vaccine manufacturing community active since 2022, and the diagnostics financing meeting held on 4 November 2025.
Questions about the programme, speaking contributions or hosting a satellite meeting can be sent to the secretariat via the contact page.
Committee organisations
The organisations that shape each edition of the Forum alongside the SAMRC.
South African Medical Research Council
Leads and coordinates AHRIFF, and has hosted every edition of the Forum since 2021.
Gates Foundation
Anchors the Grand Challenges strand of the programme and supports the annual convening.
Africa CDC
Connects the Forum to continental public health priorities and the outcomes of CPHIA.
Science for Africa Foundation
Shapes the sessions on Africa’s research and development ecosystem and scientific leadership.
Grand Challenges partners
The country-anchored Grand Challenges programmes contribute national priority-setting sessions.
