Anthony McDonnell is a senior policy analyst in CGD’s global health team, working to support national decision making and prioritisation of healthcare in Ethiopia thought iDSI and is the technical lead for CGD’s working group on a New Social Contract for Purchasing Antimicrobials. Previously McDonnell led CGD’s work to anayise the COVID-19 vaccine portfolio and a project examining policy interventions to protect the supply chains for pharmaceuticals from COVID-19 induced shocks.
Before joining CGD he worked as research associate at ODI and senior health economist at the University of Oxford. Leading research projects on why countries move to universal health coverage and examining the barriers to providing health care to ‘left behind groups.’ He also explore the cost effectiveness of malaria eradication programme and analysed blockages to uptake of new health technology in low- and middle income countries.
McDonnell started working in global health as the Head of Economic Research for the UK’s independent review into antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which was set up by the UK government and the Wellcome Trust, that looked at how to improve the pipeline for new antibiotics, alongside how to improve infection control, reduce environmental risks and improve the use of the antibiotics we already have in order to best protect them. Following this he co-wrote a book on the topic of AMR and went on to lead an internal project at the Wellcome Trust to examine how Wellcome could use more economics to identify and fix major problems in healthcare.
He has a Master’s in public and economic policy from the London School of Economics, and his undergraduate degree is from Trinity College Dublin.