Kara Hanson, Professor of Health System Economics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, has developed and used the ideas and methods of health economics to contribute new insights and evidence to highly contested debates in global health policy. Her health financing research has investigated the impacts of different ways of transitioning from out-of-pocket payment towards pooled, public funding for health systems in low- and middle-income countries. As the inaugural NIHR Global Health Research Programme Director, she has provided much needed scientific leadership, raising its profile in the UK and globally, and she is now critically positioned to champion the UK’s role in global health in a politically challenging funding environment.