Meet our new RYCs 2025-2026

News & insights
November 27, 2025
Aferdita Bytyqi
By -

We are pleased to announce our fourth cohort of Regional Youth Champions (RYCs). This year’s ten RYCs were carefully selected from a very impressive number of applicants to provide support and insight to DTH-Lab’s work from November 2025 to October 2026.

RYCs are key partners in DTH-Lab’s work. With strong connections to youth networks across disciplines and regions, they elevate the reach and impact of our youth engagement efforts globally. 

This year’s carefully curated group brings together young experts from different fields, language groups and areas of the world, with the aim of working supportively and harmoniously to support DTH-Lab’s mission of equitable and inclusive digital health transformations. 

 Speaking at the RYC onboarding meeting, DTH-Lab Executive Director Aferdita Bytyqi said: 

"For us, including youth perspectives is more than just a checkbox. It is a statement. That this journey is about democracy, equity, human rights inclusion. We are here to empower young people to shape the future of health care. To create systems that feel relevant, systems that are sustainable and forward thinking."  

The 2025-2026 Regional Youth Champions are:

Click on the links below to read the reports:
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References

Visit our RYC page to read more about the new cohort

As Executive Director of DTH-Lab, I'm driving forward the recommendations of the Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030 — bridging digital literacy, health literacy and civic engagement to empower communities and ensure young people thrive in a digital world. I am passionate about operationalizing innovative governance models to advance equity, protect communities and drive meaningful health outcomes in the digital transformations for health.  From building multistakeholder partnerships to co-creating solutions with young people, I work to strengthen health systems, protect digital health rights and foster sustainable, inclusive digital health ecosystems.  

My career spans over 25 years, spearheading international research, development, and regeneration initiatives on behalf of multilateral and bilateral agencies, as well as private donors. My previous professional roles include ICS Integrare, MBM, FAO, WHO and the Senior Coordinator of the Lancet and Financial Times Commission.

I am a DTH-Lab Founding Member and member of the Steering Committee; Member of the Advisory Board: “Health literacy of adolescents in Switzerland in an increasingly digital society” by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Member of the OECD Expert Group on AI in Health . I have a Dipl. Ing in Architecture and an M.Sc. in Urban Design in Development from UCL.

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