Professor George joined a panel of prominent academics and practitioners at the College of Law and Management Studies Research Day chaired by Professor Purshottama Reddy, alongside Professors Debra Roberts and Arthur Mutambara, Dr Janine Hicks, Dr Ajiv Maharaj, and Mr Luthando Molefe, under the theme “Transforming Law, Governance and Business: Research for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.”

Prof George shared insights from his recent research at HEARD on the structural determinants of youth exclusion, highlighting how poverty, ill health, and psychosocial stress drive school dropout, and how economic vulnerability fuels transactional relationships and HIV risk among young women. Prof George emphasised that health and education investments are growth multipliers, not social costs, and that resilient, inclusive economies depend on sustainable domestic health financing.