Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA President on 26 February 2016, in the period of the worst crisis in the football world governing body’s history. Re-elected on 5 June 2019, he has led the institution into a new era of stability, transparency, and prosperity, making FIFA a well-respected and trusted institution and a reliable partner to many.

Under his presidency, FIFA went through a series of internal good governance reforms. Unprecedented financial results coupled with a significant increase in investment and oversight of football development funds in FIFA’s 211 member associations were also reached, together with the creation of a dedicated Women’s Football Division, and the integration and commitment to Human Rights in FIFA’s statutes. FIFA also signed a number of partnerships – with UNESCO, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UN Women, the Council of Europe, the African Union, the Caribbean Community and the Pacific Islands Forum – aiming to use the social power of football as a tool to help face global challenges and achieve universal goals.

Before being elected FIFA President, Gianni Infantino was the UEFA General Secretary since October 2009, having joined the organisation in 2000. Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino, under his full name, was born on 23 March 1970 and fluently speaks six languages.

H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi is the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), the organisation responsible for coordinating amongst public and private entities to ensure that infrastructure and development projects are delivered in readiness for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

His Excellency also serves as the Chairman of the 2022 FIFA World Cup LLC, – the joint venture between FIFA and the SC responsible for organising and staging the event

He serves as a board member at Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Museums, Katara Hospitality, Qatar International Islamic Bank, and Qatari Diar.

He sits on the Joint Advisory Board member at Northwestern University Qatar and is an Advisory Council member at Hamad bin Khalifa University (College of Humanities and Social Sciences).

His Excellency previously served as General Counsel for Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Qatar Holding.

Sir Mo Farah is a British long-distance runner. He won 4 Olympic Games gold medals, 6 World Championships titles and 8 European Championships. At the Olympic Games he completed the distance ‘double double’, winning the 5000m and 10,000m at London 2012 and repeating this feat at Rio 2016.

He was part of the famous Super Saturday in London 2012 with Jessica Ennis and Greg Rutherford. Mo holds the World Record in the 2 miles indoor, the European 10,000m Record and multiple British Records. He has a best time of 2:05.11 in the marathon set while winning the Chicago marathon in 2018.

Mo lives in London with his wife Tania and four children. He is the only person to have beaten “The Cube” on ITV, appeared in “I’m a Celebrity” last year and played in three editions of Socceraid for Unicef.

Website: www.mofarah.com

Twitter: @mo_farah

IG: @gomofarah

Dr. Noubar Afeyan is founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a company that creates bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. An entrepreneur and biochemical engineer, Dr. Afeyan holds more than 100 patents and has co-founded more than 70 life science and technology startups during his 35-year career. He is co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna, the pioneering messenger RNA company addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic through life-saving vaccines, and chairs the boards of several private and public companies. 

Noubar entered biotechnology during its emergence as an academic field and industry, completing his doctoral work in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He was a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management from 2000 to 2016, a lecturer at Harvard Business School until 2020, and he currently serves as a member of the MIT Corporation. He teaches and speaks around the world on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development to biological engineering, new medicines, and renewable energy. In 2022, Noubar was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. 

Dr. Afeyan has received multiple awards for his passionate advocacy of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress. He is the co-founder of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity and a number of other philanthropic projects focused on Armenia. 

Prof. Özlem Türeci, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist, and cancer researcher with translational and clinical experience. Türeci has helped lead the discovery of cancer antigens, the development of mRNA-based individualized and off-the-shelf vaccine candidates and other types of immunotherapies which are currently in clinical development.

Türeci leads the clinical development of BioNTech’s “Project Lightspeed,” the company’s successful effort to develop and distribute an mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19, a historic achievement completed in less than one year.

Türeci previously served as CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, which she co-founded with Ugur Sahin and Christoph Huber. She is also a professor for Personalized Immunotherapy at the University Medical Center Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology Mainz (HI-TRON) and currently serves as President of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) in Germany. She is a recipient of the German Sustainability Award, among other notable recognitions. Türeci is married to Prof. Ugur Sahin.

Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan is the sixth President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Chairmanship of the Ruling Party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). She was sworn in on 19th March 2021 following the untimely death of His Excellency President Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli. Her Excellency is the first woman to hold this key position in the history of the United Republic of Tanzania and the first Vice President in Tanzania and East Africa to ascend to presidency. Prior to assuming the Presidency she was the fourth Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania after the re-introduction of the multiparty system in 1992.

In 2016, she was appointed by the then UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon to be a Member of the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment in charge of East and South regions of Africa from 2015 to 2017. During her tenure she tabled 27 commitments to the Panel of which the Tanzanian Government earmarked steps to be taken in the implementation of Strategic Programs for provision of sustainable approach in the realization of the gender prosperity to ensure full economic empowerment for women.

Among the initiatives undertaken were: Overseeing the creation and set up of women economic platforms countrywide that linked women’s small and medium enterprises to cross-border markets, soft loans and entrepreneurial skills; and liaised with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and the Children in preparing and launching the campaign to increase accountability in reducing maternal and new-born deaths locally known as ‘Jiongeze tuwavushe Salama’

Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Co-Founder and CEO of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist and leader in the development of novel approaches to fight cancer and infectious diseases. Sahin is one of the world’s foremost experts on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) medicines. He has pioneered several fundamental breakthroughs enabling the development of mRNA vaccines and other types of immunotherapies.

Sahin initiated and oversees “Project Lightspeed,” the historic development of the first mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, moving from lab and clinical testing to conditional approval within an unprecedented 11-month period. He also leads BioNTech’s research and development of neoantigen specific mRNA cancer vaccines which are individually tailored and produced on demand according to the profile of non-synonymous mutations identified by next-generation sequencing in patients’ tumors. Ugur Sahin is co-inventor of more than 500 filed patents applications and patents.

Sahin’s academic credentials include serving as a Full Professor in Translational Oncology & Immunology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where he was the supervisor of more than 50 PhD students. He also holds the role of Chairman of the Scientific Management Board of the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON). Based on his contributions to scientific discovery, Dr. Sahin has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the German Sustainability Award, the Mustafa Prize, and the German Cancer Award. He is married to Prof. Özlem Türeci.

Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari was appointed as Qatar’s Minister of Public Health in January 2016. She is also Managing Director of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), a position she has held since 2007. 

Her Excellency is the Chairperson of numerous boards, including the Academic Health System International Advisory Board, the Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute International Advisory Board, and a number of other committees at the Ministry of Public Health. She is also a Co-Chair for the Joint Advisory Board of Weill Cornell Medicine, Vice Chair for the Board of the Qatar Precision Medicine Institute and a member of the Qatar University Board of Regents, Sidra Medicine Board of Governors, Board of Directors of Qatar Foundation for Social Work as well as Qatar Foundation’s Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council. In October 2018, Her Excellency was elected as an international member of the United States’ National Academy of Medicine (NAM).  

Following completion of a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in healthcare management, she obtained a PhD in Healthcare Management from Brunel University in the UK in 2002. 

The First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Mrs Jeannette Kagame personifies an active, relentless and passionate devotion to uplifting the lives of vulnerable populations in Rwanda; particularly those of widows, orphans of the Genocide against the Tutsi and disadvantaged families. As the Nation’s First Lady, Mrs Kagame has admirably balanced family, social life and philanthropy, not only in her own country but on the continent, and worldwide.

Her Excellency Mrs Jeannette Kagame, is the Chairperson of Unity Club, an organization formed in 1996, and which comprises current and former members of Government and their spouses, to promote social cohesion and sustainable development of Rwanda.

In 2001, Mrs Kagame founded PACFA (Protection and Care of Families against HIV/AIDS), an initiative primarily focused on providing a holistic approach to HIV prevention and care for the whole family. She became a founding member of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) in 2002, which later changed its name to Organisation of African First Ladies for Development, and served as its President from 2004 to 2006. Over the years PACFA grew to embrace more programmes and in 2007, it changed its name to Imbuto Foundation. (Imbuto in Kinyarwanda means “Seed”). As Chairperson of Imbuto Foundation, Mrs Kagame oversees several initiatives in the areas of health, education, youth and economic empowerment.

In 2004, Mrs Jeannette Kagame became the Patron of SOS Children’s Village – Rwanda, hence further advancing the protection of children’s rights, through the mission of this international organisation that provides family based protective foster care for vulnerable children, while also meeting various health and socio-economic needs of communities.

Mrs Jeannette Kagame, a Paul Harris Fellow, became an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Kigali-Virunga in 2004. Her philanthropic work through the Rotary includes her active involvement in raising awareness about the polio vaccination programme, in Rwanda and abroad, while helping mobilise various stakeholders around the World Polio Day campaigns. Mrs Kagame also played an instrumental role in helping establish, in 2012, the Rotary-initiated project for the first Kigali Public Library.

In 2007, Mrs Kagame was appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the High Representative of the Africa AIDS Vaccine Programme (AAVP) to ensure the active participation of African stakeholders in all areas of HIV/AIDS research and development. In 2008, the First Lady was named Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance – Rwanda Chapter, an initiative dedicated to ending maternal and infant mortality. In 2010, the World Food Programme (WFP) appointed her as Special Representative on Child Nutrition. In 2013, she was elected Vice President of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA). She has also joined UNAIDS and LANCET as one of their high level commissioners. Mrs Kagame serves on boards of international organizations, including Friends of the Global Fund Africa, the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise and the Global Coalition of Women against HIV/AIDS, all in recognition of her achievements and untiring efforts. In 2014, Mrs Kagame became an International Honorary Member of Zonta International for her contribution in changing societal attitudes about women, and improving their wellbeing beyond the national level.

Mrs Kagame holds a degree in Business and Management Science and has delivered Keynote Statements at national and international fora on various themes including: leadership, economics, health, children’s welfare, youth and women’s empowerment, among others. Mrs Kagame is also one of the founders of the Green Hills Academy, one of Rwanda’s top performing schools, established in 1997 to contribute to the empowerment of young people through education.

From a little over one hundred enrolled students twenty years ago, Green Hills Academy now has more than 1,500 students from diverse countries, and is the only school in Rwanda to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, and Label France Education accreditation, enabling students become more competitive at the international level.

Her Excellency Dr. Mrs. Fatima Maada is the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone. She can be best described as a philanthropist and activist that exemplifies bravery, intelligence and servant leadership, as evident in the massive feats she continues to record in her humanitarian interventions and official work in her home country in particular and the African continent at large.

She is a Bachelor Degree holder in Performing Arts from the Roehampton Institute of London, and also in graduate in Journalism from the University of Arts, London College of Communication.

In 2022, she was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the American International University in West Africa, in recognition of her outstanding humanitarian and philanthropic interventions across the globe.

At the tender age of 10, Mrs. Maada narrowly escaped child marriage; an occurrence that later served as an inspiration for her activism and philanthropy by the time she turned 16. She relocated to London where she pursued her passion for charity work and providing support to women and vulnerable children.

Motivated by Pan-Africanist ideals, Mrs. Maada has led and successfully delivered on several gender, charitable and child welfare campaigns even before she ascended into the Office of the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone on April 4, 2018. 

As Sierra Leone’s First Lady, her historic development expedition started in December 2018 when she led a strategic peaceful protest march against the menace of child abuse. This impactful anti-rape and anti-early marriage campaign marked the beginning of her flagship Hands Off Our Girls campaign. The campaign brought together First Ladies from various African countries, who flew in and participated in the historic procession through major streets in the Freetown capital.

Three years later, the Hands Off Our Girls campaign is arguably the biggest and most impactful child rights crusade that led to a Presidential Declaration of a National Emergency on Rape and Sexual Violence in February 2019, which culminated in the review and strengthening of the Sexual Offences Act in September 2019, among several other reforms.

Dr. Fatima Maada also launched the Free Sanitary Pads project for school going girls in December 2019 as an offspring of the Hands Off Our Girls campaign and to complement the Free Quality Education Initiative introduced by the Government of Sierra Leone. The sanitary pads programme has witnessed a significant reduction in the number of girls skipping school, while at the same time intensifying public education on menstrual sanitation. 

Presently, the First Lady is constructing an ultra-modern hospital, a Centre of Excellence and an Administrative Block at the 34 Military Hospital in Freetown. She is determined to make the 34 Military Hospital, which was established in 1934, one of the best in Africa in terms of quality, accessible and affordable health service delivery.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari has been the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean since 1 June 2018. He was responsible for developing WHO’s strategic vision of Health for All by All throughout the Region, and now leads work to achieve that vision, including key initiatives to address the underlying social determinants of health, ensure access to high-quality health care services, tackle both communicable and noncommunicable diseases, enhance the evidence base for health policy-making and promote health as a bridge to peace.

Dr. Al-Mandhari is a native of Oman and a specialist in family and community medicine. He was head of Quality Management and Development at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital from 2005 to 2006, and Deputy Director-General for Clinical Affairs until 2010. From 2010 to 2013, he was Director-General of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, and he then served as Director-General of the Quality Assurance Centre at the Ministry of Health. He also worked as a senior consultant in family medicine and public health in Oman from 2009 to 2018.

Dr. Al-Mandhari’s research has been widely published and he sits on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Middle East Journal of Family Medicine. Throughout his career, he has been a member of various scientific and professional committees and lectured in the fields of quality management, patient safety, family medicine and public health.

Dr. Al-Mandhari obtained a BSc in Health Sciences (1990), followed by an MD in Medicine and Surgery (1993) from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. In 1996, he earned a diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom and was awarded the Royal Fellowship for Family Doctors in 1998. In 2002, he obtained a PhD in Quality Management of Health Care from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, film producer, columnist, and a princess of the AlSabah family, the ruling family of Kuwait. Her social enterprises (Intisars & Ebbarra) spearhead a new movement of women’s self-empowerment, while her non-profits (Alnowair, Bareec) supplement the formal education system and improve organisational cultures with programmes in socio-emotional skills based upon positive psychology.

HH Sheikha Intisar’s pioneering contribution to humanity’s greatest cause – Peace – is embodied in Intisar Foundation, which has developed and introduced an innovative approach to the field of peacebuilding that is rooted in enabling the psychological recovery and self-empowerment of women traumatised by war and violence through the use of drama therapy. Her vision of fostering Peace in the Arab world and beyond, regularly advocated during her many international and regional board engagements, advisory roles, media appearances, and UN General Assembly keynotes, has won her global acclaim.

Guy Ryder was first elected as ILO Director-General in 2012. He completed his final term of office in September 2022. 

He pursued a vision for an ILO that anticipates and responds effectively to 21^st century realities, capable of reaching the most vulnerable and remaining true to its social justice mandate.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic he strongly advocated for and led ILO action to promote a human-centred recovery that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient.

Under his leadership the ILO made the future of work the driving theme of its centenary. The International Labour Conference adopted the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work in June 2019 which continues to provide a road map for a future of work with social justice.

Mr. Ryder previously served the ILO in various capacities including as Executive Director for international labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work. During his tenure as Director-General, the ILO made occupational safety and health the fifth fundamental principle and right at work.

From 2006-10 he was General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), having led the unification of the democratic international trade union movement.

Born in Liverpool (UK), he is a graduate of Cambridge University.

Professor Mohammed Al Maadheed M.D. Ph.D. MSc. has more than three decades of professional experience, both nationally and internationally, with governments, NGOs, and the private sectors in Healthcare, Sports Medicine, Anti-doping and Humanitarian fields.  

Professor Al Maadheed joined Qatar Red Crescent Society as CEO in 2001 with a budget of £1,000,000, operating only within Qatar, with 25 staff members. In 2020, he stepped down as President, with a budget of £250,000,000, and 2,500 staff (1000 in Qatar and 1,500 internationally). The humanitarian activities of QRCS has impacted the lives of 13 million people in 2020, including the provision of primary healthcare for 1.2 million people within Qatar. Professor Al Maadheed was awarded the Henry Dunant Medal in 2022, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s highest distinction. 

Professor Al Maadheed is currently Director of Centre of Metabolism and Inflammation (Division of Medicine), University College London, inaugurated Feb 2020, following a 2-year stint as visiting professor (2017-2020).  

His experience and leadership include strategic planning and management of public health, sports, sports medicine, environmental and humanitarian initiatives and high level strategic planning and resource deployment devoted to collaborative international, regional partnership initiatives. Professor Al Maadheed is considered to be an international thought leader in the fields of Sports Medicine and Anti-Doping and has broad experience in working collaboratively with sports communities, medical researchers, national and Asian Olympic committees, FIFA and government bodies, especially in the field of Anti-Doping and Sports Medicine, and humanitarian groups, societies, NGOs, and government bodies especially in Disaster response and Rehabilitation plans.  

Broad contribution and activity in the deployment of basic human rights, basic healthcare, and creating awareness amongst the vulnerable. High scale surgical and medical management in sports, civilian, and military segments. Conducts research, gives lectures, and publishes in the fields of Anti-Doping, Sports Medicine, Healthcare, Substance use disorders and Humanitarian activities. Supervises PhD students in the fields of Sports Medicine, Strategic planning and management of public health and humanitarian fields. Professor Al Maadheed is also: 

• Chairman, Board of Trustees & Acting General Manager, ADLQ, Qatar  
• Healthcare Advisor to His Highness, the Personal Representative of HH The Emir, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Qatar 

• President, Qatar Red Crescent Society, Qatar 

His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Khalid Bin Jabor Al Thani MD is the Founder and Chairman of Qatar Cancer Society, University of Calgary in Qatar Board of Trustees Chair, and Chairman of the Gulf Union Against Cancer. 

His Excellency served as Assistant Medical Director and Managing Director of Hamad Medical Corporation, Undersecretary for the Ministry of Public Health, Vice Chairman of the National Health Authority, and Chairman of the Permanent Licensing Committee for Healthcare Practitioners in Qatar.

Also, His Excellency served as Chairman of Qatar Foundation for the Elderly and Board member of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs.

His Excellency is a Medical Doctor with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from King Faisal University and graduated from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA with a Master of Health Care Administration with emphasis on Planning and Budgeting.

Dr. Jepsen is CEO and Founder of Openwater, a breakthrough medical technology company. She has been named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine (“Time100”), in addition to CNN’s top 10 thinkers in science and technology. She has over 250 patents published or issued to her name. Previously, Dr. Jepsen served as the Executive Director of Engineering at Facebook and she has also held similar roles at Google.  

Prior to this, Dr. Jepsen was a professor at MIT and co-founded the nonprofit organization “One Laptop per Child,” for which she served as CTO. She also serves as a Director on both the Board of Lear Corporation, a Fortune 150 automotive components supplier, and Luminar Technologies, a pioneer in LiDAR and autonomous driving. 

Professor Caulfield graduated in Medicine in 1984 from the London Hospital Medical College and trained in Clinical Pharmacology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital where he developed a research programme in molecular genetics of hypertension and translational clinical research. 

At Queen Mary University of London Professor Caulfield has made substantial contributions to the discovery of genes related to blood pressure, cardiovascular health, cancer and rare diseases. His research has changed national and international guidance for high blood pressure. He was Director of Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute between 2002-2020 and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2008.   

He has won the Lily Prize of the British Pharmacology Society, the Bjorn Folkow Award of the European Society of Hypertension 2016 and the Franz Volhard Award of the International Society of Hypertension in 2018.  

Professor Caulfield was appointed Chief Scientist for Genomics England in 2013, charged with delivery of the 100,000 Genomes Project on whole genome sequencing in rare disease, cancer and infection. At Genomics England, he was instrumental in delivering the 100,000 Genomes Project which has delivered life-changing results for many patients. He has also worked with NHS England to co-create the National Genomic Test Directory, which offers equitable access for 56 million people to appropriate genomic tests.  Professor Caulfield was awarded a knighthood in 2019 for his leadership of the 100,000 Genomes Project. 

He is a member of the Barts Health NHS trust Board and is the President Elect of the British Pharmacological Society.

Patricia Scotland was born in the Commonwealth of Dominica. She is the tenth of twelve children and grew up in London. She completed her LLB (Hons) London University at the age of twenty and was called to the Bar at Middle Temple at the age of twenty-one.

Her career has been marked by achieving a number of extraordinary firsts, not least of which was to be the first woman in the more than 700-year history of the office to serve as Her Majesty’s Attorney-General for England and Wales and for Northern Ireland.

While holding these and other senior ministerial office she was given responsibility, inter alia, for gender equality, domestic violence, forced marriage, and international child abduction, and from these positions promoted diversity and equality of opportunity, particularly for women and girls.

As the only woman to have been appointed Secretary-General of Commonwealth she is placing special emphasis on mobilising the 56 nations of the Commonwealth to tackle climate change – including its disproportionate impact on women – and, through women’s enterprise, to build the resilience of smaller or more vulnerable countries. Eliminating domestic violence and violence against women and girls is another area of focus.

H.E. Dr. Mamadou Tangara is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad of the Republic of The Gambia. He was appointed Minister in 2018. A position he previously held from 2010 to 2012. Dr. Tangara served as an Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Nations in 

New York. He also served as Minister of Higher Education, Research Science and Technology. 

Dr. Tangara represented The Gambia in various Executive Boards of the United Nations and other International Organisations. In January 2022, he was appointed to the Advisory Board of United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). 

He has also served as Executive Board Member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Women.  

H.E. Dr. Mamadou Tangara holds a Doctorate degree (PhD) from Université de Limoges, France. 

His research on the myths and secret of oral historians of the Manding received Mention Très Honorable avec Félicitations a l’unanimité du Jury from the Universite de Limoges. He holds two Master’s degrees in Comparative Literature and Demography. 

HRH Princess Dina Mired is a well-known passionate global advocate for Cancer Control and Non-Communicable Diseases and mother of a cancer survivor.  

HRH Princess Dina currently serves as the Honorary President of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Patron of International Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), Member of WHO Expert Group for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer and Member the United Nations University (UNU) High level Advisory committee for Gender and Health Hub. Princess Dina is also the Special Envoy for Vital Strategies for NCD’s. 

Princess Dina served as President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) from 2018-2020 and was the first Arab and non-medical person to have been elected in such a prestigious global post.  

Prior to that Princess Dina led the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) as Director General from 2002 – till June 2016. Princess Dina transformed the non-profit into the most successful advocacy and fundraiser organization for cancer control efforts in Jordan and an internationally known brand and leader not only in Jordan but also in the global movement for people affected by cancer.  

On Sept 11th 2011, Princess Dina delivered the keynote speech on behalf of all civil society on the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s first ever High-Level Meeting on NCD’s. In September of 2018, Princess Dina was chosen again to speak at the third high level meeting on NCDs as “Eminent Champion of the fight against non-communicable diseases”. 

Peter Sands has been the Executive Director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria since March 2018.

Since June 2015 Peter has been a Research Fellow at Harvard University, dividing his time between the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Peter was Group CEO of Standard Chartered PLC from November 2006 to June 2015, having joined the Board of Standard Chartered as Group CFO in May 2002.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Peter was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Co.

Peter has served on various boards and commissions, including the UK’s Department of Health, the World Economic Forum and the International Advisory Board of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Peter graduated from Oxford University with a First Class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He also received a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, where he was a Harkness Fellow. Peter, who grew up in Singapore and Malaysia, is married to author Betsy Tobin and has four children.

Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine Cairo University in 1998

He completed his fellowship in Arab Board Program in Community Medicine in 2006

He gained the Fellowship from the Faculty of Public Health in London in 2010

He obtained a Master in Business Administration in 2014 from HEC Paris France (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris) which is a European Business School

He is Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Public Health since 2008

He is Associate Professor of Clinical Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College Qatar and Qatar University

He developed programs to protect the health of individuals, families, and community in Qatar. He placed a high priority in developing the first Public Health Strategy 2017 2022 in Qatar. He is continually conducting clinical research studies in the most ethical and safest manner possible to develop an integrated approach to health prevention and promotion. He has more than 70 publications.

Dr. Mohamed Bin Hamad Al Thani has headed number of national committees

His other affiliations include:

• Member of the Executive Board of Health Ministers ’ Council for GCC
• Member of the National Health Care Committee Qatar
• Member of the Public Health Committee Qatar

Maryam was born on 1 July 1975. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Arts and Education – Qatar University, 2000.  

Maryam started working in the National Committee for Human Rights (NHRC) since its inception, and then she has moved up the career ladder in series of various positions and job roles. In 2004, she started as a social researcher in the NHRC. Afterwards, she was appointed as the Director of the Relations and Media Unit, and then the Director of the Programs and Education Department. After six years of experience and achievements in activating the NHRC’s programs aiming to spread a human rights culture, educate the community about human rights and raise awareness among members of society, she was appointed as the Secretary-General of the National Human Rights Committee on October 7, 2009.  

As such achievements unfold, and thanks to her executive supervision of the work of the committee, she was selected as a member of the National Human Rights Committee since 2015.  

On 27 October 2021, Her Excellency Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah was elected Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee.  

Current Positions:  

– Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee 

– President of The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) 

– Chairperson of the Higher Committee for the Deaf  

– Member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions  

Ambassador Al-Thani was appointed Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in October 2013. An international though leader on human rights, social justice and sustainable development issues, Ambassador Al-Thani has authored and facilitated numerous ground-breaking General Assembly Resolutions dealing with issues such as international day to protect education from attack, the right to education in emergencies, autism, and improving the effectiveness and coordination of military and civil defence assets for natural disaster response, among others.  

Since assuming her functions, she has played a key leadership role in numerous initiatives such as Chairperson of the Fiftieth Session of the Commission on Population and Development (2017). Ambassador Al-Thani has co-facilitated several critical processes, such as the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform; the intergovernmental negotiations on the Declaration for the Commemoration of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations (2020); the General Assembly Resolution establishing the modalities for the 25th anniversary for the Beijing platform for action for women (2019); the Review of the Economic and social Council (ECOSOC) (2018); and the preparations for the high-level meeting to appraise the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (2017).  

She has initiated several United Nations Group of Friends, and currently co-chairs the Group of Friends for Gender Parity, the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect; and the Group of Friends to Assist on the international, impartial and independent mechanism (IIIM) to assist in the investigation in crimes committed in Syria.  

Between 2011 and 2013, Ambassador Al-Thani was Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and General Consul of the State of Qatar to the Swiss Federation. During the same period, she represented Qatar in the UN Human Rights Council, the Executive Council of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Executive Council of the International Labour Organization (ILO). She also held the prestigious post of President of the Social Forum of the Human Rights Council.  

Prior to this, from 2007 to 2011, she held several posts the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar in New York, including as Deputy Permanent Representative. Earlier in her career, Ambassador Al-Thani held a number of positions in Qatar, including as Director of the Department on the Rights of the Child in Qatar’s Supreme Council for Family Affairs.  

Ambassador Al-Thani sits on the boards of several international human rights and development organizations. She is the recipient of prestigious awards, including being selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum Committee to improving the State of the World in 2013.  

She holds a M.A. in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Qatar University. 

Jodi Sherman, MD, is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology of the Yale School of Medicine, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in Environmental Health Sciences, and founding director of the Yale Program on Healthcare Environmental Sustainability in the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health.  Dr. Sherman also serves as the Medical Director for Yale New Haven Health Center for Sustainable Healthcare.  

Dr. Sherman is an internationally recognized researcher in the emerging field of sustainability in clinical care.  Her research interest is in life cycle assessment of environmental emissions, human health impacts, and economic impacts of drugs, devices, clinical care pathways, and health systems. Her work seeks to establish sustainability metrics, paired with health outcomes and costs, to help guide clinical decision-making, professional behaviors, and organizational management toward more ecologically sustainable practices to improve the quality, safety and value of clinical care and to protect public health.  

Dr. Sherman routinely collaborates with environmental engineers, epidemiologists, toxicologists, health economists, health administrators, health professionals, and sustainability professionals. Dr. Sherman is a member of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change and was contributing analyst for the UK National Health Service Net Zero Initiative, and serves on the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative for Decarbonization of the U.S. Health Sector. She also co-leads the Lancet Planetary Health Commission on Sustainable Healthcare.  

Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh is Chair of Primary Care Research and Development, Director of the Usher Institute and Dean of Data at the University of Edinburgh. He is also Director of the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (AUKCAR), Director of the Health Data Research UK BREATHE Hub and is with Lord Ara Darzi Co-Director of the NHS Digital Academy.

Aziz holds a number of visiting chairs, namely: University of Birmingham (UK), Queen Mary’s University of London (UK) and Maastricht University (Netherlands). He was previously Visiting Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

He is an editorial board member of BMC Medicine, Health Informatics Journal, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Medical Care and PLOS Medicine, and is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Quality in Health Care.

Aziz is a Highly Cited Researcher and has fellowships from 9 learned societies. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for Services to Medicine and Health Care in 2014 and a Knight Bachelor in 2022 for Services to COVID-19 Research and Policy by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

Kasper Bergmann is Vice-President of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) championing human rights for deaf people. The WFD is the world’s oldest and largest uni-disability organisation having member organisations from 133 countries around the world representing more than 70 million deaf people using sign languages.  

Kasper is representing the WFD at the World Hearing Forum under the WHO and has been a part of the working group developing the World Report on Hearing (WHO, 2021).  

Furthermore, he is working as Head of International Cooperation at Danish Deaf Association promoting human and linguistic rights for deaf people around the world including access to health services. He is overseeing project partnerships in 9 countries, mainly in Africa. He has been working within this area since 1999 in various roles.  

Finally, he has been working as Head of Section at Unit of Health Economics under the Danish Health Authority analysing the economic performances of the Danish public hospitals and other health economics related projects. He holds a M.Sc. degree in Economics from University of Copenhagen. 

Dr. Dena Al-Thani is currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Interdisciplinary Programs at the College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

Dr. Al-Thani was awarded her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Queen Mary University of London; her thesis specialized in Human-Computer Interaction and Inclusive Design. She has obtained a postgraduate certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, and she is an Associate Member of the Higher Education Academy in the UK.

Dr. Al-Thani is now actively publishing papers in high-ranked journals, presenting her work at international conferences, as well as contributing book chapters to publications in her field. She is keen to see the impact on the world of her research on assistive technology research in Qatar, and, to that end, she is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) technical advisory group on assistive technology and the Arab ICT Accessibility Expert Group, an initiative by Mada.

Dr. Al-Thani actively participates as a keynote speaker and panelist in key world forums, including the annual meeting of the UN Council Working Group on Internet Policy Issues, the UN Human Rights Social Forum, the Gulf Region Education and Assistive Technology Conference, the World Health Innovation Summit, and the 12th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN.

In September 2017, Mr. Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz was appointed as the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations in New York.

Prior to his appointment, he was the United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Africa from 2012 to 2017, having previously been serving as Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in New York from 2005 to 2012.  In that capacity, he was the African member of the Bureau of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development which laid the foundation for the UN 2030 Agenda and the African Agenda 2063, he also co-chaired in 2008 the Review Conference on Financing for Development and, in 2009, he was the Rapporteur, representing Africa, of the Conference on the Economic and Financial Crisis and Its impact on Development.

Having served as Vice President of the Economic and Social Council (2011-12) and Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly (2008-2009), Mr. Abdelaziz enjoys an intimate knowledge of the UN intergovernmental processes and multilateral diplomacy. As Chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement from 2009 to 2012, he played a leading role in coordinating developing countries position in the UN along with the G77 and China.

Between 1999 and 2005, he was the Diplomatic Adviser to the President of Egypt, and Official Spokesman of the Presidency. From 1997 to 1999, he was Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, having previously served as Political Counsellor in the New York Mission from 1995 to 1997.

Among other posts, Mr. Abdelaziz was Director of the Specialized Agencies Department in the Multilateral Sector of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1993 and 1995, and Political Counsellor at the Embassy in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, Russian Federation from 1991) from 1989 to 1993. He headed the International Organizations Division of the Foreign Ministry’s Legal and Treaties Department from 1987 to 1989. Between 1983 and 1987, he served as Second and then First Secretary at Egypt’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.  He joined the diplomatic service in 1979 as a member of the Foreign Ministry’s International Organizations Division, serving there until 1983.

Mr. Abdelaziz graduated from the Ain Shams University School of Law in 1973. He is married and father of one daughter.

Dr. Kamran Abbasi MB ChB, FRCP is a doctor, journalist, editor and broadcaster.

Following five years in hospital medicine, working in various medical specialties such as psychiatry and cardiology, he moved into senior editorial roles at the British Medical Journal from 1997 to 2005.

He returned to The BMJ in a new role as executive editor for content, leading the journal’s strategic growth internationally, digitally, and in print.

In his career as a medical editor, Kamran has been acting editor and deputy editor of The BMJ, editor of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and JRSM Open, editor of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, and a consultant editor for PLOS Medicine. In January 2022 he became Editor in Chief, The BMJ.

He has created three major e-learning resources for professional development of doctors including BMJ Learning and the Royal Society of Medicine’s e-learning and video lecture service.

Kamran has held board level positions and been chief executive of an online learning company. He has consulted for several major organisations including Harvard University, the UK’s National Health Service, the World Health Organization, and McKinsey & Co.

In addition, Kamran is an honorary senior lecturer in the department of primary care and public health at Imperial College, London. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians of London, Patron of the South Asian Health Foundation, and a member of the General Advisory Council of the King’s Fund. He is an experienced contributor on radio and television.

Kamran’s other passion is cricket and he wrote one of the best read blogs in world cricket on cricinfo.com, a website in the top 100 of world Internet rankings. He writes on cricket for publications throughout the world, including Wisden.

Darryl Barrett is a health and legal professional with 25 years’ experience in service delivery, public policy, regulatory reform and programme development. He has over 14 years’ experience advising governments and civil society in more than 30 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific. This has included living and working in fragile and conflict-affected states, middle-income and well-resourced settings.  

Darryl currently leads the disability programme at the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva. He is responsible for managing the development and coordination of guidance, advocacy, and capacity building on disability inclusion in the health sector among Member States and global partners. Prior to this he worked at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, working on disability and rehabilitation, and on health law and ethics.  

Darryl has managed programmes that specifically address a range of health-related legal, governance and service delivery priorities of governments, with a focus on addressing the exclusion of marginalised populations.  

He has also led processes to strengthen the engagement and participation of health service users, particularly people with disability. Having worked with a range of large entities including United Nations, federal and state agencies for health, law and human rights, and international development organizations, Darryl has experience in addressing the political and practical challenges of delivering results in large and complex organizations.  

As Director of the Health Workforce Department at the WHO, Jim oversees the development and implementation of global public goods, evidence and tools to inform national and international investments in the education, development and retention of the health and social sector workforce in pursuit of global health security, universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The department’s work includes the State of the World’s Nursing Report, WHO’s Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, the report of the High-level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth and the subsequent adoption of the ILO, OECD, WHO action plan on Working for Health to implement the Commission’s recommendations. He coordinates the Global Health Workforce Network engaging member states and relevant partners in WHO’s work.

Prior to joining WHO and GHWA he spent eight years as the Founder and Director of a not-for-profit research institute. His publications include A Universal Truth: No Health Without a Workforce (2013), and the State of the World’s Midwifery reports (2011 and 2014). He is a Board member of the International Institute for Educational Planning.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove is the COVID-19 Technical Lead for the World Health Organization and the Head of Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses in WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme.  She is an infectious disease epidemiologist.

Dr Van Kerkhove’s research spans zoonotic emerging and re-emerging high threat pathogens such as avian influenza, MERS-CoV, SARS, SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Marburg, plague and Zika. She is responsible for the health operations and technical aspects of the global COVID-19 pandemic response as well as developing strategies for the prevention, preparedness and control of epidemic and pandemic zoonotic pathogens. For more than 25 years, her research has focused on factors associated with transmission between animals and humans, the epidemiology of zoonotic pathogens, and ensuring that research directly informs public health policies for action.

Van Kerkhove completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, an MS Degree in epidemiology at Stanford University and a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prior to joining WHO in 2017, she was the Head of the Outbreak Investigation Task Force at Institut Pasteur’s Center for Global Health, in Paris, where she was responsible for establishing public health rapid response teams for infectious disease outbreaks. Her previous roles include a senior fellow at Imperial College London in the MRC Center for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling, and an epidemiologist at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia.

Holm Keller serves as Executive Chairman of KENUP Foundation, a global partnership in innovation, promoting research-based innovation for the public and societal benefit. Previously, for 10 years, Mr. Keller held the elective public office as Chancellor and Executive Vice President for University Development and Innovation at Leuphana University in Germany. 

Prior to his public service work, he worked as President Asia for Bertelsmann Inc. in Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney after holding top-management positions with the media-group in Gütersloh, London and New York. Before, Holm Keller served a consultant with McKinsey & Company Inc., where he co-led the development of the Firm’s global Accelerator Practice. Earlier in his career, he held operative functions with ARD, ZDF and arte television. 

Originally trained as a musical composer, Keller holds degrees from Vienna University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. 

Jerome H. Kim, M.D., is an international expert on the development and evaluation of vaccines and is the Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver safe, effective and affordable vaccines for Global Health. IVI’s oral cholera vaccine is used around the world to prevent this deadly diarrheal disease.  IVI’s typhoid conjugate vaccine, tech-transferred to SK bioscience received regulatory approval in the Republic of Korea (May 2022) and to PT Bio Farma, Indonesia (approval expected in 2022). 

IVI’s work with companies developing COVID-19 vaccines may contribute 1.2 billion doses to the global COVAX facility – providing COVID-19 vaccines for people in low- and middle-income countries. Prior to IVI, he was the Principal Deputy, US Military HIV Research Program and Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Pathogenesis at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the US Army Program Manager for HIV Vaccines.  He led the Army’s RV144 Phase III HIV vaccine trial that showed efficacy in the prevention of HIV-1. Dr. Kim is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University, USA, and at Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Seoul National University, Korea.

He has authored over 300 publications. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, with high honors in History and highest honors in Biology and received his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Kim has received numerous awards: John Maher Award for Research Excellence, USUHS, 2013; Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement Award for Technical Excellence, 2013; Asia Pacific Vaccine Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021; Medal of Honor for Civil Merit from the Korean government, 2022.

Lady Roslyn Morauta took up office as Vice-Chair of the Global Fund Board in May 2019.

She has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea since 1982. Prior to that, she worked in publishing in England, taught Politics at the University of Ghana, the Australian National University and Queensland University, and worked as a research officer in the Defence Department in Canberra and for the Australian Social Welfare Commission.

In Papua New Guinea she has worked for the National Planning Office and the Department of Finance and Treasury (through the United Nations Development Programme), undertaken consultancy management with Coopers & Lybrand, and now acts as manager of Morauta family business interests.

As First Lady of Papua New Guinea from 1999-2002, she championed issues on health, HIV and gender, and has continued this work since.

Lady Morauta has a long association with the Global Fund, having previously served as the Alternate Board Member for the Western Pacific Region Constituency on the Global Fund’s Board, and Chair of the Papua New Guinea Country Coordinating Mechanism. Her role in the Country Coordinating Mechanism has given her close understanding of Global Fund strategies and processes, the working of the Secretariat, and the practical implementation of grants at country level.

Roslyn is also a member of the Anglicare (PNG) Board and the PNG Maritime College Board. Other board and committee memberships have included the PNG National AIDS Council, the Asia-Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV/AIDS and the PNG Alliance of Civil Society Organisations Against HIV/AIDS.

Ghida AlJuburi, JD, PhD is a Senior Scholar with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University. Her interests lie in exploring the intersection of health, culture, religion, and the law. Her previous research and writings have focused on orphan diseases such as Sickle Cell disorders impacting minority, migrant and immigrant communities which could be better managed through local policy initiatives. Dr. AlJuburi spent most of the past decade working and advising in multiple senior roles in Qatar.  

Dr. AlJuburi holds a PhD from Imperial College’s department of Primary Care and Social Medicine and her JD from the George Mason University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in both the United States and as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales. She received her BA from the Johns Hopkins University, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University.  

Dr. AlJuburi held the position of Assistant Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill-Cornell School of Medicine. She is the founder of Salzay Advisory and is currently writing and consulting on projects of interest domestically and internationally. Dr. AlJuburi serves as a Global Public Health Advisor to boards and high-profile board members in the U.S. and abroad. Her intersectionality expertise has allowed her to advise on the influence of healthcare in shaping international alliances, health of nations, and economies of developing, emerging, and developed countries. An insightful collaborator who forges partnerships with leaders and policy makers in health and education, she also sits on international and local boards and committees including the King Hussein Cancer Foundation.

Professor Didier Houssin is presently the president of AP-HP International, the subsidiary of Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (Greater Paris University Hospitals).

Professor of surgery and liver transplant specialist at Paris-Descartes University since 1988, Didier Houssin served as head of surgery at Cochin hospital in Paris, then as executive director of the French transplant agency and, later, as medical policy director of Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris and vice-president of Paris-Descartes University.

From 2005 to 2011, he was director general for health at the French Ministry of health and inter-ministerial delegate for pandemic flu preparedness.

President of the French agency for the evaluation of research and higher education (AERES, then HCERES), from 2011 to 2015, and president of the management board of the French agency for food, environmental and occupational health and safety (ANSES) from 2013 to 2016, he served also as an advisor to the World Health Organization since 2011. From, 2015 to 2022, he was member of the management board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

At the World Health Organization (WHO), he was chair of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework Agreement Advisory Group and, later, chair of the Review Committee on the Role of the International Health Regulations (2005) in the Ebola Outbreak and Response. He has chaired the Covid-19 WHO emergency committee since January 2020 and is a member of the French National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Al Khal earned his MBBCh from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1989. He undertook his internship at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in the State of Qatar, and in 1991, joined the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, CT, USA, followed by completion of a 2-year fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Hartford Hospital. He was awarded the Diploma of the American Board in Internal Medicine in 1994 and Diploma of the American Board of Infectious Diseases in 1996. He was recertified in Infectious Disease in 2013.

Dr. Al Khal holds several clinical positions, chairs a variety of committees, and has led number of strategic projects at HMC. Between 1999 – 2001, he served as the Chair of Family Medicine and as Chair of Department of Medicine from 2001 until 2012. Dr. Al Khal has been the Head of Infectious Diseases Division since 1998 and the Lead of the Communicable Disease Center and is also the National TB Program Manager and the Director of the Clinical AIDS Program. As Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Director of Medical Education/DIO, he has notably led HMC’s achievement of ACGME-I accreditation, and in 2018 received ACGME’s Physician International Award, to recognize his outstanding contributions to improving the quality of graduate medical education in Qatar. Dr. Al Khal also has an advisory role to several public health programs under the umbrella of Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health.

Dr. Al Khal currently holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q) and as Clinical Professor of Medicine at Qatar University College of Medicine (QU CMED) as well as serves as QU CMED’s Director of the Clinical Affairs Department.

He remains active in research and publishes regularly in the fields of Internal Medicine, Pharmacology, Infectious Diseases and Medical Education.

Paola is CEO of ADI. Prior to this, she was CEO of LIFE and occupied senior positions with Cass Business School, Tate, British Library and IIED. She is a Board Member of the World Dementia Council, a Trustee of The Postal Museum and of Lauderdale House and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Previously she was a Non-Executive Director of the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (NCDA), a Trustee of Shelter, the housing/homelessness charity, and of MLA London.  

She holds a degree cum laude in Classics from Federico II Napoli University, an MA in Field and Analytical Techniques in Archaeology and an MA in Library and Information Science both from University College London. 

Paola leads on all aspects of ADI’s work. Together with the Board, Paola ensures our strategy is implemented and resourced. Paola is ADI’s main spokesperson and represents the organisation internationally. She is a Board Member of the World Dementia Council, a Trustee of The Postal Museum and of Lauderdale House. 

Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite, MD, MP is Member of the Portuguese National Parliament (4th term), Vice President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Parliamentary Board, and Head of Public Health at Católica University of Portugal.  

He is Founding President of ‘UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health’, currently present in +85 countries, and including more than 200 members of parliaments, congresses and senates from around the world.  

He is also Vice President of the ‘Parliamentary Network on The World Bank & International Monetary Fund’, Mayoral Candidate and City Councilor of Sintra (2021-present) and Former Deputy Mayor and Councilor of Cascais (2015-2017). Prior to being elected MP, he was a practicing physician trained in Infectious Diseases at the Western Lisbon Hospital Centre and intern at the World Health Organization (Copenhagen). Previous experience includes having been an elected member of the supervisory board of the National Genetic Database Protection Agency and a decade of experience in health technology as a medical consultant at Glintt Healthcare Solutions, a multinational software house.  

His post-graduate studies in universities included Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Medical School, and was a PhD candidate at Maastricht University.  

Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite is also Founder of ‘CREATING HEALTH – Research and Innovation Funding’, Co-founder of the ‘Estoril Conferences’ and main author of the book ‘A Road to a Cure – Reforming the National Health System’, among other publications.

Richard J. Hatchett, MD, is Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI – a global partnership that supports the swift development of and equitable access to new vaccines and other defenses against infectious diseases with epidemic and pandemic potential. Dr. Hatchett’s and CEPI’s plan is for the world to neutralize those pandemic threats with prescient investment in scientific R&D.

Before taking on the CEPI leadership just after its launch in 2017, Dr. Hatchett was Acting Director of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). He has also served under two U.S. Presidents – George W. Bush and Barack Obama – as Director of Medical Preparedness Policy on the Homeland and National Security Councils.

Dr. Hatchett has a medical degree from Vanderbilt and completed clinical training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Cornell and Duke.

Angela Coulter is a UK-based health policy analyst and researcher, with special interests in patient and public involvement. A social scientist by training, she has higher degrees in health services research from the University of London and the University of Oxford. Now freelance, she chairs the Public Advisory Board of Health Data Research UK, the Birmingham, Rand and Cambridge Evaluation Centre (BRACE) steering group and the COMPAR-EU advisory board. 

She is a member of several other committees, including the Scientific Advisory Board of The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute (THIS), the Thames Valley & Surrey (TVS) Care Records Partnership Ethics and Engagement advisory board, and the INSIGHT Data Trust Advisory Board. Her previous roles included Chief Executive of Picker Institute Europe, Director of Policy and Development at the King’s Fund, Director of the Health Services Research Unit at the University of Oxford, Director of Global Initiatives at the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation and Honorary Professor at the University of Southern Denmark. 

She has published more than 350 research papers, articles and reports and several books, including The Autonomous Patient, The European Patient of the Future, The Global Challenge of Healthcare Rationing, Hospital Referrals, Engaging Patients in Healthcare and Understanding and Using Health Experiences. She was the founding editor of Health Expectations, an international peer-reviewed journal on patient and public involvement in health care and health policy. 

Hala Ousta is a Senior Diversity & Accessibility Manager at FIFA.   

Combining both her education and experience, Hala has covered a wide range of roles and responsibilities related to both equality, diversity, inclusion, and sport development in local, national, and international contexts. 

Prior to joining FIFA, Hala led the Scottish FA’s efforts to secure the Advanced Level Equality Standard for Sport and led the establishment of its Equality & Diversity Advisory Board. 

A former Board member of ‘Women in Football’, Hala has also held advisory roles as part of the ‘Scottish Committee of the British Council’, the ‘Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Advisory Board’ and is both a ‘Sport Industry NextGen Leader’ and recently featured as one of ‘YWCA Scotland’s 30 under 30 in 2019’. 

Dr. Asmaa Al Fadala is the Director of Research at WISE. She is also a visiting fellow at Cambridge University.  

With over twenty years of experience in K-12 education, higher education, and policy development, she has served as policy writer at the governmental level, professor, author of books on leadership reform and board member on educational organizations. 

As Director of Research, Dr. Al Fadala is leading a number of projects, including the Empowering Leaders of Learning (ELL), which supports school leaders in navigating school improvement processes; the Agile Leaders of Learning Innovation Network (ALL-IN), an international network of school leadership experts and practitioners aimed at raising awareness of educational leadership policy globally; and the WISE Innovation Hub Project focusing on learner and educator development in progressive school settings.  

Dr. Al Fadala holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil from Cambridge University in Educational Leadership and Policy.  

She is a widely published author in the field of educational leadership and policy, entrepreneurship education, teacher professional development, educational reform, innovation in education and SDGs.  

She is the author of Qatari School Leadership Portraits: Lessons Learned from Education for a New Era Reform (HBKU Press, 2019).  

While carrying out her full-time position, Dr. Al Fadala has an advisory role in several organizations around the world, including Karanga, a global alliance for social – emotional learning and life skills, Hughes Hall Development Strategy Group at Cambridge University, a committee member in Greater Share, a philanthropic investment model that works with high impact NGOs and private equity funds.   

She is a board member at University of Doha for Science and Technology. 

Neil Watkins leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s policy, advocacy, and communications work on nutrition and agriculture. He manages a global portfolio of policy and advocacy grants on nutrition and agriculture issues and led the development of the foundation’s first nutrition advocacy strategy. Before joining the foundation in 2012, Neil led advocacy and policy efforts on a range of global poverty issues in Washington, D.C.

Most recently, he served as director of policy and campaigns at ActionAid USA, and before that as executive director of Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 75 faith-based organizations, development agencies, and human rights groups advocating for debt relief and global poverty eradication. Neil holds a B.S. in foreign service and international relations and affairs from Georgetown University.

Dr. Sanaa Alharahsheh is a Research Manager at World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a member of Qatar Foundation. She previously worked as a Senior Researcher at Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), a member of Qatar Foundation. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Wayne State University, MI, USA in 2011. She has more than 15 years of experience in teaching, research and policy analysis, strategic planning, capacity building and institutional development.  

Before moving to Qatar in 2013, Dr. Sanaa was teaching at Wayne State University for several years. Dr. Sanaa has extensive experience in statistics and research methods design both quantitative and qualitative with interdisciplinary research perspective. She has conducted several studies on Arab American families’ well-being, Jordanian families, mixed marriage, autism, mental health, nursing, digital technology, and child wellbeing, etc.   

Currently, she leads/is involved in several research and policy projects in healthcare and policy. Her research interest focuses on areas of Healthcare and Policy, Research Methods and Statistics, Medical Sociology, Mental health, Children’s wellbeing, Digital technology and health, Family Well-being, elderly, and healthy aging.  

She has published several papers, policy briefings, reports, and chapters in international peer reviewed papers/books. She is also an ad hoc reviewer for various scientific journals plus a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. 

Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem is an internationally recognized academician and health care leader with Sidra Medicine. He is an Inaugural Chair of Psychiatry for Sidra Medicine in Doha, Qatar. He is Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. He and his team have played an instrumental role in establishing child, adolescent and perinatal psychiatry services in Qatar from scratch; as well as developed the world’s first and only ACGMEI Training Program in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is Director of Sidra Medicine World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Collaborating Center. 

Professor Azeem has contributed nationally in a number of important initiatives, including being Chair of Qatar’s National Autism Plan Working Group, Co-Chair of World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) Autism Forum, and member of National Mental Health and Wellbeing Task Force. Internationally, Prof. Azeem is Chair of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Working Group on Medical Students and member of the WPA Working Group on Autism as well as on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He participated as invited member of World Health Organization (WHO) Rehabilitation Program to contribute in developing rehabilitation interventions for individuals with autism.  

Professor Azeem’s primary clinical and research interests include Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Disabilities, Global Mental Health, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Training and Undergraduate Medical Education. He is involved with number of prestigious research grants regarding Autism, ADHD, genetics, neuroimaging and psychiatric comorbidity with chronic medical conditions. He has presented nationally and internationally and has published extensively in peer reviewed journals. In addition, he collaborates with various professionals and medical schools in South East Asia and Middle East in improving child and adolescent services, and child and adolescent psychiatry training. 

Professor Azeem is Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association as well as Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has received several awards and honors for his work. He served on various boards and committees at regional, national and international level.

A lawyer by training, Marie Barsacq worked for ten years for the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF), devoting her energies to employment, training and qualification in the sporting movement.

She then joined the French Football Federation (FFF) where she set up the Institute of Football Coaching (IFF) before becoming the FFF’s association general manager for amateur football. Marie is also a member since 2018 of the Executive Committee of the French Football Federation.

She then took up position as the Director of Impact and Legacy for the Paris 2024 Bid Committee, and then Executive Director within the Organising Committee.

Ruth Stringer is an environmental scientist and activist with over thirty years in research, policy, and implementation.  

Her early career as a research fellow at the Universities of London and, later, Exeter, centred on the sources of, implications and solutions of chemical pollution. Using the capabilities of the gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer to look beyond the limits of target chemical analysis, she helped expand scientific understanding of the implications of the permissive pollution permits of the time.    

A critical lesson was that effluents were far more complex than previously realised, and that few of the components could be identified or their environmental impacts elucidated. The realisation of the inherent uncertainty in our understanding of the effects of pollution became an important scientific underpinning for the precautionary principle, which is now incorporated into the most important environmental protection instruments.  

Ruth also participated directly in the technical working groups of the Basel and Barcelona Conventions, helping shape them, and define categories of waste requiring the strictest control. Investigations into the hazardous additives in PVC products were also instrumental in the first EU ban on phthalates in children’s toys.   

More recently, she has focused on implementing environmental change in the global healthcare sector, as International Science and Policy Coordinator for the international NGO, Health Care Without Harm.   

She advises on and supports healthcare waste management in a range of locations, mostly in Africa and Asia, including an enduring involvement in Nepal. Reducing healthcare waste, including plastics, recycling and biodigestion, sustainable waste treatment technologies and implementation strategies, are important foci for her current work. 

She has also contributed to the WHO guidelines on safe management of waste from health care activities and other key technical documents, including guidance for disposal of waste from COVID diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination.   

Howard was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in February 2019. He is committed to ensure that ICN effectively represents nursing worldwide, advances the nursing profession, promotes the wellbeing of nurses and advocates for health in all policies.

Throughout his career Howard has worked and written extensively on issues relating to the Nursing and Healthcare Workforce and he co-chaired the first ever State of the World’s Nursing Report. He has led ICN’s work to respond to and support nurses globally during the pandemic and has been at the forefront of advocating for the protection of and investment in the nursing profession.

Howard joined ICN in April 2016 as the Director, Nursing, Policy and Programmes. His team led the development of ICN policy and position statements. He also co-ordinated ICN Programmes and projects and oversaw the development of scientific programmes for ICN events.

Howard qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1988 and held a variety of nursing posts in England and the United States and worked for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation. He studied Social Policy at Cardiff University (BSc Econ Hons) and Industrial Relations at Warwick University (MA) and then worked as a Personnel and Organisational Change Manager in the National Health Service in the UK.  For 10 years Howard was Head of Policy & International Affairs at the Royal College of Nursing in the UK.

Professor Corinne Reid is a clinical psychologist and global consultant working in elite sport for more than 25 years. She supports Olympians in maintaining individual and team wellbeing in high performance environments. She advises coaches and players about leadership under pressure. Professor Reid is a Senior Research Fellow with the Global Health Academy and Global Associate of the Academy of Sport at The University of Edinburgh. She is also committed to addressing global mental health through addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Professor Reid is co-founder of ETHOS, a global initiative to enhance planetary health commitments in the Higher Education sector. In her clinical practice, Professor Reid specialises in working with children and families with mental health challenges and co-founded the Project KIDS neurodevelopmental research program. She is also part of a team developing a perinatal mental health tool with Indigenous communities in Australia. Whilst Professor of Psychological Therapies at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Reid co-founded the Flourish research team, focussed on developing a toolkit for ethical global research in partnership with more than 400 researchers from more than 30 countries.

Professor Reid has held leadership roles in universities in the United Kingdom and in Australia. Most recently, she was Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research at Victoria University, where she introduced a whole-of-university commitment to planetary health; and also designed and led a successful AUD$22m bid for COVID-recovery research funds from the Victoria State Government supporting 65+ researchers, and involving partnerships with 35+ community and industry organisations, whilst providing opportunities for more than 50+ students. During this time, Victoria University also entered the Top 10 in the Shanghai Rankings for sporting universities and re-positioned itself as prioritising sport for inspiration, sport for innovation, sport for community cohesion and sport for social change. Professor Reid’s most recent publication addresses a compassion narrative for achieving the UN SDG 2030 agenda.

Fawzia is a policy and program analyst. Tackling the climate and environmental crises are her priorities. 

Fawzia leads the work on decarbonising health operations for the Aga Khan Health Services, across 8 countries and involving over 500 health facilities with ambitions of Net Zero operations by, if not before, 2030. Innovations developed through this experience are being shared with governments across the world in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. She holds professorships at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the James P Grant School of Public Health; and is a Trustee of OKRE, Founding Member of AmplifyChange and a member of the Global Steering Committee of the Geneva Centre of Healthcare Leadership for Sustainability.

Fawzia has worked with over 20 governments to evaluate, reposition and develop initiatives. She was Senior Policy Advisor to an intergovernmental South-South initiative of 16 Ministries of Health:  ‘Partners in Population and Development’ and developed several inter-government collaborations. Previous positions include Global Health Leadership Fellow and Senior Policy Adviser to the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNAIDS, and with The Global Fund.

Fawzia has a PhD in immunology/medicine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Fiona Bull is the Head of the Physical Activity Unit within the Department of Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to joining WHO in 2017, she was a Professor of Public Health and Director of the Research Centre on Built Environment and Health at the University of Western Australia. Previous positions include Professor of Physical Activity and Director of the UK National Centre of Physical Activity and Health and Senior Scientist at the CDC in the Department of Health and Human Services, U.S.A.

Dr. Bull studied in the UK and Australia and was President of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health for 2014-2016 and co-authored over 200 scientific publications. At WHO, Dr. Bull leads a team working on the cross-cutting agenda of promoting physical activity through active transport, sport, and everyday activities through advancing the science, policy, and practice to support countries implement the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030: More active people for a healthier world.

Emma is FIND’s Chief Access Officer and is currently leading the ACT-Accelerator Diagnostics Partnership on behalf of FIND and The Global Fund.  She is a public health doctor with a focus on global health strategy and delivery.  Her work has been centred at a global level on organizational strategy in global health, and at a country level in implementing health systems reforms in complex operating environments. 

In her previous role as Head of Health at Acasus, she was part of the team leading the Pakistan Health Reforms Roadmaps, which improved primary care for more than 150 million people, and the DRC’s Mashako Plan to increase immunization coverage for children. Prior to joining Acasus she was the manager of the Market Dynamics Team at Unitaid in Geneva, and an Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Company based out of Dubai and Washington, DC. She holds a medical degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University.

Dr. Hanan Abdul Rahim is an Associate Professor and the Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Qatar University, the country’s largest national university. She has a PhD in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine from the University of Oslo, Norway (2003); a MSc in Biology from Illinois State University, IL, USA (1994), and a BSc in Biology from Salem College, NC, USA (1992). 

Dr. Abdul Rahim has over 20 years of experience in the field of public health and has devoted her career to public health education and research in the Eastern Mediterranean region. She was the founding Coordinator of the BSc in Public Health program (2012-2014) at Qatar University, one of the founding faculty members of Qatar’s first Master of Public Health (MPH) program (2015), and the Head of the Department of Public Health between 2017 and 2019. In 2008, Dr. Abdul Rahim became one of the founding members of the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University, the country’s first academic-based survey research organization. As the Associate Director of SESRI, she was instrumental in the planning and execution of a number of large population-based social and health surveys feeding into policy making. Before moving to Qatar, Dr Abdul Rahim was at the Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) in Birzeit University, where she coordinated the Diploma in Primary Health Care and Master of Public Health programs. She continues to teach epidemiology and public health courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels and to supervisor student research. 

Dr. Abdul Rahim’s research interests are at the intersection of social science and public health, with a special interest in the social determinants of noncommunicable diseases and the health and wellbeing of women.  

Prof. Dr. Karine Sargsyan is Managing Director for International Biobanking and Education, Vice Scientific Leader and Lecturer of the Master’s university programs Biobanking and Human Centered Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at the Medical University of Graz. She built the Biobank Graz from the fist moment of institutionalization. Under visionary her management, Biobank Graz, has been developed to an interdisciplinary institution with educative strength (starting staff was one person – herself) to the today’s status of one of the most known and busiest (used) interdisciplinary clinical biobanks in Europe (BBMRI survey) with 42 employees (28 FTE) and approx. 12 million Euros budget and 300 serviced projects p/a.  

She is skilled in interdisciplinary research, research policy, international research, research organization-management-policy, grant management, quality, and risk management (particularly in grant driven environment) and digitalization (including AI and ML) in life sciences, particularly in medicine. She provides scientific expertise and experience as a consultant to several sites worldwide (BBMRI-Poland, German Space Agency, MoHs of several countries, DDZ, etc.) and is focused on innovation, specifically on innovative technology in several international projects. She is active and meanwhile a very dedicated working group leading member of the ESBB, as well has been elected to Vice-President of ESBB. 

She gives lectures in several universities including MUG, YSMU, Cote de Azure University Nice, etc. She is also a representant and speaker (Keynotes, TEDx, WEF Davos convention, etc.). Overall grant making/management – more than 120 mio Euro. She published more than 100 papers in scientific journals and is author of several books and book chapters with Springer and the Cambridge Publishing house. She is one of the authors of the World 2050 initiative of the World Economic Forum – Young Global Leaders.   

Was born in Vanadzor, Armenia and lives in Graz, Austria. Married; has a highly talented daughter (21).  In her free time, she enjoys painting (three exhibitions), playing the piano and happily commits herself to various voluntary activities. 

Dr. Luz María De-Regil, DSc, MSc, currently heads the Unit of Multisectoral Actions in Food Systems at the World Health Organization. This area of work includes Accelerated Actions in Food Safety, implementation and monitoring of policies for reducing obesity and the consumption of potentially harmful dietary ingredients, as well as food-based approaches to improve people’s nutrition, including fortification and biofortification.

Dr. De-Regil is an Epidemiologist with 20 years of experience in the public, private, non-for-profit and intergovernmental sectors. Her expertise spans from research in basic science to large scale public health programming and policy. Prior to her current position, she was the Vice-President of Global Technical Services at Nutrition International, in Canada, an Epidemiologist at WHO, and a Researcher in Mexico and USA.

Luz María has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed and policy publications, and was a member of the WHO Guidelines Review Committee and the WHO Research and Ethics Committee. She has served in multiple international advisory bodies in public health and in the Boards of Non for Profit organizations.

Luz María De-Regil holds a Doctorate in Sciences of Public Health, a Master’s Degree in Sciences, Postgraduate studies in International Negotiation and Policy Making, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences.

Dr. Mark Barone holds a PhD in Human Physiology and two post-graduate diplomas, in Diabetes Education and in Communication. He has more than two decades of experience in public and global health, education, empowerment and advocacy, with studies and books published.

Mark is a former Global Health Leaders Fellow (2016-2019) – a program developed in a partnership between the Public Health Institute (PHI) and the Medtronic Foundation – and Technical Director at the PHI’s Brazilian chapter, where he developed sustainability and scalability plans for global and public health programs and oversaw HeartRescue Brazil and HealthRise Brazil. In 2017, he founded and since then has been coordinating the Intersectoral Forum to Fight NCDs in Brazil (ForumDCNTs), where the main stakeholders from different sectors meet to identify barriers and align strategies to achieve the SDG 3.4 in effective, sustainable, and scalable partnerships.

In addition to his work at the ForumDCNTs, he is currently Vice-President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), member of the Steering Committee of Life for a Child International (LFAC) and of the NCD-Lab-GCM/WHO, member of the IAPO’s Scientific Advisory Board, of the BMJ Patient Panel, and of the Advisory Panel at the Ramaiah International Centre for Public Health Innovations (RICPHI).

Dr. Nahla Maher Afifi earned her MBBCh with honors from Ain Shams University, Egypt. She received her Master of Anatomy & Embryology, and a Diploma of Gynecology and Obstetrics from the same University.

She received her Ph.D. of Anatomy & Embryology in 1996 from Ain Shams University under a joint supervision with University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, USA. Dr. Afifi started her academic career as a Medical Researcher in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She then served as Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Embryology at Ain Shams University, and Dubai Medical College for Girls, UAE. Dr. Afifi joined Qatar University’s Biomedical Sciences Program in 1999 and was promoted to Associate Professor of Anatomy and Embryology and to Full Professor in 2007.

She was assigned as a Head of Dept. of Health Sciences from 2007-2009. In December 2013 she joined QF as Education and Scientific Manager, obtained Certificate Principles in Biobanking form Luxembourg University and in 2017 was appointed as Qatar Biobank Director. Dr. Nahla Afifi has numerous grants and published research in her field of expertise. She is a member in several international societies’ AAA, ASIP, ISBER and ESBB and was awarded the ISBER 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Biobanking Award.

Renzo Guinto, MD DrPH is the Chief Planetary Health Scientist of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health in Malaysia. Concurrently, he is the Inaugural Director of the Planetary and Global Health Program of the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine in the Philippines. He is also a member of the National Panel of Technical Experts of the Philippine Climate Change Commission and convener of Planetary Health Philippines.

An Obama Foundation Asia-Pacific Leader and Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, Renzo is a member of several international groups including: Lancet–Chatham House Commission on Improving Population Health post COVID-19 (University of Cambridge); Lancet One Health Commission (University of Oslo); Advisory Board of Climate Cares (Imperial College London); Global Advisory Council of Primary Care International; and Board of Trustees of the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians. Renzo has served as consultant for various organizations including: WHO; WHO Foundation; World Bank; USAID; and Philippine Department of Health. He also sits on the editorial boards of The Lancet Planetary Health; PLOS Global Public Health; Journal of Climate Change and Health; and Journal of Migration and Health.

Renzo obtained his Doctor of Public Health from Harvard University and Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines Manila, and received further training from Oxford, Copenhagen, Western Cape, and East-West Center (Hawaii). He has traveled to and lectured in nearly 60 countries and 100 universities across the world; published more than 150 articles in scientific journals, books, and popular media; and directed and produced short films that communicate the message of planetary healing to the world. In 2020, Renzo was included by Tatler Magazine in its Gen.T List of 400 leaders of tomorrow who are shaping Asia’s future.

Iris Blom is a 27-year-old Ph.D. candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researching how to make health systems more sustainable and resilient in the context of climate change.  

She is a medical doctor from the Netherlands with a Master’s Degree in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China as a Schwarzman Scholar. She has attended the COP25, COP26 and the first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit to advocate for planetary health.  

She is the first next-generation representative on the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance. She has represented medical students worldwide to the World Health Organization during her medical studies and helped set up and was part of the first Steering Committee of the WHO Youth Council. 

Mary Harvey is an accomplished and innovative sports governance and sustainability executive with 15+ years leading worldwide initiatives to achieve societal change and gender equity through sports. Mary’s initiatives have been implemented globally through a variety of organisations, having sustained impact in the empowerment of girls and women, inclusion of marginalised groups, and stewardship of the environment.  

As Chief Executive, Mary is spearheading the development of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights. This includes oversight for the Centre’s vision, including facilitating the deliberations of the Centre’s multi-stakeholder Advisory Council, operational and financial management, stakeholder engagement, and good governance. 

A lifelong athlete, Mary enjoyed an 8-year career with the US Women’s National Soccer Team, winning the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 and Olympic Gold in 1996. Mary holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BS from UC Berkeley.

• Honorary Professor of Service Effectiveness & Health Intelligence, Glasgow University
• Clinical Data & Digital Lead, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
• Clinical Professor in Public Health, Qatar University

Prof Adil MD, FRCPE, FFPH, FFCI has over 25 years of medical, public health, executive management and policy experience. He has delivered on key positions in the UK & USA. In 2021, H E Minister of Public Health has appointed him national advisor to excel and transform the healthcare services in Qatar.

From 2014-2021, he was Medical Director of Public Health Scotland/Health Protection Scotland providing national leadership to establish data-driven high-performance healthcare and health protection services in Scotland, including developing COVID-19 Recovery & Remobilisation Model for the country. Before that, National Quality & Efficiency Advisor at the Department of Health (England) with the remit to improve quality and performance through innovative models of primary and secondary care services, covering 55 million population of England.  

He is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School, Institute of Healthcare Improvement (USA), Yale School of Public Health, Judge Institute of Management (Cambridge University) and European Hospital & Healthcare Federation. Appointed Visiting Professor of International Health Systems (University of Strathclyde), Value-based Healthcare (Manchester Business School), adviser to World Bank, several countries and organisations globally. He has postgraduate qualifications in medicine, paediatrics, public health, economics, management and health informatics.

Dr. Tinubu-Karch, affectionately known as “Dr.T-K”, has been a practicing physician specializing in General Internal Medicine, Hospital Medicine and Geriatric Medicine at a number of health organizations; including; The Polyclinic, Swedish Medical Center, University of Washington and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Puget Sound in Seattle, WA. She currently serves as a Clinical instructor at the UW, School of Public Health. She holds additional subspecialty training in Critical Care Medicine and a master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Washington where past academic roles include Clinical Instructor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family & Child Nursing. She previously served as Associate Chief of Staff for Hospital Operations, Section Chief of Hospital Medicine and Attending Physician, Emergency Services at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Puget Sound, Washington. Her Global Medicine roles have included Consultant Physician, Health Systems, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. 

Dr. Tinubu-Karch’s current Seattle-based practice comprised of a team of Physicians and Nurse Practitioners; 6M Geriatrics & Hospital Medicine is focused on primary and high acuity care Medicine “in place” and Geriatrics at Swedish Medical Center and at various Community locations; including Retirement Communities (Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care), Skilled Nursing and Long-term Care Facilities. The 6M Geriatric Model of Care the concept of embraces Goals and Preferences being the anchor and driver of comprehensive Older Adult Health care. 

Dr. Tinubu-Karch completed her postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at the prestigious Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health, NY and a combined Internal Medicine /Pediatrics Internship at Long Island College Hospital/State University of New York. She is passionate about technology and its growing applications in clinical medicine and is certified in Health Information Technology. She was a past recipient of the Washington State Health Information Technology grant and previously served on the Washington State Medical Association Health Informatics Advisory and Accreditation Committees. She is a member of the American College of Physicians, American and British Geriatric Societies, the American Medical Association, the American Medical Directors Association, the Society for Hospital Medicine, the Society of Post-Acute and Long-term Care and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. 

Her passion for strengthening communities through leadership is evident through her service as City Commissioner, Seattle Women’s Commission and volunteer Physician for the Center for Multicultural Health. She currently serves on the Board of Village Reach and Sidra Medicine and previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Washington Women’s Foundation, the World Affairs Council, the Childhaven Board of Trustees, the Swedish Medical Foundation Board and Co-Chair, the Summit Club at Swedish Medical Center. 

Dr. Murhaf Assaf studied medicine and graduated in 2010, then began specialization and training in general surgery, graduating as a general surgeon in late 2015. 

Because of the ongoing war Murhaf worked as a war surgeon in the conflict zone and sometimes on the frontline.  In 2016, he worked in eastern Aleppo under siege with very limited resources and extreme circumstances. He left the besieged city to the countryside following the agreement between Russia and Turkey that helped evacuate the besieged people in Aleppo.

The hospitals where he worked were targeted many times with different weapons including cluster bombs, bunker buster bombs and even chlorine gas. He used to deal with mass casualties and a huge number of patients at the same time due to massacres committed by jet, aero craft, helicopters and shelling. He now lives in the UK and is doing his conversion exams to achieve GMC registration.

Dr. Michaela Th. Mayrhofer is a political scientist and historian by training. She was educated in Vienna, Louvain-la-Neuve, Essex and Paris. Her academic career led her to various positions and stays at the Centre de Recherche Médecine, Sciences, Santé et Société, the University of Vienna, the Institute of Technology and Society Studies at the Alpen-Adria- Universität Klagenfurt/Vienna/Graz, the Technical University of Vienna, the Fondation Brocher and the Medical University of Graz.

She retained a Research Fellowship at the Institut für Technik-und Wissenschaftsforschung at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt as well as at the University of Newcastle; in addition, she is a former member of the editorial staff of the Austrian Journal of Political Science (2013-2017). Since 2018, she leads the Code of Conduct for Health Research initiative, which aims at developing a code along Article 40 of the EU GDPR, considering the specific features of processing personal data in the area of health.

She has been working for BBMRI-ERIC since 2013, where she served as Co-Interim Director General (Feb-Aug 2020) and continues her activities as Head of ELSI Services and Research since 2019. In the latter capacity she spearheads a multidisciplinary team of legal, bioethics and social science experts providing know-how in more than 20 active research projects.

Professor Mowafa Said Househ, Ph.D., is a Professor of Digital Health affiliated with Hamad Bin Khalifa University, College of Science and Engineering, Qatar Foundation, Qatar.

His primary research interests cover the use of information and communication technologies to empower patients and clinicians, with a special focus on the applications of Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, and Mobile Technologies in Healthcare, and specifically within mental health.

Professor Househ is also an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Victoria School of Health Information Science, Victoria, BC, Canada. Professor Househ has published over 250 papers and edited over 10 books in his field.

Pia MacRae is CEO of Consortium for Street Children, a global network of organisations working to guarantee the rights of street-connected children. In her work in the not-for-profit sector, Pia has focused on the areas of health, education, and child protection, with a particular interest in government systems strengthening and child rights. She has worked with VSO, the Tropical Health and Education Trust and Save the Children. Pia also worked in the private sector for over a decade (BP and Oxford Policy Management). Her previous role was Chief Business Delivery Officer at Crown Agents. She is on the Board of the Great Britain China Centre and Kings Global Health Partnership.

Mark is an accessibility and inclusive design consultant with a wide range of experience on major international programmes for over 20 years. For the majority of the last eight years he has been working for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for the Qatar 2022 World Cup programme. 

Initially his role in Qatar was leading on the defining and implementation of the Inclusive Design Strategies and Standards for both the transport and built environment, with a specialism in stadium and event venue design. In 2019 be become the lead accessibility adviser for the Host Country activities.  This includes ensuring areas such as transport, accommodation, arrivals, public realm and visitor services are accessible and inclusive as possible for disabled people.

During this time he has also worked as an Accessibility Assessor to both the English Premier League and English Cricket Board on accessibility and inclusion issues at events – as well as providing experience and expertise for other projects within Expo 2020 and Paris 2024.

Previously Mark was working for CH2M Hill as Accessibility Consultant for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games by providing an expert overview on the accessibility strategy and standards. He also delivered the Accessible Transport Strategy for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. 

Mark spent six years as part of the highly successful London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games within the Olympic Delivery Authority, holding the positions of Inclusive Design Manager for the Buildings and Infrastructure, and Senior Accessible Transport Manager. As Inclusive Design Manager it was his role was to inspire a positive approach to inclusive design.

His role as Senior Accessible Transport Manager was to lead a range of complex and challenging transport and infrastructure projects, and was responsible for ensuring the delivery of accessible services and facilities for disabled people during the Games.

James has spent more than 20 years working on humanitarian and conflict issues with a focus on the Middle East, including time living in Syria and Lebanon. He previously worked at Chatham House, MAP and Crisis Action.

He has an MA from Kings College London and a BA from Exeter. He is a contributing author to An Iraq of Its Regions: Cornerstones of a federal democracy and America and Iraq: Policy-making, intervention and regional politics since 1958. He was a Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Centre and a is currently a Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies.

Dr. Tarek Sunna is the Head of Neurosurgery Division at Aman Hospital. He is certified from the Arab board of Neurosurgery, and European board of Neurosurgery, and he is a fellow of the Royal College of surgeons of Edinburgh, and the American College of Surgeons, and is the first international surgical advisor to the Royal College of Edinburgh in the Middle East. He is an expert in complex spine surgery, and oncology of the spine, and the latest minimally invasive techniques in spine surgery.

Professor emeritus of Virology in charge of the Virology Laboratory in Necker Hospital (APHP). and in the Necker medical school in Paris, France.

Director of the EA 7327 Research team at Paris Descartes University. The main areas of research on HIV associated to international scientific publications concerned: HIV diagnosis in adults and babies, HIV therapeutics, and HIV reservoirs with an emphasis on cohort studies and clinical trials, with the development of virological markers for developing countries, (more than 550 publications in July 2022 in PubMed). Also:

Member of the French “Academie National de médecine”.

Member of the COVID-19 committee in the “Académie National de médecine”.

Member of the National Committee on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis.

President of ARCAT/Checkpoint, ONG for prevention and care for patients living with HIV.

Alison Parry-Jones (BSc, MA, PhD, MRSC) is the Operations Director of the Wales Cancer Biobank (WCB). She is responsible for the day to day running of the biobank and is based at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. She is the Designated Individual on the WCB licence issued by the Human Tissue Authority and is therefore responsible for governance and compliance across all WCB sites in Wales.  She has extensive project management experience in academia and is a PRINCE2 registered practitioner. Her background is in analytical chemistry and before moving into project management she worked in bioanalytical laboratories specialising in phase I and II clinical research. Her interest in the legal and ethics issues within biobanking led her to complete an MA in Medical Ethics and Law in 2012. 

She is the President Elect for the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) and is a member of an American Society of Clinical Pathology Board of Certification working group that developed an international Qualification in Biorepository Science online examination. She is on the UKAS Biobank Accreditation Steering Group for ISO20387 and recently became a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the European ISIDORe consortium (Integrated Services for Infectious Disease Outbreak Research).

Duley is CEO of Legacy of War Foundation, photographer, writer, chef and presenter, born in 1971 in London. His work focuses on the long-term humanitarian impact of conflict. Starting his career as a music photographer, Duley worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, Oasis and Lenny Kravitz for publications including Q, Vogue, Sunday Times and Elle. In 2000 his image of Marilyn Manson was voted amongst the 100 greatest rock photographs of all time. 

In 2004 Duley changed his focus to documentary work, partnering with well-respected charities such as HI (Humanity and Inclusion), EMERGENCY, Save the Children and UNHCR to highlight lesser-known stories deserving of public attention and action. Although documenting challenging, and at times, horrific situations, Giles captures the strength of those who fight adversity rather than succumb. His photographs draw the viewer to the subject, creating intimacy and empathy for lives differing from ours only in circumstance. 

His work has taken him to Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, DR Congo, Angola, Bangladesh, Kenya, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Colombia, Vietnam and Nigeria among others. 

In 2015 he started his Legacy of War project, which looks to explore common themes of conflict. A core part of the project is collaborations with other artists and writers to reach a wider audience. These collaborations have included the musicians Massive Attack and PJ Harvey. 

In 2011, whilst working in Afghanistan, Duley was severely injured by an IED. As a result of his injuries, he is a triple-amputee. In 2012 he returned to Afghanistan to continue his work as a photographer. 

Duley is also CEO and Founder of the NGO Legacy of War Foundation and international charity supporting communities and individuals as the rebuild their lives after conflict. He is a campaigner for the rights of both refugees and those living with disability. 

As a presenter he has made two Unreported Worlds for C4 and he has produced and presented the six-part VICE tv series, The One-Armed Chef, which aired in 2022 

In 2017 the Sunday Times included him in their Alternative Rich List, for those who are ‘rich in experience, rich is spirit, rich in life….’  In the list Natasha Kaplinsky said of Duley “Even catastrophic injury has not stopped him doing what he feels he should be doing with his life.” 

In 2019 he was awarded the Amnesty Media Award for Photojournalism.  

“Different photographers can use the same camera or light, or all shoot the same frame. But what is different is the soul of the person behind the lens, and the moments they recognize and are drawn to—the emotional connection they make. That is what I love about Giles’s photography. Looking at his images, we can feel what he feels. It’s clear that he connects deeply to the human condition of people from all over the world. He himself has been through an ordeal. They say that adversity helps grow compassion, and Giles’s art certainly seems to bear that out.” – Angelina Jolie 

Gonzalo is an ecologist recognized as a global leader in the promotion of sustainability, with an emphasis on innovative free market solutions to environmental issues. As executive director of Earthna, he guides the center’s mandate of enhancing Qatar’s role within the global sustainability policy ecosystem.

His previous positions included Managing Director for External Affairs at Pluspetrol, Latin America’s largest private oil and gas company; Chairman of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel in Washington D.C.; Managing Director of Sustainable Forestry Management for the Americas; Head of Biodiversity at the Global Environmental Facility; Principal Environmental Specialist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Latin American and Caribbean Program.

Gonzalo founded Ecosystem Services LLC, a company that generates carbon offsets through avoiding deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. He has acted as a consultant for multilateral and bilateral agencies, governments, and NGOs. He has been a member of the Supervisory Council of Wetlands International, where he was appointed Counselor of Honor in 2021. He was recognized by the United States Forest Service with the Outstanding Achievement in Conservation Award in 2017. In 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the period 2022 – 2024. He has published over 250 articles in scientific journals, magazines, and books, as well as authoring two books himself.

Dr. Castro de la Mata received a Ph.D. in Ecology and Population Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Master of Science in Biophysics and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru.

Dame Sally Davies is the 40th Master of Trinity College, Cambridge University and the first woman to hold the post. She was appointed as the UK Government’s Special Envoy on AMR in 2019.  

Dame Sally was the Chief Medical Officer for England and Senior Medical Advisor to the UK Government from 2011-2019. She is a leading figure in global health, having served as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board 2014-2016, and as co-convener of the United Nations Inter-Agency Co-ordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), reporting in 2019. In November 2020, Dame Sally was announced as a member of the new UN Global Leaders Group on AMR, serving alongside Heads of State, Ministers and prominent figures from around the world to advocate for action on AMR.

In the 2020 New Year Honours, Dame Sally became the second woman to be appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) for services to public health and research, having received her DBE in 2009. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014 and a member of the National Academy of Medicine, USA in 2015.

President Biden appointed Sara Minkara as the Special Advisor on International Disability Rights. In this role, Special Advisor Minkara leads the U.S. Department of State’s comprehensive strategy to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities internationally.

Prior to joining the Department of State, she founded and served as CEO of Sara Minkara, LLC, which promotes authentic leadership and value-based inclusion.  She also established Empowerment Through Integration (ETI), a nonprofit organization committed to developing a more inclusive global society and transforming social and cultural stigmas against disability.

Special Advisor Minkara is a graduate of Wellesley College and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been recognized for her many contributions through appointments and awards, including honors from the Clinton Global Initiative, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Forbes 30 Under 30, Ashoka, Harvard, Halcyon, and the Vital Voices “100 Women Using Their Power to Empower” retrospective.

Internationally, Special Advisor Minkara has promoted disability rights, diversity, access, and inclusion in a range of countries including Lebanon, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. She speaks Arabic.

Professor Gilbert joined the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University in 1994 and became part of the Jenner Institute (within NDM) when it was founded in 2005. Her chief research interest is the development of viral vectored vaccines that work by inducing strong and protective T and B cell responses. She leads the Jenner Institute programme in influenza vaccine development and now also works on vaccines for many different emerging pathogens, including Nipah virus, MERS, Lassa virus and CCHF virus. 

Professor Gilbert’s work also focuses on the rapid transfer of vaccines into GMP manufacturing and first in human trials. This is achieved through collaboration with colleagues in the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility and Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, all situated on the Old Road Campus in Oxford. 

Professor Gilbert is currently the Oxford Project Leader for ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, a vaccine against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This vaccine, tested by the University of Oxford in clinical trials of over 23,000 people in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, is now in use in many countries around the world in the fight against the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

 ‘I have worked in the development of vaccines against infectious pathogens for many years and in the last 2 years have been able to draw on all that I have learned in order to respond to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. I have been so fortunate to work with a very talented and dedicated team who made it possible to develop a vaccine in less time than anyone thought possible.’

H.H. Sayyida Basma Al Said is a well-established Mental Health Clinical Counselor, founder of the first mental health clinic in Oman, Whispers of Serenity and founder of mental health campaign Not Alone. She is also a hypnotherapist and PTSD trainer with over 21 years of experience seeing and treating patients from a wide array of disorders. She holds a master’s degree in Health Counseling in 2008 from Curtin University of Technology in Australia. Sayyida Basma is a pioneer in mental health issues awareness and is renowned for dealing head on with taboo subjects in the Middle East such as abuse and eating disorders. She is one of the few psychotherapists in the Gulf to use techniques such Hypnotherapy as well as her most recently earned training of Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET) for PTSD from Harvard University.  

On 2014, Her Highness initiated “Not Alone” an ongoing campaign to create societal awareness of the importance of mental well- being. This is a living proof of her dedication and ambition towards the betterment of the society. Not Alone campaign has opened a messaging support line on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic where it provides a psychological and emotional support dedicated to teens, the elderly and most importantly, the frontline health workers. She also spearheaded on providing free counseling for individuals and groups during the second wave of COVID-19 in India, Beirut incident and the current situation for Palestinians.  

Moreover, she is the current Honorary President of Oman Heritage – a team that looks after and preserves Omani practices and culture.  

Recognized not only in the Arab world but also internationally, she has attended and delivered a total of 800 in governmental and 400 in private institutional talks, workshop and webinars. She also has been featured and interviewed by prominent networks and media such as CNN Arabia, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia to name a few.  

Awarded as International Social Responsibility Ambassador by The International Union for Social Responsibility (IUSR) for 2020 and 2021, and has been honored as one of the 50 Omani women who have played a significant role in the country’s development and for their achievements in the field of their work by the Honorable Lady, Wife of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik on Omani Women’s Day 2020.  

On February 2022, World Humanitarian Forum has welcomed Sayyida Basma as one of the new members of Medical and Health Programming board while The Diana Award- the only charity named after the legacy of Princess Diana has announced about her being the first Arab to judge young candidates around the world who have excelled in social work. Moreover, she was also one of the speakers to the Inaugural of Forbes USA for World’s Most Powerful Women for International Women’s Day where HE Hillary Clinton had headlined last March this year.  

Dr. Al Emadi is a certified clinical psychologist by the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar. She currently functions as a licensed psychologist to treat behavioral disorders, specifically drug addictions. She is considered to be teaching family relations at Qatar University. She has delivered several courses and workshops in this field in Qatar and abroad and has presented papers in several international conferences pertaining to several fields of study and research. Some were published in international magazines. She held the position of Executive Director of Protection and Social Rehabilitation and Executive Director of International and Community Relations at the Naufar Center. 

Besides her role as the Executive Director of Doha International Family Institute, she is also a member of the National Committee for Women, Children, the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities; and a board member in the Social Sciences and Humanities Department at Qatar University.  

Dr. Al Emadi holds PhD and Master’s degrees in Psychology and Counselling from Manchester Metropolitan University and was awarded the PhD Degree holders Platinum Medal at the Education Excellence Day in Qatar for the year 2009. 

Shereen El Feki is Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at UNAIDS. She is the author of Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World (Penguin Random House), a groundbreaking study of sexuality and its intersection with politics, religion and culture across MENA.  Before joining UNAIDS, Shereen was a Regional Director with Promundo, where she led the International Men and Gender Equality Survey Middle East and North Africa (IMAGES MENA), a pioneering study of men, masculinities and gender roles across seven countries in the region. Shereen has previously served as Vice-Chair of the UN’s Global Commission on HIV and currently sits on the Chatham House Commission on Universal Health. She started her career as a Healthcare Correspondent with The Economist and presenter with Al Jazeera. Shereen is a molecular immunologist by training, with a BSc from the University of Toronto and an MPhil and PhD in molecular immunology from the University of Cambridge.  

Dr. Shona Macleod is a research consultant leading a project looking into the access to healthcare of children in street situations for Street Child United and Consortium for Street Children. Shona holds a PhD in International Development from SOAS, University of London. From 2019-2022 she was employed at Consortium for Street Children, leading the organisation’s research activities. Shona has also worked for Tostan and for Save the Children. 

Pia and Shona will be joined by Street Child United’s Young Leaders – young adults who have experience of being in street situations.  

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan has been appointed Chief Scientist heading the division created to strengthen the organisation’s core scientific work and ensure the quality and consistency of its norms and standards.

She was previously Deputy Director-General for Programmes (DDP). A paediatrician from India and a globally recognized researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, she brings with her 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate research into impactful programmes. Most recently, Dr. Swaminathan was Secretary of the Department of Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research. From 2009 to 2011, she also served as Coordinator of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) in Geneva.

She has sat on several WHO and global advisory bodies and committees, including the WHO Expert Panel to Review Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of the Global TB Department at WHO, and as Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on TB. She received her academic training in India, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

Stéphanie Seydoux was appointed French Ambassador for Global Health in 2018, representing France in international organizations such as The Global Fund against Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Unitaid. 

In her role, she contributes to the design and implementation of the French Strategy for Global Health which focuses on strengthening health systems, promoting equitable access, with a particular focus on gender and on vulnerable groups. She took an active part in France’s participation to the multilateral response to the Covid crisis (in particular through ACT-A, vaccine sharing, development of local production capacities). She was also involved in the 6th Global Fund replenishment conference in Lyon, in October 2019.

After starting her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stéphanie Seydoux joined the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) in 2004. From 2007 to 2010, she was Head of Equality Promotion at the French Independent Equality Commission. From 2010 to 2013, she was Deputy Ambassador at the French Embassy in Kenya. She was head of the French Women’s rights department from 2014 to 2017.

She is chair of the Council of the Virchow Prize for Global Health and a member of Insitut Pasteur’s “Assemblée des Cent”.

Stéphanie Seydoux holds a master’s degree in literature from the University of Oxford, a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and is a former student of the National School of Administration (ENA) – promotion “Léopold Sédar Senghor”. 

Stephen is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and futurist with 300+ recognitions/awards. His leadership working daily with more than 400K+ CEOs, investors, scientists with the world’s leading CEO, scientific, technical, health, and financial organizations allow him a unique vantage point to oversee where investments and transformative global innovation is heading in the coming years.  

He is founding chair of YPO Impact Advisory Board and previously the YPO EIS Advisory Board. Stephen is the Recipient of 20 Microsoft Global Awards (2018-2023 in AI).  

He is a contributor to Forbes / IT World Canada on leading new investments, innovation and entrepreneurship.  

Professor Tim G. Benton leads the Environment and Society Programme at Chatham House. He joined Chatham House in 2016 as a distinguished visiting fellow, at which time he was also dean of strategic research initiatives at the University of Leeds. 

From 2011-2016 he was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s Global Food Security programme which was a multi-agency partnership of the UK’s public bodies (government departments, devolved governments and research councils) with an interest in the challenges around food. 

He has worked with UK governments, the EU and G20. He has been a global agenda steward of the World Economic Forum, and is an author of the IPCC’s Special Report on Food, Land and Climate (2019), and the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (2017, 2022). 

He has published more than 150 academic papers, many tackling how systems respond to environmental change. His work on sustainability leadership has been recognized with an honorary fellowship of the UK’s Society for the Environment, and a doctorate honoris causa from the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. 

As Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Her Excellency Mrs. Toyin Ojora Saraki is a global advocate for women’s and children’s health and empowerment, with two decades of advocacy covering reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health; ending gender-based discrimination and violence; and improving education, socio-economic empowerment and community livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.   

Mrs. Saraki is the Inaugural and Emeritus Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM); special adviser and member of the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), was named by Devex as UHC Global Champion, is the UNFPA Nigeria Family Planning Champion, is the Save the Children Newborn Health Champion for Nigeria; and is a Global Champion for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, and member of the International Steering Committee ICPD25. Mrs. Saraki has recently been appointed the inaugural WHO Foundation Global Health Ambassador.  

Victoria Hornby OBE is CEO of Mental Health Innovations. From 2011 to 2017, she was Director of Programmes at The Royal Foundation, building a portfolio of projects including the Invictus Games, Coach Core, United for Wildlife and Heads Together.  

Before joining the Foundation, Victoria was a Senior Executive at the Sainsbury Family Trusts and CEO of an international development charity. She began her career as Field Director of an aid agency, living and working in Eastern Europe for four years. Alongside her day jobs, Victoria is a Director of Social Finance, adviser to the Charles Dunstone Charitable Trust, and a trustee of the Westminster Foundation and the Bridges Impact Foundation. 

Professor Mohamed-Ali is Deputy Director of the Centre for Metabolism & Inflammation, University College London; Scientific Advisor for Research, Anti-Doping Lab Qatar (ADLQ) and a Member of the Medical & Scientific Committee, IOC, since 2015.  

The Medical and Scientific Commission’s mission is to provide a guiding reference for all other sports organisations on matters relating to the protection of the health of athletes. The Commission advises the IOC Session, the IOC Executive Board and the IOC President on athletes’ health, the promotion of health and physical activity, and the protection of clean athletes in support of Agenda 2020. 

Prior to joining ADLQ, Prof. Vidya Mohamed-Ali worked on reproductive endocrinology in Professor Robert G Edwards’ (Nobel Laureate 2010) team at Bourn Hall Clinic, University of Cambridge.  

She joined UCL as a Junior Research Fellow and was tenured in 2002. At UCL she had a significant teaching load which included organising a 3rd year undergraduate module, for which she received a Division of Medicine Teaching Award, serving on the teaching committee of two post-graduate courses and also initiating a non-resident PhD programme.  

Her research, since 1995, has focused on the chronic inflammation associated with obesity and specifically the endocrine nature of adipose tissue (fat). Her group was the first to show in vivo release of interleukin-6 and leptin from human adipose tissue. Formed the Adipokines and Metabolism Research Group at University College London, investigating the secretory functions of the adipocyte and its consequences. 

She served on the committee of the UK Association of the Study of Obesity, is on the editorial board of Obesity Facts, member of the American Endocrine Society and Senior Associate member of the Royal Society of Medicine. She was recently invited, as a member, onto the Qatar University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences’ Advisory Board (2015-2016) and of the Medical and Scientific Commission of the International Olympic Committee (2015-ongoing).  

She has contributed to over 100 conference proceedings and media output for the wider public (such as the British Nutrition Foundation Task Force publications) and attracted funding for several student stipends and has obtained grant funding of £2 million. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers on obesity-associated diseases, four reviews and contributed chapters to three books and her work has been cited over 8000 times, with an H-index of 52.

Vincenzo Paglia was born in Boville Ernica, (Frosinone, Italy) on 21 April, 1945, and obtained a degree in theology and philosophy from the Lateran University and another one in pedagogy from the University of Urbino.

He was ordained as priest on 15 March, 1970, and from 1981 to 2000 served as parish priest in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome; he was also the ecclesiastical assistant of the Community of Sant’Egidio and was the postulator of the cause of beatification of the Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero.

On 2 April 2000 he was ordained as Bishop of Terni Narni Amelia in the Cathedral of St. John Lateran. From 2002 to 2014, he was president of the International Catholic Biblical Federation and, from 2004 to 2009, he was also chairman of the Commission Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Since 2019 he is president of Family International Monitor.

He has played an important role in the dialogue between the Vatican and the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Church, and followed the situation in the Balkans with particular care. He was the first priest to receive permission to enter Albania before the free elections in March 1991. He was a member of the Pontifical Delegation for the first Pastoral Visit in Albania and, as such, obtained the reopening of the seminary and the restitution of the Cathedral of Scutari. His action was particularly intense in matters concerning Kosovo, where he succeeded in reaching the only agreement between Milosevic and Rugova for the standardization of the school-education system in the region and obtaining the release of Rugova during the war of 1999.

For his work in peace he received, in 1999, the UNESCO’s Gandhi Medal and in 2003 the Mother Teresa Prize of Albanian Government. He also received the Ibrahim Rugova award from the Kosovo government and the “Noble Amigo” award from the Government of El Salvador, the San Valentino d’oro, the Premio per il Dialogo Città di Orvieto, as well as the Grinzane Terra d’Otranto and “Ernest Hemingway Lignano Sabbiadoro” prizes, and from Patriarch Alexis the award for the Third Century of Saint Daniel Prince of Moscow.

He has collaborated with the Department of Contemporary History at the Sapienza University of Rome and has published studies and articles on the social and religious history as well as on the history of poverty.

On 26 June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the dignity of archbishop and appointed him president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

He is the founder of People and Religioni – Terni Film Festival.

On 17th August 2016 he was appointed President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

On 4th October 2017 he was appointed member of Congregation for evangelization of people and on 11th January member of Congregation for Causes of Saints.

In February 2019 he promoted the “Rome Call” about ethics and artificial intelligence.

Experience:

United Nations 

• Expert commissioner to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2021-2024 
• Vice president of the Working Group for Women and Girls with disabilities, 2021-2024 

Best Buddies Panama – President, 2015 – present  

Tribu DDB – President, 2010 – 2016 

Voces Vitales Panamá – Member of the Advisory Board, 2007 – 2011 

Aid For Aids New York – Member of the Board of Directors, 2006 – 2009 

Special Olympics – Member of the International Board of Directors, 2006 – 2015 

UNICEF Latin America and The Caribbean – Special Ambassador for Children with Disabilities, 2004-2009 

Government of The Republic of Panama – First Lady of Panama, September 2004 – July 2009 

Educational Background: 

Florida State University / Nova University – Bachelor’s in Marketing and Administration 

The Handmaids of The Sacred Heart of Jesus College (LAS ESCLAVAS) – High school in Science and Letters

Achievements:   

Founder and President of Best Buddies Panama. 2015. 

Keynote Speaker for TEDxPanamaCity ‘Inclusion Architects’ – Panama, Republic of Panama, October 2011. 

Special Envoy of Good Will for Human Rights and the Dignity of persons with disabilities and their families of UNICEF, designated by the Organization of American States (OAS) for the XXXIX Meeting of the Central American Council of Human Rights Procurators – Panama, Republic of Panama, September 2009. 

UNICEF special envoy for Human Rights and the Dignity of Persons for the V International Forum of Children with Special Needs. Achievement of Independent living for Persons with Disabilities – Doha, Qatar, April 2009. 

Promotion of the establishment of the Certificate of Disability in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of Panama. Seminar-Workshop “The Preparation of the Regulations for the Certification of Disability”, with the technical assistance of the National Rehabilitation Service of Argentina, March 2009. 

UNICEF Special Envoy for Human Rights and the Dignity of Persons with Disabilities for the Global Forum on Inclusion “Advances and Achievements of Panama in Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in national affairs” – Ottawa, Canada, November 2008. 

Keynote Speaker at the Autism Talk Conference – Mexico, September 2008. 

Speaker as First Lady of the Republic of Panama and as UNICEF Special Envoy for Human Rights and the Dignity of Persons with Disabilities for the VIII Meeting of Central America and the Dominican Republic First Ladies “XXI Century, Route towards True Educational Inclusion” – Panama, Republic of Panama, July 2008. 

Support and promotion for the development of the National Accessibility Regulations in Urban Planning and Architecture. Designed for Engineers, Architects and related. National Secretariat of Disability of Panama (SENADIS), July 2008. 

UN Special Envoy for Human Rights and the Dignity of Persons with Disabilities for the III International Forum of Children with Special Needs “Building Communities of Acceptance and Inclusion throughout the World” – Doha, Qatar, April 2008. 

Recognition for her work as an advocate for human rights and the dignity of people with disabilities and their families. United Nations, Executive Board of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) – New York, United States of America, January 2008. 

Promotion and management for the creation of the Technical Secretariat for the Follow-up of the Program of Action of the Decade of Persons with Disabilities of the Organization of American States (OAS), including its installation in the Republic of Panama and the attainment of financial resources, technical and technological for its operation, January 2008.  

Speaker at the LXVII PAHO Directing Council, where she promoted the enactment of the resolution “Disability: prevention and rehabilitation in the context of the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and other related rights” – Washington D.C., United States, September 2007. 

Promotion and participation in the creation of Panama’s National Disability Secretariat (SENADIS), today’s National Disability Policy coordinating institution of the Republic of Panama, June 2007. 

Chairperson of the Inter-American Conference on Disability of the Organization of American States (OAS), within the framework of the OAS Inter-American Summit in Panama – Republic of Panama, June 2007. 

Signing on behalf of the Republic of Panama of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at the Headquarters of the United Nations Organization – New York, United States of America, March 2007. 

Creation and Implementation of the “Dignified Schools” Program – Republic of Panama, 2007. 

Creation of the Network of Integral Care Centers (REINTEGRA) at national level, with a comprehensive approach to rehabilitation and care by transdisciplinary teams. The concept of integral care is introduced, and the rehabilitation services are decentralized – Republic of Panama, 2007. 

Promotion and participation in the installation of the Inter-American Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Panama, February 2007. 

Promotion for the creation of the Technical Aid Program (FODIS) of SENADIS – Republic of Panama, 2007. 

Boost for the creation of the Non-Refundable Economic Subsidy Program for People with Disabilities and their Families of SENADIS – Republic of Panama, 2007. 

Honorary President of the XIV World Congress of International Inclusion “Building an Inclusive Future: A Challenge for Globalization” – Acapulco, Mexico, November 2006. 

Boost for the creation of Vital Voices Chapter of Panama as a member of “Vital Voices Global Partnership”, based in Washington, DC, founded on the initiative of Hillary Clinton and Madelaine Albright, 2006. 

Creation of a Sports School of Social Integration and Inclusion in Panama through the Real Madrid Foundation in the Republic of Panama, January 2006. 

Implementation of the Program of Inclusive Education in Diversity within the Panamanian Educational System – Republic of Panama, March 2005. 

Participation and promotion of the proposed Equal Opportunities Law enacted in 1999 – Republic of Panama. 

Creation of Inclusion Panama, National Family Network, 1994.

Certifications and Courses: 

V Meeting of First Ladies and Women Leaders of Latin America “Stopping the feminization of the Epidemic: Actions for the prevention and health of women”, in the framework of the XVII International Conference on HIV/AIDS – Mexico City, Mexico, August 2008. 

Participation in the Seminar “Afro-descendant Populations in Latin America”, representing the Republic of Panama. Iberoamerican General Secretariat (SEGIB), March 2008.  

II International Forum of Children with Special Needs – Doha, Qatar, April 2007. 

XIII Conference First Ladies, Wives and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas. “Women and Social Development as thematic axis” – Asuncion, Paraguay, 

September 2005. 

2005 Special Olympics Global Athlete Congress. Panamá, República de Panamá, June 2005. 

Publications in the Field of The Rights of Persons with Disabilities:  

Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos, Without Labels – Autobiography, August 2019. 

Publication: about Cannes Festival and Special Olympics. “Fair and square competition: Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos”, July 2011 – La Prensa newspaper, Opinion. 

Publication: Women’s Symposium – Panama 2011. Available: viviantorrijos.com/blog. 

Lived Experience Related to Persons with Disabilities: 

Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos is a proud mother of 3: Daniella, Martin, and Nicolas. Daniella, her eldest daughter, was born with sequelae of prematurity and slow development, and gave a real turn to Vivian’s life. This experience made her commit to improve the circumstances that children with disabilities like her daughter and their families have to face every day. This was reflected in how the approach and priorities related to the rights of persons with disabilities changed in Panama during her work as First Lady, having an inclusive turn in the country’s public institutions, public policies, and social programs. If elected, Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos intend to ensure the cause of all the families represented in her: the promotion of inclusion of persons with disabilities and their rights, is granted due attention in the Committee’s agenda.

Dr. Shen is currently a Professor and the Chief Scientific Officer of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Xilis Inc. He was formerly the Hawkins Family Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Director of the Woo Center for Big Data and Precision Health at Duke University.  

He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Stanford University and the NSF career award at Cornell University. He was the steering committee chair of the NCI Patient-Derived Model of Cancer Consortium, co-chair of the NCI Tissue Engineering Consortium, and cancer track chair of Biomedical Engineering Society 2019. His lab studies precision medicine from a systems biology perspective. Areas of interests include cancer, stem cells, the gut-brain axis, and microbiome.  

Dr. Ximena Garzón-Villalba, MD, PhD, CPH, is an experienced professional in Public Health, who was appointed as Minister of Health in May 2021, and performed those functions until July 2022. Right now, she is Presidential Advisor to the Ecuadorian Government for public health issues and is member of the International Vaccine Institute Board of Trustees representing Ecuador since April 2022.

Dr. Garzón-Villalba obtained her Medical Degree at Universidad Central del Ecuador, she holds PhD in Public Health with a concentration in Occupational Health, and a Post-doctorate in Occupational Health Research and Occupational Epidemiology, both from University of South Florida (USF).

She is Dean of the master degree Program of Public Health and Nutrition at University San Francisco de Quito. Dr. Garzon-Villalba has designed a master program on Public Health and a medical specialty in Occupational Medicine for renowned Ecuadorian universities and has been a professor of Public Health and Occupational Epidemiology for undergraduate and graduate programs in several Ecuadorian and U.S. Universities. Her work has been published in indexed journals.

In addition to private practice, she has served at the public service as Deputy Medical Director and as Chief of Teaching and Research at Quito-Sur General Hospital, as well as Chief of Teaching at Carlos Andrade Marín Hospital, healthcare facilities owned and managed by the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute.

As Minister of Public Health, she was responsible of design and implementation of the comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and led the emblematic “9/100 Vaccination Plan” which reached 9 million fully vaccinated people (more than 50% of the population) before the 100th day of its implementation. This successful experience has positioned Ecuador as a regional benchmark to overcome the pandemic and has projected Dr. Garzón as a reference in her field.

Dr. Youngmee Jee (MD, PhD) is Chief Executive Officer of the Institut Pasteur Korea and also serves as Special Representative for Health Diplomacy, Korea Foundation. Dr. Jee has broad experience in collaborating with WHO and international public health partners. Currently, Dr. Jee is a member of the WHO International Health Regulation Emergency Committee on COVID-19 and of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Blueprint on Research and Development Preparedness for Epidemics. Dr. Jee also served as a member of Strategic Advisory Group of Experts for Immunization (SAGE) during 2017-2020. 

From 2014 to 2019, Dr. Jee served as Director-General of the Center for Infectious Disease Research of the KCDC and led international activities including the WHO-Korea Joint Mission on MERS Outbreak in 2015 and the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) in 2017. She also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Vaccine Institute (2016-2019) and President of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases (2018-2019. Dr. Jee received a President Medal of Distinguished Service in 2017.  

Dr. Jee worked as Regional Laboratory Coordinator in the Expanded Programme on Immunization of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) during 2007-2014 to coordinate national and regional public health institutes in over 20 countries in the region. Dr. Jee received her M.D. from the College of Medicine, Seoul National University, a Diploma in Medical Microbiology from the London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine, and her Ph.D. from the University of London. 

Zahra Babar has published several articles and chapters on areas of her research, most recently, “The 2022 World Cup and Migrants’ Rights in Qatar: Raciaised Labour Hierarchies and the Influence of Racial Capitalism,” with N. Vora, in The Political Quarterly (2022), “Qatar, the World Cup, and the Global Campaign for Migrant Workers’ Rights,” in Football in the Middle East: State Society and the Beautiful Game, Ed. Abdullah Al Arian (Hurst/OUP 2022), “Improving the Evidence on Health Inequities in Migrant Construction Workers Preparing for Big Sporting Events,” with A. Flouris et al. in BMJ (2021), “Health and Social Needs of Migrant Construction Workers for Big Sporting Events,” with K. Onarheim, et al., in BMJ (2021), “Skilled Migration to Emerging Economies: The Global Competition for Talent Beyond the West,” with M. Ewers, N. Khattab, and M. Madeeha in Globalizations (2021); co-author of “Introduction” and “Economic Migrants and Citizenship in the GCC,” in Routledge Handbook of Citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa, which she also co-edited with R. Meijer and J. Sater (2021); and “The Vagaries of the In-between: Labor Citizenship in the Persian Gulf,” in International Journal International Journal of Middle East Studies (2020) among others. 

Dr. Zisis Kozlakidis is the Head of Laboratory Services and Biobanking at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization (IARC/WHO). He is responsible for one of the largest and most varied international collections of clinical samples in the world, focusing on gene–environment interactions and disease-based collections. This WHO infrastructure supports multinational efforts in making treatments possible and delivering those to resource-restricted settings. Dr. Kozlakidis has significant expertise in the field of biobanking and has served as President of ISBER, and as board member.  

Dr. Kozlakidis is a virologist, with a PhD in microbiology from Imperial College London. He is an elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, the Royal Academy of Sciences, UK, and a Turnberg Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.  He serves EOSC as co-chair of the Taskforce on ‘Upskilling countries’; and he also serves as editor-in-Chief for the peer-reviewed international scientific journal ‘Innovations in Digital Health, Diagnostics and Biomarkers’. 

Dr. Kozlakidis has contributed to seminal studies in the adoption of innovations into routine healthcare, and their associated financial impacts. He is scientific advisor to the PTEN Research Foundation, holds an MBA from the Business School, City University of London, and he is a co-founder of the City Healthcare Innovation Network, a conduit for providing and strengthening contacts between healthcare start-ups and financial institutions based in the financial district of London. He holds visiting faculty positions in China (Medical School, South Central University) and the UK (St. George’s Medical School, University of London and Business School, City University of London). 

Luisa has over 20 years’ experience in broadcast journalism, working as part of the BBC, ITV and 5 News teams.     

Her confidence, poise and ability to simplify complex stories led to her reporting on a number of high-profile, global news stories, as well as becoming Deputy Royal Correspondent for the BBC. During her 12 years at the BBC, Luisa became a recognised TV correspondent covering major stories from the Amanda Knox trials in Italy and Papal events at the Vatican City to the 7/7 bombings in London. In her latter years at the BBC, Luisa was Deputy Royal Correspondent, covering the period of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and The Duchess of Cambridge’s first solo Royal engagements, to the birth of Prince George.

Luisa moved to New York for three years with her family in 2014 where as well as setting up Composure Media she started working as a coach for Vermilion Talent, a women’s career re-entry organisation for whom she still does remote coaching from the UK.  

Luisa has also contributed as a coach to Cambridge Judge Business School’s Accelerate and Ignite entrepreneurial programmes. 

Before working at the BBC, Luisa worked at ITN for ITV and Channel 5 News and Euronews in Lyon, France. She has facilitated international corporate events as a presenter / host / moderator for Nissan, Sage, Cannon, Nortel, Cisco, Honeywell, Market Gravity, Barclays Capital and the British Council. 

She brings an international dynamic to proceedings, due to her varied background living in Africa, Europe and the US and being of dual Italian / British nationality. 

Nelufar Hedayat is a journalist and presenter whose work focuses on environmental issues and cultural upheaval. Born in Afghanistan, she came to Britain as a refugee which has shaped her work, creating a unique point of view and a passion for telling the stories of fringe and marginalized communities. Her work connects with a global audience and is immersive and impact driven, often shining a light on the consequences of our actions and challenging our perceptions of the world. She has created a body of work across both sides of the Atlantic with British and American broadcasters, from self-authored returnable series to guest hosting alongside Morgan Freeman, for the likes of Nat Geo, Doha Debates, Vice, Fusion, The Guardian, and the BBC, that is empathetic, pioneering, and insightful. 

Drawn to stories of people going through intense and life changing situations due to her own experience as a refugee, at the start of her career Nelufar became fascinated with how her story and countless others like hers were being portrayed in the press and how the real people, who were impacted directly by the conflicts and upheaval, were often forgotten about. This unique point of view enables Nelufar to approach topics without preconceived opinions or judgements and follow societies in flux, communities navigating evolving relationships with technology and questions of identity and faith. 

The returnable 8-part series The Traffickers (Fusion/Netflix), saw her travel across the globe following the illegal trades of precious minerals, counterfeit drugs, endangered species and even people. In this series, and with all her other work, Nelufar gains the trust of her interviewees which enabled her to push for deeper insightful interviews that translate powerfully on screen. This trust enables her to explore and understand the actions and reasoning of characters often with polar opposite opinions including corrupt politicians and human traffickers without judgement or preconceived opinions. 

An early pioneer of the subject of food ethics and suitability, Nelufar presented Food Exposed with Nelufar Hedayat which examined how our eating habits were impacting the world. The 8-part series, made for Fusion, saw her explore the journeys our food makes, the processes that go into this ever-growing market and what the growing demand costs the planet and the people growing our food. 

Her other work includes Story of God with Morgan Freeman (Nat Geo) as well as films for a range of other broadcasters including Vice, The Guardian, Channel 4 and the BBC where she was one of the lead anchors on CBBC’s Newsround harnessing her passion for making news accessible for all. Nelufar has received a plethora of awards and accolades including Correspondent of the year Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media and was invited by The Pope to join Summit of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences’ and to be signatory on the Resolution on Organ Trafficking, (ratified by the Council of Europe) following her film on the subject. 

She currently works closely with Doha Debates as a correspondent, bringing the debate topics and themes to global audiences across digital platforms. She hosts her own shows including the post-debate show as well as the podcast Course Corrections and digital show #DearWorldLive each of which take the conversations further with Nelufar interviewing and speaking students, thinkers, writers, policymakers, and activists and engaging with issues that affect the audiences across the world. 

Rawaa is a presenter at Al Jazeera Media Network, a moderator and a trainer in TV presenting and storytelling.

She joined Al Jazeera as a news anchor in 2014, reported on breaking news and special coverages like the UNGA, war on Yemen, war on ISIS, Palestine and Syria. She has produced a series of field reports from Central African Republic, Bosnia, and Lebanon. Between 2019 and 2021, she produced and hosted 67 episodes of the show “Women voices”, or “Bekasretta”, including award-winning episodes “Beirut explosion 2020” and “Life on hold: Stories of families of forcibly disappeared”. She is currently host of “Kashf Hessab” on Al Jazeera O2., and a certified media trainer with Al Jazeera Media Institute.

Rawaa previously worked at France 24 in Paris; holds a masters degree in geopolitics from Paris 8 and a masters degree in mass communication. She has moderated several events such as WISH 2020, Doha Forum, WISE, The World Media Summit, The World Media Technology Summit and the Al Jazeera Forum.

Stephen Sackur, the presenter of HARDtalk, BBC World News’ flagship current affairs interview programme, has been a journalist with BBC News since 1986. He has interviewed presidents, prime ministers and leading personalities from all over the world over the past decade.

In November 2010, Stephen was awarded the “International TV Personality of the Year Award” by the Association of International Broadcasters.

Before taking over HARDtalk, Stephen was based in Brussels for three years as the BBC’s Europe Correspondent. He travelled across Europe to cover major stories around the continent, including the accession of the former communist east European states in 2004.

Prior to this, Stephen was the BBC’s Washington Correspondent from July 1997. With a keen interest in politics, he has interviewed Presidents George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton; covered the 2000 US Presidential Elections, the ‘Lewinsky scandal’ and the Clinton impeachment trial.

Stephen has also been the BBC Middle East Correspondent in both Cairo (from 1992 to 1995) and Jerusalem (from 1995 to 1997).  He was educated at Cambridge University (BA History, Hons, 1982-5 and Harvard University (Henry Fellowship 1985-6).

Yalda Hakim is an award-winning foreign correspondent and currently anchors the flagship programme ‘Impact with Yalda Hakim’ on BBC World News.  In addition to her presenting duties, Yalda continues to deliver hard-hitting journalism not only for the Our World strand, but also across BBC News in both television and radio.

Her interview with President Trump’s National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster made global headlines when he accepted that Russia had interfered in the 2016 US elections. She has travelled to the world’s youngest nation South Sudan that has been embroiled in a brutal civil war. She reported that more than 4 million people were on the brink of famine in the devastated country. She has also highlighted the plight of people in the secretive state of Eritrea, reported from Turkey following the failed coup attempt, covered the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal and kidnappings by drug cartels in Mexico. 

Yalda also conducts high profile interviews with global leaders and public figures including Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, Hollywood actor and director Angelina Jolie, the Dalai Lama, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to name a few. Yalda often moderates and chairs high profile events including the Nobel Peace Prize Summit, World Economic Forum, Halifax International Security Forum and the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi.