Philip Elders, MSc

Philip Elders is a graduate-entry medical student at the VUmc Zigma program in Amsterdam and the current youth delegate to the WHO for the Netherlands. Previously, he completed a BSc in Liberal Arts & Sciences at the Amsterdam University College and an MSc in Integrated Immunology at the University of Oxford. During his studies he has performed research on different infectious diseases and recently completed a 6-month research placement at the Myanmar Oxford Clinical Research Unit to study rickettsial infections and pneumonia diagnostics in children <5 years.

Philip is passionate about planetary health and in his current role as youth delegate to the WHO he hopes to increase awareness in future healthcare professionals about interdisciplinary societal challenges, such as climate change, prevention of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, and the possible role global health policy can play in contributing to solving these issues.

Sanne de Wit, medical student

Ms. Sanne de Wit is the former Liaison Officer for Public Health issues 2017-2018 of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). In this position she represented the global medical students’ perspectives on the themes of Noncommunicable Diseases, Universal Health Coverage and Climate Change and Health. From a more personal interest she also worked on Public Health in the Medical Curriculum, Social Accountability and Global Health Education, i.e. launching a Climate Change in Medical Curriculum by 2020 campaign.

Furthermore, she served in several local, national and international positions within the IFMSA. Last year, for example, as the coordinator of the United Nations Task Force, leading a report on how medical students worldwide contribute towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals, and as one of the Academic Coordinators for the IFMSA pre World Health Assembly, which focusses to prepare youth to meaningfully contribute to the Global Health Advocacy space. Currently she is pursuing her master’s degree in Medicine at the University of Amsterdam and as part of the Medicine master’s Honours Programma she is working towards including Global Health Education in the medical curriculum there.

Dr. Judith Kose-Otieno

Dr. Judith Kose-Otieno is currently the Regional Senior Technical Adviser -Pediatrics HIV (Africa) for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation (EGPAF). Judith is a Public Health Specialist, trained in Pediatrics and Child health with sub-specialty in pediatric infectious disease and with over 16 years’ experience in Public health, multi-donor development and HIV and TB treatment and clinical programs.

She has broad experience in program implementation, monitoring and evaluation including maternal and child health, TB, HIV and health related Implementation research. Judith has years of experience supporting different countries and she has program support experience in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, DRC, Lesotho and Cameroon health programs where she has been involved in the development of different National training curricula including Pediatric HIV and child health, PMTCT, TB, HIV services Quality assurance and Pediatric mentorship training. She is particularly involved in Pediatric HIV and TB treatment programs with the objective of ensuring use of efficacious pediatric antiretroviral regimens across all our programs, which includes transition from NVP based regimen to either Lopinavir/ ritonavir formulations or DTG and achievement of the UNAIDS 95-95-95 across the HIV clinical cascade for pediatrics. Judith is also the TB lead person for Technical Assistance at EGPAF across the countries, facilitating the EGPAF TB Community of practice and she is lead in the implementation of HIV and integrated co morbidities section of the EGPAF strategic plan 2020. The integrated co morbidities section covers TB and other advanced disease comorbidities (i.e., opportunistic coinfections and comorbidities associated with AIDS) integrated with HIV/AIDS that are most pressing for children and adolescents.

Judith is as a member of the Global secretariat for the Global Accelerations for Pediatric formulations (GAP-f) to represent EGPAF. GAP-f was created as a WHO initiative to provide a sustainable mechanism dedicated to ensuring that the most needed optimal paediatric formulations are developed against the highest standards of safety and efficacy and made available to children in a timely manner. Judith has experience working with host governments and am familiar with national health care system and structures and working in collaboration with a variety of partners and stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, international NGOs, CBOs, facilities and community members. She has experience in development sector strategies development including grant and portfolio management. Judith Is a PHD candidate at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam in the Department of Viroscience. Her focus is on Pediatric and Adolescent HIV treatment outcomes. In 2006, Judith received the International Research Health Award from The American Paediatric Association.

Natella Rakhmanina, MD, PhD, FAAP, FCP, AAHIVS

Dr. Natella Rakhmanina is a Professor with Tenure of Pediatrics at the George Washington University and serves as a Director of the HIV Services at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, USA. Dr. Rakhmanina obtained her MD degree at People’s Friendship University in Moscow, Russia and her PhD degree in clinical pharmacology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She completed residency trainings in pediatrics in Russia, USA and the Netherlands. Dr. Rakhmanina focuses her programmatic work and research on the treatment and prevention of HIV in children and adolescents. Dr. Rakhmanina is a successful clinical researcher and served as a principal investigator of NIH, CDC funded studies ad numerous industry sponsored clinical trials. She has close to 20 years of experience providing clinical care to HIV-infected children and adolescent and contributed to the optimization of the dosing of several antiretroviral drugs in children. Since 2014, she also serves as a Senior Technical Advisor at Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS Foundation, where she has provides technical leadership to several pediatric and adolescent HIV projects in African countries. Dr. Rakhmanina serves as a member of the Committee on Pediatric AIDS at the American Academy of Pediatrics, member of the US Department of Health and Human Services Panel on the Pediatric Antiretroviral Therapy and Management Guidelines at the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council in National Institutes of Health and member of the Pediatric Advisory Working Group at the WHO.

Nima Rezaei, MD PhD

Professor Nima Rezaei gained his medical degree (MD) from Tehran University of Medical Sciences and subsequently obtained an MSc in Molecular and Genetic Medicine and a PhD in Clinical Immunology and Human Genetics from the University of Sheffield, UK. He also spent a short-term fellowship of Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Bone Marrow Transplantation in the Newcastle General Hospital. Professor Rezaei is now the Full Professor of Immunology and Vice Dean of International Affairs, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and the co-founder and Deputy President of the Research Center for Immunodeficiencies. He is also the founding President of Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN). Prof. Rezaei has already been the Director of more than 50 research projects and has designed and participated in several international collaborative projects. Prof. Rezaei is an editorial assistant or board member for more than 30 international journals. He has edited more than 10 international books, has presented more than 400 lectures/posters in congresses/meetings, and has published more than 700 articles in the international scientific journals.

Rebecca Baggett, MA, MPH

Rebecca Baggett is the Director of Student Programs at the Emory Global Health Institute (EGHI), a university-wide organization focused on advancing global health research, training, and partnerships at Emory University. Ms. Baggett directs the strategic planning and implementation of EGHI's global learning programs and serves as an advisor to EGHI's Student Advisory Committee.

Ms. Baggett has spent the past 25 years working for public health and global health organizations including Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, the American Cancer Society, the Task Force for Global Health, and the Kerr L. White Institute for Health Services Research. Ms. Baggett has been with EGHI since its founding, and has served previously as its Director of Programs and Communications and its Interim Senior Administrator. While at EGHI, she has helped develop and implement the organization’s portfolio of global learning programs, and has directed its innovative global health case competition program for the past decade.

Ms. Baggett received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College, her Master of Arts from the University of Alabama, and her Master of Public Health from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

Richard Skolnik

Richard Skolnik has more than 40 years of experience in development and global health work. He spent 25 years at the World Bank, retiring as the Director for Health and Education for the South Asia Region. He was also the Executive Director of the Harvard PEPFAR program for AIDS treatment in three countries in Africa, Vice President for International Programs at PRB, and the Director of the Center for Global Health at The George Washington University.

Richard was a Lecturer at The George Washington University for eight years. In addition, he taught global health in the College, the School of Public Health, and the School of Management at Yale for five years. Richard represented the World Bank to the Global Polio Eradication Program, was deeply involved in the establishment of STOP TB, has led a number of international evaluations, and served on a variety of WHO working groups.

Richard is the author of the textbook, Global Health 101, now in its fourth edition, and is the instructor for the Yale/Coursera course “Essentials of Global Health”. Richard received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Master of Public Affairs degree from Princeton University.

Roos Marieke Oosting, MSc

Roos Marieke Oosting obtained a BSc degree in Life, Science and Technology (major: biomedical engineering) from the University of Groningen (2013) and a MSc in Biomedical Engineering (2016) from Delft University of Technology. In February 2016, she started as a PhD researcher in the Department of BioMechanical Engineering of Delft University of Technology and as a research fellow of the Delft Global initiative. Her research focussed on understanding the usage of surgical equipment in low- and middle-income countries and how surgical equipment should be designed to ensure it fits the context of use in these settings. During her research she worked and lived in Nairobi for a total of 5 months, published in international journals, presented her work at various conferences and meetings, organized group field trips to Kenya and organised a symposium on Global Surgery.

Hans V. Hogerzeil, MD, PhD, FRCP Edin

Hans V. Hogerzeil (Netherlands, 1951) is Professor of Global Health at Groningen University (Netherlands). He qualified as a medical doctor from Leiden University in the Netherlands and received a PhD in public health in 1984. For five years he was a mission doctor in India and Ghana and in 1985 he joined the WHO Action Programme of Essential Drugs, first in the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Alexandria, and later in WHO's headquarters in Geneva. As a staff member of WHO he has advised more than forty developing countries, especially in Africa and Asia, on the development of their national medicines policy, essential drugs list and essential medicines programme. In more recent years he advised the governments of South Africa, India and China on their medicine policies. As Secretary of the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines he initiated the 2002 changes in procedures for updating the Model List of Essential Medicines, which stronger emphasis on evidence-based selections. He established the web-based WHO Essential Medicines Library and was one of the editors of the WHO Model Formulary in 2006. Under his direction of the department of Policy and Standards (2004-2008) the WHO/UN Prequalification Programme was established.

From 2008 to 2011 he was Director for Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies, being responsible for all WHO's global policies, nomenclature, norms and standards on medicines, the prequalification programme, as well as all technical country support to Member States in the field of medicines (currently support programmes in over 100 countries, covering access to essential medicines, quality, and rational use). He was also the Chair of the Interagency Pharmaceutical Coordination Group which coordinates the pharmaceutical policies of WHO, all major UN agencies, the Global Fund, the World Bank and UNITAID.

Dr Hogerzeil is the editor of several WHO books on essential medicines policies, the quality use of medicines, medicines in emergency situations and essential medicines for reproductive health. He has published over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and teaches every year at international courses all over the world. In 1996 he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh and in 1998 he received an honorary Doctorate of Science from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is married with four children.

His recent interests include essential medicines for reproductive health, access to essential medicines as part of the fulfillment of the right to health, the development of a patent pool for combination therapies for the second-line treatment of HIV/AIDS, and regional medicine regulatory harmonization in Africa.

Jan Carel Diehl

Jan Carel Diehl after finishing his study in Industrial Design Engineering he worked several years as consultant in Ecodesign. In his present position he is assistant professor for the Design for Sustainability (DfS) program at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

Within the DfS program he is managing the international projects on sustainable product innovation especially in emerging markets. The main focus of his research is the know-how transfer and implementation of sustainable product innovation into an international context. In addition his research has a special interest in cultural differences in product design and developing products for the so called ‘Base of the Pyramid (BoP)’. Next to his position at the TU Delft he is consultant for UNIDO and UNEP and invited lecturer at several international universities. He is co-author of the UNEP Design for Sustainability (D4S) manual for Developing Economies (D4S EE).

Jan Carel Diehl is running the 'Diagnostics for All' initiative at TU Delft which aims to develop easy-to-operate devices for low resource settings which are integrated (include sample preparation and diagnosis), inclusive (co- creation with relevant stakeholders), and thoroughly tested in laboratory as well as field settings in endemic countries.

Early treatment of diseases is the key in reducing long-term morbidity. Currently, however, access to accurate diagnoses is lacking in low resource settings. Progress in a wide range of technologies do promise highly sensitive, low-cost detection technologies for use in low-resource settings. These new technologies can drastically reduce human intervention while increasing the sensitivity of diagnostic tests. The digital outcome is directly usable by national mapping programs and for research. However, lack of end-user involvement in research and development, limited understanding of clinician, patient, and healthcare system behaviour and insufficient test evaluation in target settings complicates the development, adoption, and scale-up of advanced diagnostics in low-resource settings. To address these issues, the Diagnostics for All research program aims to develop easy-to-operate devices for low resource settings which are integrated (include sample preparation and diagnosis), inclusive (co- creation with relevant stakeholders), and thoroughly tested in laboratory as well as field settings in endemic countries.

STEFANO VELLA, MD

Stefano Vella (born in Rome, June 12, 1952) received his degree in Medicine from the University of Rome in 1977. He subsequently achieved specialty degrees in both Infectious Diseases (1982) and Internal Medicine (1987). After a postdoctoral experience at the University of Pennsylvania (1981-1982), he joined the medical staff at the Institute of Internal Medicine, University La Sapienza, Rome, where he developed an extensive experience in the clinical management of internal medicine and infectious diseases patients.

In 1991, Dr Vella was appointed Research Director of HIV/AIDS at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), the Italian National Institute of Health. Since 2003, he is the Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Research of the ISS, where he directs and supervises 270 staff members working on different areas of human therapeutic research. The scientific and research focus of Dr Vella has been mainly based on his infectious diseases and internal medicine backgrounds. His work in resource limited setting also concerns tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, neglected tropical diseases, emerging chronic diseases and health systems strenghtening.

Specific work has been conducted by Dr Vella and his research group on the clinical development of antiretroviral therapy; the study of HIV resistance to antiretroviral drugs; the mechanisms of immune reconstitution; the care and treatment of co-infections, including TB; the area of health needs assessment; the area of operational and implementation research in resource limited settings. He is currently also

Since 1996, as Member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society [IAS] and subsequently as IAS President (2000-2002), he actively worked towards promoting access to treatment and care in the South of the World and has been instrumental for the organization of the AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa (2000). He subsequently chaired the 1st IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, Buenos Aires, 2001, and the XIV International Conference on AIDS, Barcelona, 2002.

As President of the IAS (2000-2002) Dr Vella actively fostered access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the South of the World. In 2001, he was invited to contribute and speak at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS (UNGASS - New York, June 23-25, 2001). He subsequently Chaired the first WHO/UNAIDS/IAS Consultative Meeting on Antiretroviral Therapy in Resource Poor Settings (2000) and the WHO/ISS/IAS International Consultation on Global Monitoring of Antiretroviral Resistance (2000).

Since 2003, Dr Vella is the Director of Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Research at ISS, where he oversee the research activities of over 270 staff members in different human disease areas, acquiring extensive research management expertise.

Professor David Heymann CBE

David Heymann is professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and is the former head of the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House.

Previously he was the World Health Organization's assistant director-general for Health Security and Environment, and representative of the director-general for polio eradication.

From 1998 to 2003 he was Executive Director of the WHO Communicable Diseases Cluster, during which he headed the global response to SARS, and prior to that was director for the WHO programme on Emerging and other Communicable Diseases.

Earlier experiences at WHO include chief of research activities in the WHO global programme on AIDS. Before joining WHO he worked for 13 years as a medical epidemiologist in sub-Saharan Africa, on assignment from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he participated in the first and second outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, and supported ministries of health in research aimed at better control of malaria, measles, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

Prior to joining CDC he worked in India for two years as a medical epidemiologist in the WHO smallpox eradication programme.

He is an elected fellow of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (US) and the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK), and has been awarded several public health awards that have provided funding for the establishment of an ongoing mentorship programme at the International Association of Public Health Institutes (IANPHI).

In 2009 he was appointed an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for service to global public health.

He has also been awarded the 2004 American Public Health Association Award for Excellence, the 2005 Donald Mackay Award from the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the 2007 Heinz Award on the Human Condition.

David has been published in more than 145 scientific articles on infectious diseases and related issues in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals, and authored several chapters on infectious diseases in medical textbooks.

Prof. Arunkumar Govindakarnavar

Prof. Arunkumar Govindakarnavar completed his BSc MLT from Trivandrum Medical College in 1992. He completed his Masters in Medical Microbiology and PhD in Virology from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, and Manipal in 1996 and 2003 respectively. He joined as a faculty in the Dept of Microbiology, KMC, and Manipal in 1997 and went on to become a professor in 2012. He established the Virology division in the department and in 2010 the virology laboratory was elevated as a University department and later as an institute Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV). Currently he is the director of the institute. He has several publications and funded research projects from ICMR, CDC and UKIERI. The Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV) hosts an ICMR grade-I Virus diagnostic laboratory, IDSP Regional Reference Laboratory for Influenza Viruses and NVBDCP Apex Referral Laboratory for Arboviruses.

Apart from routine disease diagnostics, MIV supports the state and national health services for outbreak investigation and disease surveillance activities. MIV has been instrumental in confirming more than 200 viral outbreaks, while around 35 outbreaks were investigated by MIV team in various parts of the country including Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha in the recent past.

Dr Arunkumar G brings a unique experience of effective laboratory-epidemiology synergy in the country which has resulted in the public health outbreak investigation success described above. Over the last 10 years Dr. Arunkumar has contributed immensely to the field of medical microbiology and specifically virology in broadening the public health access to modern advanced diagnostics by bringing the laboratory closer to the field and capacity building. He has converted MIV into a finest public health infectious disease laboratory capable of detecting any public health threat including bioterrorism threats ranging from Anthrax to Zika in less than 24 hours. The rapid detection of Nipah Virus outbreak in Kerala during May 2018 was a telltale sign of the capacity building in detecting emerging Viruses which pause public health threats of international concern. The uniqueness of hosting a public service programme on a private platform and in the short span of time it has proven to be one of the best public private partnership in the development of public health infrastructure in the country. Currently he leads a translational Research Consortia (TRC) on Chikungunya Virus submitted by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

Dr. Wilma A. Stolk

Dr. Wilma A. Stolk is employed as senior researcher at the Department of Public Health, ErasmusMC University Medical Center Rotterdam. She has a background in biomedical sciences / epidemiology (MSc, Nijmegen University) and health services research (MSc, Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences). She obtained her PhD degree in 2005, on a thesis titled 'Lymphatic filariasis: transmission, treatment and elimination'. Her current research concentrates on the control of lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and other neglected tropical diseases.

Manish Arora, PhD

Manish Arora (BTech. - Chemical Engineering [IIT Delhi] PhD -Applied Physics [University of Twente, the Netherlands]) is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing (CPDM) and the head of the Universal Technology Solutions for Accessible and Affordable Healthcare (UTSAAH) of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India.

Primary goal of the UTSAAH Laboratory is to develop affordable and accessible medical technology solutions for promoting universal healthcare. Starting from unmet clinical needs, user-centric design approach is used to develop novel device solutions. These solutions will be made available under open-access license terms with freedom to commercially utilize the innovations. Our IP policy is guided by our desire to maintain freedom to operate and deliver solutions for greater public good rather than monopoly of a few. Devices currently under development include – IV drip monitor, hearing aid integrated with speech therapy application, insulin pump for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (Artificial Pancreas) , feotal phonocardiography device, ambulatory BP measurement system and tele-ultrasound system for antenatal care. The lab aims to develop at least 25 open source healthcare solutions in the next five years and contribute to the evolution of open-source, open-licensed ecosystem for achieving affordable excellence in healthcare for all.

Jeannet Bos, MD PhD

Jeannet Bos is a Dutch internist and infectious diseases specialist who has extensive hands-on experience with setup and implementation of infectious-diseases educational and clinical research projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

She started off in 2004 as a clinical preceptor in the first African antiretroviral treatment program of Botswana, called MASA, and subsequently moved to Mozambique, where she was involved with the setup of a clinical infectious diseases/HIV curriculum for medical students from the Catholic University of Mozambique.

During her ten years in Mozambique, clinical research became part of the project activities and it has resulted in her PhD graduation in 2017. Her thesis, Diagnosis and treatment of common infectious diseases in severely ill sub-Saharan African patients; Studies from a hospital floor included two studies on the PK/PD of commonly used antibiotics.