Focus: Public Health
Ali Sindi
Ali Sindi is Minister of Planning for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil where he has contributed to the reconstruction of Iraqi Kurdistan's infrastructure, especially in the health and capacity building sectors, over the last two decades. Since October 2009, his duties as Minister of Planning include leading government efforts on preparing the annual investment budget, strategic plans, human resource development, and issues related to quality control in the region. A surgeon by training, Ali was a senior advisor to Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani from 2002-2009 on health, higher education, capacity building, and donor funds. He is also the honorary president of the Emergency Management Center, an independent NGO…
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Ibrahim Fawzi Ajami
Ibrahim Fawzi Ajami is a Liberian medical doctor born of a Lebanese father and a Liberian mother. He has lived in Liberia his entire life, surviving its 14-year civil war and years long Ebola crisis. During the outbreak, Ibrahim created an initiative to raise awareness of the virus in communities on the outskirts of Monrovia, in addition to working in an Ebola Treatment Unit as a volunteer. In 2017, he founded the Medical Consortium Outreach Program, which seeks to combat the lack of immediate access to primary healthcare in Liberia by stemming illnesses at their source. Ibrahim is also a Fellow of the President’s Young Professional Program (PYPP), an initiative…
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Nachiket Mor
Nachiket Mor is a Visiting Scientist at The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health where he offers a week-long seminar on Health Systems Design. His current work is principally focused on the design of national and regional health systems. He was a member of the Indian Government’s High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Care; a member of the Primary Care Task Force of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India, a member of the Health Commission for the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh, and a member of the Standing Committee on Health Systems Strengthening at the National Academy of Medicine in Washington, DC. Nachiket…
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Khuat Thi Hai Oanh
Khuat Thi Hai Oanh is a medical doctor graduated from Hanoi Medical University, with a Master Degree on Sexual and Reproductive Health Research from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She co-founded the Institute for Social Development Studies (ISDS) in 2002, and the Center for Support Community Development Initiatives (SCDI) in 2010 – both are Vietnamese non-governmental organizations. Khuat is currently the Executive Director of SCDI. Aiming at contributing to Sustainable Development Goals agenda, SCDI focuses on community empowerment and creating enabling environment for the most marginalized and vulnerable populations, such as sex workers, drug users, people living with HIV, their spouses and children, poor migrants, ethnic minorities as…
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Ann Thomas
Ann Thomas is Senior Advisor, Sanitation and Hygiene at UNICEF. She is an environmental engineer with over two decades of development experience, within the UN system and aid organizations in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Her passion is driving strategic policy decisions in the WASH sector – an often-overlooked investment-multiplier in emerging economies – that translate directly to improved health and economic development outcomes. Ann has served as advisor to national governments across Africa and Asia, aligning national strategies for water and sanitation with global best practice, climate change considerations, and innovative financing opportunities. Ann’s work is motivated by front line experiences in disasters and cholera outbreaks, witnessing the disproportionate…
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Deqo Aden Mohamed
Deqo Aden Mohamed is a Somali-born doctor who grew up feeding the refugees her mother was harboring. She earned an MD in Moscow in 2000 and was an OB-GYN resident in Russia until 2003. Deqo continually traveled back to Somalia to serve internally displaced people in Mogadishu. She came to America as a refugee in 2003 and gained extensive experience working in health care. Today, she works full time on the ground in Somalia. Deqo leads all operations in the Hawa Abdi Village in Lower Shabelle, while ensuring the safety of the 300 families who have found permanent shelter in the community. She leads the 400-bed Dr. Hawa Abdi General…
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Precious Lunga
Dr. Precious Lunga is CEO and Co-Founder of Baobab Circle, a health technology company delivering innovative health solutions via phones across Africa. Previously she was at Econet Wireless where she co-founded the mHealth business unit using technology to deliver health services using mobile money micro-payments. Prior to that, she worked at UNAIDS Geneva where she was involved in spearheading the implementation of HIV prevention programs. She was also strategic advisor to the UK's second largest charitable foundation, funding programs across Africa and India. As a vocal advocate for the right to health and education, Precious has succeeded in bringing together diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and trial…
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Zeena Johar
Zeena Johar is Senior Vice President, Business Operations at Advantia Health. Previously, she was Founder and CEO of SughaVazhvu Healthcare (SVHC) and IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH), which helped create a primary care delivery network through rural clinics in India. Zeena returned to India in 2007 after earning her PhD in molecular diagnostics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and she spearheaded ICTPH’s academic alliance with University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing. This partnership helped develop India’s first certificate program for Indian medical practitioners, empowering them to practice evidence-based protocol driven primary-care medicine. SVHC was awarded the NASSCOM Social Innovation Honor 2014, and is a part…
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Emran Razaghi
Emran M. Razaghi is the Founder and Director of the Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran. Emran is also the Co-Founder of the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association. Emran previously served as Director, Bureau for Psycho-social Health and the Health of Youth, Department of Health, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran. This bureau includes the Office for Mental Health, the Office for Drug Demand Reduction, and the Office for School Health. From 1995 to 2001, Emran was Deputy for Prevention and Cultural Affairs, State Welfare Organization, Tehran.
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Thembi Xulu
Dr. Thembi Xulu is a health care and health policy professional serving as Senior Technical Specialist at Right to Care (RTC) Health Services, a company focused on the delivery of holistic health and wellness solutions for employers. In this role, Tehmbi is leading the organization's response and delivery of services pertaining to COVID-19. Right to Care is one of the largest HIV and TB treatment and prevention centers in South Africa. RTC partners with the government, private sector, and NGOs in improving access to safe, effective, and affordable treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS and TB. The organization operates at more than 170 sites providing comprehensive HIV services and supports…
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