Speaker Bios 2020 (Subject to Change)

His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani is a Bahraini engineer and retired lieutenant general. He has been the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) since April 1, 2011. He is the fifth GCC secretary-general and the first with a military background since the GCC was established.

His Excellency Dr. Al-Zayani was born in Muharraq in Bahrain. He graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK, and is also a 1978 graduate of the aeronautical engineering program in Perth, Scotland. In 1980, he received his master’s degree in logistics management from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio. In 1986 he earned a Ph.D. in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

His Excellency Dr. Al-Zayani attended command and general staff courses in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1988 and received the Sword of Honor along with the title of Master Logistician from the US Army. In 2008, he attended the leaders development program at Harvard University.

His Excellency Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family, was appointed his country’s ambassador to the United States in April 2017. He presented his credentials to President Donald Trump on July 22, 2017. He replaces another member of the royal family, Abdulla Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Khalifa.

His Excellency is the son of Bahraini Interior Minister Lieutenant General Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa. He graduated from Ibn Khuldoon National School in 1997 and came to the United States for college. He earned a B.S. in management from Bentley College (now Bentley University) in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2001 and an MBA from the same school in 2003. Bentley opened a Bentley in Bahrain program in 2002.

His Excellency returned to Bahrain and was made head of educational affairs for the Royal Family Council. Two years later, he was director of education and the Social Affairs Directorate. In 2007, he was named director of planning and followup for the General Organization for Youth and Sports. The following year he became the organization’s human resources director.

In March 2010, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa appointed His Excellency to a four-year term as governor of Bahrain’s Southern Governorate, the largest such political division. He was reappointed in 2015.

His Excellency is also a member of the National Commission for Drug Control.

Ambassador Salah Sarhan was born in the city of Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ambassador Sarhan joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomatic attaché in 1977 in the Department of Bilateral Economic Relations. He served as the 3rd Secretary in Economic Research in the Saudi Embassy in London from 1979-1985 and as a 2nd Secretary in the Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia in Geneve from 1985-1988.

Ambassador Sarhan assumed the position of Director of the Department of International Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1997, as well as Deputy Director of the Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia from 1997 to 1998. Ambassador Sarhan also served as Deputy Ambassador in the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Arab League in Cairo from 1998 to 2001. He held the position of Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia from 2001 – 2005 and from 2005-2008, he assumed the position of Director of Judicial Affairs of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Sarhan was the first Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 2009-2014 and the non-resident Ambassadors of the Kingdom of Cambodia from 2012-2014. Since 2015, he served as the Chief Representative of the League of Arab States Mission in Washington DC until present. He represented the Arab League in the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS held in 2018 at the U.S Department of State.

Mr. Hassan Damluji is Deputy Director at the world's largest philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Reporting directly to Bill Gates, he leads a global team responsible for policy and advocacy across the Middle East, Pakistan, Japan and Korea. He is a co-founder of the $2 Billion Lives and Livelihoods Fund, the largest multilateral development fund based in the Middle East. He has been named every year since 2015 as one of the 100 most influential Arabs under 40, by Arabian Business magazine.

Mr. Rick Merrill is President and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System. Since 2007, Mr. Merrill has led the Fort Worth-based organization at a time of unprecedented growth, including the historic expansion of Cook Children’s Medical Center, which nearly doubled the size of its campus in response to the growing need for its services. Under Mr. Merrill’s leadership, Cook Children’s began a new era by streamlining its mission and vision into a Promise to improve the health of every child in the region through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury.

As a not-for-profit, internationally-recognized pediatric integrated healthcare organization, Cook Children’s is comprised of eight entities – a Medical Center, Physician Network, Home Health company, Northeast Hospital, Pediatric Surgery Center, Health Plan, Health Services, Inc., and Health Foundation. With more than 1.3 million patient encounters per year, Cook Children’s growing reputation draws patients from near and far. Patients travel across Texas, the United States and from around the globe to receive life-saving pediatric care at Cook Children’s.

A graduate of Texas Tech University, Mr. Merrill received his Master of Science degree in Health Care Administration in 1984 from Trinity University in San Antonio. For more than thirty years, Merrill has served in leadership roles in large academic/university-based health care systems, including both for-profit and not-for profit health care facilities.

Mr. Merrill actively serves on numerous national, state and community advisory boards, including the Children’s Hospital Association (Immediate Past Chair) Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (a collaborative of 140 children’s hospitals), the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas (past Chair), Texas Hospital Association, Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals (Past Chair), the Dallas/Fort Worth Hospital Council (Past Chair), Children’s Hospital International Executive Forum, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board (member) and All Saints Episcopal School (Past Chair).

Mr. Merrill and his wife, Dr. Evelyn Merrill have two daughters.

Ms. Cynthia Gonzalez is executive director of the International Patient Services Program at Cook Children’s Health Care System. Cook Children’s, located in Fort Worth, Texas is an internationally renowned, 10 company, pediatrics only system that cares for the health and well-being of all children.

Prior to joining Cook Children’s in 2014, Ms. Gonzalez spent over 35 years working for and leading large sales and international business development teams for Fortune 100 companies such as IBM, Microsoft & Symantec where she developed exceptional skills in marketing and strategic sales initiatives and was appointed a Diversity Leader.

Among other notable achievements, the International Patient Services Program, while under her leadership, has expanded and transformed into a more efficient and impactful service line by deploying winning strategies and concierge, resort-like best practices. Ms. Gonzalez is guided by the belief that there are no limitations to what can be achieved for children when people work together in today’s globally interconnected world, “As long as there is need for children, I’ll keep going!” she says.

Ms. Gonzalez is a special advisor to the President of Visit Fort Worth, Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau and a partner of the Bilateral U.S.Arab Chamber of Commerce. Recently, she was the proud recipient of the 2019 FTW Sister Cities Global Nexus Award on behalf of the Cook Children’s International Patient Services Program.

Ms. Gonzalez is married to Michael Gonzalez. They are the proud parents of 2 children and 5 grandchildren.

Dr. James E. Shmerling, DHA, FACHE was named President and Chief Executive Officer at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center on October 1, 2015. For over three decades, Dr. Shmerling has served in management roles in children’s hospitals and is nationally recognized as a leader on issues concerning children’s health and wellness.

Prior to joining Connecticut Children’s, Dr. Shmerling spent the last eight years as the Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Hospital Colorado, one of the top ranked children’s hospitals in the nation. Before that, he was the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt from 2002 to 2007. He was the Senior Vice President of Methodist Healthcare and President of Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center from 1995 to 2002, and was Le Bonheur’s Chief Operating Officer from 1991 to 1995. He served as the Associate Director of Hospitals at Indiana University Hospitals and Administrator of the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children from 1987 to 1991. Dr. Shmerling’s career in children’s hospitals began in the Children’s Hospital of Alabama where he progressed in administrative responsibilities from 1979 to1987, the last of which was as its Associate Administrator.

He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Education from the University of Tennessee in 1976. In 1980, he was awarded a Master of Science Degree in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Samford University in 1984 and his Doctorate of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999.

Dr. Shmerling is a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE). He is an adjunct faculty member in the Hospital Administration programs, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Additionally, Dr. Shmerling is active in several national healthcare organizations. Currently he serves as:

• Board Member of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Board member of Pediatric Health Services, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Board Member of Biostage, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Dr. Meaghan Granger: Physician, Scientist, Researcher and Medical Director of the Neuroblastoma Program at Cook Children’s Health Care System, is involved in unique and innovative patient care as well as important research that could have a long-lasting impact on the treatment of pediatric patients everywhere in the near future.

At an early age, Dr. Granger knew she wanted to be a pediatric physician. "I chose Hematology and Oncology because of the science – particularly immunology. The human body has amazing innate ways in which it protects and heals itself from cancer right in our own DNA. I chose Pediatric Oncology because of the way these scientific principles from the laboratory translate into miracles in children. When you look at survival rates, things were very dismal not so long ago. With each decade since chemotherapy was invented in the 50’s we have seen the survivorship curve trend upward even to the point of curing many diseases. That's because of the momentum of pediatric clinical trials and supportive care that patients receive.”

After attending University of Arkansas Medical School, Dr. Granger followed with her residency at Vanderbilt University and Fellowships at Northwestern University Children’s Memorial in Chicago, IL and at UT Southwestern University Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. Then, she found her home at Cook Children’s.

Dr. Granger describes the environment at Cook Children's as a family. "I especially like working at Cook Children’s because of the unique relationships I am able to have with my patients and their families, one I feel is rooted in trust. As a mother, this is what I would want if my child were needing specialized care. We have built a world class Neuroblastoma program on our expertise from our research, collaborations and relationships around North America and the world.

In her spare time, she finds joy being with her three children and is very involved with her church community. She also loves to cook, sew and read--everything from medical news to mysteries.

Ms. Judi Hershman, founder of RAFTR Communications and Sangha Wellness Center sustains over 30 years of experience as a management consultant to individuals, corporations and associations that require expertise when addressing the impact of communications on society and business.

In 2000, RAFTR Communications, a crisis/perception management, full-service public relations firm was conceived. In 2018, Sangha Wellness Center was formed. For the past 10 years, Ms. Hershman's focus has been primarily on the pediatric healthcare sector and the total body and mind wellness industry. It is her passion for pediatric medicine and the belief that healthy adults grow from healthy children that led Ms. Hershman to launch Sangha Wellness Center.

Ms. Hershman has been nationally recognized for a number of client engagements. Her expertise in coalition-building and strategic message development won recognition with awards from PRWeek, the Bulldog Award for Excellence in Media Relations & Publicity, and two IABC Silver Inkwell awards. She has worked extensively in the healthcare, technology, academic, governmental and security sectors advising cabinet secretaries, c-suite level executives and teams. A master in strategic media communications coaching for executives, she has effectively prepared key influentials for appearances on national media networks and for congressional, state and local hearings.

Ms. Hershman has a record of achievement for contributions to her community past and present: co-founder, past president, Safe Community Coalition; co-founder, past president, The Angels Network; founder Red Apple Advocate; past vice-chair, FxCo Public Library Foundation; voting member, The Giving Circle of Hope.

Hoping to get that book finished--one day--Ms. Hershman is also a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She lives in Northern Virginia and is the proud mother of two accomplished young women.

Dr. Pamela Sherman, MD is the Medical Director of the International Patient Services Program and Director of the Hand Surgery Program at Cook Children’s Medical Center. Prior to joining their award winning Orthopedic team in 2010, her surgery practice included treating children and adults with hand/upper extremity cases. Her calling became children and with that, her trajectory brought her to Fort Worth.

During her residency and early career in New York, Dr. Sherman cared for many international patients with the intention to not only treat and heal, but to help their families find the patience and understanding needed to face the challenges ahead with their child’s recovery. She is a top rated doctor by families and professional peers alike, with comments like "Dr. Sherman has a fantastic bedside manner. She is informative and gracious. Treated our family like family,” which were posted online by appreciative parents.

Dr. Sherman graduated from Brown Medical School in 1992, having been a part of the combined baccalaureate-MD program in the program. She is a designated Castle Connolly, America’s Top Doctors recipient, an honor shared by only the top 1% of physicians in the country. Through her efforts, Cook Children’s is at present embarking on an upper extremity motion analysis lab. Additionally, Dr. Sherman is engaged in research in the areas of upper extremity motion assessments, robotic gloves for cerebral palsy patients and Vitamin D. Dr. Sherman believes that reaching physicians early in their careers to instill not only strong clinical expertise but the ability to convey compassion and sensitivity is vital. Her work in educating residents earned her the 2015 Teaching Award from the Fort Worth area hospital's Orthopedic Residency Program.

Dr. Sherman lives an abundant life in Fort Worth with her family which includes three teenagers. She serves as sports team Mom, interviews for her alma mater, runs, and loves to travel the world.

Dr. Don P. Wilson, a native of Newton, Mississippi, attended the University of Southern Mississippi, receiving a degree in pre-medical education. He earned a medical degree from the University of Mississippi before completing pediatric residency training and post-graduate fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric endocrinology and clinical lipidology.

In 1997, Dr. Wilson was selected as Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, Texas A&M University College of Medicine, a position he held for 12 years. In addition to overseeing an active research and medical education program, Dr. Wilson was instrumental in creating one of the first cardiovascular risk assessment clinics for children and adolescents. This clinic provided education to encourage healthy lifestyles, developed effective screening strategies and created novel interventions to improve the health and well-being of children and adolescents at risk for premature cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Although most of his professional focus has been in the area of childhood diabetes, Dr. Wilson has expanded his role in the related areas of childhood obesity, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. He is board certified by the American Board of Lipidology, a Fellow of the National Lipid Association and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. Dr. Wilson is currently a member of the board of directors of the Southwest Lipid Association and the American Board of Clinical Lipidology.

Recognizing that current approaches have proven inadequate to identify and effectively address the growing concern of premature cardiovascular disease, Dr. Wilson has been working with local, regional and national experts to create a better clinical care model that will provide enhanced health care, assessment, research and education for children and adolescents with genetic and acquired forms of dyslipidemia.

In 2009 Dr. Wilson was recruited to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Working with a host of primary care providers, community leaders and the academic community, Dr. Wilson was able to create a unique Cardiovascular Risk Assessment, Research and Education program (C.A.R.E.) serving as the program’s director from 2009 – 2011. While in Arizona, he served as a member of Arizona’s American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) subcommittee for childhood obesity and was selected by the National American Academy of Pediatrics to serve on a task force to evaluate the feasibility of a national obesity registry. In 2011, Dr. Wilson joined Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX, where he currently serves as the Endowed Chair, Cardiovascular Health and Risk Prevention Program.

Dr. James Marshall, MD is Vice President, Chief Research Officer, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Cook Children's Health Care System. He is also Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics at Texas Christian University and University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine

Dr. Marshall, inspired by his 6th grade biology teacher, began chasing pond-water microbes through his father’s microscope at 10 years of age, and set out on a path of discovery which continues today.After completing Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology/Toxicology fellowships in 1996, Dr. Marshall was invited by his mentor to take on the combined roles of Associate Clinical Pharmacologist and Pediatric Intensivist at The Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO. There, he accepted leadership roles including Executive Vice President of the Anesthesia Associates of Kansas City, P.C. and Assistant Professor of Anesthesia and Medicine at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Dr. Marshall later transitioned to Cook Children’s in order to practice medicine in a rapidly expanding healthcare system. Upon arrival, he was called on by the Physician Network president to develop a collaborative, integrated, and centralized system of pediatric research which now provides the entire range of operational and business services to Cook Children’s burgeoning program. Today, with a primary role as Vice President and Chief Research Officer, he also practices Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and serves the Texas Christian University as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics. “Who needs spare time?” he says.

Dr. Marshall believes in providing innovative care to infants, children, and young adults using reliable evidence discovered through research-driven therapeutic algorithms and drug/device development protocols, and the pursuit of medical science discovery upon careful observations of health and disease.

Dr. Marshall and his wife, Susan, have raised two children into productive young adults and celebrate the next generation as grandparents of the “Most Precious Granddaughter Ever.”

Dr. Mark A. Davis, MD, MS, FACEP, CPE, serves as the Executive Director, Business Development and Strategic Initiatives at Brigham and Women’s Healthcare, Harvard Medical School. In this role Dr. Davis focuses on strategic planning, execution, and collaboration for BWHC and National and International Partners with the Chief of Business Development and leadership throughout BWHC. He previously served as Medical Director Network Development for the health system. Business Development works with internal and external constituencies to grow high level relationships, promote seamless integration of care, and establish new service line structures. Dr. Davis evaluates and creates new partnerships and procedures to streamline access to tertiary/quaternary care when required by implementing a “right care, right place” philosophy. Partnership models are tailored to specific needs and circumstances for each organization whether national, or international. Dr. Davis created a new telemedicine referral network tool targeting access for the most complex patients in support of the objectives of the organization and its collaborating partners. Previously, Dr. Davis served as the Director, Physician Performance and Professional Development for the Department of Emergency Medicine, where he had Operational Responsibility in mentoring and managing physicians within the credentialing program that he developed in order to maintain compliance with new national standards and metrics. Dr. Davis also led Strategic Planning and was the Operational Leader as the Physician Executive Consultant of Brigham and Women’s Healthcare for a community hospital in Rhode Island.

Dr. Davis was the founding director for the Institute for International Emergency Medicine and Health (IEMH) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. In his capacity as Director, Dr. Davis focused on International Medical Training, curriculum development, mass casualty preparedness, research, and medical capacities improvement in diverse environments. He was the Principle Investigator for multiple emergency medical development training initiatives and centers throughout the world. He was also the series editor for a symptom and literature based series of medical textbooks. International Training Projects have included emergency medical development in the Middle East funded by the United States Department of State (USDOS), front-line health human capacity development in Africa in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), and trauma training in Romania, which has been supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Dr. Davis was also the PI on a tele-education/telemedicine initiative funded by the Department of Agriculture that promotes partnership between IEMH and Native Americans in underserved areas.

Dr. Davis graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1990 as a Penn Medical Scholar. He was concurrently enrolled in the Masters in Science degree program from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. In 1990, he received the National Research Council Fellowship Award from the National Academy of Sciences at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and was appointed Visiting Scientist at the Medical Sciences Division at JSC in 1991. He completed an internship at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, and his residency at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles. Dr. Davis is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has been an Attending Physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine since 2000.

Dr. Jeffrey Golden is Chair of the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Ramzi S. Cotran Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He leads a department that performs more than 7 million clinical laboratory tests each year and also conducts cutting-edge clinical, translational, and basic science research.

In addition, Dr. Golden is overseeing the development and implementation of a computational pathology program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which uses data derived from all areas of pathology to advance personalized medicine. As a neuropathologist, he is interested in the diagnosis of developmental disorders of the nervous system and runs a research lab in developmental neurobiology, where the main focus is on cell migration. Dr. Golden’s work has been recognized with a number of awards and lectureships and he has been elected to many local, national and international positions.

Dr. Giles Boland is an internationally recognized radiologist. He serves as Chair of the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Philip H. Cook Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School. As Chair of Radiology, Dr. Boland is responsible for a department that performs and interprets approximately 800,000 imaging exams each year and includes 120 attending physicians, a large research department, 100 physician trainees, and a large complement of additional personnel. His current focus is on the delivery of cost-effective patient outcomes, including practice and workflow redesign and management, and the use of information technology to improve outcomes.

Dr. Boland’s work extends to improving the patient experience, wellness, and the development of new markets. He has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on these topics and has conducted presentations in over 15 countries on these issues. As a practicing radiologist, his interests lie in abdominal imaging. Dr. Boland is Associate Editor for the Journal of the American College of Radiology (Practice Management) and has 17 years of industry experience related to the role of imaging biomarkers in drug development. He is the past president of the Society of Abdominal Radiology.

Mr. David C. Read, MBA, MPH, is the Vice President of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. Mr. Read is responsible for the Institute's largest department which includes oversight of 1450+ clinical and research staff. His top priorities at DFCI have been improving patient access and enhancing the overall patient’s experience while improving provider satisfaction including initiatives to mitigate physician burnout.

In prior roles, Mr. Read served as the Administrative Director for Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He received a MBA from Boston College and a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University where he studied epidemiology and health policy.

He also has his private pilot’s license, does some woodworking and has made most of the furniture in his home (davidreadwoodworking.com).

Mr. Danny E. Sebright was appointed in June 2008 as President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, the key organization building commercial ties and growing business opportunities between the two countries.

Previously, Mr. Sebright worked at the geo-strategic advisory firm The Cohen Group from 2002-2016. Prior to this, he served as the Defense Department’s Director of the Policy Executive Secretariat for the global war on terrorism from 2001-2002 during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan and Operation NOBLE EAGLE. He was awarded the Department of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award for his service to his country.

Mr. Sebright also served in the Office of the Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Defense from 1995-2001, advising the Defense Department on the Middle East Peace Process, regional arms sales, and counter-proliferation initiatives. Mr. Sebright coordinated and implemented U.S. foreign military sales to Israel and many other countries in the Middle East. He received the Paul H. Nitze Award for Excellence in International Security Policy for his work on the Middle East Peace Process. Prior to this, Mr. Sebright served with the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1984 to 1995 as a career intelligence officer, earning numerous Intelligence Community awards for his service.

Mr. Sebright earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2001. He earned his BA in International Affairs from the George Washington University in 1984.

Dr. Nizar Zein, MD is the Director of Hepatology Centre and the inaugural endowed holder of the Mikati Foundation Chair in Liver Diseases at the Cleveland Clinic. He received several awards, including the American Liver Foundation Scholar Award, the Cleveland Clinic Innovator Award and the Distinguished Faculty Award for Research Mentorship. He has been recognized for academic excellence by the Syrian American Medical Society and honored for his leadership and community service by the Ana G. Mendez University of Puerto Rico as the recipient of Presidential Medal in 2011. He was elected to the Board of Governors of the Cleveland Clinic in 2015. He is appointed to the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Clinic in 2017.

Dr. Zein’s research focuses on improving disease and treatment outcome in patients with the Hepatitis C virus before and after liver transplantation. He has authored over 200 publications, and has been the Principal Investigator of several large clinical trials. He holds several patents and established a research group at Cleveland Clinic focused on 3D printing of solid organs.

Dr. Zein is actively involved in the education of fellows and residents being trained at the Cleveland Clinic. He has been recognized by the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine Teacher of the Year, a distinction that reflects his commitment to the education and mentorship of young physicians.

Dr. Zein has served as the Editor of “The Year in Gastroenterology and Hepatology” associate editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Special Section Editor of “Liver Transplantation” and an editorial board member of Hepatology and Gastroenterology & Hepatology. His education included: University of Tishreen, Syria (MD); Medical College of Ohio (residency 1988-1992); Mayo Clinic (fellowship 1992-1996); Mayo Clinic (Mayo Scholar 1996-1997); Harvard Business School (eMBA/PLD 2016-2017).

Ms. Easter is responsible for global operations, corporate strategy, business development and community engagement. Ms. Easter’s key responsibilities include establishing short and long-term global strategies for Houston Methodist, as well as leading international consulting and management projects. Houston Methodist has one of the largest international patient programs in the United States where she provides operational oversight while guiding the education and training programs for international learners and leading global brand and business development.

She has been instrumental in expanding Houston Methodist’s global footprint to include twelve offices throughout Latin America and the Middle East including branch offices in Dubai, UAE and Riyadh, KSA. Consulting services has continued to expand including recent developments in Shanghai, China and Izmir, Turkey.

In addition to her global responsibilities, Ms. Easter leads strategic initiatives related to market share growth within the United States through regional business development and strategic partnerships, including established Employer Health Solutions which engages employers through direct to employer offerings.

Her community engagement efforts have spanned over 25 years and include development of the Houston Methodist Community Benefits department and grant making program focused on partnerships with local Federally Qualified Health Centers, free clinics, specialty services and mental health providers to ensure access to care. She developed an employee volunteer program, ICARE in Action, which engages in employees in volunteerism with greater Houston community agencies.

In 2017, Ms Easter was inducted into the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. In 2016, She was one of five recipients awarded the Bilateral U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce Women in Executive Leadership Award for her contributions to local, regional and global economies. She currently serves on the board of the US Arab Bilateral, The Clinton Foundation’s Houston Advisory Council and The Greater Houston Partnership Healthcare Committee. In 2004, she was named an “Up and Comer” by Modern Healthcare Magazine. She is a frequent speaker on global business and healthcare related topics.

Dr. Kurt Newman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Children's National, is a surgeon and recognized leader in pediatric health nationally and in Washington, D.C. Since becoming CEO in 2011, he has fostered a culture of patient-centered care and championed innovations in research, operations and clinical care. He has forged productive partnerships with other health systems in the region, with government and community entities and with industry at the local, national and global level. He is also a strong advocate for expanding mental health access for kids and has led two national forums on this issue.

Dr. Newman joined Children’s National as a surgical fellow in 1984 and became Surgeon-in-Chief and Senior Vice President for the Joseph E. Robert, Jr., Center for Surgical Care in 2003. He was instrumental in developing the vision for the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National, inspired by the bold vision of making surgery for children minimally invasive and pain-free. When the Institute was created in 2009 through a transformational $150 million gift, Dr. Newman served as founding Vice President.

Currently, Dr. Newman serves as the chairman of the Children’s Hospital Association Board of Trustees and previously served as the Chair of the Committee on Advocacy and Policy. He is also a member of the board of directors for the District of Columbia Hospital Association. In addition, Dr. Newman serves on the board of the Economic Club of Washington, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Federal City Council, D.C. Chamber of Commerce and Fight for Children. Previously, he served as a board member of commissioners of the Joint Commission, a member of the Board of Governors of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, as Chair of the Surgery Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and on the Commonwealth Council on Childhood Success in Virginia.

Dr. Newman is a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his medical education at Duke University. He completed his surgical residency at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and also served as the Arthur Tracy Cabot Fellow at Harvard Medical School. In 2017, Dr. Newman’s medical memoir, Healing Children: A Surgeon’s Stories from the Frontiers of Pediatric Medicine, debuted as an Amazon bestseller in pediatrics and earned national attention and critical praise in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post and Harvard Business Review.

Mr. David Schlotterbeck has over 45 years of experience in healthcare and technology. He has been Chairman and CEO of 3 public NYSE and NASDAQ companies and 2 private companies.

He was Vice Chairman of Cardinal Health, a $90B Fortune 20 global healthcare company. David also built and ran the 5th largest medical technology company in the world. He has successfully completed 2 IPOs and generated over $11B in shareholder returns over the last 10 years of his career. He has a proven track record of bringing innovative healthcare technologies to market where 8 out of the 9 companies where he was either Chairman or CEO, became multi-billion dollar businesses and the global leader in their market segment.

He has successfully completed nine turnarounds, each becoming a highly profitable world leader in its field. He has led more than 10 M&A deals totaling $7B and raising $6B in financing. David has served on over 20 public and private company Boards in addition to several healthcare institutional nonprofits at the national level.

Mr. Amir Jafri is the founder of Immunicom and has served as its President and Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception in 2013. Immunicom is developing a revolutionary cancer treatment that is affordable and potentially eliminate side effects. Immunicom’s technology has been classified by the FDA as a “Breakthrough Technology.”

Mr. Jafari has over 25 years of experience in healthcare technology and devices. As a senior executive in Fortune 20 companies and his own startups, he has managed multi-billion-dollar products on a global basis and is highly experienced with global regulatory environments. He was COO at West Health Institute; Vice President/CTO, Vice President R&D and Vice President Operations at Cardinal Health managing products with over $1B in annual revenue (NYSE: CAH).

Mr. Jafari was also the Vice President/General Manager Healthcare Division at Manpower Group (Comsys division), responsible for the healthcare technology practice nationwide across 35 locations (NYSE: MAN). Prior to joining Manpower/Comsys, he founded various healthcare startups that were subsequently acquired. He has successfully managed global businesses and has a track record of success in every business he has led.

Mr. Jafari serves on the Board of various healthcare technology startup companies and non-profit organizations. He started his business career at the age of 17 with his first software startup in Houston Texas.

Vice Admiral Walter Davis is the Co-founder and Vice President of Organizational Development at EvoNexus, one of the most successful technology business incubators in the country.

Vice Admiral Davis was a Navy fighter pilot, Aircraft Carrier CO, and Battle Group Commander. He served in numerous Navy engineering positions including Navy Engineer for the F-14 and Naval Warfare IT Architect (SPAWAR, Director of Space systems, Information Warfare systems, Command and Control Systems, and Modeling and Simulation where he directed the Navy’s $3.5B IT budget. He is the former Vice President for Business Development at GDE Systems (BAE).

Mr. Shahid N. Shah is an internationally recognized and influential healthcare IT thought-leader who is known as “The Healthcare IT Guy” across the Internet. He is a technology strategy consultant to many federal agencies and winner of Federal Computer Week’s coveted “Fed 100″ award given to IT experts that have made a big impact in the government.

He has architected and built multiple clinical solutions over his almost 25-year career. He helped design and deploy the American Red Cross’s electronic health record solution across thousands of sites; he’s built several web-based EMRs now in use by hundreds of physicians; he’s designed large groupware and collaboration sites in use by thousands; and, as an ex-CTO for a billion dollar division of Cardinal Health he helped design advanced clinical interfaces for medical devices and hospitals.

Mr. Shaw also serves as a senior technology strategy advisor to NIH’s and TATRC’s SBIR/STTR program helping small businesses commercialize their healthcare applications. He has been a healthcare technology strategic advisor for Microsoft, Google, Dell and various European governments.

He also runs three successful blogs:

• at http://shahid.shah.org he writes about architecture issues, at http://www.healthcareguy.com he provides valuable insights on how to apply technology in health care,
• at http://www.federalarchitect.com he advises senior federal technologists,
• at http://www.hitsphere.com he gives a glimpse of the health-care IT blogosphere as an aggregator.

Mr. Sameer Jafri is one of the Founders of Revive Solutions and serves as the President/COO. He co-founded Revive at the age of 21 upon his recent graduation from UCLA. Revive is developing a revolutionary product that will transform cardiac resuscitation around the world, potentially saving millions of lives.

His most recent role prior to founding Revive was as the Founder & President of Saving Hearts Foundation, a non-profit based in Los Angeles that is focused on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) prevention. He founded Savings Hearts when he 19 years old as a Political Science student at UCLA. Saving Hearts Foundation provides free preventative heart screenings for youth and also works to place AEDs throughout the community. The foundation has hundreds of volunteers across the Greater Los Angeles Area, and physician support from industry leading cardiologists and electrophysiologists from UCLA, Kaiser Permanente, HCA, and others. Saving Hearts has become the premier organization in Southern California providing free heart screenings.

Mr. Sameer Jafri has received numerous awards for his work in the field of Sudden Cardiac Death; including Young Heroes of America. In Revive, he has prominent advisors in Revive prominent individuals such as the Chief Medical Officer of Amazon, Head of Translational Research at the Scripps Institute, former Vice President of Global Retail at Apple, and Director of Cardiology Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Djaoued Bedjaoui is the Senior Advisor for Health at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, DC. In this capacity, Dr. Bedjaoui’s remit includes patient care, strategic collaborations and partnerships, collaboration with Major US facilities and representing the best interests of the UAE patients.

Prior to returning to the UAE Embassy in his current position, Dr. Bedjaoui was Canada Information Officer for MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX, USA) in Toronto, Canada where he oversaw enterprise relationships and patients relations in North America for one of the world’s leading facilities in cancer. After graduation from medical school in Oran, Algeria, Dr. Bedjaoui specialized in healthcare administration by earning an MBA from HEC – Hautes Etudes Commercial at The University of Montreal. Before joining the UAE Crown’s Prince Court Medical Office in 1999, as a Medical Advisor, Dr. Bedjaoui was a biotech Analyst for the Montreal Stock Exchange.

Dr. Bedjaoui has been an early and well-recognized advocate of “health diplomacy” & for the importance of the cross-cultural aspects in managing patients’ care.

Dr. J. Hunter Young, MD, MHS, focuses his research program on the genetics and molecular epidemiology of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, and population-based approaches to the management of these conditions. In his epidemiological work, he studies the factors related to the worldwide variation in prevalence of these conditions and the factors related to their poor control. In his program development work, he provides oversight in the development, implementation, and evaluation of novel, population-based approaches to their prevention and management.

Dr. John Duke Anthony is the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and currently serves on the United States Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and its Subcommittee on Sanctions. In 2012, he chaired and was the core lecturer in the Council’s 26th Annual 10-Week University Student Summer Internship Program’s Academic Seminar on Arabia and the Gulf. For the past 38 years, he has been a consultant and regular lecturer on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf for the Departments of Defense and State. He is former Chair, Near East and North Africa Program, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State as well as former Chair of the Department’s Advanced Arabian Peninsula Studies Seminar. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1986, Dr. Anthony has been a frequent participant in its study groups on issues relating to the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf regions and the broader Arab and Islamic world. More recently, Dr. Anthony was elected to the Board of Advisors of the Yemen College for Middle Eastern Studies. For the Fall 2012 semester, in addition to fulfilling his duties as Council President and CEO and Adviser to the Department of State, he was appointed Dean’s Chair in International Studies and Political Science at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, where he taught the Institute’s first-ever course on “Politics of the Arabian Peninsula” to First (Senior) and Second (Junior) classmen.

On June 21, 2000, on the occasion of his first official visit to the United States, H.M King Muhammad VI of Morocco knighted Dr. Anthony, bestowing upon him the Medal of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, the nation of Morocco’s highest award for excellence. In addition to heading the National Council, consulting, lecturing, and serving as an Adjunct Faculty Member of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Institute for Security Assistance Management (DISAM) since 1974, Dr. Anthony has been an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies since 2006. There, he developed a course for graduate students on “Politics of the Arabian Peninsula,” the first such semester-long academic course to be offered at any American university. In 2007, he was Visiting Lecturer at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies. In 2008 he was the Distinguished Visiting Professor at the American University in Cairo’s HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin ‘Abdalaziz Al-Sa’ud Center for American Studies.

In 1983, Dr. Anthony received DISAM’s Distinguished Achievement Award, one of three granted to American Middle East specialists in the Institute’s history. In March 1989, the Kappa Alpha Order’s National Executive bestowed upon him its Distinguished Public Service Award for Excellence “through a strenuous and useful Life of Service to others.” In 1993, he received the U.S. Department of State’s Distinguished Visiting Lecturer Award, one of three awarded over a span of 25 years in recognition of his preparation of American diplomatic and defense personnel assigned to the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf states. In 1994, he received the Stevens Award for Outstanding Contributions to American-Arab Understanding. In May 2008, the Rotary Club of the Nation’s Capital bestowed upon him its first-ever Local Giants Leadership Award.

Dr. Anthony is the only American to have been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (1969-1970). In 1971, he was cosponsored by the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State as the sole American scholar to observe at firsthand the process by which the British ceased administering the defense and foreign relations for nine Arab states lining the coastal regions of eastern Arabia and the Gulf. His long experience in Yemen led to Dr. Anthony being asked to serve as an international observer in all four of Yemen’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Dr. Anthony is the only American to have been invited to each of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Ministerial and Heads of State Summits since the GCC’s inception in 1981. (The GCC is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). Since 1986 and continuing until the present, Dr. Anthony has accompanied more than 200 Members of Congress, their chiefs of staff, defense and foreign affairs advisers, and legislative and communications directors on fact-finding missions to the Arab world. From 1996 until the present, he has also served as the principal scholar-escort for delegations to various GCC countries, Egypt, and Yemen comprised of 132 officers assigned to the staff of the Commander, U.S. Central Command, including Generals J.H. Binford Peay III, Anthony C. Zinni, Tommy Franks, John P. Abizaid, David Petraeus, James Mattis, and Admiral William Fallon.

Dr. Anthony is the author of three books, the editor of a fourth, and has published more than 175 articles and essays, and five monographs dealing with America’s interests and involvement in the Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world. His best-known works are Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum; The Middle East: Oil, Politics, and Development (editor and co-author) and, together with J. E. Peterson, Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia. Among his more recent publications are The United Arab Emirates: Dynamics of State Formation, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), 2002; “The Future Significance of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” in Global Strategic Developments: A Futuristic Vision, Abu Dhabi, UAE: ECSSR, 2012; “The Intervention in Bahrain through the Lenses of its Supporters” and “Challenges Facing NATO in Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq,” all four published by ECSSR in the Summer and Fall of 2011; “War with Iran: Regional Reactions and Requirements,” published by Middle East Policy and the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, 2008; “Strategic Dynamics of Iran-GCC Relations,” in Jean-François Seznec and Mimi Kirk, eds., Industrialization in the Gulf: A Socioeconomic Revolution, New York: Routledge, 2011; and “Measuring the Iraq War ‘Accomplishments’ Through the Lens of Its Authors: A Preliminary Assessment”: a revised and edited version of an address presented to the Axis for Peace conference held in Brussels by Voltaire Network, 2005, published by the National Council.

In addition to being the founder and chief facilitator and moderator of the Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference, now in its 21st year, Dr. Anthony has been a founder, board member, and Secretary of the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee; founding President of the Middle East Educational Trust; co-founder of the Commission on Israeli-Palestinian Peace; founding President of the Society for Gulf Arab Studies; co-founder and board member of the National Commission to Commemorate the 14th Centennial of Islam; and founder and former chairman of the U.S.-Morocco Affairs Council. In 2006 he was elected Vice-President and member of the Board of Directors of the International Foreign Policy Association in Washington, D.C.

After completion of his U.S. Army active duty military service, the Commonwealth of Virginia granted Dr. Anthony a four-year State Cadetship Award which allowed him to enroll at Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in History. At VMI, he was elected president of his class all four years in addition to serving as president of the Corps of Cadets’ Government General and Executive Committees during his First Class Year. He later earned a Master of Science Degree in Foreign Service (With Distinction) from the Edmund A. Walsh Graduate School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where, in addition to holding one of three University Scholar Awards, he was inducted into the National Political Science Honor Society. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., where he held a National Defense in Foreign Language Scholarship for Arabic, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, and was appointed in 1973 to SAIS’ full-time faculty while still a student. For nearly a decade, Dr. Anthony taught courses on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States at SAIS. He has been a Visiting and Adjunct Professor at the Defense Intelligence College, the Woodrow Wilson School of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia, the Universities of Pennsylvania and Texas, the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a regular lecturer at the National War College.

Dr. Anthony passed his proficiency exam in French at the Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1966. He passed his proficiency exam in Arabic at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1969 following study there as well as at Princeton University and the American University in Cairo’s Center for Arabic Study Abroad.

Dr. Anthony is married to Cynthia Burns McDonald, Director of the Washington, D.C. Office of the American University in Cairo, and has twin sons.

Mr. Michael “Mick” Merritt is the Chief Operating Officer of Signature Services at Penn Medicine. In this role, he is responsible for Penn Medicine’s global strategy and programs, patient facilitated services, executive health, and membership programs. He has over twenty years of experience in healthcare and academic medicine as a management consultant and health system leader. His more than twelve-year consulting career has spanned clinical, education and research-related strategic and operational advisory services to academic medical centers and health systems across the U.S. and abroad where he served in leadership roles at Manatt Health and The Chartis Group.

Mr. Merritt's academic health system leadership experience was developed over nine years at New York-Presbyterian (NYP) in collaboration with the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine, where he last served as Vice President of Global Services. In this role, he led a team of nearly 90 people focused on positioning the organization for referral and revenue growth through direct-to-patient strategies, institutional collaborations, employer initiatives, and global education and training programs.

A recognized industry leader, Mr Merritt served on the Vizient Global Executive Services Council Steering Committee, and he helped establish and was on the founding Advisory Council of the U.S. Cooperative for International Patient Programs. He is also a published author who most recently co-authored a Future of Academic Medicine Series report of the American Association of Medical Colleges entitled “Next-Generation Funds Flow Models: Enhancing Academic Health System Alignment” in October, 2018. He is a graduate of Cornell University with a B.A. in psychology.

Dr. Maan Fares, MD, is a practicing cardiologist in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Vice Chairman of Global Patient Services, at the Cleveland Clinic.

Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey.

As a global health care organization with an international reputation for excellence in specialty care particularly in cardiovascular diseases. The department of Global Patients Services helps in organizing the care and management of more than 5,000 patients annually. Patients arrive from all corners of the globe with immensely diverse backgrounds seeking various health care needs. Their care demands excellence in management of complex medical illnesses and special cultural awareness to ensure a better experience and superb outcomes.

Dr. Fares is board-certified in cardiovascular disease, nuclear cardiology/cardiovascular imaging (Level II, including SPECT and PET) and echocardiographic imaging (Level II) and has completed Level II training in cardiac CT angiography. He performs nearly 2,000 nuclear stress tests, 2,000 adult echocardiograms, and more than 2,500 stress tests and EKGs each year.

Dr. Fares earned his medical degree from the University of Damascus, School of Medicine, Syria. He completed a residency at Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio, and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at New England Medical Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Fares spent time on staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, as a clinical associate in echocardiography. Prior to his appointment to the Cleveland Clinic medical staff in 2013, Dr. Fares was a member of the Ohio Permanent Medical Group/Kaiser Permanente medical staff and Chief of Cardiology. Additional positions he held with Kaiser Permanente Ohio include Associate Medical Director for Medical Specialties and member of the Board of Directors.

He is a member of the American College of Cardiology, American Society of Echocardiography and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and is a founding member of the Syrian American Medical Society.

Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa, MD, MBA joined the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York back in 2001. Dr. Abou-Alfa specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers and in particular, liver cancer. Dr. Abou-Alfa received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and completed his post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine. He received his MBA from Columbia University.

Dr. Abou-Alfa serves as the chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Task Force for Hepatobiliary Cancers, the chair of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) Non-AIDS Defining Malignancies (NADC) Liver/GI Task Force, and is the President-Elect for the International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology. Dr. Abou-Alfa has lectured worldwide on the subject on gastrointestinal malignancies. He serves as the chair the medical/scientific board of the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation and the Blue Faery Liver Foundation, and also serves on the National Medical Advisory Committee of the American Liver Foundation.

Dr. Abou-Alfa has also spearheaded many international projects since 2006, and now serves on the institutional leadership panel for international healthcare. Dr. Abou-Alfa helped Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center establish a strong relationship with many institutions worldwide, with an ongoing faculty exchange, repeated video-link conferencing, and class-training courses with China and the Middle East. These joint collaborations have led to the development of the first joint tissue bank with a shared database with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and supported fellowship opportunities for excelling medical graduates. Dr. Abou-Alfa has also helped promote and enhance the MSKCC international patients’ referral base.

Dr. Gabi Hanna, MD is an Associate Director at the Duke Cancer Institute, surgical and imaging facility which leads translation medicine and drug development to clinical work, foster innovations design and conduct preclinical researches translational to clinic and patient care. Collaborate and work with Biotech and pharmaceutical industry to conduct preclinical and translation research at Duke, including: Clinical trial; GLP good laboratory practice; IND new drugs development; IDE and medical device development; novel imaging methods.

Dr. Hanna worked with GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical on antiangiogenic therapy project. He led the multidisciplinary team at Duke to develop new treatment protocol based the tumor oxygenation after evaluation the different antiangiogenic therapies on cancer prognosis; microenvironment; vascular; drug delivery; EMT; VGF; PDGF.

Dr. Hanna is also the President, Chairman of North Carolina Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. As serial entrepreneurs, Dr. Hanna took the role to be the president and chairman for the professional society dedicated to advancing healthcare innovation. By linking clinicians, entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, VC/ PE, universities, industries and policymakers with creative business strategy to create next generation of technology to get to the new area of medical practice.

Dr. Hanna newest technology start-up is AMERICAN REMOTE HEALTH and TeleCancer. It is the first and only Telemedicine service and app that focuses on cancer and chronic diseases to improves the outcome care. By utilizing telecommunication technology, it helps extend the medical advanced knowledge and research of academia centers and top universities like Duke, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, NIH, Harvard, etc. beyond the wall of universities.Patients have the option to upload their complete medical records (via HIPPA compliant apps or EMR web system) and communicate to the top 2% of doctors in US. American Remote Health doctors will provide a written treatment plan including genetic personalized treatment and clinical trials; collaborate on the treatment with the local doctors; or arrange the treatment and logistic for patients to come to the best hospital to receive the treatment/ surgery upon the next day of their arrival. American Remote Health is not just saving lives and improving outcome but eliminating unnecessary surgeries, and possibly "wrong" treatments.

Dr. Hanna graduated medical school from Aleppo, surgical internship acting at University of Texas Medical Branch and his Radiation Oncology postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University.

Dr. Michael Kupferman, MD, MBA, FACS is the Senior Vice President of Clinical and Academic Network Development at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. In this role, Dr. Kupferman leads the development, management and growth of clinical oncology and research programs across the Cancer Network, inclusive of domestic and international partnerships. He is a Professor in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, and is an internationally-recognized expert in Head and Neck Oncology, with expertise in the surgical management of pediatric head and neck cancers and skull base tumors.

His clinical practice focuses on upper aerodigestive tract cancers, melanoma, salivary gland and skull base tumors, as well as robotic surgery of the head and neck. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed residency in Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a fellowship in advanced Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and he received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He has published over 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, and his laboratory research in the mechanisms of metastasis has been funded by the NIH, ACS, AHNS, AAO-HNSF and numerous private foundations.

Mr. Michael W. Brown, MHA, President and CEO, provides overall business leadership to MD Anderson Cancer Network® through oversite of business development, legal, finance, information technology and business operations.

Mr. Brown is an experienced health care executive who has held progressive leadership roles at MD Anderson. Most recently, he was the associate vice president for Business Development. In this role, he worked to build relationships and programs both domestically and internationally. He led development activities for partnerships with MD Anderson at Cooper, Baptist MD Anderson, Scripps MD Anderson and UT Health Northeast MD Anderson.

Prior to this role, he served as the vice president for network development at University of Chicago Medicine where he led the development of the organization’s clinically integrated network and its ambulatory network plan. He holds a Master of Health Administration from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts from Oakland University in Rochester, MI.

Mr. Brown also serves as chairman of the board for Fort Bend Family Promise, a nonprofit organization focused on issues facing homeless families.

Ambassador Isobel Coleman is a foreign policy expert with extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and national security issues with a regional focus on the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

From 2014-2017 she served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Management, Reform and Special Political Affairs. In that capacity, Ambassador Coleman led U.S. efforts to reform the $40 billion UN system by imposing fiscal discipline, increasing transparency and accountability, She also led U.S. efforts to combat sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. She was the Obama Administration's chief spokesperson on these issues, testifying several times before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. During 2016 and early 2017, Ambassador Coleman represented the United States in the UN Security Council, with responsibility for Africa, Asia and peacekeeping issues. She negotiated Security Council resolutions on South Sudan, Darfur, The Gambia, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and North Korea.

From 2002-2014, Dr. Coleman was a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York where she wrote extensively about the economic development of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, and also about women's rights, civil society, and democratization for publications such as the The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times and the Washington Post. Dr. Coleman is the author and coauthor of, and contributor to, numerous books including Women and Girls Rising: Progress and Resistance Around the World (Routledge, 2015), Pathways to Freedom: Political and Economic Lessons from Democratic Transitions (Council on Foreign Relations, 2013) and Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East (Random House, 2010), She is a frequent speaker at academic, business, and policy conferences, including delivering a well-received TED Talk in 2013. In 2011, Newsweek named her as one of "150 Women Who Shake the World."

Prior to CFR, Dr. Coleman was a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. where she worked with major financial institutions. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a BA in public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School and in East Asian Studies. She attended Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship where she earned MPhil and DPhil degrees in International Relations.

Mr. Han Sheng Chia is the humanitarian director at GiveDirectly-- a U.S. based NGO that aims to reshape international giving by allowing donors to provide cash grants directly to the world’s most vulnerable. At GiveDirectly, he has worked in a variety of international contexts, ranging from designing technology to distribute cash across Sub-Saharan Africa, to running emergency programs in post-hurricane Puerto Rico.

Most recently, Mr. Han Sheng has led GiveDirectly's work to launch a cash transfer program in Sinjar Iraq. The program, developed in partnership with Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad, aims to provide genocide survivors with cash grants to restart their lives. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Mr. Han Sheng was a management consultant, working with Fortune 500 technology companies to develop global business strategies.

Dr. Naqib Safi is the Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Emergency Response Team, EMOPS UNICEF NYHQ. He recently served as the Chief of UNICEF Office in Aden, South Yemen; Senior Emergency Advisor Libya; Chief of Field Office, a.i., Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh; and Regional Emergency Adviser a.i., South Asia Regional Office, Kathmandu, Nepal. In addition he provided support to Hurricane Harvey response in Houston, Texas, where he guided the planning for a child focussed response of UNICEF and partners.

Dr. Safi also functioned as Cholera Responses Coordinator in Yemen; Team Leader of the USD 200 Million grant of the World Bank to Yemen Emergency Cash Transfer; Deputy Representative, a.i. in Nigeria and Syria; the Crisis Cell Coordinator in Geneva, supporting the Special Coordinator for Refugees and Migrants Crisis in Europe. During the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, he served as the Senior Emergency Coordinator for Ebola Response in Liberia; and recently in north-eastern part of Jordan to the displaced population on the border of Syria.

Dr Safi joined UNICEF as Health Specialist in Sudan in 2005. Afterwards he worked as Chief of Field Office West Darfur; Deputy Representative Kingdom of Lesotho, and Representative a.i. in Lesotho. Prior to joining UNICEF, Dr. Safi, an Afghan national, held various positions including Senior Advisor to the Minister of Health; National Programme Manager of HIV/AIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; Director General, Primary Health Care/Preventive Medicine, MoPH, Kabul, Afghanistan; Director, Provincial Public Health, Parwan Province, MoPH; Director Avicenna Infectious Diseases Teaching Hospital; and Director Maiwand Teaching Hospital, Afghanistan. He holds a Masters of Community Health (MCommH) from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; and Medical Degree (MD), Avicenna Medical Institute, Kabul University, Afghanistan.

In addition he also holds a Certificate of Leadership “Leading with Purpose” from BerkeleyHaas School of Business, University of California; a Certificate in Leadership from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France; a Diploma in Business Administration (DBA), from Edinburgh Business School; a Post-Graduate Diploma in HIV Management (PDM) from the African Centre for HIV Management, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Ms. Elizabeth Tromans works in the field of humanitarian aid and is passionate about ensuring impartial, life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable affected by disasters and conflict around the world. As Senior Technical Advisor with the International Rescue Committee in New York City, she manages the IRC’s team of Cash Technical Advisors who work alongside colleagues in the Economic Recovery and Development Technical Unit to ensure global adherence to cash and voucher assistance (CVA) program quality standards. She is currently also providing direct CVA support to country programs in Latin America and Asia. She joined the IRC, founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein to assist refugees after World War I, in September of 2017.

Prior to joining the IRC, Ms. Tromans was based in Manila for 4 years as the Regional Technical Advisor for Emergency Preparedness and Response for the East and South Asia Region with Catholic Relief Services. In this role she focused on improving both internal and partner staff response capacity to respond to the numerous natural disasters in the region, particularly in the areas of emergency assessment, project design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, accountability and resource management. Similarly, she was tasked with promoting adherence to professional standards, especially Sphere Minimum Standards, and mainstreaming gender, participation and ‘Do-No-Harm’ in emergency response.

In this role Ms. Tromans has worked in a variety of emergency responses including the Bohol, Philippines Earthquake (2013), Philippines’ Typhoon Haiyan (2013), the Jammu and Kashmir, India Floods (2014), India’s Cyclone Hudhud (2014), and the Nepal Earthquake (2015). She is also overseeing the implementation of a partner emergency response capacity strengthening project across Asia and the Middle East.

Ms. Tromans started her humanitarian career with CRS in India in 2010 and has had several assignments throughout Asia since. In India she developed and secured funding for community-based disaster preparedness programs in two flood-affected states of the country; and led an emergency response team for rapid assessments and response design in 2010 Uttar Pradesh floods.

In Ghor Province, Afghanistan she oversaw the implementation of two USAID-funded programs. The first was an emergency food aid program, which provided vital income and emergency food stocks to 4,000 households in the fall and spring following severe flash flooding (2010) that destroyed agricultural fields. The second was a cash-for-work project which provided short-term employment for disaster-affected households to construct community-prioritized small infrastructure projects; such as agricultural irrigation systems, wells, and roads.

In Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, Ms. Tromans managed a reconstruction program in response to Typhoon Washi (2011), supervising 30 CRS and Church partner staff for the establishment of 21 new settlements and the construction of 1,300 temporary shelters in 5 months, which allowed for the closure of multiple crowded evacuation centers. In 6 months, as the Interim Country Manager in Lao PDR, she oversaw the expansion of CRS Lao PRD programming, including the start-up of a $12 million USDA-funded school feeding program, which was providing school meals and literacy courses to 34,500 primary school students.

Ms. Tromans was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bangladesh (2004-2006) and earned her master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance from the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She speaks English, Spanish and intermediate Bengali.

Mr. John Payne is Chairman & CEO of PURELIFE Health Sciences Group and heads a team of scientific researchers focusing on genetics and its relation to diabetes. The Arizona and Florida based research group has spent 23 years researching and identifying causes and solutions to metabolic syndrome health issues based on genetics, DNA based nutritional adaptation, and the interactions between genes that are critical to live long & healthy lives. Significant research has been done in Africa and Australia to identify genetically compatible ingestible sources to support broad spectrum human health, taking into consideration xenohormesis, and how it can affect mitochondrial and telomere health, geography, ethnicity and culture. PURELIFE Health Sciences has bio-engineered scientific formulas and clinical protocols that meet the WHO criteria for being genetically compatible, while reducing inflammation and boosting the immune system resulting in prevention of, and long-term reversal of diabetes. They bridge mankind’s ancient, genetically determined DNA with the biological human needs of today. What we eat and drink must match our inherited DNA to be effective in supporting our overall health and wellness. PURELIFE Health Sciences provides the innovative matched resources for health and healthy weight management.

PROFILE

Researcher • Author • Formulator Product / Ingredient Platform Development More than 35 years of experience in developing ingredient platforms for medical and nutraceutical products domestically and internationally. Devoted to developing natural health products that are genetic based and genetically compatible. Concentrating on ingredient profiles that are based on traditional food resources that address the large and growing need for genetic based nutrition.

HISTORY

• Research/Development/Technology
• Nutraceuticals for the prevention and long term reversal of type 2 Diabetes.
• Platform for fruit & vegetable extracts for health and Diabetes.
• Plant based high viscosity polysaccharides for menopause symptoms.
• Nutraceuticals for immune system enhancement.
• Pure Minerals for bone, teeth, osteoporosis and dental health.
• Plant based weight loss formulas and body composition improvements that work thru the digestive system.
• Anti-inflammatory formulas to dampen systemic inflammation.

Mr. Saad Al-Badry, is the Chairman & CEO of NEXGEN BIOPHARMA DWC-LLC based out of Dubai,UAE. A company which is specialized in distribution of high quality Food Supplements for Functional and Biological medicine for professionals in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Far East. The company has extensive experience in distribution of high quality Food Supplements including Enzyes; Stems Cells Extract and Peptides for Aesthetics; Rejuvenation (Anti Aging) and Auto Immune Disorder Diseases for the international markets.

Dr. George Cheriyan, MD, FRCP (Lon), FRCPI, MBA is the Corporate CEO and Chief Medical Officer of the American Mission Hospital (AMH) in Bahrain, the oldest hospital in the GCC. He worked as a Neonatologist for over 25 years after obtaining his post graduate training in Pediatrics in London at The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and sub-specialization in Neonatology at the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Cheriyan has also worked as a Consultant Neonatologist in the National Health Service In London before moving up to take up a position as Head of Neonatology at the Saudi Aramco Hospital where he worked for 18 years in various capacities of leadership. He is a trained ‘Improvement Advisor’ in Healthcare quality from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston, MA where he was adjunct teaching member of the faculty and has been an invited speaker at various healthcare Forums both in and outside of the US.

He further obtained training in Healthcare management at the Harvard Business School and is both an alumni of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. His area of interest is the economics in developing a model of non-profit healthcare which is both affordable and of high quality.

Dr. Aftab Ahmed is Vice President & Chief Science Officer of PURELIFE Health Sciences Group, a scientific medical research organization that is doing extensive research on diabetes, obesity & infectious diseases.

Dr. Aftab Ahmed has more than thirty years of experience in administration, business, teaching, research & training in the health & science field. He has completed many international research projects in collaboration with the National Institute of Health, Uniformed Services of Health Sciences, US AID, Harvard International Development, Medstar Research Institute, Obetech, Obesity Research Center & Tissue Technologies. He has worked with the International Referral Epidemic Center “Infectious Diseases.” Additionally, Dr. Ahmed has participated in many clinical trial studies on water born diseases, i.e. typhoid fever & diarrhea.

His primary interests are metabolic syndrome, infectious diseases & biochemistry/biotechnology. He has written “Complications of Obesity” published in the Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition and “The Serum Proteins in Health and Disease” published in “Protein Structure Function Relationship”.

Dr. Ahmed has more than 100 publications & scientific presentations.

Carmel Mulvany is an expert at forging partnerships with governments, business, media, celebrities and non-profits to activate purpose and build support for action on big global issues. She has over 20 years experience managing advocacy and public engagement for international organizations, including the United Nations, World Vision and the American Cancer Society. New initiatives include a UN sponsored Taskforce and network of National Coalitions she is developing to increase women’s participation in STEM and bridge the gender digital divide.

As Chief of the UN Works Programme, Carmel created new approaches to engage audiences worldwide. She enlisted Jay-Z, Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas and other high profile celebrities and partnered with media networks, including Discovery International, MTV, Animal Planet and Showtime, to produce multiplatform content, award winning television, educational and digital resources. She also advised on social media campaigns for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and managed marketing and communications for United Nations summits in New York, Europe, Africa and South America.

At the American Cancer Society, Carmel built support for its global work with governments, international funding agencies and grassroots activists. She developed the Taskforce on Women and Non Communicable Diseases (NCDS) with leading health organizations to address the burden of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and acute respiratory diseases on women and their families in low and middle-income countries. Sponsors included the American Heart Foundation; the GAVI Alliance; the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn Child Health; PLAN International; the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Women Deliver and the World Heart Federation.

As Head of Media and Public Affairs for World Vision, Carmel directed communications to support advocacy, marketing and fundraising. She enlisted Hugh Jackman to advocate for low-income coffee farmers; led negotiations with the Australian government to bring the 63rd annual UN/NGO Conference to Melbourne; advised the World Vision global leadership on participating at UN climate change summits and expanded the CEO’s international advocacy.

Carmel is a board member of the Lille Fro Foundation, a charity funding education and skills training for rural communities in India. She is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and is based in New York.

Dr. Ann Aerts has been Head of the Novartis Foundation since January 2013. During this time, she has led an organization committed to transforming the health of low-income populations. This included working with partners on in-country programs and research to identify the healthcare solutions that work best, supporting partners scaling-up proven solutions, and using the new evidence to inform national and global health policy. Dr. Aerts has led initiatives to improve cardiovascular health in urban populations, co-chaired a Broadband Commission working group that developed recommendations for using digital health to tackle noncommunicable diseases and achieve Universal Health Coverage, and drove a leprosy prevention program that influenced World Health Organization guidelines.

Dr. Aerts’ career has focused on patient centered care, spanning the international humanitarian sector, non-profits and pharma. She was previously Franchise Medical Director for Critical Care at Novartis Pharma in Basel and Therapeutic Area Head of Cardiovascular and Metabolism for Novartis Pharma in Belgium. Prior to joining Novartis, she served as Director of the Lung and Tuberculosis Association in Belgium, Head of the Health Services Department of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, and Health Coordinator for ICRC in several countries.

In 2014, PharmaVOICE nominated Dr. Aerts as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the life science industry. Dr. Aerts has authored numerous publications and is a member of the Broadband Commission, the Governing Council of the UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries and the International Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health.

Dr. Aerts holds a Degree in Medicine and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and a Degree in Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS DINA MIRED (PRESIDENT, UNION FOR INTERNATIONAL CANCER CONTROL UICC, JORDAN)

HRH Princess Dina was elected as President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in 2018 – the largest cancer fighting organisation. HRH Princess Dina Mired, is a mother of a cancer survivor and global anti-cancer advocate. Testament to her outstanding leadership, she was the first Arab to have been elected in in such a prestigious global post. Prior to Her Presidency at UICC, Princess Dina served as:

• Member of the Presidential Advisory Panel of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)
• Ambassador of the UICC World Cancer Declaration Ambassadors Programme

King Hussein Cancer Foundation 2002-June 2016
HRH Princess Dina established and led the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) from 2002 till June 2016. Princess Dina transformed the non-profit into into the most successful fundraiser 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.

Local Advocacy for Cancer Control
She is a leading national and global figure in advocacy work on behalf of cancer patients and their families. She served as the Honorary Chairperson of the Jordan Breast Cancer Program (JBCP) 2006-2016. To date, JBCP remains the most successful national early detection and screening program saving the lives of thousands of women. Princess Dina is a fierce advocate in the fight against tobacco, both in Jordan and globally.

Global Advocacy for Cancer Control
Globally, Princess Dina is a well-known and respected advocate for Cancer Control and NonCommunicable Diseases. In September 2011, Princess Dina was elected to deliver the keynote speech on behalf of all civil society at the opening of the United Nation’s General Assembly 1st ever High Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ttICz5vYQ&t=25s

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” on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCD’s). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdkp13lfY8k&t=98s

Princess Dina serves/served in a number of high-profile international roles:

• Global Ambassador for Tobacco Free Portfolios (current)
• Honorary Member of the Mediterranean Task Force for Cancer Control in Italy (Current)
• Honorary President of Harvard University Global Task Force for Expanded Access to Cancer Control and Care in the Developing World
• Ambassador for the Global Smoke-free Worksite Challenge
• Member of the advisory board of NCD child

Awards and Honors:

• 2018 Conferred the title of “Honorary Doctor” by the prestigious Medical University of Asuncion-Paraguay, in recognition of her global efforts in the fight against cancer.
• 2017 Awarded the “Female of the year 2017- Golden Award for Excellence” by the “Arab Women Council”, in recognition of her outstanding efforts in the field of social responsibility in the Arab World.
• 2016 Conferred the title of “Honorary Doctor” by the prestigious Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU) in Armenia, in recognition of her global efforts in the fight against cancer.
• 2016: Chosen for Susan G Komen’s first ever More than Pink list of those who have made significant impact in the fight to end breast cancer
• 2016 Oct to be awarded the “Personality of the 2016 in the fight against breast cancer” by Zahra Breast Cancer Association of Saudi Arabia
• 2015 Recipient of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) medal of Honor in recognition of your outstanding leadership

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin is the very first woman in the histroy of the organization to be elected to serve on ITU's top leadership team as Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. She took office on the 1st of January 2019. She is a strategic leader with 30 years of high-level experience in international and inter-governmental relations. She has a long history of success in policy and strategy development, analysis and execution.

From 2008-2018, Ms. Bogdan-Martin led the Strategic Planning & Membership Department of ITU. Ms Bogdan-Martin was responsible for the organization’s strategic planning processes, while also overseeing the organization’s Membership, Corporate Communications and External Affairs teams, the work of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. She also served as Coordinator of United Nations affairs for the organization, putting ITU at the center of digital aspects of sustainable development.

Ms. Bogdan-Martin has advised governments from around the world on policy and regulatory reform measures. She has organized impact-driven global conferences with thousands of participants from 150+ countries, brokered international consensus on many critical issues, and is a regular presenter at high-level international forums and summits. As part of this important work, she was one of the principal architects of the annual Global Symposium for Regulators, directed ITU’s first global youth summit #BYND2015, and is currently driving ITU latest high-profile initiative – EQUALS, the Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age.

Ms. Bogdan-Martin previously headed the Regulatory and Market Environment Division of the Telecommunication Development Bureau and was responsible for the programmes on Regulatory Reform and Economics and Finance. Prior to joining ITU, she was a Telecommunications Policy Specialist in the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), US Department of Commerce.

With a Master’s degree in International Communications Policy from the American University in Washington, DC, Ms Bogdan-Martin completed post-graduate certification in Strategies for Leadership at the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is also certified in Accountability and Ethics by the United Nations Leaders Programme.

Additionally, Ms Bogdan-Martin is an affiliate of the Harvard University Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society, currently serves as the Co-Chair of the United Nations Strategic Planning Group, Chair of the Academic Council for the Swiss Network for International Studies, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the UN Staff College. She is also an amateur radio operator and married with four children.

Dr. Sawsan A. S. Al Madhi has more than 16 years progressive leadership skills and experience in strategy, operations and administration for the not-profit charitable sector. Currently working with one of the most reputable charities in the UAE as the Director General for Friends of Cancer Patients, Dr. Sawsan’s role is to supervise the continuing refinement and expansion of the organizational objectives which include: providing high quality services, organizing fundraising activities, developing ,planning and executing nationwide awareness programs and campaigns through collaboration with a vast network of national and international, governmental and private sector organizations.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Dr. Al Madhi is an Internal Medicine specialist, Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine (London), and a registered doctor with the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom. Her clinical and medical expertise is based on working at the Dubai Health Authority (Dubai- UAE) and at the Ministry of Health (Sharjah-UAE). She also holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare management from the Institute of Leadership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. Having medical, nonprofit and international expertise, Dr. Al Madhi strives to achieve excellence, sustainability, and attain results in the non-profit sector especially the non-profits working within health related matters and sectors.

MEMBERSHIPS & CONTRIBUTIONS
In addition, Dr. Al Madhi is an active member on a number of panels and boards including the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland UAE chapter Alumina board, the Breast Cancer awareness program committee (Sharjah, MOH), the National Committee for Cancer Control (NICC,MOH-UAE), the Clinical Research Ethical Committee (Sharjah- UAE), NCD national committee - UAE, Government accelerator - UAE, The Gulf Federation For Cancer Control scientific committee representing UAE and Executive Committee for the Middle East Partnership for Women’s Health, Cancer Control and Research, Steering committee member, Cancer Advocacy Leader’s Alliance in Middle East & Africa (CALAMEA), Faculty member of the Institute of Cancer Policy - UK, to name a few.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Dr. Al Madhi is also a renowned public speaker in many areas including the future of non- profit, CSR and sustainability, gender balance, women and leadership. Dr. Al Madhi also focuses on women’s health and consntantly highlighting this topic in her frequent educational lectures, workshops, and panel discussions.

ACADEMICS & RESEARCH
Venturing into the Academic and Research platform Dr. Al Madhi is currently a visiting lecturer on the topics of “Healthcare management”, “Public Health”, “International health policy” ,”Health education and promotion” , “Healthcare process” , “ Health care systems “and “Patients care” in one of the most prestigious academic institutes in UAE the Canadian University in Dubai.

Dr. Al Madhi with her forward thinking, problem solving, creative and results oriented approach can propel organizations towards achieving goals and supporting its multifaceted needs in the philanthropy sector.

Ms. Natalie Dawe is the Global Health Leader and Offering Manager for IBM Corporate Citizenship/CSR. In this role, she leads IBM’s strategic work to apply digital expertise to address cancer disparities in low-resource settings. Currently, she is focused on managing the design, development, and roll-out of two digital tools for oncologists and cancer centers in Sub-Saharan Africa, working closely with end users and ecosystem partners to promote human-centered outcomes at scale.

Ms. Dawe brings over 10 years of experience in public health, partnership development, and best practice research to the role. Health initiatives she has worked on have helped organizations bring a more data and design-centered approach to fight dengue fever in Taiwan, improve access to essential medications in India, and tackle social determinants of health in the U.S.

Previously, she served as the Global Health Initiatives Manager for IBM Corporate Citizenship, where she co-conceived and managed IBM Health Corps, a social impact program that incubates solutions to health disparities through rapid prototyping. In this role, she engaged governments, NGOs, universities, and hospitals to identify areas where public-private partnerships could transform public health issues.

Prior to IBM, Ms. Dawe worked as a health care consultant with The Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC. She holds a Masters of Public Health from Columbia University, where she studied the history and ethics of public health, and a B.A. in Public Policy from Duke University.

Mr. Olivier Jarry is CEO of Lifnano. Previously, he was the founder of 3xBL and a strategic partner of Endeva. In his 28 year tenure in the Healthcare, Nutrition and Consulting industries, he has generated profitable, organic and inorganic growth for a number of organizations.

At Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mr Jarry has coordinated the transformation of the Emerging Markets division, accelerating the adaptation to fast changing environments, and enhancing the Market Access function.

At Bayer, he has led the Bayer Diabetes Care business unit to increased market shares in most countries, launching 5 innovative products in 2009 and 2010, which have been acclaimed in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, among other media.

At Novartis, he has re-launched the strategic plan process for Novartis Consumer Health, managed M&A and BD&L across several business units, developed Infant Nutrition in Latin America and in Asia, launched a for-profit access to medicines business in India. He has also grown the European business of Novartis Vaccines and helped governments address the 2009 “swine flu” pandemic.

At Danone, Mr. Jarry has led Strategy and M&A for the beverages division after having managed Finance and Operations in North America, jointly for several business units.

At Accenture, he has designed and conducted major enterprise transformation programs with more than 60 companies in durable and consumer goods, leading a dozen pre-acquisition and post-merger integration projects.

Mr. Jarry has assembled talented, successful and very diverse teams in a variety of settings and countries: commercial operations for consumer goods in Latin America, partnerships in Japan, due diligence in China, government sales in the ex-Communist bloc, etc. He has led value-added negotiations of acquisitions (up to USD 1 billion), divestitures and alliances, as well as more than 16 post-merger integration projects in Canada, the USA, Brazil, Argentina, France, Poland, Hungary, etc.

He has served on an AFNOR/ISO standardization committee on Project Management and on the Board of AdvaMed Dx, the industry association for Advanced Medical Devices / Diagnostics.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from École Centrale de Paris, a diploma of the French Department of Defense and a TRIUM EMBA delivered jointly by New York University Stern School of Business (NYU), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Hautes Études Commerciales Paris (HEC).

Mr. Philippe Krolicki is a biopharmaceutical executive with a deep understanding of commercial and payer models across the political and economic spectrum. Prior to founding p-valorem, he was with Pfizer for 22 years as a marker access lead. Mr. Krolicki is differentiated by the ability to advance tactical initiatives that translate aspirational strategic vision into tangible results. He brings broad expertise across a range of therapeutic areas, product life cycle, and geographic regions. He has lived and worked in France and Germany with dual US and French citizenships.

Ms. Oualae Alami is Vice President and leads Pfizer’s Biopharmaceutical Group business across Egypt, the Levant, Iraq and Iran. Her work is focused on building sustainable partnerships that recognize the value of innovation in research based medicines. Under her leadership, Pfizer partners with a variety of stakeholders to establish positive frameworks for innovation to flourish and aims to expand availability and access to high quality healthcare solutions.

In her previous role, Ms. Alami specialized in enabling access to cancer care. She was instrumental in establishing Pfizer’s oncology organization in Africa and the Middle East and positioned the company as a key player in advancing cancer care in the region.

Ms. Alami is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion with a focus on advancing women in leadership. She leads Pfizer’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in Africa and the Middle East and champions ongoing internal and external initiatives to ensure that Pfizer achieves its goal of being the best place for women in the industry to work. She is frequently invited to speak about this topic in regional forums and sits on the board of the Arab International Women’s Forum and a number of other key regional organizations.

Ms. Alami has more than 17 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She started her career as a pharmacist in Paris, and she worked in the marketing division of Novartis France before joining Pfizer in 2004. She served in a variety of leadership roles across Africa and the Middle East for Pfizer before moving to the regional office in Dubai in 2010.

Mr. Steve Lutes is Vice President of Middle East Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for managing the U.S.-Egypt Business Council, U.S.-Iraq Business Initiative, the U.S.-GCC Business Initiative, and serves as executive director for each. In this capacity, Mr. Lutes is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs that promote U.S. business opportunities and investment in Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. He works closely with Chamber member companies and business and government leaders to deepen and expand commercial relationships.

Mr. Lutes came to the Chamber from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) where he was a senior legislative affairs specialist in the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. He focused on educating members of Congress on the benefits of trade and foreign direct investment and on advancing the Administration’s trade agenda on Capitol Hill, including securing passage of the United States-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Mr. Lutes also served as the congressional liaison to the President’s Export Council and the Manufacturing Council for the Department.

Previously, Mr. Lutes worked for the Republican Party in Columbus, Ohio, where he worked in conjunction with the Bush-Cheney reelection effort in Ohio through 2004, successfully directing political and grassroots strategy in central Ohio and helping turnout the largest county vote for former President George W. Bush in Ohio.

Earlier in his career, he worked on Capitol Hill and held a variety of positions, including press secretary, legislative director, and chief of staff.

Ms. Somasundaram is currently the Head of Global Pricing & Market Access Innovation at Sanofi. She brings together 15+ years experience in R&D, Strategy Consulting, and Leadership in Market Access and Pricing in top tier Pharma. She leads a team that is responsible for testing and advancing innovative pricing and market access solutions that support mutually sustainable patient access to appropriate treatments, in close collaboration with teams across the globe and business units at Sanofi. There are many areas of focus for market access innovation – to name a few, it entails enabling value-based pricing & payments models, bringing innovating financing solutions to reduce barriers and inequities in patient access, and supporting partnerships amongst various stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem that enable the co-creation of value and sustainable access to care and innovation.

Prior to this position, Ms. Somasundaram served in numerous Market Access positions focused on Oncology, Specialty Care, and Emerging Markets for 5 years at Pfizer. She also was an Engagement Manager in IMS Consulting, now IQVIA – in a tenure of roughly 6 years – during which time she advised and partnered closely with an incredibly wide range of top tier BioPharma and NGO clients to support market access to a variety of innovative treatments in many disease areas.

With a background in R&D Pharmacogenomics, and academic training in the Biomedical sciences, she understands the value of pharmaceutical innovation and the impact it can have on patient lives. She combines this foundation in science with an extensive experience in, and passion for, enabling market access to medicines including thinking beyond existing framework to leapfrog new solution models, and leveraging a broad exposure to global market archetypes – which includes a deep focus in the Emerging Markets.

American Board Certified in Anesthesiology.
American Board Certified in Pain Management.
President KMCUSA Alumni.
Danville, Pennsylvania, 17821

Dr. Michael Morgan is an ambitious media entrepreneur who is President and CEO of ST. Mark's World and a Senior fellow at The London School of Policy Research and Non- Lawyer Adjunct member of the New York City Bar Association.

Born in Maghagha, El Minia, Egypt, Dr. Morgan received his Bachelor of Science at the University of Cairo in 1999; right before migrating to New York City in year 2000 where he received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy, from New York University NYU's School of Steinhard, in 2005.

Upon completion of his educational pursuits, he established St. Mark's, a physical therapy private practice that serves the New York Metropolitan area. After extensive experience in the field, he was inspired to address the struggles he and his colleagues face when finding talented, qualified applicants to fill positions in the Healthcare industry, so he created a cutting-edge staffing company called ST. Mark's World.

Dr. Morgan saw an opportunity to streamline the industry's hiring process in order to ultimately improve the quality of care patients receive. As owner and operator of St. Mark's World, a fast-growing healthcare staffing company, he shares in the firm's vision to use American business practices and ideas in order to further the staffing industry on a global level.

While he is still actively managing SMW, in 2013 Dr. Michael Morgan was moved to create a new communication channel aimed at uniting Egyptians and Americans. He recognized the need for creating engaging content that highlights their common interests and promotes political and cultural exchange. It is called American Pulse TV.

Taped in New York City, American Pulse TV inspires political discourse and to ultimately encourage support and collaboration between the US and Egypt. This top-rated television program is broadcast to millions of Egyptian viewers every week. By overcoming language and cultural barriers between the US and Egypt, American Pulse TV aims to shed light on the misconceptions that can help bridge the gap between the two countries.

Mr. Ransel Potter has been a guest speaker at financial and healthcare events in the Arab region and the United States. His contacts throughout the Arab world and the United States are with the top global financial institutions; high net worth families; and, government representatives, including several Sovereign Wealth Funds and Foreign Ministries; U.S. Department of State; United Nations; U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Chamber of Commerce; foreign diplomats; current and past Congressmen and Senators.

The founder and Managing Partner of C3 Summit International, he continues to build a rewarding career spanning three decades, and multiple industries, including many noteworthy achievements. His abilities to lead, strategize, develop business and maintain relationships have all contributed to his success.

In 2011, Mr. Potter founded Copara International which marketed financial research from Value Line to the Arab region. Copara provided technical research versus fundamental data as marketing instruments for quantifying selected public companies for client and institutional trades and investments. He personally negotiated with Value Line the international distribution rights regarding both terms and conditions. In less than 11 months, Mr. Potter established several funds in the Middle East using ValueLine research. One fund was capitalized and managed by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (the 50th strongest bank in the world). He also was successful in marketing a high yield fund for Thomson Reuters with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and The National Investor, a top boutique investment banking house located in Dubai. He was also responsible for engaging with the Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Invest AD) an assignment to incorporate a quantitative ranking system, with a $30 million GCC/MENA fund, managed by Invest AD.

In 2012, Mr. Potter founded C3 Summit LLC. Some of the more notable global dignitaries who have key noted past C3 Summits and received the prestigious C3 Lifetime Achievement Award have included: President Bill Clinton; Dr. Henry Kissinger; His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa; HRH Prince Faisal Bun Bandar Al Saud; Khalad Ahmed Al Habtoor; General Wesley Clark and General David Petraeus.

The mission of C3 Summit, as noted on its website http://www.c3summit2018.com is to ensure that both US and Arab businesses grow and prosper by providing unique and valuable commerce opportunities. By creating a global forum for both the US and the Arab world to explore private and public sector growth and employment generation, C3 Summit encourages each region to open new opportunities on the commercial front to enhance "knowledge transfer" and the welfare of freer trade. Since its founding, C3 Summit has partnered with XS conferences in Saudi Arabia to develop the highly successful Saudi-American Healthcare Forum, held annually at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton since 2014. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, both of whom were engaged by Mr. Potter, the Saudi-American Healthcare Forum, with the leadership of Mr. Potter, has attracted leading healthcare professionals and institutions including, among others: Johns Hopkins, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Huntsman Cancer Foundation, Cleveland Clinic. Sponsors recruited by Mr.Potter have included, to name a few, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Microsoft, all of whom continue to support the C3 Summits.

Most recently, Mr. Potter, in partnership with XS Conferences &Exhibitions, led a reverse trade mission to the 2018 Jeddah Economic Forum comprised of CEO's from the private and public healthcare and business sectors. And in March of 2019, Mr, Potter conducted the first C3 China-US Healthcare Summit in Beijing. C3 China-US Healthcare Summit, 2019

Prior to founding Copara and C3 Summit, Mr. Potter was in Private Wealth Management with Morgan Stanley and licensed with a Series 7, Series 66 and Series 3. Morgan Stanley recognized the value of Mr. Potter's experience and relationships and, in 2007, they invited him to join the firm. Until December of 2010, Mr. Potter served as a Senior Partner on their Private Wealth Management team responsible for identifying viable business opportunities among high net worth clients, families, hedge funds and foundations. His introductions had been a cornerstone of the team's success producing more than $250 million of net new assets in 36 months.

In 1992, Mr. Potter founded Kinloch Marketing and occupied the role of CEO until 2007. Kinloch designed and brought to market sales lead generation and management systems for the Insurance, Banking and Energy industries. Kinloch's success was a direct result of Mr. Potter's leadership and a network he established with senior executives of Fortune 1000 companies.

In 1990, his previous achievements were recognized by Flair Communications and he was asked to run their NY office. He merged R.N. Potter Associates with Flair's New York office and built that regional office in to the largest of their five domestic offices, leaving in 1992 to establish Kinloch Marketing. He formed R.N. Potter Associates in 1984, a marketing and sales organization, which he headed until 1989. During that time, Mr. Potter personally initiated, negotiated and developed one of the largest independent contracts for advertising billboards with the Penn Central Corporation.

In 1980, Mr. Potter, together with a partner, started On Line Media, an innovative supermarket ad company. Within three years, they took On Line Media public, raising capital and watching the stock soar. Upon selling his shares of On Line Media in 1984, he formed R.N. Potter Associates. Mr. Potter, a graduate of Syracuse University, has six children and, with his wife, lives in Sag Harbor, NY.