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The conference was proud to welcome prominent speakers from academia, government agencies, international organisations, funders and pharmaceutical industry.

Opening Speakers

AGNES SITTA KIJO. ACTING DIRECTOR GENERAL, TANZANIA FOOD AND DRUGS AUTHORITY (TFDA)

Agnes Sitta KijoAgnes Sitta Kijo is the Acting Director General, Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA). Trained as a Pharmacist in Chennai, India, she has a MSc in Pharmaceutical Technology from Kings College, London.

She has worked for 18 years in regulatory affairs and is currently Chair of the Pan African Harmonization Working Party (PAHW), of regulators aiming to improve access to safe and affordable medical devices and diagnostics in Africa though harmonized regulation.

PROFESSOR LOUISE RICHARDSON. AAS ACSS FRSE RIIA VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Professor Louise RichardsonProfessor Louise Richardson, AAS, ACSS, FRSE, RIIA, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. A political scientist by training, she was previously the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, and also spent 20 years on the faculty of Harvard University, latterly as Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute forAdvanced Study.

Professor Richardson’s book What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, precipitated a seismic shift in approaches to the study and tackling of terrorism. She serves on a number of not-for profit boards including the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Booker Prize Foundation.

PROFESSOR MOJISOLA CHRISTIANAH ADEYEYE. DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL

Professor Mojisola Christianah AdeyeyeProfessor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye was appointed the Director General of National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) the regulatory agency of Nigeria in November 2017.

She currently serves as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH). She is Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutics and Drug Product Evaluation and a Fellow of Nigeria Academy of Science

DR SUZANNE HILL. DIRECTOR OF THE ESSENTIAL MEDICINES AND HEALTH PRODUCTS DEPARTMENT OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Dr Suzanne HillDr Suzanne Hill, B.Med (Hons), Grad Dip Epi, PhD, FAFPHM, the Director of the Essential Medicines and Health Products Department of the World Health Organization, is a clinical pharmacologist and public health physician, trained at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Prior to this appointment, she was Chair of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Committee from September 2011-March 2015, as well as Visiting Professor at the University of Melbourne Medical School.

Dr Hill worked at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland from 2005-2011, as Secretary to the WHO Expert Committee on Essential Medicines, responsible for the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and its implementation in countries. She was principle investigator for the WHO project on Better Medicines for Children. She was the foundation chair of the WHO Guideline Review Committee, setting up standards for guideline development by WHO.

PROFESSOR SIR NICHOLAS WHITE OBE FRS. PROFESSOR OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY AND MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY, THAILAND

Professor Sir Nicholas WhiteProfessor Sir Nicholas White, KCMG, OBE, FRS, FMedSci, is Professor of Tropical Medicine at Oxford and Mahidol University, Thailand, and Chairman of Wellcome’s South East Asian Research Units.

Professor Sir Nick has played a key role in ensuring the global recommendation of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) as the most effective treatment for falciparum malaria. His research and advocacy have transformed the treatment approaches to prevent and cure millions of patients from malaria-endemic countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

He continues his efforts on drug resistance and the pathophysiology of severe malaria, championing the use of mass drug administration as a strategy towards malaria elimination, and the use of multiple first-line therapies. At the New Year’s Honours 2017 he was appointed a KCMG for services to tropical medicine and global health.

Conference Speakers, Panellists & Chairs

Adina-Loredana NistorAdina-Loredana Nistor is a researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam (ESHPM). She specializes in health care and criminology and is currently working on a multi-country project concerning factors that facilitate poor quality medicines reaching patients. Her research focuses on how politico-economic motivated decisions about production, product registration and trade for pharmaceuticals impact medicine quality for patients in Romania.

 

Agnes Sitta KijoAgnes Sitta Kijo is the Acting Director General, Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA). Trained as a Pharmacist in Chennai, India, she has a MSc in Pharmaceutical Technology from Kings College, London. She has worked for 18 years in regulatory affairs and is currently Chair of the Pan African Harmonization Working Party (PAHW), of regulators aiming to improve access to safe and affordable medical devices and diagnostics in Africa though harmonized regulation.

 

Alain AlsalhaniAlain Alsalhani is a pharmacist by training and holds a master in regulatory affairs and an MPH. After working in the pharmaceutical industry in the area of regulatory affairs he joined MSF as a field pharmacist. He worked in MSF projects in Haiti, Turkey and Syria. He then spent two years supporting MSF’s operations in India for the local sourcing and procurement of medicines. Alain joined the MSF Access Campaign in 2015 with a focus on vaccines and regulatory systems.

 

Alessandra-FerrarioAlessandra Ferrario is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School where she researches quality of cancer care and access to medicines. Previously she was a Research Officer at London School of Economics where she also completed her PhD. She has worked on several projects with the World Health Organization and the European Commission on pharmaceutical policy issues.

 

Alice-JamiesonAlice Jamieson is a Policy Officer at Wellcome. As part of the Global Policy team, she has been scoping what Wellcome could do to improve quality of medicines in low and middle income country settings. She also works on epidemic preparedness and other global health issues. Before joining Wellcome, Alice worked as a Policy Adviser on emerging technologies at the Royal Society.

 

Ali-B.-UmoruAli B. Umoru is a technocrat and pharmaceutical policy specialist with over two decades of public service experience. He holds a bachelor of pharmacy degree, a certificate in health economics, a masters degree in public administration and a PhD. in view. He is currently the director of pharmaceutical services with Nigeria’s parliament.

 

Aline-PlançonAline Plançon is the founder of the FMEDS programme. From 2012 to 2016 she was head of the Interpol Global Health and Safety Sub-directorate, which aimed at fighting pharmaceutical crimes. Among her assignments, Mrs Plançon supported a task force targeting falsified medical products at the World Health Organization. Prior to joining Interpol, Mrs Plançon was assigned to the French National Police.

 

Amalia-HasnidaAmalia Hasnida is a public health researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Previously, she was a professional in pharmaceutical market access at a multinational company. She is now working on a multi-country study about the political and economic drivers of medicine quality where she assesses the systemic risks in medicine quality on the road to achieving UHC in Indonesia.

 

Andria-MousaAndria Mousa is a PhD student in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London. Her PhD focuses on modelling the impact of treatment on severe malaria and quantifying the burden of treatment failure. She holds an MPH from the University of York and worked in Newcastle University as a research assistant in epidemiology.

 

Aria-Ilyad-AhmadAria Ilyad Ahmad recently completed his PhD (Balsillie School of International Affairs, Canada) examining the history of the WHO’s response to substandard and falsified medical products (SFs). Aria is currently a Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research (York University, Canada), and since 2014 has served as a consultant to the WHO’s Member State Mechanism on SFs.

 

Aronrag-MeeyaiAronrag Meeyai has experience in contributing applied mathematical modelling to the evidence base for Thai policymakers on influenza vaccination, dengue vaccination, vaccine preventable diseases, and tobacco control. I hold a PhD from Imperial College, London in mathematical modelling and bring experience of delivering high profile work using model-based evaluations of health policy options.

 

Ayenew-AshenefAyenew Ashenef works as Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. His research focuses on quality of medicines and other similar themes dealing on simple analytical method development, counterfeit detection, prevalence estimation of poor quality medicines, pharmaceutical regulatory affairs, GMP, pharmaceutical policy, and pharmacy practice.

 

Ben-WilsonBen Wilson is the director of the Center for Intelligent Devices at Intellectual Ventures Laboratory. His projects focus on optical devices and machine learning for image and spectral interpretation. Ben received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. He has previously held research positions at the University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

 

Beth BoyerBeth Boyer is a researcher at the Access to Medicine Foundation where she is working on the Access to Medicine Index. Her role within the Index is to evaluate the efforts of pharmaceutical companies in building local capacity to improve access to quality medicines. She holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University with a concentration in Global Health.

 

 

Catherine-DujardinCatherine Dujardin has been working in the Belgian DG Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD) since 2011. As a Pharmacist and Global Health Officer, she is in charge of developing and updating health policies for the DGD. She has been the lead author of the Belgian “Commitment to pharmaceutical quality”: a new policy model meant to assure the quality of medical products available through Belgian humanitarian and development programmes.

 

Dr.-Carine-BaxerresDr Carine Baxerres is an anthropologist at the French Research Institute for Development (UMR MERIT). She is the principal investigator of the European Research Council GLOBALMED program. From the beginning of the 2000’s, she has conducted research on health seeking behaviours and global and local pharmaceutical markets in West Africa, and recently in South-east Asia.

 

Dr-Céline-CailletDr Céline Caillet is a pharmacist. Following her University of Toulouse PhD about drug safety in Laos, she joined IDDO as research scientist and coordinator of the Medicine Quality Scientific Group, in 2015. She is author of several articles on drug safety and she is a co-author of a review on antimalarial quality and drug resistance. She also coordinated a project to assess the performances of medicine quality screening technologies.

 

Dr.-Chioma-EjekamDr Chioma Ejekam is a public health physician with the Department of Community Health, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria and a member of the West Africa College of Physicians. She has an MPH, MSc in Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology with specialization in Medicines risk identification and quantification. She is passionate about research in public health with a special interest in Medicines quality and their safety monitoring in diseases/events of public health importance.

 

Christa CepuchChrista Cepuchis a pharmacist with an MPH. She practiced as a clinical pharmacist at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto before moving to Kenya to work with MSF programs in the region, and then with HAI Africa on medicines research and policy. She joined the MSF Access Campaign in Geneva in 2017 as Pharmacist Coordinator. She has specific interests in medicines quality, pricing, and access to NCD medicines.

 

Chris-BirdChris Bird, General Counsel and Company Secretary, is Wellcome’s senior legal adviser, and is responsible for managing all the legal needs of Wellcome and its subsidiaries. During his time at Wellcome, Chris has been involved in and led some of its highest profile projects and policy interests. Before joining Wellcome in 2000, Chris was an Associate Solicitor with Osborne Clarke LLP.

 

Clark FreifeldClark Freifeld is a Lecturer in Computer Science at Northeastern University and Affiliate Faculty at Boston Children’s Hospital. His research focuses on applications of computing and artificial intelligence in population health. Past projects include: HealthMap, a global disease surveillance platform; MedWatcher, a medical product safety monitoring system; and StreetRx, a crowdsourcing tool for understanding black market pharmaceutical transactions.

 

Daniel-BempongDaniel Bempong is the Technical Director, Global Public Health at the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). He has over 20 years work experience in pharmaceutical quality control (QC), providing technical leadership in strengthening capacity of QC laboratories around the world and working with various national medicine regulatory authorities and manufacturers on medicine quality improvement activities.

 

David-OlszowkaDavid Olszowka has worked in IE&S Division at the MHRA (previously the MCA) since 1993. His current role is to provide advice and an interpretation of EU and UK law in relation to the manufacture and distribution of human medicines. David has been involved in the consolidation of the UK’s human medicines legislation and the transposition of EU Directives and Regulations on human medicines into UK law including the Falsified Medicine Directive.

 

Diana-LeeDiana Lee is a Technical Officer on the Substandard and Falsified Medical Products Team at the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to WHO, Diana worked at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Office of the Secretary and the United States Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) in the Office of International Programs and Office of the Commissioner.

 

Dr-Diane-Macquart-de-TerlineDr Diane Macquart de Terline is a pharmacist (PharmD) in the Public Health Department of Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital (AP-HP, Paris). After her residency, she joined the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center for her PhD to study access to medication in Africa and worked on the SEVEN study, the first evaluation of cardiovascular drugs quality in ten African countries.

 

 

Dinesh-ThakurDinesh Thakur is a public health activist, an entrepreneur with experience in product development and pharmaceutical supply chain. His professional tenure includes various positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Ranbaxy Laboratories and as the CEO of Sciformix Corporation. His efforts led to Ranbaxy pleading guilty to felony and paying penalties of $500 million to the US government for knowingly selling adulterated drugs.

 

Elizabeth-A.-PettitElizabeth A. Pettit, MD, Executive Medical Director of Clínica Integral Almas, Álamos, Mexico, a NGO accompanying remote Indigenous communities promoting agency, development and vitality. Dr. Pettit previously had a full career as a designer In the architecture and entertainment industry. Professor of Rural Global Health, published in the arts, and consults in the creative application of science, sustainability and leadership.

 

Elizabeth-PisaniElizabeth Pisani is an epidemiologist, currently exploring the political economy of substandard and falsified medicines, and its interaction with universal health coverage. She is an Associate Professor at Erasmus University, with honorary posts at LSHTM and King’s College London. She has a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, an MSc in Medical Demography, and an MA in Classical Chinese.

 

Erin-CoonahanErin Coonahan is a DPhil student in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford through the NIH Oxford Scholars Program. Her supervisors are Profs. Maarten De Vos and Joel Tarning at Oxford and Dr. Carole Long at the NIH. Her training is in biomedical engineering and her research is focused on developing aptamer-based sensors for the detection of antimalarial drugs.

 

Erin-WilhelmErin Wilhelm, MPH, is Director of the Quality Institute at the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP). By establishing and directing fellowship programs at partner academic institutions, she leads efforts to develop an evidence base for the value of quality medicines. Ms. Wilhelm has more than 15 years of experience as a researcher, writer, educator, and program director in public health and strategic communications.

 

Eugenia-OlliaroEugenia Olliaro is a jurist specialised in international and health law. She collaborated with WWARN/IDDO for one year and a half before writing a thesis on the necessity to regulate falsified medicines. After working for human rights and then workers’ rights defense for two years, Eugenia is currently working on peacebuilding projects with UNICEF in Tajikistan. She also continues researching on legal aspects around poor-quality medicines.

 

Prof-Facundo-M.-FernándezProf Facundo M. Fernández received his PhD in Chemistry from Buenos Aires University in 1999 and joined the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2004 where he currently holds the position of Vasser-Woolley Professor in Bioanalytical Chemistry. He has published over 30 papers in the field of poor quality medicine detection, and received numerous awards, including the prestigious NSF CAREER award in 2007.

 

Fatima-TauqeerFatima Tauqeer is a researcher at the Department of Health and Society, University of Oslo. She is trained as a Pharmacist in Lahore, Pakistan, and has an MPhil in International Community Health from University of Oslo, Norway. Her research focuses on the institutional barriers and facilitators to implementation of global quality regulations for medicines in the local pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan.

 

Dr.-Farouk-UmaruDr Farouk Umaru, PhD, is the Principal Program Manager responsible for Africa and Middle East programs at United States Pharmacopeia, USA. He has worked in public health programs, specializing in pharmaceutical quality assurance, quality management systems and regulatory system strengthening. Farouk has travelled extensively in Africa, Asia, and the Americas providing technical and program consultancy to various governments, regulatory agencies and international organizations.

 

Fiona-TheunissenFiona Theunissen is the Program Manager – Maternal Health for Concept Foundation, where she is working to ensure access to affordable, quality maternal health medicines across low and low-middle income countries.Fiona has an extensive program management, advocacy, communications and technology transfer background in the health sector working with governments, civil society and the private sector. Her work has included access to treatments for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in India, China, Russia and South Africa, providing services for cancer patients and contributing to the expansion of midwifery services in low income countries.Fiona holds an MBA in International Organizations from the University of Geneva.

 

Gamal-Khalaf-AllaGamal Khalaf Alla is qualified as a pharmacist from Khartoum University. He has an MSc and PhD from UK Universities. He has over 25 years working as a pharmacist in medicines supply management and regulations in Sudan. He was the first secretary general of the Medicine Regulatory Authority of Sudan. Currently, he is the Director General of the National Medical Supplies Fund.

 

Guilhem-SivadierGuilhem Sivadier is the head of the Innovation and Research department in the Centre Humaniraire des Métiers de la Pharmacie (CHMP) since 2013. To meet our credo “INCREASE ACCESS TO RELIABLE MEDICINES FOR POPULATIONS IN NEED”, and through our Quality Control Lab, innovation projects, trainig and expertise activities, we are strengthening national healthcare systems in developing countries.

 

Graham-CarrollGraham Carroll is a GMDP Operations Manager and GMDP Inspector at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Prior to joining MHRA Graham qualified as a Mechanical Engineer (MEng) at the University of Warwick and then spent eight years working in the pharmaceutical industry in the areas of human plasma fractionation and sterile product manufacturing.

 

Harparkash KaurHarparkash Kaur, PhD, CSci, CChem FRSC, trained as a Chemist at King’s College, University of London and joined the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a lecturer in 2001. Her research has involved assessing the quality of a range of medicines, as well as levels of drugs in patient samples, measuring the amounts of insecticides on treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying.

 

Dr-Heather-HamilDr Heather Hamill is Associate Professor of Sociology and Fellow of St Cross College at the University of Oxford. Heather’s research primarily centres on the various ways in which problems related to establishing trust and reputation are solved. Most recently, she has been working on how trust in medicines is established when concerns about quality are high.

 

Dr.-Helen-PetachDr Helen Petach is a Senior Science Advisor for U.S. Agency for International Development in the Bureau of Global Health in the Division of Maternal and Child Health with a focus on improving access to quality health commodities in LMICs and developing evidence-based policy to support access, availability, and quality of medicines. She holds a PhD in Chemistry (Cornell University).

 

Mr-Hiiti-Baran-SilloMr Hiiti Baran Sillo is a Group Lead, Country Regulatory Strengthening, within the Regulatory Systems Strengthening Team, Regulation of Medicines and Other Health Technologies Unit in the WHO Department of Essential Medicines and Health Products (EMP). Hi role involves supporting WHO Member States to build their national capacities for regulating medical products and health technologies in order to ensure access to safe, effective and quality medical products.

 

Ines-du-PlessisInes du Plessis has a degree and PhD in forensic sciences with specialisation in illicit drug analysis from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. After university, she mostly worked in the international environment such as the UN and the European Commission. She is currently working at the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare of the Council of Europe, where she is Secretary to the Committee of Experts on falsified medical products (CD-P-PH/CMED) and also responsible for the Medicrime convention.

 

Dr. Irina-GhazaryanDr Irina Ghazaryan is an Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Management, Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia. Prior to that she held position of a Head of the Pharmacy Department at National Institute of Health in Armenia. Irina is a pharmacist; she holds PhD, MSc in Pharmaceutical services and medicines control and MSc in Health Policy and Management.

 

Isabel-Lucas-ManzanoIsabel Lucas Manzano has worked as International Pharmaceutical Coordinator at MSF since October 2016. Prior international experience includes her work during six years with UNFPA, focusing on QA of medicines. She has been actively involved in international working groups, partnering together with key stakeholders like WHO in different initiatives: WHO ERP, collaborative registration procedure, etc. She is a pharmacist by education, with an MBA in international management.

 

Jason-BowerJason Bower, as Senior Pharmaceutical Advisor, is responsible for product quality assurance at Marie Stopes International, and has developed the policy, processes and tools used by country programmes and MSI globally. He trained and worked initially as a clinical hospital pharmacist in Australia, and has since been working for the last ten years on the selection, supply, and rational use of essential medicines in the international public health context, at tertiary hospital, Ministry of Health central medical store, regional and international levels.

 

Dr-Jeffrey-AronsonDr Jeffrey Aronson is a Physician and Clinical Pharmacologist working in the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine in the University of Oxford. He is President Emeritus, an Honorary Fellow, and Vice-President Publications of the British Pharmacological Society and an Emeritus Fellow of Green-Templeton College, Oxford. His areas of expertise include all aspects of clinical pharmacology, medical history, philosophy of medicine, and philology.

 

Jingying-XuJingying Xu is a PhD candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Her doctoral research examines China’s policy response on falsified and substandard medicines and the implications for global health. Previously, she was a research assistant at the LSHTM Centre on Global Change and Health, where she contributed to fieldwork research and publication on several projects.

 

Joel-BremanJoel Breman, M.D., D.T.P.H., is Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Fogarty International Center, NIH. His interest in drug quality derives from the discovery of P. falciparum resistance to antimalarials associated with falsified and substandard drugs in Asia and Africa. He proposes that >90% of quality drugs be a Sustainable Development Goal and an International Convention on Pharmaceutical Quality Protection.

 

Katherine-BondKatherine Bond, Sc.D., is USP’s Vice President, International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, where she leads a new team to advance the quality of medicines, foods and dietary supplements worldwide. Dr. Bond brings more than twenty years of demonstrated public health leadership experience, in the field and in management. Dr. Bond served as Director of the Office of Strategy, Partnerships, and Analytics, Office of International Programs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she advanced programs and policies to strengthen regulatory systems and supply chain analytics.

 

Kalynn-KennonKalynn Kennon is the Team Leader of Data Management with the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory. She has been with IDDO since August 2016. Prior to that she held research analyst and coordination positions in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University and in the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center.

 

Kanazawa University Medi-Quality SecurityDr Kazuko Kimura is Professor of the Medi-Quality Security Institute and Professor Emerita at Kanazawa University. She has been CEO of the Medicine Security Workshop, which is dedicated to technological information exchange to combat falsified medicines. She has been extensively developing research programs for surveillance of FS medicines mainly in south-eastern Asia, as well as internet pharmacies targeting Japan

 

Keith-ConradiKeith Conradi  is Chief Investigator at the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), hosted by the NHS. HSIB carry out up to 30 investigations each year focussing on learning, identifying themes and patterns and offering a new perspective on Healthcare Safety Investigations in England. Prior to HSIB, Keith was Chief Inspector with the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) and was involved in  the search for MH370. He has been a professional pilot for nearly 40 years operating a wide range of military and civil aircraft.

 

Prof.-Koen-PeetersProfessor Koen Peeters heads the Unit of Medical Anthropology at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. Prof Peeters is also a senior lecturer at the Nagasaki University School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health. He holds a PhD in social and cultural anthropology and has conducted extensive research on sociocultural factors related to infectious disease transmission dynamics, perceptions on health and illness, and their impact on the effectiveness of prevention, control and elimination strategies.

 

Koray-ParmaksizKoray Parmaksiz is a researcher specialized in both Health Care Management and International Public Health. Currently, he works on a multi-country study identifying political and economic risk factors affecting medicine quality. His research focuses on the emergence and functioning of the Pharmaceutical Track and Trace system in Turkey and its consequences for substandard and falsified medicine.

 

Kris-NatarajanKris Natarajan brings 20 years of global health experience spanning private sector, civil society and multilateral organizations including Merck, CHESTRAD and WHO. At Merck, his responsibilities included implementing a $155M portfolio of disease surveillance and vaccine access initiatives in LMICs, securing WHO prequalification of four vaccines, and cGMP manufacturing of small molecules and vaccines. Kris holds a M.Sc. from Harvard School of Public Health and a B.S. from Cornell University College of Engineering.

 

Lembit-RägoLembit Rägo, MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Director General of the Estonian regulator, State Agency of Medicines, joined World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in 1999. During 2000—2001 he initiated the WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme. Since retiring from the WHO Head of Regulatory Unit position in 2016 he works as a Secretary-General of Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).

 

Lester-ChineryLester Chinery is Director of Programs for Concept Foundation. Lester has over 20 years of senior level Reproductive Health/Family Planning experience working with Concept, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and its subsidiary company ICON Ltd, which he founded in 2000, serving as its Managing Director until 2008. Lester was Contraceptive Social Marketing Manager for the IPPF European Network, introducing a range of low-cost contraceptives across Eastern Europe in partnership with commercial manufacturers. He was a founding member and has served on the Executive Committee of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition.

 

Lisa-WhiteLisa White is the head of an Oxford University mathematical and economic modelling (MAEMOD) group based in Thailand at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU). Prof. White’s work on malaria combines within and between host infection models with multi-strain/species modelling to consider the characterisation, emergence and spread of antimalarial drug resistance and its containment.

 

Prof.-Lutz-HeideProfessor Lutz Heide studied pharmacy in Germany. For three years he worked at the Ministry of Health of Somalia and for two years at the University of Malawi. Currently he is full Professor at the Pharmaceutical Institute of Tübingen University, Germany, teaching and researching on pharmacy in global health and on substandard and falsified medicines in developing countries.

 

Professor-Marya-LiebermanProfessor Marya Lieberman designs inexpensive test cards that help people solve problems outside a laboratory. Applications include detection of bad quality medicines, food adulteration, illicit drugs, and environmental toxins. She collaborates with colleagues in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania. She obtained her doctorate in inorganic chemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle, and was a postdoc at CalTech.

 

Dr-Marie-AntignacDr Marie Antignac (Pharm D, PhD) is a pharmacist in St Antoine hospital in AP-HP (Paris). After her PhD, she joined a team specialized in cardiovascular epidemiology (INSERM). With a pluridisciplinary network of epidemiologists and cardiologists from Africa and France, she coordinated studies on cardiovascular drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa (SEVEN study, the first evaluation of cardiovascular drugs quality in ten African countries).

 

Dr-Marie-LamyDr Marie Lamy is Director of Access & Policy at the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA), an affiliation of Asian and Pacific heads of government formed to accelerate progress against malaria and to eliminate it in the region by 2030. Marie holds a PhD in Public Health Policy from the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

Dr.-Matthew-HassettDr Matthew Hassett received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Georgetown University where he studied the mechanisms behind drug resistance in malaria. Dr. Hassett is currently a Fellow in Quality of Medical Products, sponsored by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Quality Institute. He is examining the role that substandard and falsified antimalarial medicines play in fostering the spread of antimalarial drug resistance.

 

Michael-DeatsMichael Deats joined the WHO in 2011 as the project manager responsible for the design and implementation of the Global Surveillance and Monitoring system for substandard and falsified (SF) medical products. The following year he was appointed Group Lead for Substandard and falsified medical products within the Essential Medicines Department where he manages a team who receive reports, provide technical support, issue Global alerts and undertake secretariat duties for the Member State Mechanism for SF medical products.

 

Mike GrijseelsMike Grijseels recently completed an MSc in International Public Health at VU University Amsterdam and is also a trained physiotherapist specialised in elderly care. Currently, he works on a multi-country case study into factors that shape a social entrepreneurship when interacting with the medicine markets in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo.

 

Mike-IslesMike Isles is Executive Director for the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacy in the EU and also the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines – two highly active patient safety organisations. Both focus on making the Internet a safer place to buy medicines and removing falsified medicines from all supply chains. The EAASM also champions patient safety issues relating to unsafe medical practices.

 

Dr.-Mirfin-MpunduDr Mirfin Mpundu is the Executive Director of the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network, an international NGO that supports church run health institutions on pharmaceutical systems strengthening, promoting just and compassionate pharmaceutical services. A clinical pharmacist and public health specialist with 20+ years of proven experience in public health, pharmaceutical supply chain management, clinical, and regulatory pharmacy practice.

 

Mirza-LalaniMirza Lalani recently completed his PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on ‘Surveillance approaches to detect the quality of medicines in low-middle income countries.’ He is currently a researcher at University College London and has experience of evaluating health systems and services in high and low income settings.

 

Mohammad-Sofiqur-RahmanMohammad Sofiqur Rahman is an Assistant Professor in the Pharmacy Department, University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Medi-Quality Security Institute, Kanazawa University, Japan. His PhD work was focused on the pharmaceutical quality in Southeast Asia and now is affiliated to the pharmaceutical analysis and global health research project led by Prof. Dr. Kazuko Kimura.

 

Dr.-Mohga-Kamal-YanniDr Mohga Kamal-Yanni is a senior health policy advisor and the policy lead on access to medicines in Oxfam and the editor of www.globalhealthcheck.org. She has extensive experience of health policy and programming in developing countries. She was a member of the Expert Advisory Group advising the UN High Level Panel on Medicine. She holds an MPhil and was awarded an MBE.

 

Prof-Muhammad-Hamid-ZamanProfessor Muhammad Hamid Zaman is Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor of Biomedical Engineering and International Health at Boston University. Prof Zaman’s current research is focused on developing systems level solutions, to improve the quality of medicines. His latest book, Bitter Pills(Oxford University Press, 2018) looks at the social, economic, political and technological barriers impeding integrated solutions.

 

Murray-M.-LumpkinMurray M. Lumpkin, M.D., M.Sc, is Deputy Director for Integrated Development, Regulatory Affairs, and lead for Global Regulatory Systems Initiative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, since January 2014 to date. He is a 24-year US FDA official, Deputy Commissioner for International and Special Programs and Deputy Center Director for Review Management – CDER.

 

Dr.-Nantasit-LuangasanatipDr Nantasit Luangasanatip is a health economist and mathematical modeller at the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Bangkok experienced in assessing the cost-effectiveness of new treatments, vaccines and interventions and their clinical implications. Currently, he is working on economic evaluation of portable devices for post-marketing medicine quality surveillance in the Lao PDR, a lower-middle income setting.

 

Naira-GhanemNaira Ghanem is a recent MPharm graduate from the UCL School of Pharmacy. Her master’s project discussing healthcare professionals perspectives around substandard and falsified antimicrobials has sparked international interest. She is currently undertaking her Pharmacy Pre-registration year at University Hospital Southampton, where she is a member of the Falsified Medicines Directive training team.

 

Nhomsai-HagenNhomsai Hagen studied pharmacy in Germany. She is part of the research group of Prof. Lutz Heide at the Pharmaceutical Institute of Tübingen University, Germany. In her PhD project on the quality and availability of medicines in developing countries, she focuses on medicines for maternal health in Africa She is also an active member of Pharmacists without Borders.

 

Nick-DayNick Day is an infectious disease physician who directs the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Thailand, which hosts the Wellcome Thailand Africa and Asia Programme. His personal research interests include malaria, rickettsial infections, leptospirosis, Melioidosis and the diagnosis and management of fever and sepsis in resource-poor settings.

 

Professor Sir Nicholas WhiteProfessor Sir Nicholas White, KCMG, OBE, FRS, FMedSci, is Professor of Tropical Medicine at Oxford and Mahidol University, Thailand, and Chairman of Wellcome’s South East Asian Research Units. He has played a key role in ensuring the global recommendation of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) as the most effective treatment for falciparum malaria, and his research has transformed the treatment approaches to prevent and cure millions of patients from malaria-endemic countries. He continues his efforts on drug resistance and the pathophysiology of severe malaria.

 

Oksana-PyzikOksana Pyzik is a Senior Teaching Fellow and Global Engagement Coordinator at the UCL School of Pharmacy and conducts teaching and research in the area of Global Health and Pharmacy. In 2015, she founded UCL Fight the Fakes to raise awareness of substandard and falsified medicines and was the first academic partner of the wider FTF campaign.

 

Patricia-KingoriPatricia Kingori, PhD is an Associate Professor and Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator.  She is based at the Ethox Centre and the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, University of Oxford. Patricia’s primary expertise is in Sociology and her current research interests intersect the Sociology of Science and Medicine, and a critical examination of ethics in practice.  Her work focuses on the frontline practitioners of biomedical research and practice.

 

Patricia-TaberneroPatricia Tabernero is a GMP inspector at the Spanish Medicines Regulatory Agency (AEMPS). Prior to joining AEMPS, Patricia was the coordinator of the WWARN Medicine Quality Scientific Group, developing and implementing tools to inform and advocate for improved monitoring of substandard and falsified compounds. A pharmacist by background, holds an MSc in the Control of Infectious Diseases from the LSHTM. She has worked in public health in Asia and Africa and coordinated medicine quality surveys in the field.

 

Patrizia-CarlevaroPatrizia Carlevaro was appointed to the board of the Medicines Patent Pool in December 2017. She is the co-founder of the technology company GenomSys. Formerly Managing Director of Otsuka SA and Head of the International Aid Unit at Eli Lilly and Company in Geneva, she has had a long, distinguished career in public health, specifically in the research and development-based pharmaceutical industry.

 

Prof-Paul-NewtonProfessor Paul Newton is an infectious disease doctor, from the University of Oxford, in the Lao-Oxford-Mahosot-Wellcome Trust Research Unit in Vientiane Laos, within the MORU Tropical Health Network. He is head of the Medicine Quality Scientific Group of the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory.

 

Dr.-Paul-NkansahDr Paul Nkansah is the Technical Deputy Director of the USAID-funded Promoting the Quality of Medicines Program which is implimented by the United States Pharmacopeia. Dr. Nkansah is responsible for providing overall technical oversight to a team of experts working in over 30 countries to strengthen medicines regulatory systems, national laboratories, and support the manufacture of quality-assured essential medicines.

 

Peter-HorbyPeter Horby is director of the Epidemic Diseases Research Group at the University of Oxford, where he leads clinical and epidemiological research on epidemic and emerging infections. He has worked on a range of emerging and epidemic infections, including variant CJD, SARS, avian influenza A/H5N1 and A/H7N9, dengue, cholera, Streptococcus suis, Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, Ebola, and plague.

 

Phaik-Yeong-CheahPhaik Yeong Cheah is a bioethicist and Associate Professor at University of Oxford. She heads the Department of Bioethics & Engagement at the Bangkok based Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit. She conducts research on ethical issues related to conducting research in low-income settings, and organises public engagement/outreach events at MORU. Phaik Yeong has been involved in managing and conducting drug trials for more than 20 years.

 

Philip-CoynePhilip Coyne is an infectious diseases and tropical medicine physician who has worked in regulatory and programmatic capacities throughout his career. He has experience with the US FDA, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the areas of drug development and regulation. He is currently a member of the WHO Prequalification Team for Medicines.

 

Prof-Philippe-GuérinProfessor Philippe Guérin is Director of the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO). He was appointed Director of the WorldWide Antimalarial Research Network (WWARN) – the prototypic model for IDDO – in January 2009. He is Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health, and is based at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford.

 

Phillip-NguyenPhillip Nguyen is a family physician and Director of USP’s APEC Center of Excellence in Medicines Quality Through the Supply Chain. His career has spanned clinical medicine, public health, and policy as a Fellow at the US Food and Drug Administration. He is a lecturer at Georgetown University on population health, and is a graduate of Tufts and Harvard University.

 

Phonepasith-BouphaPhonepasith Boupha is a research pharmacist with a specialization in pharmaceutical sciences. He did research on antioxidant compounds in green tea products as part of his final University research project. He joined IDDO after his graduation, as a research assistant in the Medicine Quality Scientific Group of the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory.

 

Pierre-Yves-SacrePierre-Yves Sacre studied pharmacy at Liege University (Belgium) and obtained his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the same University. Since 2012, he is senior scientist at the laboratory of Prof. Philippe Hubert (GMP certified and WHO pre-qualified) and is mainly involved in development of analytical methods based on vibrational spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging for the characterisation of medicines.

 

Rachel-CooperRachel Cooper joined Transparency International in November 2017. Previously she served as a British diplomat in London, Copenhagen, Bratislava and Freetown, where she was Acting High Commissioner. Since leaving the Foreign Office she has specialised in global health and has worked with World Vision and a number of Medical Royal Colleges. She has a law degree and an MSc in Development Management.

 

Dr-Raffaella-RavinettoDr Raffaella Ravinetto, Pharm D, PhD, is a senior researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, where she manages a portfolio of research, networking and advocacy on medicines in low- and middle-income countries. She is the chairperson of the ITM Institutional Review Board and of the Ethics Review Board of Médecins Sans Frontières, and a scientific advisor to QUAMED.

 

Richard-W.-O.-JähnkeRichard W. O. Jähnke is project manager at the Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF), a charitable organisation voluntarily supported by donations from Merck KGaA Darmstadt (Germany). He is community pharmacist, holds a PhD in pharmaceutical technology as well as a diploma in business administration. Working first in pharmaceutical industry, he later joined the GPHF in 1996. Winning the Humanity in Science Award in 2017 for Minilab development and consumer protection.

 

Rui-LiuRui Liu is a PhD candidate at the Department of Service Management and Service Studies, Lund University. She is affiliated to the research project about Substandard and Falsified Medicines led by Prof Susanne Lundin at Lund University. Her research interest is to understand how individuals approach and navigate marketplaces that are outside the legal framework.

S. Leigh VerboisS. Leigh Verbois, Ph.D. is currently Acting Assistant Commissioner for International Programs with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where she develops coordinated strategies to protect and promote public health through international collaboration. Through various roles at the FDA she has developed and directed strategies, activities, and policies to reduce threats to the global drug supply chain through increased transparency and accountability, effective enforcement, and promotion of proactive industry vigilance and voluntary compliance.

 

Sachiko-OzawaSachiko Ozawa is an Associate Professor at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a health economist whose work focuses on generating evidence to improve access to vaccines and quality medicines. Her research focuses on the value of vaccines, and the economic impact of substandard and falsified medicines and antimicrobial resistance.

 

Sauman-SinghSauman Singh has an MPH and a PhD in Economics (Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France). His recent research has been focusing on the operation strategies of Indian pharmaceutical firms in sub-Saharan Africa. His research interests include pharmaceutical markets and access to medicines in developing countries. He is currently serving as a consultant to the WHO-TDR.

 

Serena-VickersSerena Vickers is a UK-based general practice trainee with a background in Chemistry and an interest in global health. She recently spent 18 months in Laos working with the IDDO-LOMWRU Medicines Quality Team, most significantly on the ADB-funded project comparing handheld devices as screening tools for medicines quality.

 

Simon-SchäfermannSimon Schäfermann studied pharmacy in Germany. He is a researcher with the working group of Prof. Lutz Heide at the Pharmaceutical Institute of Tübingen University, Germany, focusing on the Availability, Quality, and Detection of Falsified Anti-Infective Medicines in Africa. His research combines methods of pharmaceutical analysis and pharmaceutics.

 

Souly-PhanouvongSouly Phanouvong is the Director for USP’s Global Public Health Asia and based in Singapore. He has over 30 years of national, regional and international experiences in medicines policy and regulation, practical expertise and skills in key aspects of medicines quality assurance systems. He has worked in many countries and organizations in different capacities, including Laos, Hungary, Australia, Switzerland, USA and Singapore. He holds a PharmD, and two PhDs.

 

Dr-Stephen-CookDr Stephen Cook is Vice-president, Head of International Region (Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific/Japan/WHO) Vaccine Global Regulatory Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines. He currently co-chairs the IFPMA Scientific Regulatory Committee which is focused upon regulatory matters in the “developing world’ with a specific focus upon the activities of WHO and its role with respect to Prequalification and Regulatory System Strengthening.

 

Stephen-T.-KigeraStephen T. Kigera is passionate about quality and has been described and magnanimous by some. An experienced Quality Assurance expert, Stephen has been working at the Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS), a faith based supply chain organization since 2013. As the Quality Assurance Manager, he is in charge of the WHO prequalified laboratory at MEDS which has tested more than 20,000 products since its inception in 1997. Stephen is in charge of the supplier prequalification programs; manages the quality management system and chairs the technical evaluation committee at MEDS that oversees the tender processes.

 

Prof-Susanne-LundinProfessor Susanne Lundin is an ethnologist at the Department of Arts & Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Sweden, and Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, South Africa. Her research focuses on grey zones that arise when the demand for medical treatments do not meet people’s needs, such as trade in embryos, organs and substandard and falsified medical products.

 

Tariro-Makamure-SitholeTariro Makamure-Sithole is the Chief Regulatory Officer for Human medicines at the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ). Tariro is also the Program Coordinator for the MCAZ Regional Centre of Regulatory Excellence offering competence based fellowships for African medicines reviewers and regulatory science professionals. Tariro has worked as a consultant for World Health Organisation, Botswana Ministry of Health and SADC.

 

Temitayo-ErogbogboTemitayo Erogbogbo has two decades of combined private sector and international development experience, 10 years of which was spent in the pharmaceutical industry in multiple roles that included community relations, government affairs, marketing, and sales. As the Director of Advocacy, Tayo is responsible for developing and strategically directing Merck for Mothers’ program engagement in advocacy initiatives. He contributed to the development of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health 2016 -2030.

 

Theophilus-NdorborTheophilus Ndorbor is a Technical Assistant at Liberia Medicines and Health Product Regulatory Authority and currently a WHO/TDR fellow assign at the Oxford/WARRN/Laos. He has worked as an in-country consultant for Promoting the Quality of Medicines Program (USP), a USAID funded project. With a good understanding of medicine quality in under-developed countries, he is currently reviewing the quality to medicines use to treat depilated tropical diseases.

 

Theophile-SebgoTheophile Sebgo is Global Pharmaceutical Intelligence (PharmINT) & Forensics Manager supporting
Novartis Anti‐ counterfeiting program. He has implemented cutting‐edge detection technology to enable fast time detection of counterfeit products. As Pharmacist, he joined Novartis, in 2016, in France. He moved to Basel for his PhD training within Novartis on process Monitoring and scale‐up.

 

Prof-Tim-Ken-MackeyProfessor Tim Ken Mackey is the Director of the Global Health Policy Institute, an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Global Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and the Director of Healthcare Research and Policy at UC San Diego – Extension. He holds a BA in Political Science-International Relations, a Masters Degree in Health Policy & Law and also earned his PhD in Global Public Health from the joint doctoral program at UC San Diego – San Diego State University.

 

Tomoko-KakioTomoko Kakio is a PhD of pharmaceutical sciences and regulatory strategy professional. She learned the public health and medical access from Prof. Kazuko Kimura in Kanazawa University. Tomoko is a one of the representative researchers who has some papers and text book regarding the development and application of discrimination method of substandard and falsified medical products using quality control test and non-destructive spectroscopy.

 

Prof-Veronika-J.-WirtzProfessor Veronika J. Wirtz, MSc, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, where she is also Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Pharmaceutical Policy. She is a Visiting Professor of the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Mexico, where she was a faculty member from 2005-2012.

 

Wilbert-BannenbergWilbert Bannenberg qualified as MD in Amsterdam 1982, and obtained an MPH from LSHTM in 1985. He has 35 years’ experience as a public health consultant in strengthening pharmaceutical and regulatory systems in Africa and Asia. He is a partner in hera, member of QUAMED, and the founder of E-drug. Recently he became chair of the Dutch Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation.

 

Zahra-Anita-TrippeZahra Anita Trippe studied pharmacy in Germany (Heidelberg). She recently completed her PhD at the University of Basel in collaboration with Novartis Pharma AG. Her research combined pharmacovigilance and analytical detection approaches to identify substandard medicines. In her PhD project she focused on the quality of antimalarials in SubSaharan Africa using different analytical technologies.