Usman Azam, MD is the Global Head of the Cell & Gene Therapies Unit at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Azam has extensive pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience in science, regulatory and commercial roles across a variety of disease areas. During his tenure at Novartis, Dr. Azam held prominent roles in Medical Affairs, Health Economics Outcomes Research, and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to Novartis, he founded Novaccel Therapeutics LLC, focused on accelerating assets in translational medicine. He held previous leadership roles at Aspreva Pharmaceutics, Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Azam is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist and is published in peer reviewed journals.

Luciano Rossetti – Head of Global Research & Development Luciano Rossetti, MD, is Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development and a member of the Pharmaceutical Executive Committee.Before joining Merck Serono, Rossetti acted as Senior Vice President Late Stage Development at Merck Sharp & Dohme, or MSD. In this position, he was responsible for the entire clinical development from Phase II to Phase V across all therapeutic areas. At MSD, he played a key role in shaping and implementing the development strategy of several potential breakthrough compounds such as Anti PD-1. He also restructured the clinical genetics group to better leverage the collaboration between discovery and clinical development.

Cyntia Genolet joined IFPMA in 2012 to work as the responsible for the anti-counterfeiting portfolio. In addition to this role, she leads since 2017 IFPMA engagement in Africa and deals with other Global Health policies. She also worked on policy issues related to biotherapeutic and regulatory domains. Cyntia holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a master’s of advanced studies in Health Economics and Management from HEC Lausanne.
Prior to joining IFPMA, she has worked for Sanofi in the office of relations with the International Institutions, in Geneva. She has built her professional experience working for NGOs, international organizations and governments in Africa, South America and Switzerland.

Kawaldip oversees the strategy and direction of IAPO. He joins with extensive public health experience at national and international level.

Kawaldip previously held the position of CEO at Richmond Psychosocial Foundation International and worked as Managing Director of Coram Children’s Legal Centre. He has European and international public health experience as Director of the Global Health Inequalities Programme and as Chairman of the European Network of Quitlines.

Kawaldip’s qualifications include an MSc in the Public Health International Programme from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, an MBA in Business Administration from the London Business School and Open University, and an LLB (Hons) from the London College of Law.

David Neal is Head of Policy at Polygeia and a final year medical student at the University of Cambridge. He holds a first class BA (Hons) degree in psychology and biological anthropology from the University of Cambridge and has worked at the World Health Organisation and Public Health Laboratory Ivo de Carneri, Zanzibar.

Ramanan Laxminarayan is founder and director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in Washington, D.C., and a senior research scholar and lecturer at the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University. He is an affiliate professor at the University of Washington and a visiting professor at the University of Kwazulu Natal. Laxminarayan is founder of HealthCube, which works to improve access to healthcare and diagnostics worldwide.

Rhys Wenlock is a third year Medical Student at Downing College, Cambridge and a researcher at Polygeia, a global health think-tank based at University of Cambridge. His global health research focuses on how the problems uncovered as a part of the international Ebola response could direct future development and health systems strengthening. Through the summer he will be working in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania with the Cambridge Development initiative (CDI) to improve access to healthcare for marginalized communities.

Abigail Wood is a researcher with Polygeia, a global health think-tank based at University of Cambridge, where she is studying biochemistry. Her research interests focus on infectious diseases and she has project experience in strategic policy work for Lepra, a UK-based charity tackling leprosy, tuberculosis and other major infectious diseases. Abigail also serves as President of BlueSci, the Cambridge University Science Communications Society.

Director: DRA Head – South Africa and Southern Africa Country Group at Novartis
Dakshina held numerous regulatory positions in the pharmaceutical industry over the last 15 years based in South Africa. He has been with Novartis for 3.5 years managing the regulatory affairs function in this region. He has also provided support in regulatory policy and practice in the African region via his association with the IFPMA’s Africa Regulatory Network over the last 3 years. Within his position in Novartis, his achievements included a multitude of product submissions and registrations through the implementation of innovative strategies. In addition, he has also been invited into the pilot regulatory harmonisation project; ZAZIBONA project in the SADC region.

General Delegate of Fondation Chirac for Access to quality healthcare and medicines, Marc Gentilini is also President of the association OPALS (PanAfrican Organization for the Fight against AIDS) and Honorary President of the French Academy of Medicine. Grand Officer of the Légion of Honor, he has also been President of the French Red Cross from 1997 to 2004. Professor Marc Gentilini is a well-know specialist of the tropical diseases and has headed from 1970 to 1998 the department of neglected tropical diseases of the Hospital of La Pitié-Salepêtrière (Paris).

Paul Dearden is since May 2014 AbbVie’s Director, Regulatory Policy & Intelligence. Prior to that, he held various self employed consultancy assignments for 6 years. From 2004 to 2008, he worked at Brathay Learning & Development in a commercial role as Head of Corporate Business. He also stayed for 8 years with GSK’s and GlaxoWellcome R&D Ltd sepraretly and led their international regulatory affairs Policy & Intelligence group and before that various emerging markets responsibilities. He started his career as Senior Regulatory Executive of The Wellcome Foundation Ltd from 1993 to 1996.Paul Dearden holds a BSc Hons Degree in Physiology & Pharmacology from Manchester University, UK.

Caroline Mendy joined IFPMA in 2012 and is in charge of IFPMA regulatory affairs.
She holds a M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Paris VII (France), and an M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences – Drug Development from the Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Montreal (Canada).
Caroline previously worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) as Technical Officer in the Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies department (EMP). Prior to WHO, Caroline worked at the Council of Europe, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM) in Strasbourg (France) as Scientific Administrator and at Pharmascience Inc. in Montreal (Canada) as Specifications and Drug Master Files (DMFs) Specialist.

Ms Estelle Michael, Senior Regulatory Policy Director, AstraZeneca and member of the IFPMA Regulatory Policy and Technical Standards Committee (RPTS). Estelle is currently focused on driving policy and advocacy for key emerging markets and is an active member of the Regulatory Policy and Technical Standards Committee (RPTS) of IFPMA.

Dr Konji Sebati is the current CEO of IPASA, the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa. Konji has over 25 years’ experience in the Public and Private sector. Konji served as a Medical Officer in Paediatrics and Child Health for several years before managing 21 Primary Health Care clinics in Pretoria. She joined the private sector working first with Roche as Medical Advisor and then with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals as a senior Executive in Medical and Corporate Affairs, in South Africa and at the Pfizer Headquarters New York. In 2004 she was appointed South Africa’s Ambassador to Switzerland, The Vatican and Liechtenstein, and in 2008 was appointed Ambassador to France, UNESCO and the OECD. She worked as an International Civil Servant working for a United Nations Agency, WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, based in Geneva, as senior Director heading the Department of Traditional Knowledge and Global Challenges. Konji’s latest achievement was being appointed to the Board of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

Konji has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the North (now University of Limpopo), an MBChb degree from University of Nairobi/Kenyatta Hospital, Kenya, a Diploma in Child Health from the College of Medicine, South Africa, and a Diploma in Public Health Planning and Health Services Management from the University of Witwatersrand.

Dr Abraham Palache is founder of FluPal Consultancy BV, a private company that provides expertise and services to Abbott, among others, in the field of influenza and influenza vaccinology. He’s co-founder of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI), a founding member of IFPMA’s Influenza Vaccine Supply International Task Force (IVS) where since 2004 he chairs the Policy Practice and Communication subgroup (PPC) of this group. He is also a member of the External Affairs Working Group of the Association of the European Vaccine Manufacturers (EVM). In 2006, he joined the Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee on Influenza (APACI) group as an industry representative. He served for more than 40 years Abbott Biologicals as Clinical Research Project leader, Director of Public Affairs for influenza and Global Government Affairs Director for Vaccines.

David Stewart is a Consultant, Health and Nursing Policy, for the International Council of Nurses. Prior to this role, he worked for the Queensland Government as a Director of Nursing in the Office of the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer. He has over 22 years’ experience in the health and government sector. David has expertise in public policy development and management and has worked in governance and development roles.

David Jefferys is currently the Senior Vice President for Global Regulatory, Healthcare Policy and Corporate Affairs, Eisai Europe and Chairman of the Eisai Global Regulatory Council. He also sits as a member of the European Working Group of the UK Ministerial Industry Strategy Group and UK Innovation Board. He is Chairman of the ABPI Regulatory Affairs Group and a member of several EFPIA committees. He is also Chair of the IFPMA RSC.

Dr. Grampp is a Director of R&D Policy at Amgen, where he leads external affairs related to biosimilars in Latin America and other regions. Prior to this role, he was Director of Regulatory Affairs, supporting regulatory agency interactions, technical strategy and submissions related to Amgen’s biosimilars development program while advocating for science-based implementation of biologics policies. Before his engagement on biosimilars, Dr. Grampp led technical teams responsible for development and quality oversight of Amgen’s biologics manufacturing processes. Dr. Grampp earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Grampp is the current Chair of IFPMA’s Biotherapeutics Group.

Dr Githinji Gitahi is the CEO of Amref Health Africa, the largest African-led international organization on the continent. He is also Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee, a global World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) initiative for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). He is also a member of the Private Sector Advisory Board of Africa CDC, the Global Health Investment Advisory Board, and of the WHO’s Community Health Worker Hub, member of the Board of Directors of The Standard Group and holds Board member positions across Amref Health Africa offices in Africa.

Soeren Mattke is not only a health policy expert but also a cardiologist. Today he is the Managing Director of RAND Health Advisory Services, the consulting practice of RAND Health. His work focuses on improving chronic illness care through redesign of delivery systems, payment reform and better products and technologies. Dr. Mattke serves as adviser to several international organizations, such as the OECD, the WHO, the European Commission and the World Economic Forum. Prior to coming to RAND, Dr. Mattke worked at the OECD in Paris on benchmarking healthcare systems in industrialized countries, in the healthcare practice of Bain & Company in Boston, at Abt Associates, a policy consulting firm in Cambridge, MA, and at Harvard University. He trained as an internist and cardiologist at the University of Munich. He lives in Boston with his wife Katharina and their three daughters and keeps his heart healthy with walking the dog, red wine and daily aspirin.

Dr. Paul Stoffels, M.D., is Chief Scientific Officer, and Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson. In this role, he works with R&D leaders across Johnson & Johnson to set the enterprise-wide innovation agenda and is a member of the Johnson & Johnson Executive Committee.

He began his career as a physician in Africa, focusing on HIV and tropical diseases research. Paul chairs the Johnson & Johnson R&D Management Committee and provides oversight to the Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC) and the Johnson & Johnson innovation centers, with the goal of catalyzing innovative science and technology.

Andrea Vassalotti is the Director of Partnerships and Programmes at the World Heart Federation (WHF). The WHF is dedicated to leading the global fight against cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke. With a focus on vulnerable populations, it is the only global advocacy and leadership organization bringing together the CVD community to help people lead heart-healthy lives.

In her role, Ms Vassalotti is responsible for building bridges with private industry and international organizations in order to secure funding for specific projects designed to reduce the impact of cardio-vascular diseases.

Kate Dodson is the vice president for global health at the United Nations Foundation. In this role, Kate works to ensure that the UN Foundation is delivering on its commitments to address the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and builds synergies with U.N. agencies and other key multilateral partners. Previously, Kate spent several years as the UN Foundation's director of global health and has also served as executive director of program integration, focused on cross-department and cross-issue collaboration.

Paola is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alzheimer’s Disease International. Prior to that, she was the CEO of LIFE. Her previous senior positions include Cass Business School, Tate, British Library and IIED.

She is a Non-Executive Director of the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (NCDA) and a Trustee of The Postal Museum and Lauderdale House. Previously she was a Trustee of Shelter, the UK housing and homelessness charity and of MLA London. She holds a degree cum laude in Classics from the University of Napoli Federico II, an MA in Field and Analytical Techniques in Archaeology and an MA in Library and Information Science both from University College London.

Mario Ottiglio is Director of Public Affairs, Communications & Global Health Policy at IFPMA. He joined IFPMA in 2007 and held different positions of increasing responsibility. Mario develops and leads the implementation of global health policies as well as designs public affairs and communication strategies. He represents IFPMA in discussions with international organizations, governments and other nongovernmental organizations building consensus on policy decisions and partnerships.
Mario holds a master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Oriental Studies University of Naples.
Prior to joining the IFPMA, Mario had worked as a consultant for governmental agencies and private firms.

Pierre Van Damme is full professor at the University of Antwerp, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. He chairs the Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO, University of Antwerp); VAXINFECTIO is a consortium of three research units within the university: the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology (LMM), the Laboratory of Experimental Hematology (LEH), and the Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination (CEV). It is recognized as ‘Centre of Excellence’ of the University of Antwerp and functions as WHO Collaborating Centre for the WHO European Region for the control and prevention of infectious diseases.
The CEV was founded in 1994 by Pierre Van Damme. The centre conducts research in 5 main areas: (1) (sero-)epidemiology of infectious diseases; (2) economic evaluation of public health interventions and mathematical modelling of infectious diseases; (3) assessment of protective efficacy and effectiveness of vaccines; (4) injection and diagnostic device research; (5) kinetics of vaccine-induced antibodies, including passive transfer of maternal antibodies.

Pierre Van Damme gained his MD from the University of Antwerp in 1984. He was recruited in 1985 to work on the epidemiology and prevention of hepatitis B in institutions for the mentally retarded. He subsequently obtained post-graduate degrees in health and economics, the evaluation of human corporal damage, and a master degree in occupational health. He obtained his PhD in epidemiology and social medicine in 1994 from the University of University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Mr. Kalland is responsible for the relationship with Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Manufacturers. Development and selling of services for Manufacturers.
Responsible for two Synergy workstreams for Walgreens Boots Alliance Development GmbH (Branded Pharma & Branded non Pharma)

Andrew Jenner is an Executive Director at JS Consulting Ltd. He joined IFPMA in late 2009 as the Director responsible for Innovation, Intellectual Property (IP) & Trade. From 2013 until 2015 Andrew worked as the Executive Director of Corporate Strategy & Legal Affairs at IFPMA. Prior to joining IFPMA, he held a number of policy roles in the UK Government including the principal UN/WTO negotiator on IP, Trade & Development for the UK Intellectual Property Office. He also led the UK Government’s IP Crime Strategy which pioneered the creation of a Governmental, multi-enforcement agency & industry taskforce. Before joining Government, he worked in the automotive industry as a quality control advisor. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and a Member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology having a Bachelor degree in Engineering and a Master of Laws.

Dr Downham studied for a bachelor of sciences degree (with honours) in industrial biology at London South Bank Polytechnic (UK) which included a placement with Boehringer Mannheim, now Roche (Germany). He then completed a PhD in biochemical engineering (Birmingham University, UK), a post-doctoral fellowship in bio-molecular sciences (Liverpool John Moores University, UK) and a post-graduate certificate in further/higher education (Bolton Institute, UK).
He joined the biopharmaceutical industry in 1997 and has worked for Protherics (UK), Bavarian Nordic (Germany), Morphosys (Germany) and Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics (Italy). Throughout this time Dr Downham worked on preclinical and early clinical development of vaccine, antibody or enzyme therapies for infectious, hypertension, inflammatory and oncology indications. He was a certified European Registered Toxicologist (2010-2015) and has co-authored 29 publications/abstracts and 3 international patents.
Dr Downham joined the influenza vaccine franchise of AstraZeneca/Medimmune (UK) in February 2013 as an Associate Director, Flu Manufacturing Sciences & Technology within the Biopharmaceutical Development (R&D) department.

Lembit Rägo MD, PhD was born in Tartu, Estonia, in 1955. During 1992 to 1999, he was a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Tartu University. He was the founder and first Director General of the Estonian Drug Regulatory Authority, State Agency of Medicines (1991-1999).

In December 1999, he joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Coordinator in the Quality Assurance and Safety of Medicines (QSM) team. During 2000-2001, Dr Rägo laid the foundation for the WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme. He has also served as a Secretary of WHO’s Secretariat Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects.

Dr Rägo started working as Secretary-General of Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), located in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 April 2016. Under his leadership, CIOMS has been modernized and also runs many different technical Working Groups.

Born in London, Cary Adams has a BSc Honours degree in Economics, Computing and Statistics from the University of Bath, United Kingdom and a Masters degree (with Distinction) in Business Administration. He is a Harvard Business School Alumni having attended the School’s Executive General Management programme in 2003. In 2009, Cary made a career change, moving from the management of international businesses in the banking sector to become CEO of UICC based in Geneva.

Heidi Larson is professor of anthropology, risk, and decision science and director of the Vaccine Confidence Project in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is also a clinical professor at the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington.

Dr. Angela Nyambura Gichaga, Chief Executive Officer, the Financing Alliance for Health (FAH) has served as a clinician, civil servant, administrator, consultant and academician. She began her career in government, serving as a frontline clinician, where she worked for the Ministry of Health of Kenya as a District Medical Officer of Health and a hospital in charge in both Meru and Garbatulla, leading ~150 multi-disciplinary team members through coordinating strategic planning, resource mobilization, service delivery, recruitment, monitoring and capacity building. She then joined the MOH HQ, where she supported health financing, co-developed national strategies and prepared reports on the country’s health achievements. Dr. Gichaga then joined McKinsey & Company’s Africa Delivery Hub (ADH), focussing on socio-economic and development issues in Africa. She now serves developing country Ministries of Health and Ministries of Finance globally, in building resilient and sustainably financed primary and community health systems as CEO of the Financing Alliance for Health. Recognition of her leadership and performance track record includes recognition as one of Fortune World’s Greatest Leaders in 2018, an Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship, an Australian Leadership Award for Africa and the President Obama Mandela Washington Fellowship.

Emilio A. Emini, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer Inc., a position into which he transitioned subsequent to Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in late 2009. Dr. Emini joined Wyeth as Executive Vice President of Vaccine Research and Development in November 2005. At Wyeth, he led the R&D efforts that resulted in licensure of Prevnar 13, Pfizer’s vaccine for the prevention of pneumococcal disease. Currently, Dr. Emini leads Pfizer’s worldwide vaccine research and development programs.

Ruth March, VP and Head of Personalised Healthcare and Biomarkers, leads AstraZeneca’s function of world class diagnostic and biomarker science experts, delivering companion diagnostic tests to target AZ drugs to the right patients across each therapy area and all phases of development. She has driven adoption of Personalised Healthcare approaches by 70% of AstraZeneca’s pipeline, partnering with a strategic network of diagnostic companies to ensure delivery to global clinical trials and marketed products.

Dr. Anke Post is a medical fellow in neuroscience discovery and clinical investigation at Eli Lilly and Company’s Erl Wood research facility in the UK. The majority of her 20 years of professional activity has been dedicated to preclinical research, to medical duties and to clinical (pharmaceutical) development. Dr. Post completed post-graduate studies in basic and clinical neuroscience research at the Humboldt University of Berlin and at the Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry (MPI) in Munich, Germany. She joined Lilly in 2011 after several years leading clinical trials for neuroscience development programs as well as in business development activities. At Lilly she works as clinical lead for several important neuroscience projects, is a member of the drug discovery leadership team, is the lead physician for the early clinical portfolio.

Lois Privor-Dumm is the Director of Policy, Advocacy and Communications at the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her team focuses on the translation of evidence to policy to facilitate vaccine decision making and support advocacy in low- and middle-income countries, including India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. For nearly ten years, she has worked with stakeholders in India to synthesize and communicate evidence to build public and political support, as well as expert capacity for new vaccine advocacy and policy making. She has trained hundreds of pediatricians and public health professionals in multiple countries to build their skills in advocating for pneumonia and diarrhea prevention.

Previously, Lois was the Director of Access and Implementation for Gavi’s PneumoADIP and Director of Communications and Strategy for the Hib Initiative, both based at Johns Hopkins and with the mission of accelerating vaccine introduction to reduce serious childhood diseases. She joined Johns Hopkins in 2005, after spending eighteen years working in various industry positions. She led a team that introduced Wyeth’s (now Pfizer) Prevnar® pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the U.S. and in other countries. Lois’s experience spans many regions around the world, including the U.S., Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Lois holds a Master’s degree in International Business Studies (now IMBA) from the University of South Carolina, studied European politics and French in Louvain-la-Neuve and completed her internship at Merck Sharp & Dohme in Brussels, Belgium.

Ronald T. Piervincenzi, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP). For 12 years Dr. Piervincenzi was a partner and leader in McKinsey & Company's Global Pharmaceutical and Medical Products Practice where, among other responsibilities, he launched McKinsey's global drug safety, medical and regulatory service line. Most recently, as a VP in Development Sciences with Biogen Idec, he launched a new group (Value-Based Medicine) focused on applying tools and technologies of personalized medicine to the multiple sclerosis disease area. Dr. Piervincenzi earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from Duke University in Biomedical Engineering, with research focused on protein engineering. He is the founder of multiple non-profits in the community service and scientific spaces including serving currently as Board Chair for the Newark Mentoring Movement and the NextStep Translational Research Foundation.

Adebayo Alonge, pharmacist and entrepreneur, talks to IFPMA about why it is important to bring universal health coverage (UHC) to his native Africa, especially rural areas, how to build up local healthcare systems, foster home-grown hi-tech pharma – and fight quack medicines.
Adebayo has more than eight years’ experience in market development and strategy consulting across Africa, working with BCG, BASF, Roche and Sanofi. In late 2017 he co-founded the start-up RxAll – developing a handheld nano-scanner based on AI technology which enables users to verify the authenticity of medicines and help stop the scourge of fake drugs. So far, RxAll has deployed around 70 devices to the food and drug administration agencies of five African countries as well as 200 pharmacies across Nigeria and Kenya. The company's goal is to provide every pharmacy with such a device across Africa.

Guilherme Cintra joined IFPMA in March 2005 and leads IFPMA’s advocacy with the WTO and the WIPO and runs the IFPMA Socio-Economic Research Network, which conducts international research and analytical work on different subjects relating to intellectual property, pharmaceutical innovation, and access to medicines. Guilherme studied economic history and social sciences in Geneva and Belo Horizonte. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing and snowboarding. There are rumors he makes good capirinhas.