Kelly Emblem is a registered Occupational Therapist (MScOT) and global health practitioner based in Canada. She is Nepali-Canadian and lived most of her life in rural Nepal and Hanoi, Vietnam. She completed her BA (Hons) in Environmental Studies, Political Science and Archaeology at the University of Toronto. Kelly is currently a program coordinator at the International Centre for the Advancement of Community-Based Rehabilitation, at Queen’s University. Her work is focused on health systems strengthening in Ethiopia and supporting the development of Occupational Therapy and rehabilitation systems. She advocates for holistic health services in global health and supports capacity building in community-based organizations in low-resource contexts. She has previously worked in acute care (ICU, trauma, and oncology), with rural and remote Indigenous communities in Northern Canada, and with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. Kelly’s experiences and upbringing highlighted the huge discrepancy between access to healthcare services worldwide and within Canadian communities. Her upbringing instilled in her a strong moral duty to utilize the privileges that come with being Canadian to support low-resource communities. She is passionate about innovating and problem-solving to affect change at the community, societal, and global scale. She is passionate about the intersection between disasters (natural and man-made), human functioning and well-being, and inclusive humanitarian action.

Dennis Opondo, MD, and MIPH candidate is a Kenyan medical professional who graduated from Kenyatta University Medical School and currently practices medicine in Kenya. He is pursuing a Master’s in International Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University while actively contributing to HIV programmatic work. He is an alumni of the Global Health Summer School, Berlin, 2023. Dennis is a member of the Kenya Affiliate leadership of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and serves as an inaugural member of the Climate Working Group. His work and interests revolve around the intersection of health, climate change, and peace, reflecting his passion for global health and international development.

Olha Horbach, an MD graduate from Poltava State Medical University, Ukraine, is a distinguished medical professional with a global perspective on healthcare. She served as a doctor at Lipno Hospital in Poland.

Beyond clinical practice, Olha Horbach demonstrated leadership as a Local Public Health Officer at UMSA-Poltava (IFMSA) and organized the I International Global Health Congress.

Seeking continuous development, she trained at the neurosurgery department of Ain Shams Hospital in Cairo, Egypt. Currently, she is working as a research assistant in clinical neuroscience at the University of Calgary, Canada. She is actively contributing to advancing medical knowledge. Her journey reflects a commitment to excellence, a global healthcare perspective, and a significant impact on medical practice and research.

Denise van Wissen is a Canadian development professional working in Central America since 1992. She graduated from the University of Guelph as a nutritionist, and holds a Master’s in Food Systems from the University of San Carlos/INCAP Guatemala.

Denise is based in Nicaragua, and consults in food security, nutrition sensitive agriculture, and project monitoring and evaluation. She enjoys facilitating nutrition education with Mam and Miskito indigenous groups in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Emelie Kozak is a final-year medical student in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Prior to attending medical school, she worked as an international human rights lawyer in a variety of settings, including a regional human rights commission, legal aid clinics and local and international NGOs. Her areas of focus have included gender equality advocacy, reproductive health, indigenous land rights and the economic, social and cultural rights of migrants and refugees.

Emelie has a J.D. from the University of Ottawa and an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law, with a dual specialization in gender and international human rights law.

Dr. Gloria Aidoo-Frimpong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo, specializing in global health and implementation science. Her research focuses on reducing HIV-related health disparities among African immigrant and refugee populations by addressing social and structural determinants of health, such as stigma and healthcare access.

Her work integrates community-based approaches and implementation science to develop culturally tailored interventions that are effective and scalable in diverse settings. She has extensive experience using digital platforms like WhatsApp to engage underrepresented communities in research and improve health outcomes.

Dr. Aidoo-Frimpong holds a Ph.D. in Community Health and Health Behavior and serves on the editorial board of BMC Public Health. Her commitment to global health equity is reflected in her efforts to translate research findings into practice and policy, ensuring that marginalized communities have access to high-quality, culturally competent care.

Eze Samson Chibueze is a triple board licensed medical laboratory scientist (Nigeria, Ireland and USA) with over 7 years of experience in in-vitro diagnosis. A master’s degree candidate in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the Global Health and Infectious Disease Institute, Nasarawa State University. He is passionate about global health, with extensive expertise in Laboratory diagnostics, Quality Management and Biorisk Management.

In addition to his leadership role, Samson has received multiple certifications in healthcare quality, including ISO 9001:2015 Lead Implementer and Auditor, and is an experienced facilitator on ISO 15189:2022 standards. He is actively involved in public health initiatives and an associate member with the West African Institute of Public Health.

Samson continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to professional development, having completed over 80 certifications in laboratory testing, biosafety, research, and public health. He is also a global outreach member of the Society of Quality Assurance and has been certified as a Healthcare Quality Risk Manager by Cognicert UK.

Dr. Donald Sutherland has had a very full and interesting career in international public health research, initiating and supporting community programs and national initiatives around the world. He began with a medical degree from the University of British Columbia, completing his thesis research on the links between Vitamin A, diet and mental retardation. After 8 years of medical practice in North Vancouver, Don was drawn to work in international health and his first experience was 2 years working as a District Medical Officer with CUSO in a rural hospital in Malawi. While working as a DMO he used basic surveillance data to assess the key causes of mortality. He then researched the role of kwashiorkor and marasmus in measles deaths and began nutrition rehabilitation units at the 4 hospitals serving the 300,000 population that he was responsible for. The Malawi experience inspired him to apply for and receive a scholarship from IDRC to attend the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to obtain a Masters in Community Health. His thesis research was conducted in India where he studied the use of traditional medicine practitioners in 4 rural Health Centers to assess their impact and other co-factors in their role in delivering primary health care. On his return to Canada, Don settled on Pender Island in BC, working as the sole GP and to apply what he had learned in Liverpool. The island provided him with the opportunity to develop a community clinic with the support and political involvement of the residents. In 1981, Dr. Sutherland returned to international health by working as the medical officer for OXFAM in a refugee camp in North Somalia. As the team leader and medical officer for the camp he used research to adjust the program being implemented. This was done using a household survey of morbidity and health care seeking behavior and was complemented by an assessment of mortality data on a weekly basis to reprogram OXFAM’s approach to preventive and clinical care services in the camp of 35,000 refugees. This work led to Dr. Sutherland being asked by WHO to return to Somalia to assess all 35 camps and then to be senior advisor to the whole National Refugee Unit in the Ministry of Health. During this second work period in Somalia (1982-3), Dr Sutherland was working for the Ministry of Health Refugee Health Unit Government of Somalia and focusing on what key elements of the refugee health program would remain in place when the expatriate NGO teams had left and the Somali Doctor and Nurse led health teams would be responsible for. The result was an excellent and cost effective program that resulted in, for example, child and maternal mortality rates that were better than in the rest of the country and accomplishing that without hospitals or lab services. Don moved to Geneva in 1984, to work as the senior technical advisor to the International Red Cross Child Alive Program focused on diarrhea prevention and treatment projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In 1988, he joined the World Health Organization’s newly formed Global Program on AIDS. He worked in Uganda for 2 years as team leader/epidemiologist just when the enormity of epidemic was becoming apparent. Again research formed an integral part of his work in Uganda in close collaboration with many academic programs based in the UK, and USA including pioneering work on national HIV epidemiology studies. Dr. Sutherland then went to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to do a master’s degree in Epidemiology including his thesis work studying the risk of HIV transmission in pediatric settings in 4 countries in Africa by following for 3 months the HIV status of hundreds of patients admitted to pediatric wards. In 1991 he returned to Canada to become Chief of the HIV/AIDS Division and then Director of the Bureau of HIV/AIDS, STD and TB at Health Canada’s Bureau of Communicable Disease. In these roles, he was responsible for planning, directing and managing epidemiology, laboratory research, and surveillance programs as part of the National AIDS, STD and TB Strategies throughout Canada and the world. Dr. Sutherland developed a prioritized targeted research program throughout Canada using Federal AIDS Program funds. These included laboratory research as well as key questions in risk assessment, social, behavioral and environmental factors in HIV risk as well as rates of HIV Drug Resistance emerging in Canada. Dr. Sutherland then became Senior Advisor on Scientific Affairs in the Center for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control at Health Canada. In 2003 Dr. Sutherland returned to WHO in Geneva for four years, to coordinate the HIV Department’s Strategic Information including HIV/AIDS Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Operational Research and the WHO HIV Drug Resistance Global Strategy. ETC ETC

In 2007 Dr. Sutherland returned to Canada to become Executive Director of International Public Health of the Public Health Agency of Canada based in Ottawa. Don continues to sit as a member of the Research Ethic Board for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada and to volunteer as Senior Advisor on Public Health to the Canadian Society for International Health.

Dr Ntaganira is a public Health expert with more than 38 years of professional experience including 19 years with the World Health Organization (WHO). He retired from the WHO on 30 June 2021, the last position being that of Head of the WHO Liaison Office to the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr Ntaganira’s public health journey took him through various levels of national health system governance, from primary health care level to national policy making level in Burundi and Rwanda. He joined the WHO HIV/AIDS program in August 2002 in Swaziland, then moved to Ethiopia before joining the WHO Regional Office for Africa in 2005. He holds a Medical degree from the University of Burundi, a Master of Science in Epidemiology from Université Laval and a Masters of Art in Global Diplomacy from University of London. Other short term academic trainings are with John Hopkins University (USA), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), University of East Anglia , Norwich (UK) and the Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development (Switzerland). Special interest in Health systems Governance and Health Diplomacy.

Janet Hatcher Roberts has over 30 years experience in bridging communities, evidence and policy both nationally and internationally. Currently, Janet is the Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Technology Assessment, Knowledge Translation and Health Equity (currently undergoing redesignation) at Bruyere Research Institute, University of Ottawa. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, at the University of Ottawa, teaching and conducting research in global health. From 1998-2013, she was the Executive Director of the Canadian Society for International Health where she oversaw the design and implementation of global health systems strengthening projects in Africa, Asia, Latin and Central America and Eastern Europe. She spent 2007-2008 in Geneva where she was Director of the Migration Health Department with the International Organization for Migration. In her volunteer time, Janet was the Chair of the Board for Action Canada for Population Development and was a Board member and Past Treasurer of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research. She was a Board member of the US-based Council of Graduate Foreign Nurses (CGFNS) from 2007- 2016 . From 2009-2019, she was appointed by an Order in Council as Board member to Public Heath Ontario (PHO) where she also sat on the Strategic Planning Committee and Governance Committee. From 2018, she has served as an ex-officio member of the Ottawa Centre Liberal EDA. She also served for four years on the National Board of Make Poverty History.