Speaker Bios 2021 (Subject to Change)

Deborah L. Birx, MD is a world-renowned medical physician and expert on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases and a diplomat who served as a special representative for global health diplomacy. Most recently, Birx served on the White House Coronavirus Task Force from Feb. 2020 to Jan. 2021. Her three-decade-long career has focused on HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine research, and global health. As the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Birx oversaw the implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history, as well as all U.S. government engagement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Serving as the U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, she aligned the U.S. Government’s diplomacy with foreign assistance programs that address global health challenges and accelerate progress toward achieving an AIDS-free generation; ending preventable child and maternal deaths; and preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious disease threats.

In 1985, Birx began her career with the Department of Defense (DoD) as a military-trained clinician in immunology, focusing on HIV/AIDS vaccine research. From 1985-1989 she served as an Assistant Chief of the Hospital Immunology Service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Through her professionalism and leadership in the field, she served as the Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (USMHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research from 1996-2005. Birx helped lead one of the most influential HIV vaccine trials in history (known as RV 144, or the Thai trial), which provided the first supporting evidence of any vaccine’s potential effectiveness in preventing HIV infection. During this time, she also rose to the rank of Colonel, bringing together the Navy, Army, and Air Force in a new model of cooperation – increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. military’s HIV/AIDS efforts through inter-and intra-agency collaboration. Then known as Colonel Birx, she was awarded two prestigious U.S. Meritorious Service Medals and the Legion of Merit Award for her groundbreaking research, leadership and management skills during her tenure at DoD.

From 2005-2014, Birx served as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA) in the CDC Center for Global Health. As DGHA Director, she utilized her leadership ability, superior technical skills, and passion to achieve tremendous health impact. She successfully led the implementation of CDC’s PEPFAR programs around the world and managed an annual budget of more than $1.5 billion. Birx was responsible for all of the agency's global HIV/AIDS activities, including providing oversight to more than 400 staff at headquarters, over 1,500 staff in the field, and more than 45 country and regional offices in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Recognized for her distinguished and dedicated commitment to building local capacity and strengthening quality laboratory health services and systems in Africa, in 2011, Birx received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the African Society for Laboratory Medicine. In 2014, CDC honored her leadership in advancing the agency’s HIV/AIDS response with the highly prestigious William C. Watson, Jr. Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the CDC.

Birx received her medical degree from the Hershey School of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University. She trained in internal medicine and basic and clinical immunology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health. Birx is board certified in internal medicine, allergy and immunology, and diagnostic and clinical laboratory immunology. She has published over 220 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, authored nearly a dozen chapters in scientific publications, as well as developed and patented vaccines.

On June 23, 2017 His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued Royal Decree No. 34/2017 appointing Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid bin Abdulla Al ~Khalifa as the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States of America

Education
His Excellency graduated from Ibn Khuldoon National School in 1997 and came to the United States for college. He earned a B.S. in management from Bentley College (now Bentley University) in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2001 and an MBA from the same school in 2003. He next attained a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School focusing on “Innovation in Governance” as part of his executive education program. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the International School of Management based inParis.

Professional Career

• Shaikh Abdulla’s post-graduate career started at the Royal Court where he worked and oversaw Educational, Medical and Social Affairs.
• He then joined the General Organization for Youth and Sports as the Director of Planning and Follow-up and was later appointed Director of Financial and Human Resources.
• In 2010, he was appointed as Governor of the Southern Governorate of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the largest in size and with the highest potential for development.
• As part of a collaborative effort between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America, Shaikh Abdulla launched a partnership between the Governorate and the American non-profit organization D.A.R.E. to develop and deploy an anti-violence and anti-addiction program delivered by trained community police officers in local elementary and secondary schools. The initiative would later transform into a national program sponsored by the Kingdom's National Anti-DrugCommittee,onwhichShaikhAbdulla serves.
• Shaikh Abdulla played an active role in drafting the National Anti-Drug Strategy in conjunctionwith the regional office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which was launched in 2016.

Volunteer Work

• Shaikh Abdulla served as a member of the Bahrain Olympic Committee from 2008 and as the Treasurer until 2017.
• When he served as Vice President of the Bahrain Olympic Shooting Federation, Shaikh Abdulla formulated the first women’s shooting team, competing in the different disciplines locally and internationally. In 2007, he gained continental support to be elected Vice President of the Asian Shooting Confederation.
• The Bahrain Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Association was another entity that Shaikh Abdulla chaired until his recent appointment. He, once again, gained continental and international support to earn posts as the President of the Asia Bodybuilding Federation and the Vice President of the International Federation for Bodybuilding and Fitness.

Honorary Award
In 2016, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa AlKhalifa granted Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashed AlKhalifa an Honorary Distinction Award recognizing his gubernatorial achievements and contributions.

Stevie Award
In Oct. 2019 Bahrain Ambassador to the United States, Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa, received the 2019 Stevie Award for the personality of the year category, for his role in the founding and development of the of the Maan “Together” program against violence and addiction.

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

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

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

Mr. David Jackson is the Chairman and Founder of Solitaire Partners, an investment management and advisory firm focusing on real estate, hospitality, consumer, technology, financial services and health & wellness sectors. The principals of Solitaire have developed real estate properties of over 150 million square feet with a with a total value of over $15 billion, while having advised on transaction in the sectors listed with a value of over $30 billion. Mr. Jackson is also leading an initiative focusing on ways to increase participation of people of color, women and LGBT+ executives in the asset management industry.

Prior to founding Solitaire, he was Chief Executive Officer of Istithmar World, the government of Dubai’s $25 billion sovereign wealth fund for four years from 2006 to 2010. As CEO, he held overall responsibility for business initiated by Istithmar World across its divisions: private equity, hotels, real estate, venture capital, finance and administration, and funding. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mr. Jackson served as the first Chief Investment Officer of Istithmar World from 2003 to 2006. He served on the board of directors of several Dubai World and Istithmar World companies. Within the financial services sector, key investments included the largest stake in Standard Chartered Bank, majority stakes in Tamweel (Dubai-based mortgage company) and Emirates National Securitization Corporation, as well as large minority stakes in Perella Weinberg Partners, Pension Insurance Corporation, Bank Muscat International (Bahrain), and Gulf African Bank (Kenya).

In addition, he led the team that acquired initially a 30% stake in Kerzner International and eventually the entire company. He worked closely with Kerzner in developing Atlantis The Palm and several six-star One & Only properties. Under his direction Istithmar acquired Mandarin Oriental New York, several W properties (Union Square, Washington DC, Bangkok and Koh Samui), as well as several other luxury properties, 230 Park Avenue (New York), 280 Park Avenue (New York), and One Trafalgar Square (London). In the luxury space, Mr. Jackson led the acquisition of Barneys New York Corporation (selected as Deal of the Year by Institutional Investor) and served as Chairman of the group for almost two years, guiding the company during one of the most difficult climates in the history of retailing; earlier in his career, he was an assistant buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue.

While at Istithmar, Mr. Jackson served on the board of Dubai’s Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, the holding company spanning ports and logistics operations globally. Under his leadership, Istithmar acquired Inchcape Shipping Services, a maritime logistics and services company, as well as SR Technics, an aviation engineering services firm.

Before joining Istithmar World, Mr. Jackson spent a decade on Wall Street, primarily at Lehman Brothers and later Marco Polo Partners. While on Wall Street, his areas of focus included mergers & acquisitions primarily in the real estate, mortgage and financial services industries. In 2007, Private Equity International named Mr. Jackson on its list of “50 Global Movers; the most influential people in global private equity.” Mr. Jackson was also named among “100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate” by The New York Observer.

Within the nonprofit sector, Mr. Jackson is currently on the Board of Directors of Princeton BTGALA, the LGBT+ alumni association for Princeton University. He is also a member of CBAP, a group of alumni of color and their allies exploring ways for Princeton University to address issues of racial inequity. Mr. Jackson previously sat on the Board of Advisors for the Yale School of Management.

Mr. Jackson holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Yale University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Princeton University.

Dr. Jason Dictenberg, PhD is a scientist, innovator, investor and entrepreneur with extensive experience in healthcare, biotechnology and academia. Prior to founding Evergreen and AccelBio, he led programs focused on translational medicine in molecular neurobiology, oncology, and RNA biology.

Recently, Dr. Dictenberg created The Goliath Platform for AccelBio, the world's first and fastest PCR-based SARS-CoV-2 testing system that is automated by sophisticated liquid-handling robotics and processes over 8,000 tests within 24 hours with minimal human input. This was created for the Ministry of Health in the Kingdom of Bahrain in March 2020, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Dictenberg is the author of numerous patents for novel research and commercial products in biopharma and agriculture, and over 50 research publications. He serves on the Board of several biotech corps and foundations, and is the recipient of numerous professional awards.

Summary of Qualifications:

• Healthcare and Biotechnology Investment, business development, IP strategy, due diligence
• Financial projections, licensing, external innovation and strategic partnerships
• Federal grant (non-dilutive) and private capital raise experience
• Novel development of RNA/pathogen/drug discovery platforms using molecular techniques

Mr. R. Chad McClennan, president & CEO of Koios Medical, believes ultrasound is a valuable breast imaging tool, particularly in dense-breasted women; however, the imaging results can be impacted by operator variability. Koios Medical (Chicago, IL) recently received its second FDA clearance, this time for using Koios DS (Decision Support) Breast 2.0 at the point of care. The patented software comprises several algorithms that aid clinicians in diagnosing and classifying breast lesions in ultrasound images.

“The accurate interpretation and analysis of breast ultrasound is our initial focus,” says Mr. Chad McClennan. “We are providing decision support on whether something is dangerous or benign. It’s a second opinion and consultation from an expert system to reduce that variability between readers.”

Koios DS Breast 2.0 has been trained on over 400,000 breast ultrasound studies of pathology-proven benign and positive lesions. It can be run directly on the ultrasound system, as is the case with the GE LOGIQ E10, or within a PACS viewer, including systems from FujiFilm Medical, GE Centricity, Sectra, Visage Imaging and others. Findings can be saved and exported to reporting systems to enhance reading efficiency and ease retrieval for follow up. According to Mr. McClennan, the company offers a vendor-agnostic, viewer-based solution that can be downloaded and configured either by Koios or radiology IT administrators—and is also available directly on select scanner hardware. The goal is ultimately to provide a plug-and-play PACS viewer version that could also be available in the exam room, although Mr. McClennan acknowledges that putting it directly on the hardware requires extensive technical development.

The Koios DS solution is offered as a subscription-based model; Mr. McClennan says that’s important for continuously improving and regularly pushing out enhancements, primarily those related to workflow. In 12 months, the company issued four different feature upgrades based on user feedback.

Mr. McClennan ads, “If AI can help in medical imaging, we believe it can help the most in ultrasound, where there is a lower resolution and greater variability across users.

Although the company is focused on image interpretation, Mr. McClennan sees an opportunity for the technology in cancer detection as well as in thyroid and other ultrasound imaging applications.

Ambassador Nureldin Satti is the current Sudanese ambassador to the United States. In 1974, Satti received his doctorate in literature from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Following his graduation, Satti returned to Sudan to teach the French language and literature at the University of Khartoum. In the following year, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan. From 1992 to 1996, he served as ambassador to France, the Vatican, Portugal and Switzerland and as Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. In 2002, Satti was appointed United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Burundi, where he worked to end the country's civil war. On May 5, 2020, Ambassador Satti was appointed to be the first ambassador to Washington from Khartoum in 20 years.

Dr. Maliha Hashmi was the Executive Director and Co-Headed the Health, Wellbeing and Biotech Sector at NEOM, where she also served as the Executive Director for all Strategic Partnerships. Dr. Maliha Hashmi also served as the Deputy Chair of the NEOM Covid-19 Leadership Taskforce. Additionally, Dr. Maliha Hashmi serves as a Board Member of the prestigious Advisory Board for Arab Health: the largest multi-disciplinary congress in the MENA Region and also as a Board Member of the Halal Certification Authority, which is part of the Saudi Food Drug Authority. Dr. Hashmi also serves as a Leading Expert & Council Member for the Prestigious Global Future Council on Health & Healthcare at the World Economic Forum. Furthermore, Dr. Maliha Hashmi serves as a Leading Expert & Council Member for the Global Future Council on Longevity at the World Economic Forum. Dr. Hashmi is a also a Leading Expert and Council Member for the Emerging Technologies Councils in the MENA Region which is part of the Big Innovation Center, an award winning global innovation technology think tank. Dr. Maliha Hashmi, is also an esteemed delegate of the V20, where V20 is a global platform of value experts and practitioners that has come together on the sidelines of the G20 presidency to actively engage with the process of the Group of Twenty (G20). She is also a regular contributor for Forbes. Recently, Dr. Maliha Hashmi, was selected and recognized as one of the Top Seven Most Talented Emerging Female Health Leaders of the MENA region. Dr. Maliha Hashmi has held Senior Executive roles in various sectors and globally renowned organizations and is a well-known name in the region for health & wellbeing. Dr. Maliha Hashmi received her Doctorate and Master’s Degrees from Harvard and MIT. Dr. Maliha Hashmi is listed as one of the top 20 women in the Nation in the United States of America for her achievements making it into the Who’s Who in America List.

Mr. Robert Steven Kramarz has over 30 years in computer and software management, and participated in corporate exit as employee #1 of venture-funded Cordata. Subsequently, he was CEO/co-founder of 1776, Inc. system software company; has been a Board member of non-profits, technology investor, and leadership trainer. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the non-profit organization, The Brain-Body Research Institute.

Mr. Kramarz is currently Executive Director of Intelliversity — The Funding Academy for Entrepreneurs – Led by Investors and was previously a member of Tech Coast Angels and investor in technology companies. Most recently he co-founded 22’nd Century Ventures. He's an active member of the advisory boards of the Alliance of M&A Advisors, Vantera Partners, Liquidity River, Blue Moon Advisors, Pacific Royalties, and others.

Mr. Kramarz wrote 21 patents on behalf of other inventors. Of which, at least, five now have been granted. Wrote the original papers on software RAID and co-designed the first server mirroring software with automatic fail-over. He has a degree in psychology from UCSC and two years studying physics and environmental science at Cal Tech. Mr. Kramarz’ expertise is in leadership training and advising early-stage companies on funding strategy. His passion is empowering innovators.

Mr. Kramarz will offer a fresh approach, using advanced social psychology, to efficiently gaining private funding of technology businesses, especially for those ventures wisely riding waves of social and technology trends. This approach has been highly successful for dozens of clients, leveling the playing field and in fact giving them control over the funding process. Whereas the odds of getting funding from VCs and angels is under 5% without such an advantage, the approach Mr. Kramarz teaches raises your odds above 50%. This unique approach to funding has the added value of transforming founders’ leadership and sales skills.

Giving credit where due, this unique approach to funding, which is called “Fast Track to Funding” as part of the larger field of the “Science of Funding” was developed in conjunction with input from George Kenney founder of VC Shepherd Ventures, Ravi Bhola co-founder of Intelliversity, Wall Street guru Arthur Lipper (Intelliversity’s Board of Advisor’s Chairman and publisher of Venture Magazine), with further insights gained from Oren Klaff, author of Pitch Anything, Harvard professor Noam Wasserman, author of The Founders’ Dilemmas, Donald Miller, author of Building A Story Brand, Verne Harnish, author of Scaling Up, whose conclusions were based on research of over 35,000 companies, and Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund and author of The Diversity Myth and Zero to One.

Fast Track to Funding was refined through Mr. Kramarz’s and Mr. Kenney’s own investment successes and research carried out by Intelliversity. Fast Track to Funding measurably works. This session will brief attendees with the basic principles and methods of the Fast Track to Funding. Once attendees realize that this science is available to them, they will be well positioned to seek more information from a variety of independent sources which Mr. Kramarz will name. Mr. Kramarz can’t promise that attendees will be able to go out and immediately apply all of the principles and methods of the Fast Track to Funding, but applying any one of them will generate immediate and noticeable results. Attendees might expect to experience a shorter time to funding overall, a much higher rate of call backs and second meetings, shorter and less arduous due-diligence, and higher valuations. On a contextual level, attendees will experience themselves as in control of the funding process as they become the sought-after party rather than on their knees seeking investor largess.

He is also author of: Articles on LinkedIn Pulse, the Intelliversity blog and eBooks The Road Less Traveled,; Winning Conversations with Investors; So You are Thinking of a Startup, and Born to Star - Secrets for Business Funding Success.

Dr. Claus Jensen, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, leads technology and innovation at Teladoc Health. Under his direction, the research and development team applies product innovation, data science, technological expertise and clinical excellence to transform how people access and experience healthcare around the world. Dr. Jensen brings 20 years of experience leading digital transformation at enterprise healthcare and technology organizations. Prior to Teladoc Health, Dr. Jensen served as chief digital and technology officer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) cancer center, where he oversaw the integration of data and technology resources that enabled MSK to meet critical care and research objectives. Previously, he was chief technology officer of CVS Health-Aetna, and also held leadership roles at Danske Bank and IBM. Dr. Jensen holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a PhD in computer science from Aarhus University, Denmark. He has authored numerous publications and holds 14 patents covering integration, APIs and transformation.

Ambassador Lawrence R. Silverman is a retired member of the Senior Foreign Service. His last posting in a 35-year U.S. State Department career was as the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait until October 2019. Since then, he has been advising U.S. institutions and companies regarding their business interests in the Middle East.

Prior to his ambassadorship, Amb. Silverman was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, responsible for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestinian affairs. Amb. Silverman also served as Director of Israel and Palestinian Affairs; then-Vice President Biden’s Special Advisor for Europe and Russia; Deputy Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia; Director of the Office of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Slovakia; and Deputy Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs, covering U.S. policy toward Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.

During the first half of his State Department career, Amb. Silverman focused on issues related to the Middle East, serving overseas in Jordan and Syria, and domestically as Special Advisor to Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns. He was also Deputy Director of Public and Press Affairs on Arab-Israeli issues. Amb. Silverman began his State Department career in South Africa and Namibia. He was a member of the U.S. team that negotiated the agreement on the independence of Namibia and the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. Amb. Silverman is pleased to be mentoring students and alumni from his graduate school, Duke University, and his high school, Boston Latin School, regarding careers in international affairs.

Dr. Salam Al-Bader Biography B.A., MAGL, Ph.D., has spent many years as an entrepreneur, finding innovative environmental solutions in infrastructure and industry in the Middle East. He has a Bachelor Degree in Hospitality Management at VCC Canada, where his research focuses on solar technology solutions in the hospitality industry. He also has a Master Degree in Global Leadership from Royal Road University, Canada, and focuses on Implementation the Sustainable Development Goal SDG17. Dr. Salman earned his PhD in Business Administration from Carlton University, with a focus on international business and trade. Additional graduate courses include:

• Global Diplomacy from the University of London, Britain
• Cities & Climate Change from the United Nations Institute,
• Sustainable Infrastructure Design from Delft University,
• Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies from Harvard University
• Canadian Researcher Society

Dr. Salam has worked as a Chief Advisor to the Chinese Government in the GCC. He has worked in infrastructure development in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. He worked as the Deputy Chairman for Global House, the parent company of Rashid Bank and UIB Bank, whose main business was project and infrastructure development in the GCC. Dr. Salam has a tremendous amount of experience in diplomacy and building relationships in the international arena, and in financing, designing, and executing infrastructure projects and oil field services from the ground up.

With a company he founded in 2005, Dr. Al-Bader heads a team of architects and designers who build award-winning landscapes, desert reclamation and land improvement projects. Trained in Canada, he has been building for over 35 years. His demonstrated techniques include an award-winning and patented synthetic grass, trade-named Global Green, which conserves subsurface moisture, promotes regeneration of the water table and instantly greens any environment, as well as lava aggregate for organic fertilization. At present, he is the owner and developer of the patented Solar Floating Island technology, which bases building on completely self-sustaining power and water systems. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Albader Ventures Inc (AVI) conducts business world-wide and past project sites include the GCC, the larger Middle East, European G7 nations, China, the Maldives and elsewhere. Deeply committed to implementing sustainable development and climate change conservation principles articulated by the United Nations, Albader adventures Inc (AVI) crafts and builds complete sets of turn-key business and environmental solutions for clients.

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Joseph DeVivo leads the Hospital and Health System business for Teladoc Health. Under his direction, the integrated platform and hardware business addresses the comprehensive needs of hospitals, health systems, retail clinics and physician groups globally.

Mr. DeVivo brings extensive leadership experience from across the medical device industry. Most recently, he was chief executive officer of InTouch Health until its eventual acquisition by Teladoc Health in 2020. Prior to InTouch, he served as president, chief executive officer and director at AngioDynamics. Other leadership roles include global president of Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics, as well as vice president and general manager at U.S. Surgical, a division of Tyco Healthcare.

Active in industry leadership as well as philanthropy, Mr. DeVivo is a member of the board of Mauna Kea Technologies, AdvaMed, the American Telemedicine Association and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond.

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

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

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

Dr. David Martin, MD, FRCP, MACP, FACC, FHRS, leads the Brigham and Women’s Hospital International Patient Center Center’s clinical quality and safety efforts in providing exemplary and cohesive care to patients traveling from abroad. Dr. Martin is active in the practice and teaching of cardiac electrophysiology; he attends on Brigham medicine and cardiovascular inpatient/consult services and serves as Vice-Chair for network development and innovative care solutions in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Martin trained in medicine at University College London and the Royal London Hospitals in England, and in cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Prior to returning to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2018, Dr. Martin was the Chair of Medicine at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center from 2012 to 2018 and Chief Academic Officer from 2017-2018. Since 2013, Dr. Martin has served as the Associate International Director (Americas) for the Royal College of Physicians in London and is also the President of Project Pacer International, a Boston-based charity providing cardiology care to indigent patients around the world. In this capacity, he has a 25-year history of working in Bolivia managing patients with complex cardiac problems resulting from Chagas disease.

Dr. Martin has extensive experience of working closely with international colleagues in the delivery of patient care and medical education in India, Africa and the middle east as well as in Bermuda and the Caribbean.

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

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

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

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

Mr. William B. Wittmeyer is the CEO and founder of Pulmostics LTD, a leader in the emerging field of breath analysis. A graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Business Mr. Wittmeyer has over 30 years experience in technology company growth and funding. He began his career with Exxon Enterprises, the venture capital arm of Exxon. His investment portfolio included UTStarcom, Zoran, Network Technologies Inc. IXYS Home Town Buffet and Plax. Mr. Wittmeyer advised Tan Sri Omar bin Abdul Raham, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia identifying companies whose technology fit the capabilities and needs of the Malaysian Economic development plan. In conjunction this advisory role he founded eXS Networks Sdn Bhd, in Malaysia to develop country appropriate, low cost wireless access network and subsequently was involved in starting Agri-D Sdn Bhd, a company focused on developing technology to develop a detection and treatment technology for Basel Stem Rot, a fungal infection affecting the Oil Palm Industry.

Mr Wittmeyer’s founding of Pulmostics came from his understanding of the differences between developed economies and developing economies. Medical and in particular screening technologies for the developed economies are too costly for wide scale deployment in emerging markets. BreathAnalysis as a screening technology can be widely deployed, easy to use, cost and culturally appropriate. The technology can be embraced by the medical profession as providing diagnostically actionable information at the point of care.

Dr. Sapna Syngal is Director of GI Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The major focus of Dr. Syngal's career has been the development of research, clinical and training programs focusing on the genetics, screening, and prevention of gastrointestinal malignancies.

Dr. Syngal has created research programs that study the effectiveness of novel technologies with the goal of providing patients and physicians with new tools for preventing cancer through clarification of personal risk, early detection, and the use of novel screening techniques. Her main research focus has been to evaluate the impact of new genetic discoveries as tools for cancer risk assessment and the study of genetic epidemiology of colorectal cancer. With the discovery of the mismatch repair genes, MSH2 and MLH1, she led one of the first groups to evaluate the prevalence of mutations in large clinical populations, demonstrating phenotypic differences between carriers of the two genes. Her group also reported a high prevalence of colorectal cancer in patients with germline mutations in the TP53 gene, leading to the inclusion of colonoscopy screening into the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for care of patients with the Li-Fraumeni syndrome. She has also made major contributions to the field of risk assessment for genetic syndromes through the development of a novel risk assessment web-based tool (the PREMM model) to predict the likelihood of carrying mutations in the MSH2, MLH1, and MSH6 genes.

In addition to her program’s primary research, Dr. Syngal has been the site-PI for multiple national consortiums. She runs a funded site for the National Cancer Institute Pancreatic Cancer Genetic Epidemiologic (PACGENE) consortium, where the mission is to identify susceptibility genes for pancreatic cancer in order to improve risk assessment and early detection. As part of the National Cancer Institute’s Early Detection Research Network (EDRN), her group has been evaluating novel biomarkers for early colon cancer and other gastrointestinal tumor detection for the past ten years. The program is also a site for the Cancer of the Pancreas Screening (CAPS) consortium, evaluating novel imaging and endoscopic approaches to screen for early pancreatic neoplasia in high risk families.

The Gastrointestinal Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program that she has built over her career has shown tremendous growth in recent years, with the addition of several new faculty members, as well as new trainees. The clinical program has grown steadily and annually, offering care to a wide variety of patients, including those with Lynch Syndrome, Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, Hamartomatous Polyposis, and hereditary pancreatic cancer. She plans continued growth in the scope of research in the next several years, with expansion of the cancer risk assessment models to include other cancer types beyond colorectal cancer, and inclusion of genetic test results of panels on multiple genes that will allow comprehensive risk assessment for all cancers based on personal and family history.

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

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

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

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

M.Sc. Polona Šafarič Tepeš is an emerging young scientist that has been involved in research, entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities for the past 14 years. As an independent scientist, she developed a precision oncology blueprint for drug development and study of metastatic fusion-driven sarcomas based on personalized preclinical PDX models and RNA sequencing at the single-cell resolution at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Currently, she is investigating the epigenetic switch that drives cartilage remodeling in the chondrosarcoma and osteoarthritis for precision medicine-drug discovery. She is in the process of completing a Ph.D. in biomedicine at the Faculty of Pharmacy, UL in collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island in New York was founded in 1890. The institution has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. Home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the private, not-for-profit Laboratory today employs 1,100 people including 600 scientists.

Beyond her role as a researcher, she is an advocate for systemic changes in gender equality in science. In collaboration with the Slovenian Mission to the United Nations, she has been actively involved in outreach activities to increase the number of girls and women in science. She is particularly focused on empowering female scientists to translate their research into bio-ventures. In 2020 and 2021 she was an invited panelist at the international conference at the United Nations HQ on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In 2021 she started to serve as a Deputy Director of the International Platform - Girls in Science for Sustainable Development Goals, at the Royal Academy of Science International Trust, where she is responsible for developing and implementing programs that promote equity, empower girls in science and advocate for open access to scientific knowledge and information.

Affiliations:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA
Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dr. Gabi Hanna, M.D. is the CEO and co-founder of Lamassu Pharma, LLC. A drug development expert with a focus on translational research to bring therapeutics to market on accelerated timeframes, Dr. Hanna joined Duke University Medical Center in 2008 as a senior research associate. In 2016, he was selected to found and lead the Duke Preclinical Translational Research Center. Under Dr. Hanna’s leadership, the Duke PTRC is one of the first academic research units in the world dedicated to advancing translational research through rigorous implementation of a comprehensive drug development program. He has been a member of the Duke University Health System Institutional Medical Review Board (IRB) since 2009. In 2017, Dr. Hanna co-founded an academic consortium for knowledge and resource-sharing to advance and accelerate drug development, and became a member of the national CTSI cohort, the nation’s largest initiative to advance translational medicine, which currently has 45 member-universities.

Lamassu Pharma is a small commercial drug development firm dedicated to bringing novel therapeutics to market more quickly. Lamassu’s first therapeutic, RABI-767—a novel therapeutic for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis—was licensed from the Mayo Clinic in early 2021, and successfully completed pre-clinical just months later, positioning the company to begin Phase 1 Clinical Trials in Fall 2021. The company received an NIH grant in 2020 to support this vital research. Lamassu Pharma is also researching additional new genetic therapies for rare diseases and the company is expanding partnerships with major universities and private companies to further support innovation and acceleration in drug development.

DDr. Hanna received his M.D. from Aleppo University Medical Center in 2005. He completed his plastic and general surgery internship at the University of Texas in 2006, and held a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Surgery Oncology at Duke University from 2006-2008. Dr. Hanna is the Chairman of the North Carolina Society of Physician Entrepreneurs and a board member and advisor for multiple companies, including Kaio Therapy, Clickmedix, Remote Health, and Zoonco. He is an avid writer, and has contributed content on translational research to multiple publications including Forbes and Drug Discovery & Development.

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

PROFILE

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

HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dr. Rafael A. Irizarry is Professor of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Hereceived his bachelor's in mathematics in 1993 from the University of Puerto Rico and went on to receive a Ph.D. in statistics in 1998 from the University of California, Berkeley. His thesis work was on Statistical Models for Music Sound Signals.

He joined the faculty of the Department of Biostatistics in the Bloomberg School of Public Health in 1998 and was promoted to Professor in 2007. For the past ten years, Dr. Irizarry's work has focused on Genomics and Computational Biology problems. In particular, he has worked on the analysis and preprocessing of microarray, second-generation sequencing, and genomic data. He is currently interested in leveraging his knowledge in translational work, e.g. developing diagnostic tools and discovering biomarkers. Dr. Irizarry also develops open source software implementing his statistical methodology.

His software tools are widely used and he is one of the leaders and founders of the Bioconductor Project, an open source and open development software project for the analysis of genomic data. Bioconductor provides the most widely used software tool for the analysis of microarray data and garnered a 2003 Insightful Innovation Award. In 2009, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) named Dr. Irizarry the Presidents' Award winner. The Presidents' Award is arguably the profession's most prestigious award honoring early career contributions.

Dr. Irizarry also received the 2009 Mortimer Spiegelman Award which honors an outstanding public health statistician under age 40. He also won the 2001 American Statistical Association Noether Young Scholar Award for researcher, younger than 35 years of age, who has significant research accomplishments in nonparametrics statistics. Dr Irizarry was also named a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2009.Three of Dr. Irizarry's numerous publications have been named Fast Breaking Paper, New Hot Paper, or Current Classic Paper in Mathematics by Thomson Essential Science Indicators (ESI). According to the ESI's Scientist Rankings, he is one of the most highly cited researchers in Mathematics and Computer Science. One of his publications won the 2004 American Statistical Association (ASA) Outstanding Statistical Application Award. He was awarded the ASA Youden Award in Interlaboratory Testing for another of his publications.

Dr. Irizarry co-edited Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Solutions, using R and Bioconductor (Springer 2005), has been translated to Chinese and Japanese.

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

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

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

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

Mr. Paul Doherty is a Registered Architect (AIA) and one of the global Industry’s most sought after thought leaders, strategists and integrators of Smart City solutions. He is currently the President and CEO of the digit group, inc., a Smart Cities Master Architect, Builder and City Management solution provider headquartered in Silicon Valley. the digit group is currently working on innovative Smart City solutions in the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia.

A Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, Mr. Doherty is an author, educator, analyst, consultant and project manager to Fortune 500 organizations, global government agencies, prominent institutions and the most prestigious architectural, engineering and construction firms in the world. His past successful ventures include Revit Technologies (Sold to Autodesk 2002), Buzzsaw (Sold to Autodesk 2001) and TRIRIGA (Sold to IBM 2011). He is a prominent and highly rated speaker at numerous industry events around the world each year and has been appointed as a guest lecturer at numerous universities around the world.

A former candidate to be the United States Architect of the Capitol, Mr. Doherty is and has been on the Board of Directors and Advisors of numerous organizations, including the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and holds both European Community and United States Citizenship. Widely quoted in the media such as The Wall Street Journal; Business Week; ABC News; CBS Marketwatch; The Los Angeles Times; and USA Today. Mr. Doherty is also a regularly featured writer for Information Week; DesignIntelligence; Facility Management Journal; Design Build Magazine. Additionally, he is a contributing author to multiple sections of the AIA Handbook of Professional Practice; the Interior Design Handbook of Practice; BOMI’s Technologies for Facility Management; Residential Graphic Standards (John Wiley & Sons) and author of 2 books, the critically acclaimed, "Cyberplaces - The Internet Guide for Architects, Engineers and Contractors" and "Cyberplaces 2.0 - The Internet Guide for Architects, Engineers & Facility Managers", both published by R.S. Means.

After completing a benchmarked Whitepaper on Smart Cities for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Mr. Doherty is currently writing a series of Smart City Whitepapers for McGraw-Hill Financial (Standard & Poors) that will be continuously published through 2017. In addition to leading the digit group, Mr. Doherty is a co-founder of the critically acclaimed AEC Hackathon that launched at Facebook Headquarters in Silicon Valley in November 2013 and continues its community building of innovation around the world today.

Dr. Rabi Hanna, MD, is the director of the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. He is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology-oncology. He earned his medical degree from Aleppo University Faculty of Medicine in Aleppo, Syria. His post-graduate training in USA includes a pediatric residency at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and a pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Hanna's specialty interests include treatment of children with leukemia / Lymphoma and solid tumors that require Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation to consolidate the treatment for their malignant disease. He is also very interested in treatment of inherited non-malignant disorders like primary immunodeficiency like SCID or other inherited metabolic diseases which Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation could offer the potential to restore normal hematological and immunologic function. He is especially interested in identifying successful conditioning treatments with less side effects especially for non-malignant diseases like hematological diseases (sickle cell disease, thalassemia major, severe aplastic anemia, Fanconi anemia, etc) or primary immune deficiency disorders, such as Severe Combined Immune deficiency, Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, and IPEX.

Dr. Hanna's clinical research is aimed at identifying genetic factors that affect outcomes post bone marrow transplantation from unrelated donor. He is also exploring the role of hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells in auto-immune disorders and degenerative disorders.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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