Speakers

Click on the links below to get more information about a speaker Ali Abdulkareem Alobaidli | Clinical Affairs Director, SEHA- Abu Dhabi Health Services Company Ayesha Abdullah | Senior Vice President, Dubai Healthcare City, UAE Sultan Al-Sudairy | Executive Director, Research Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Alexander Vogler | Chief Financial Officer National Health Insurance Company - Daman Andreas Wicki | CEO of HBM BioVentures AG Christopher Earl | President & CEO, BIO Ventures for Global Health Chris Hentschel | President, CEO and member of the governing board of the Medicines for Malaria Venture Dan Stinchcomb | Co-Founder and CEO , Inviragen Donald F. Gerson | President and CEO of PnuVax, Inc. Khaled W. Jaouni | Partner, Ithmar Capital Mark P. Carthy | Managing Partner, Orion Healthcare Equity Partners Mohammed Mutabagani | Chairman of The National Health Committee Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce Mohan Chellappa | President, Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, USA Jane Homan | CEO of ioGenetics LLC JiNan Glasgow | Founder and CEO of Neopatents Fadi El-Jardali | American University of Beirut Harald F. Stock | CEO, Grünenthal Group Herman Van Cauteren | Founder Neglected Diseases Foundation Imad Ghandour | Executive Director, Gulf Capital, Abu Dhabi Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi | Director General, Emirates Center For Strategic Studies and Research Jean-Pierre Paccaud | PhD, Business Development Director, DNDi Louis-Charles Viossat | Ambassador in charge of the Fight against AIDS and communicable diseases, France, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Marcus Sasse | Head, UBS Global Asset Management, Saudi Arabia Naveed Siddiqi | Partner, Nomura Phase4 Ventures Oliver Tattan | The Regulated Industries Group Philippe Chossegros | Network GT69, Lyon, France Stewart Cole | Director, Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Robert Sebbag | Vice President Access to Medicines Sanofi-aventis Robert Filipp | Head of Innovative Financing, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Samih Darwazah | Founder and Chairman, Hikma Pharmaceuticals Sean Hayes | Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP Sehamuddin Galadari | UAE University Simon Turton | Managing Director, Warburg Pincus LLC Stefan J. Mallenbaum | Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP Stephen Walston | Associate Professor, Director, Executive Education Programs, University of Oklahoma Victoria Hale | Founder and CEO of Medicines360 Wassim Mourtada | CEO of Envision ALR Tom Healy | Director General, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Yahya Jalil | Head of Private Equity, The National Investor

Ali Abdulkareem Alobaidli | Clinical Affairs Director, SEHA- Abu Dhabi Health Services Company Ali Abdulkareem Alobaidli I Clinical Affairs Director- SEHA- Abu Dhabi Health Services Company. SEHA is an independent, public joint stock company created to manage and develop the curative activities of the public hospitals and clinics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. SEHA owns and operates 12 hospital facilities, 2,644 licensed beds, and more than 40 Ambulatory and Primary Healthcare Clinics. In his role as SEHA's corporate Clinical Affairs Director, Dr Alobaidli works closely with Hospitals Medical Directors and Chief Medical Officers to ensure the provision of high quality, cost effective healthcare on par with international standards. Dr Alobaidli is a consultant Nephrologist and Transplant Physician at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. He Graduated from of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland -1997. He completed his postgraduate training in internal Medicine, Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr Alobaidli is certified by the American Board and The Royal College of Canada in Internal Medicine and Nephrology and Certified Kidney Transplant Physician by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS-USA). In addition to his clinical training and qualifications Dr Alobaidli had thorough training in Healthcare Quality management and patient safety, He obtained the American Board of Medical Management certification from the American College of Physician Executives in 2005, Health Care Quality Management Board certification from the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians in 2006 and the Patient Safety Certification Program Examination from the Quality Colloquium at Harvard in 2007.

Ayesha Mohammed Abdullah | Senior Vice President, Dubai Healthcare City, UAE Dr. Ayesha Mohammed Abdullah, the present Senior Vice President of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) is a 17-year veteran of the healthcare and engineering industries with national and international experience. As SVP, Dr. Ayesha has a major role in realising DHCC's vision to become the internationally recognised location of choice for quality healthcare and an integrated centre of excellence for clinical and wellness services, medical education and research.
Prior to her role as SVP, Dr. Ayesha was CEO of the Centre for Healthcare Planning and Quality where she was responsible for setting and upholding healthcare standards within DHCC and developing government relations. Dr. Ayesha has also served as the Director of Engineering for the Ministry of Health where she led on strategy, working with all the major UAE hospitals. She has worked in the United States of American and the UK.
Dr. Ayesha holds a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from the USA, and an MBA, MPhil and PhD in Strategic Management from the UK.

Sultan Al-Sudairy | Executive Director, Research Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sultan Al-Sudairy is Chairman of the Research Advisory Council at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre and serves in a number of institutional committees. He is the Secretary General of the Board of Trustees of the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR), a member of the Biotechnology Committee of the King Abdulaziz Center for Science and Technology, and a member in a number of committees in the area of Medical Science and Technology of the Expert’s Council. His research interest is in Tumor and Transplantation Immunology where he has published more than 150 full-length paper and meeting abstracts. His vision in biotechnology paved the way for the Research Centre to become a major contributor and resource in the kingdom’s comprehensive program for science and technology. He has been an integral contributor in the establishment of guidelines for medical research in both scientific and ethical aspects. He actively participates in international meetings relating to research, in organizing international conferences and workshops, and in formulating collaborative activities both nationally and internationally. He obtained his Doctorate Degree in Pathobiology focusing on Tumor Immunology in 1987 from Columbia University in New York City, New York, USA. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Pathology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, in New York City, New York, USA.

Alexander Vogler | Chief Financial Officer National Health Insurance Company - Daman

Andreas Wicki | CEO of HBM BioVentures AG Dr. Wicki is a successful healthcare entrepreneur and investor with over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is currently CEO of HBM BioVentures AG, Europe's largest Private-equity focused investment company dedicated to life sciences. He was co-owner and CEO of ANAWA Holding AG and Clinserve AG, two life science services CRO's which were successfully sold to MDS. He holds an MSc and PhD in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Berne, Switzerland. Dr Wicki is on the Board of Directors of Basilea Pharmaceutica AG, Buchler GmbH, HBM BioVentures (Cayman) Ltd., MDS Pharma Services Switzerland AG, Pacira Inc., PharmaSwiss AG and HBM Partners Ltd.

Christopher Earl | President & CEO, BIO Ventures for Global Health Christopher Earl previously served as Managing Director of the Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund, L.P. (PSBF), a leading investor in later-stage life science companies, where he managed investments in biopharmaceutical companies and served as a director on portfolio company boards. Earlier in his career, Dr. Earl was President and CEO of Avitech Diagnostics, Inc., and a General Partner of Plant Resources Venture Funds. Dr. Earl serves on the board of Asuragen, Inc., and is a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. Dr. Earl received a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Cellular and Developmental Biology from Harvard University."

Chris Hentschel | President, CEO and member of the governing board of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) MMV is a public-private partnership created in 1999 and now supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, donor government development agencies (UK, USA, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland), and leading philanthropic foundations (Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation) to discover, develop and deliver a global pipeline of innovative anti-malarial drugs. After eight years, MMV has established over 30 R&D projects, of which three are in late-stage development. Collectively this comprises the largest co-ordinately managed antimalarial R&D portfolio in history. Contractual partners in MMV's projects include 9 pharmaceutical or biotech companies. The World Health Organization has described MMV as "the premier public-private partnership for developing new malaria drugs" and MMV's mission is cited by the UN Millennium project as a key to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's)."

Dan Stinchcomb | Co-Founder and CEO , Inviragen r. Stinchcomb has over 19 years of biotechnology experience including research, product development, approval, and commercialization of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. His background includes positions as Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Heska Corporation, Director of Biology at Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals (now Sirna acquired by Merck), and Senior Scientist at Synergen (acquired by Amgen). Prior to his career in biotechnology, Dr. Stinchcomb was Assistant and Associate Professor at Harvard University. He obtained his Ph.D. at Stanford University and his B.A. at Harvard University. Currently, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Colorado State University.

Donald F. Gerson | President and CEO of PnuVax, Inc. Dr. Gerson received his PhD from McGill University and was professor of biophysics and biochemical engineering at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and was a Member of the Basel Institute for Immunology.
He has More than 80 publications in various areas including cell physiology, immunology, biochemical engineering, vaccine development, and biologicals manufacturing.
Dr. Gerson has been in senior manufacturing and operations management positions in the vaccine and biotechnology industry since the early 1980s, and has been responsible for the establishment, construction and operation of a number of facilities for the production of commercial vaccine and biotech products in Canada, the US, China and Korea.
For the past 4 years, Dr. Gerson has been President of the CMO Manufacturing Division of Celltrion, Inc., a contract manufacturer of mammalian cell produced protein biopharmaceuticals in Seoul, Korea. He is currently President and CEO of PnuVax, Inc., a company manufacturing vaccines for adults.

Khaled W. Jaouni | Partner, Ithmar Capital Khaled Jaouni is currently a Partner with Ithmar Capital which manages in excess of $500 million. With over 13 years of experience in private equity and business transformation, Khaled is responsible for value creation and growth of the firm's portfolio companies in addition to leading the build up and management of Ithmar's healthcare investment platform. Prior to joining Ithmar Capital in 2005, Khaled held numerous senior consulting positions with Ernst & Young, both in the Middle East as well as the United States. During this time, he successfully led a number of strategic growth initiatives for Fortune 100 companies and leading regional businesses. Khaled holds a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University (USA) and an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School (UK). He is also President of the Boston University Alumni Association in the GCC.

Mark P. Carthy | Managing Partner, Orion Healthcare Equity Partners Mark Carthy co-founded Orion Healthcare Equity Partners in 2007. Mark has 22 years of operating and investment experience in healthcare companies. Mark joined Oxford in 2000 and became General Partner in 2001. At Oxford , Mark was responsible for 13 investments totaling $117 million in committed capital. Before joining Oxford , he was Biotechnology Portfolio Manager at Morningside Ventures where he focused on early stage private equity investments. Previously, he was Chief Business Officer of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where he in-licensed Cubicin, Cubist’s commercial antibiotic which reached annual sales of $240 million in 2007. Mark was also Senior Director of Business Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. He received his B.E. in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin, Ireland and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Missouri . He received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1987. Mark was recently listed on the Forbes 2009 Midas List as one of the leading venture capitalists.

Mohamed Mutabagani | Chairman of The National Health Committee Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce Dr. Mohammed Mutabagani is Administrator, General Advisor to the Chairman and Board Member of the the New Jeddah Clinic Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Chairman Of The National Health Committee Saudi Council Of Chambers Of Commerce. His responsibilities at New Jeddah Hospital include operational management and ensuring compliance with JCI accreditation standards. Dr Mutabagani is a recognized leader and speaker on hospital quality improvement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has a Masters degree in Health Care Administration from Framingham College, USA and a PhD in Business Science from Sadat Academy, Cairo, Egypt.

Dr. Mohan Chellappa | President, Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, USA Dr Mohan Chellappa is the President, Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, USA. In this position, he is involved in the development of international clinical consultancy activities, especially in the area of clinical care program development, quality systems implementation and utilization of information technology in healthcare. Dr Chellappa has been instrumental in securing and establishing various clinical, management and enterprise developmental initiatives of Johns Hopkins Medicine globally. In addition, he is also the Chief Executive of Amcare Labs International, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins Medicine International. Amcare is in the business of establishing reference laboratory facilities in non-US markets. A surgeon by profession, he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh and Fellow of the American College of Surgeon, in additional to holding a business degree. He has a wide surgical experience, having worked in countries such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, UK and USA. Dr Chellappa pioneered laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery in Asia and subsequently provided training in laparoscopic techniques to many surgeons from the Mid-East and Asia Pacific Region. Through his training programs, he established a broad network of contacts with the Medical community in these countries. Familiarity with both the British and North American clinical practice, extensive experience in Asian healthcare and knowledge of the Middle East medical system are the attributes of Dr Chellappa.

Jane Homan | CEO of ioGenetics LLC Dr. Jane Homan is CEO of ioGenetics LLC, a Madison, Wisconsin biotechnology company developing novel protein antimicrobials. Dr. Homan has spent 15 years managing biotechnology startups. She was a co-founder of Gala Biotech, now a successful pharmaceutical contract manufacturing division of Catalent, before spinning out ioGenetics. Prior to moving into the private sector she coordinated international life sciences research and outreach programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received a PhD in virology and epidemiology from the University of Wisconsin, a Masters degree in microbiology from the University of Saskatchewan, and her veterinary degree from the University of Glasgow.

JiNan Glasgow | Founder and CEO of Neopatents JiNan Glasgow is the founder and CEO of Neopatents, a patent research and analytics company providing consulting services and software worldwide from the headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina USA (www.neopatents.com ). She is the inventor of patent claims diagramming innovations (Patent Matrix software) and the co-inventor of proprietary patent mapping tools for analyzing patents across all technology fields – and using visuals that help communicate complex information about patent sectors. A Patent Attorney and former Patent Examiner with the US Patent & Trademark Office, JiNan has been an IP practitioner with experience across a wide range of technology fields, serving clients in the US and internationally. She is a registered patent attorney with the North Carolina Bar and the USPTO; she is a founding partner of Triangle Patents, PLLC in Raleigh, NC, USA. She has worked with clients from the US, Canada, Europe, India, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya for development of intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks, and copyrights for licensing and commercialization globally.

Fadi El-Jardali | American University of Beirut Dr. El-Jardali is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the American University of Beirut. He is a visiting scholar with the McMaster Health Forum and Center of Health Economics and Policy Analysis at McMaster University in Canada. He has a PhD in Public Policy from Carleton University and has spent several years in Canada, working in the policy making process for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Federal Department of Health (Health Canada) and the Health Council of Canada. He is an international accreditation specialist with Accreditation Canada and work health system consultant with WHO.
His interests are focused on health systems, human resources for health, health policy making, quality of care and accreditation, patient safety, governance and accountability, priority setting in health care, strategic planning, and performance measurement reporting. He is currently a principal investigator for several regional studies.

Harald F. Stock | CEO, Grünenthal Group Harlad Stock is the Cheif Executive Officer of Grünenthal Group. Mr. Stock holds a PhD. degree in Chemistry and prior to joining Grünenthal Group Mr. Stock was the Managing Director for Johnson & Johnson in Germany for three years. Before, he had spent almost ten years in Germany and abroad with the Swiss Pharmaceuticals and the Diagnostics Company Roche in various local and global management positions.

Herman Van Cauteren | Founder Neglected Diseases Foundation Dr. Van Cauteren has worked in the pharmaceutical industry since 1978, specializing in preclinical safety assessment, preclinical development and Proof-of-Concept testing.
He spent the first 20 years of his career in Belgium with Janssen Pharmaceutica and held positions of increasing responsibility in the Tox/Path/LAM department, up to Vice President of Preclinical Safety. From 1998 through 2003, Dr. Van Cauteren was the Global Head of Preclinical Development at Novartis in Switzerland. In this position, he was responsible for the preclinical safety assessment of human pharmaceuticals including bio-analysis, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics for Europe, the USA, and Japan. In 2003, he returned to Belgium and joined Tibotec-Virco (a Johnson & Johnson Company specializing in antivirals) as Vice President, Drug Evaluation (Proof-of-Concept Testing) and Preclinical Development.
From January 2005 till May 2008, Dr. Van Cauteren served as the Head of Global PreClinical Development within Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals R&D.

Imad Ghandour | Executive Director, Gulf Capital, Abu Dhabi Imad Ghandour joined Gulf Capital in 2006 and is a Executive Director. Prior to joining Gulf Capital, Imad was a consultant working with several regional and international organizations. Imad holds a BS in Computer and Communication Engineering from American University of Beirut and an MBA from University of Wisconsin – Madison. Imad is also a Board member in the Gulf Venture Capital Association chairing the Statistics and Information Committee and a member of Young Arab Leaders. He is a frequent presenter in conferences about the subject of private equity and venture capital, and has several publications in this area.

Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi | Director General, Emirates Center For Strategic Studies and Research Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, USA. He is the Director General of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi and a Professor of Political Science at the United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain. He taught courses in Political Science Methodology, Political Culture, Comparative Governments, and International Relations at the UAE University and the University of Wisconsin, USA.

Dr. Al-Suwaidi has been the Head of the Distinguished Student Scholarship Board in Abu Dhabi since 1999, and he became a member of the Administrative Board of the Emirates Diplomatic Institute in 2001. In addition, Dr. Al-Suwaidi is the Chairman of the Board for the Emirates National School. He has also been a member of Zayed University Council for several years. In July in 2006, Dr. Al-Suwaidi became member of the National Media Council of the UAE. The Council is presided over by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Al-Suwaidi is also a member of the Board of Advisors at the School of Policy and International Affairs, University of Maine, USA, 2007.

Jean-Pierre Paccaud | PhD, Business Development Director, DNDi Dr. Paccaud is responsible for DNDi’s business development activities, including opportunity identification, contract structure and negotiations, and alliance management. Prior to joining DNDi, he served as Head of Business Development for R&D products at OM Pharma. Dr. Paccaud also notably founded and led Athelas SA, a startup company active in the field of anti-bacterial drug discovery, until its merger with Merlion Pharmaceuticals. Before taking on entrepreneurial challenges in industry, Dr. Paccaud spent more than 15 years in academia, working in immunology, diabetes, and cell biology. Trained as a molecular and cellular biologist, Jean-Pierre Paccaud completed his post-doctoral studies at the University of California at Berkeley , and earned his PhD at the University of Geneva School of Medicine.

Louis-Charles Viossat | Former French Ambassador in charge of the Fight against AIDS and communicable diseases In his capacity as Ambassador, he was a member of the Board of the Global Fund, UNITAID, UNAIDS and Roll Back Malaria. He has extensive experience as a health and public management expert on missions in developing countries and as a senior public sector management expert at the World Bank He has also held management positions as corporate affairs director of a pharmaceutical firm and as chief executive officer of the 13.000 employee national social and health tax agency. He has written books and articles on domestic and global social and health policy and has taught social and health policy at Sciences Po, National School of Government for more than ten years.

Marcus Sasse | Head of UBS Global Asset Management, Saudi Arabi Mr. Sasse is Head of UBS Global Asset Management, Saudi Arabia, Prior to that he was the Senior Healthcare Analyst and Strategist at UBS Global Asset Management in Zurich, Switzerland. There he was part of the Equity Portfolio Management Global Team and responsible for the UBS (Lux) Biotech Fund and for Healthcare Equity Research. After graduating from medical school, he started a residency in Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Basel, Switzerland, which he finished with the board certification. After leading a Research Project at the University of Calgary, Canada, he worked for a Healthcare Investment Company as an analyst before joining UBS. He holds an MD from the University of Aachen, Germany and an MBA from Kellogg University.

Naveed Siddiqi | Partner, Nomura Phase4 Ventures Naveed joined the Healthcare Corporate Finance Group at Nomura in 1998 and has focused on the Team's investment activities since 1999. Prior to joining the Team he gained several years experience advising management teams and companies on buy-outs, cross border M&A, private and public company offerings in biotechnology and other sectors whilst at Nomura and EFG Group. He has approaching nine years experience as an investment professional with Phase4 Ventures and has been involved in numerous investments including Pharmion, Altus and Phenomix. Naveed holds a degree in Medicine from Guy's Hospital, London and worked in the UK's National Health Service as a doctor. He qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG and holds a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors . Naveed is currently an observer on several Boards. Naveed is a member of the Investment Committee.

Oliver Tattan | The Regulated Industries Group Prior to establishing The Regulated Industries Group, Oliver Tattan founded of VIVAS Health, one of Ireland's fastest growing financial services companies. He has had the unusual experience of being a senior public servant turned entrepreneur and brings a unique perspective on the challenges facing public policymakers in driving economic growth with the challenges faced by the entrepreneur in taking on liberalising markets. Oliver has founded high growth companies in the health care, financial services and software sectors. Oliver won the Emerging Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007.

Philippe Chossegros | Network GT69, Lyon, France Dr Philippe Chossegros was in the 1980's, previous resident at one of the largest French liver units (one of the first in the world to be in involved in the clinical development of anti-viral drugs) also involved in HIV treatment since the start of the epidemics. He was faced with the problem of treating jaundiced young drug addicts and had to manage their stay in the unit (where issues included theft and drug use) at a time when no substitution treatment was available in France. This experience led to his continuing reflection on how to manage the increasing demand of HCV treatment coming from young addicts who required considerable social support and medical care for their addiction. Since 2005, he is head of his own unit which is involved in the care of prisoners requiring planning common processes with justice, police as well as social workers. His involvement and expertise in interprofessional and interdisciplinary cooperation as well as community capacity building led him to take part in the creation, in 1987, of the French national healthcare network of which he has been president from 2003 to 2008. He is also the administrator of the GIP ESTHER - French North-South inter-hospital collaboration to fight HIV epidemic).

Stewart Cole | Director, Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Dr Cole is the Director of the Global Health Institute at School of Life Sciences at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Prior to that he was the Scientific Director of the Institut Pasteur. Dr Cole is an internationally known researcher with his work on tuberculosis, leprosy, AIDS, gas gangrene and bacterial molecular genetics is widely acclaimed throughout the world. He was a leading member of the team of scientists who determined the complete nucleotide sequence for the AIDS virus. He is also considered to be a pioneer in the genomics of tuberculosis and leprosy bacilli. Dr Cole studied biology at the University of Wales prior to earning his doctorate from the University of Sheffield in 1979. Subsequently he embarked on a career as a researcher at the University of Umea (Sweden) and the Max Planck Institut in Tuebingen (Germany), and then at the Institut Pasteur, where he was in turn a senior research fellow, the head of the bacterial molecular genetics unit, a professor, and finally the Director of Strategic Technologies from 2000 to 2004. Since that time, he has been the Institute's Scientific Director. Dr Cole was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour for services rendered to science.

Robert Sebbag | Vice President Access to Medicines Sanofi-Aventis Dr Robert Sebbag is currently Vice President Access to Medicines at sanofi-aventis. In his role, Dr Sebbag participates in the company's access to medicines strategy development for the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to joining sanofi-aventis, Dr. Sebbag worked in Brussels for the European pharmaceutical industry association (EFPIA) on creating a communications platform for the pharmaceutical companies operating in Europe. In his prior role, he was Senior Vice President of Communications for the vaccine company, Aventis Pasteur (today known as sanofi pasteur). In addition to his activities within the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Sebbag is also teaching public health courses within the Paris hospital system, focusing on tropical parasitic diseases. Dr. Sebbag is active within the French Red Cross and has participated in numerous health missions in the Southern Hemisphere. Dr. Sebbag is a Doctor in Medicine with specialty in tropical parasitic diseases and training in psychiatry.

Robert Filipp | Head of Innovative Financing, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Robert R. Filipp is the Head of Innovative Financing of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria based in Geneva. In this role Mr. Filipp is responsible for the development and implementation of new financing instruments aimed at augmenting and diversifying global resources available for urgent health needs in developing countries. Robert is responsible for Debt2Health initiative, which aims to increase domestic investments in global health from debt conversions. Robert Filipp brings a wealth of experience in development finance and investment banking to the Global Fund. He has worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank and in private equity firms with investments in India and other emerging economies. Mr. Filipp has been educated in law, economics and international relations at Bonn University, Harvard University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where he has been a Marie Baier Fellow, and at American University in Washington D.C., where he has been a DAAD Fellow.

Samih Darwazah | Founder and Chairman, Hikma Pharmaceuticals Samih Darwazah, one of MENA's leading entrepreneurs, established Hikma Pharmaceuticals in 1978. Between 1995 and 1996 he served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in Jordan. He also founded the Jordan Trade Association and was a member of the Advisory Economic Council to His Majesty the King of Jordan.

Sean Hayes | Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP Sean Hayes is a shareholder in the Corporate & Securities department of Greenberg Traurig's New York office. Sean's practice is focused on private equity and leveraged finance transactions, public and private capital raising, fund formation and corporate governance and strategic advice. His clients include private equity sponsors, financial institutions, and public and private companies in a wide range of industries.

Sehamuddin Galadari | UAE University

Simon Turton | Managing Director, Warburg Pincus LLC Dr. Simon Turton heads Warburg Pincus' healthcare investing in Europe. Warburg Pincus is a global private equity firm and a leading investor in healthcare in the US, Western Europe, the CEE and Asia. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus in 2002, Dr. Turton was a Principal at Index Ventures in Geneva. Previously, Dr. Turton worked for Servier, the French pharmaceutical company, where he managed Northern Asia operations in Tokyo and Paris. He also worked for a pharmaceutical strategic alliances consultancy where he was in charge of business development. Dr. Turton has an M.B.A. from INSEAD, which he attended as a Sainsbury Management Fellow in the Life Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of London. He is a director of Archimedes Pharma, ProStrakan and Tornier.

Stefan J. Mallenbaum | Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP Stephan Mallenbaum is a shareholder in the Corporate & Securities Practice of Greenberg Traurig's New York office. Mr. Mallenbaum advises on complex business and strategic transactions, particularly in the areas of private equity, capital formation and technology. He brings more than 25 years of experience in structuring, negotiating and driving intricate, multi-party global transactions, including business acquisitions, financings, private equity deals, fund formations, strategic partnering arrangements, venture capital investments, IP commercializations, and corporate governance matters.

Stephen Walston | Associate Professor, Director, Executive Education Programs, University of Oklahoma Dr. Walston serves as the Director of University of Oklahoma's School of Public Health Department of Health Administration and Policy Executive Education and as Associate Professor. He also served as a chief executive officer for ten years in hospitals in the Western United States. During this time he implemented strategic planning, reengineering, TQM and CQI throughout his hospitals. He was honored by being selected the CEO of the Year twice by his company. He is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on the Regents Advisory Board. He has most recently worked at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia developing their strategies and organizational design.

Victoria Hale | Founder and CEO of Medicines360 Dr. Hale is Founder and CEO of Medicines360, a social-mission business dedicated to develop important new health care products to address global health inequalities; current programs include diarrhea and women’s health. Dr. Hale is Founder & Chair Emeritus of OneWorld Health, a nonprofit pharmaceutical company; under her leadership the organization developed a new cure for leishmaniaisis and a novel technology to reduce the cost of malaria drugs by more than 10-fold. Dr. Hale developed expertise in drug development at the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and at Genentech, the world's first biotechnology company. Her recent honors include being elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies of Science, and being granted the MacArthur "Genius" Award. She is internationally recognized as an outstanding social entrepreneur by the Skoll Foundation, Schwab Foundation, and Ashoka. The Economist named Hale the recipient of its Social and Economic Innovation Award, and she received the President's Award of Distinction from the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

Wassim Mourtada | CEO of Envision ALR Wassim Mourtada is the CEO of Envision ALR, a global diversified operating company specializing in the commercialization of nanotechnology, industrial biotechnology and stem cell therapeutics.
Mr. Mourtada was formerly Associate Director of the University of Michigan's Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance, a not for profit research group. His primary research focus at the Center was studying issues faced in the commercialization of research-institution originated intellectual property as well as the evolving structure of the private equity industry. He is a major contributor to one of the more notable publications in the field: "Taking Research to Market: How to Build and Invest in Successful University Spinouts", published in 2004 by Euromoney.
He was instrumental in the startup and financing of Genetics Squared, a leader in the personalized medicine space. Today Genetics Squared is engaged with major universities and pharmaceutical companies and will be releasing its first product onto the market in 2009.
Of Lebanese descent, he was raised in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He has earned two degrees from the University of Michigan in Economics and in Engineering.

Tom Healy | CEO, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Mr Healy is the Director General of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Mr Healy was previously Chief Executive of the Irish Stock Exchange, and is an Irish national. He was head of the Irish Exchange for twenty years, from February 1987 to June 2007. Mr Healy has carried out numerous consultancy and advisory assignments internationally, mainly on capital markets, including for the World Bank, the European Union and USAID. He has also served on a number of boards and committees in Ireland. He was actively involved in the World Federation of Exchanges and the Federation of European Securities Exchanges. Mr Healy has a degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin, and is a Member of the Securities Institute (UK).

Yahya Jalil | Head of Private Equity, The National Investor Yahya Jalil is Senior Executive Officer for TNI Dubai Ltd. He is also the fund manager for TNI's flagship private equity product – the TNI Growth Capital Fund. He has over 10 years of experience in private equity and mergers & acquisitions in New York at leading financial services firms such as Jefferies & Company, GE Capital and Credit Suisse First Boston. He is currently the Chairman of NAS, a UAE based provider of third party insurance claims processing solutions.

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