Tayo Bablobi
Nigeria
Armel Tedjou Nouboudem
Cameroon
Robert Shey
Cameroon
Zegeye Hailemariam Tessema
Ethiopia
Ahmed Aboushady
USA
Louisa Messenger
USA
Jose Moreira
Brazil
Elizabeth Ashley
Lao PDR
Dominicus Husada
Indonesia
George Varghese
India
Akshatha Ravindra
India
Babalobi Olutayo Olajide is a Nigerian Veterinary Epidemiologist and Consultant/Lecturer/Researcher at the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, where he was Acting Head of the Department between August 2008 and July 2010. He holds the DVM, MVPM, PhD, MCVSN, and FCVSN qualifications in Veterinary Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology.
He is a Consultant Facilitator and Trainer at the Membership and Fellowship levels of the postgraduate College of Veterinary Surgeons Nigeria, of which he is a member of the Academic Board.
Over the years, he has been actively involved in around fifty activities promoting the One Health Initiative in Nigeria.
Dr. Zegeye Hailemariam Tessema is currently the national coordinator of the Ethiopian Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training program. He is a researcher, mentor, and advisor for residents at different universities, and he is the chief consultant for research affairs in public health. He is also a professional instructor for One Health in the country at different universities.
Dr. Tessema is working on developing the surveillance workforce for Ethiopian public health management. He has worked in the Federal Ministry of Health for over thirty years, strengthening the Ethiopian Health System and developing policies and guidelines. He is actively working with the Ethiopian Public Health Association and the Ethiopian Veterinary Professional Association.
Chinyere, is a Professor of Public Health Parasitology of Imo State University Owerri Nigeria and is presently the pioneer Director Academic Planning and Quality Assurance of Wigwe University Isiokpo Rivers State Nigeria. Chinyere was the 1999 best graduating Ph.D student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka winning both the Vice Chancellor’s Prize and the Faculty of Science Prize. She was a Federal Government scholar at both the secondary school level (Fed. Govt. Girls College Onitsha) and Master’s degree level (University of Nigeria Nsukka). Chinyere holds a Ph.D degree in Medical Parasitology from the Department of Zoology University of Nigeria Nsukka. The Ph.D program was supported by the Tropical Diseases Research (TDR)/ World Health Organization (WHO) training grant with Dr. Hartwig Schulz-Key (University of Tubingen Germany) as co – supervisor.
Chinyere has more than 24 years post graduate research and teaching experience. She has to her credit more than 160 publications in reputable journals, produced more than 46 PhD graduates, as well as numerous MSc graduates.
She consulted for the African Program on Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) now ESPEN a subsidiary of World Health Organization, AFRO (another subsidiary of WHO) and has also consulted for the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Niger Delta Federal Amnesty Program.
Chinyere served Imo State University Owerri in various capacities including Head, Department of Animal & Environmental Biology (Zoology), the Director, Consultancy Services Unit, the first Director Quality Assurance unit, Member of the Imo State University 7th Governing Council, first female Director Academic Planning Unit as well as the first female Dean Student Affairs Directorate. She has very recently moved to Wigwe University Isiokpo as the pioneer Director Academic Planning and Quality Assurance.
Chinyere was the immediate past National President of the Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria and is presently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society. She is an Executive Council member (representing Africa) of the International Society of Infectious Diseases (ISID) where she is part of the mentorship program with two mentees from Africa. She is a National Executive Council member of the World Federation of Parasitologists as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Dr. Rashad Abdul-Ghani received his bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science from Sana’a University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1998. He pursued his postgraduate studies at Alexandria University, where he received his Master of Public Health Sciences in 2010 and a PhD in Applied and Molecular Parasitology in 2014. He is currently an Associate Professor at Sana’a University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, with partial affiliation with the Tropical Disease Research Center, University of Science and Technology, Sana’a. His research focuses primarily on tropical parasitic and vector-borne diseases. Dr Abdul-Ghani has been actively involved in several training workshops, conferences and committees and has supervised undergraduate projects, master, and doctoral theses. He has contributed to several peer-reviewed publications for indexed journals and served as a temporary WHO consultant for Yemen’s National Malaria Control Program. From August 2018 to July 2022, he served as a member of the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In Vitro Diagnostics (SAGE IVD) for three terms, contributing to a number of WHO documents and reports. He is also a member of the Uniting to Combat NTDs Consultative Forum. In 2021, Dr Abdul-Ghani was honored with the TDR Global Career Impact Contest award, organized by TDR Global and Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health (SESH), recognizing TDR-supported scholars working on infectious diseases of poverty.
Dr. Mohamed Rhajaoui is currently the director of the National Institute of Hygiene in Morocco and the current National Focal Point of the Biological Weapons Convention. He is also a member of the Permanent National Scientific Research Committee, a member of the jury of the Lalla Hasnaa Sustainable Littoral trophy, and a member of the National Scientific and Technical Vaccine Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Mohamed Rhajaouiwas coordinated the National Genomic Consortium of SARS-CoV-2 and was the Technical responsible for the National COVID-19 Laboratoires.Dr. Rhajaouiis graduated in Health Management and Marketing and specialized in Health Program Management and Parasitological and Vector Borne diseases.
Paolo Calistri is working since 1995 at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZS-Teramo) Italy. He is the Head of the Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory. In his remit he coordinates the work of two Units (Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis, Statistics and GIS), and the activities of the National Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology activities.
Other responsibilities and memberships:
He was involved in many international activities as a risk analysis expert and in several international projects and initiatives focused on the prevention and control of animal health diseases and zoonoses.
More than 130 published papers (h-index: 26).
Nicola Petrosillo is an Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine specialist who currently works at the University Hospital Campus Bio-Medico in Rome, Italy. For 22 years, he has been the Director of an Infectious Disease Division at the National Institute for Infectious Diseases “L. Spallanzani” in Rome, Italy. He is President of the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee on Infection Control, European Union Medical Specialties (UEMS).
His main fields of interest include emerging and re-emerging infections, pandemic plans, preparedness, communication and health, healthcare-associated infections, severe infections, infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance, and antimicrobial stewardship. Since 2013, he has been Editor-in-Chief of the Peer-reviewed journal Infectious Disease Reports (IF=3.4).
Dr. Doo Ryeon Chung is an esteemed infectious diseases specialist with over 25 years of experience in clinical practice and research, focusing on antimicrobial resistance, infection control, and antimicrobial stewardship. He currently serves as a professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea.
Dr. Chung obtained his M.D. from Seoul National University and furthered his expertise with a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Department of Medicine at Seoul National University Graduate School. His post-graduate training includes an internship at Seoul National University Hospital, a residency in internal medicine at Asan Medical Center, a clinical fellowship in infectious diseases at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, and a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School, the USA.
Throughout his career, Dr. Chung has held significant roles in various institutions. He served as the Director of Infection Control at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital and later at Samsung Medical Center. He has also played a key role in public policy advisory roles at both national and international levels, contributing to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr. Chung’s significant contributions to the field are reflected by his numerous academic appointments. He has served as the Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Foundation for Infectious Diseases (APFID) and the Organizer of the Asian Network for Surveillance of Resistant Pathogens (ANSORP). His commitment to antimicrobial stewardship is highlighted by his leadership in developing computerized prescription programs and launching public antibiotic awareness campaigns.
With over 300 research papers published in reputable journals, Dr. Chung remains a leading figure in the fight against infectious diseases, advocating for improved infection control practices and antimicrobial stewardship globally.
