Plenary Speakers - ISUH Conference 2022

Paul Supawanich
Director of Programmes, Global Designing Cities Initiative

Paul Supawanich is the Director of Programs for the Global Designing Cities Initiative, overseeing the promotion of safe, equitable, and sustainable public space and street design around the world. Prior to this, he served as the Transportation Advisor to the Mayor in San Francisco, California. In that capacity he was responsible for the transportation policies covering the City’s streets, public-private mobility partnerships, and the city’s unique public transportation system including eight distinct modes of transit. Previously, Paul was part of the executive team at Remix, a civic-tech transportation company, where he helped grow the company’s impact to over 300 cities worldwide. He also helped craft the NACTO Urban Street Design Guidelines, pioneering guidance to formalize street design across the United States reflecting priorities in transit, cycling, and walking. Earlier in his career, Supawanich was a national transportation consultant supporting cities in improving their public transit systems and redesigning their streets.

Erion Veliaj
Mayor, City of Tirana

Mr. Erion Veliaj has BA degree in Political Science from the Grand Valley State University of Michigan, USA, and a MSc in European Studies from the University of Sussex, UK. Mr. Veliaj entered politics after a long engagement with civil society, international organizations and the media. In 2003, Mr. Veliaj founded the movement «MJAFT» (Enough), an organization that unified the activist and protest spirit of the Albanian youth, which in 2004 received the United Nations Award for civil society. In 2011, Mr. Veliaj joined the Socialist Party of Albania as Secretary for Youth and Migration. In the parliamentary elections of 2013, he was elected as a Member of the Albanian Parliament in Gjirokastra. Soon after he was appointed as the Albanian Minister of Social Welfare and Youth where he reformed the entire Social Security system, introduced the National Youth Action Plan and revamped social services and vocational training. Mr. Veliaj was the Albanian Socialist Party’s choice for the capital city in the local elections held June 2015. In 2015 Mr. Veliaj was sworn as the Mayor of Tirana, Albania where he currently serves.

Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux
Dean at Dornsife School of Public Health & Director at the Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel University

Ana V. Diez Roux is the Dana and David Dornsife Dean and Distinguished University Professor of Epidemiology at the Dornsife School of Public Health and Director of the Drexel Urban Health Collaborative. Originally trained as a pediatrician in her native Buenos Aires, she completed public health training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Before joining Drexel University, she served on the faculties of Columbia University and the University of Michigan, where she was Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health. Dr. Diez Roux is internationally known for her research on the social determinants of population health and the study of how neighborhoods affect health.

Dr. Ricardo Leite
Member of the Portuguese National Parliament (Lisbon Electoral District)

Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite is a Medical Doctor and a Member of the Portuguese National Parliament, where he sits on the Health Committee and on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He is Head of Public Health at the Institute of Health Sciences of the Catolica University of Portugal, Coordinator of the Sustainable Healthcare Unit at the NOVA Information Management School and Guest Lecturer at NOVA Medical School. He is also City Councilor of Cascais where he’s responsible for local health strategy, economic diplomacy and international relations. Prior to being elected MP, he was a practicing physician during 7 years, including a 5-year Infectious Diseases residency program at the Western Lisbon Hospital Center and an internship in public health (HIV, Hepatitis and STI’s) at WHO Regional Office for Europe. PhD candidate in Public Health at Maastricht University having completed post-graduate studies in multiple universities including Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Medical School.

Louise Vogel Kielgast
Associate, Gehl Architects

Louise is driven by a strong wish to address pressing challenges in society, using a people-first-approach in urban development and planning. As a strategic thinker she strives to understand the incentives for change in the various projects she engages in. As an Anthropologist and Health & Community Expert she is responsible for the development of new knowledge areas as well as for the development of Gehl’s public life approach, including survey methods that can suit different urban settings for varying purposes – from analysis, to strategic input, to impact assessment. In recent years she has worked with issues such as health, urban environments for early childhood development and the role of the public realm in innovative business areas. Louise thrives in collaborative processes and she has worked with both public clients, the Nordic City Network, foundations and universities.

Dr. David J. Erickson
Senior Vice President, Head of Outreach & Education, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

David J. Erickson is Senior Vice President and Head of Outreach and Education at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His areas of research include community development finance, affordable housing, economic development, and institutional changes that benefit low-income communities. Erickson has a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on economic history and public policy. He also holds a master’s degree in public policy from Berkeley and an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College. David has been a leader in the collaboration between the Federal Reserve and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in bringing the health sector together with community development.

Claudia Pizarro Peña
Mayor, La Pintana, Santiago, Chile

Claudia Pizarro Peña is a Chilean politician and public administrator. She is a militant from the Christian Democratic Party. In 2008, Pizarro was elected Councilor of La Pintana. She has been Mayor of La Pintana since 2016.

Dr. Matilda Bernadette King
The Medical Superintendent, Macauley Street Government Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Dr. Matilda Bernadette King is a mother figure for many homes, amongst women in Sierra Leone. As a State Registered Nurse, worked in several hospitals and later studied General Medicine at the Stavropol Medical Academy, Russia. She worked in different medical disciplines in Freetown hospitals. She worked for years as a Medical Officer, at The Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, the main referral maternity hospital. During which she trained in Obstetric and Neonatal Emergencies, Forensic Examination of Sexual Assault Victims, Emergency Obstetric Care and Ultrasound for Beginners. As a Senior Registrar in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, she worked as the Medical Superintendent of Rokupa Government Hospital, and trained in Hospital Management in Egypt, China and Japan. She is currently the Medical Superintendent of Macauley Street Government Hospital. She is an experienced and dedicated Gynecologist and working extensively in densely populated urban communities for the success of government declared premium on Maternal, Child Health Care and Mortality.

Sarah Skenazy
Clinical Specialist, Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health, Google Health

Sarah Skenazy is an urban planner and public health practitioner committed to co-creating physical, social, and technology infrastructure that work towards the elimination of racial disparities in health. As a Clinical Specialist at Google, Sarah’s work includes health equity approaches to climate change, pandemic response, and community health in neighborhood developments anchored by mixed-use Google campuses globally. Prior to her work with Google, Sarah was a research fellow with the Green Health Partnership, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She was previously a Health in Buildings scholar with the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and a population health data researcher with the California Environmental Health Tracking Program. Sarah holds graduate degrees in public health and urban planning from UC Berkeley and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Rowena Estwick
National and International Partnerships Manager. Impact on Urban Health

Rowena is a strong advocate of community leadership and has extensive experience in grassroots community programs, leading change and advocating for socio-economic equity. At the start of her career, she developed a community led youth center, which she ran for 10 years and received a Lambeth Civic Award for Services to Young People. She is solution-focused, highly motivated, and a confident leader. She has an honest approach, is personable and a dedicated advocate of urban regeneration, community development and equity. Rowena joined Impact on Urban Health early 2017. Previously, as National and International Partnerships Manager, she worked with partners nationally and internationally to build and share our knowledge in urban health. Now, as Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Rowena’s role is to bring momentum and focus to our diversity, equity, and inclusion work.

Dr. Audrey de Nazelle
Senior Lecturer at the Centre of Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, Co-chair of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) Policy Committee, Chair & Founder of of Imperial’s Network of Excellence on Air Quality

Dr. Audrey de Nazelle is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. She co-chairs the International Society on Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) Policy Committee. Her work, at the intersection of environmental sciences, health behavior, transportation, and urban planning, aims at guiding decision makers towards health-promoting built environments and policies. A particular focus is on determinants and impacts of travel behavior, including relationships between active travel and air pollution (exposures, health risks and benefits, and societal engagement). Dr de Nazelle holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health in Environmental Sciences, a Maîtrise in Mathematics from the University of Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie. She conducted her postdoctoral research at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (now ISGLOBAL), Barcelona, Spain.

Joanna Masic
Global Lead for Sustainable City Infrastructure and Services, The World Bank

Joanna Masic is the Global Lead for the Sustainable City Infrastructure and Services and Lead Urban Specialist, Cities and Climate change within the Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience, and Land Global Practice at the World Bank. Ms. Masic is an Environmental Scientist, Geographer and Environmental Epidemiologist with over 20 years’ experience managing sustainable infrastructure lending, grants and advisory services across Asia and Europe. She has worked for World Bank, Asian Development, UK Department for International Development, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and waste management firms. Ms. Masic holds an MSc in Environmental Epidemiology and Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an MA in Environmental Science and Geography from the University of Dundee, UK. She is a Chartered Scientist (UK Science Council) and Chartered Water and Environment Manager (UK Chartered Institute of Water and Environment Management).

Vicky Hobart
GLA Group Director of Public Health and Deputy Statutory Adviser, Greater London Authority and Office of Health Improvement and Disparities

Vicky joined the GLA in 2018, leading the Health Team with a focus on health in all policies, resilience (including COVID response), the Mayor’s health programs for London, championing and challenging the health and care system, and the London Health Inequalities Strategy. In 2022 she was appointed as the GLA Group’s first Director of Public Health, establishing a new Unit to serve the Mayor, Assembly, GLA and its functional bodies. This follows three years as Director of Public Health, Adult Care and Wellbeing in Redbridge, establishing an integrated public health and adult social care function focused on strategy, policy and commissioning. Vicky’s earlier career includes eight years working in a tropical small island health system, and various teaching and research roles. Vicky chaired the London Association of Directors of Public Health from 2015-2018. As chair of governors at a north London primary school she helped it achieve an outstanding rating. Vicky is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and supports public health training as an examiner, educational supervisor and mentor.

Dr. Roel Vermeulen
Professor, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University and Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht, Netherlands

Prof. Roel Vermeulen is a Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Exposome Science at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University and at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. He is the co-chair of the Personalized Health and Medicine Program of Utrecht Life Sciences at Utrecht University and co-coordinates the preventive health program of the alliance between the Universities of Wageningen, Eindhoven and Utrecht and the academic Medical Center Utrecht. He previously held positions at the National Cancer Institute, USA. Prof Vermeulen’s scientific research focuses on environmental risk factors for cancer, cardiometabolic and neurological diseases through inter and trans-disciplinary research. He is the PI of several large case-control and prospective (biobank) studies in occupational and the general population. Prof. Roel Vermeulen has served on many international committees including the WHO and the National Toxicology Program in the US. He is a member of the Dutch Health Council and has authored/co-authored over 700 publications.

Dr. Ann Aerts
Head, Novartis Foundation

Ann is Head of the Novartis Foundation, an organization committed to transform the health of low-income populations, by leveraging the power of data, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to reimagine health and care around the world. Ann holds a Degree in Medicine, 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. Passionate about improving population health through data, digital and AI, Ann chairs the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Working Group on Digital and AI in Health and is a member the Philips Foundation Board. Ann served as a member of the US NASEM Committee on Improving the Quality of Health Care Globally and on the US NAM Commission on Healthy Longevity. She was named one of the top 50 innovators in 2020 by the World Summit AI community.

Dr. Shamim Hayder Talukder
Chief Executive Officer Eminence Associates for Social Development (EASD) Bangladesh & Member Secretary Bangladesh Urban Health Network (BUHN)

Md. Shamim Hayder Talukder has been leading the non-government organization Eminence Associates for Social Development since its inception in August 2003. As a dynamic leader he extended his position at global level as the President of the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) in 2015-2017. He also play key leader of the Bangladesh Urban Health Network (BUHN) since 2009 as a member secretary. Under his headship, Eminence recognized itself as an affiliated member of the several international associations such as “International Diabetes Federation”, “World Heart Federation”, “Union for International Cancer Control”, “International Epidemiological Association”, and “Population and Sustainable Development Alliance” etc. Academically Dr. Md. Talukder completed his medical graduation from Rajshahi Medical College, Bangladesh followed by his Master’s in philosophy degree in International Community Health from Oslo University, Norway. Public health, clinical research and training are the key concern areas of his activities. He also has a keen interest in implementing community-based programs through different innovative ideas and approaches. Dr. Talukder is running a number of development-related philosophical global campaigns on community business models for ensuring the utmost ethics in business for development.

Dr. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen
Director, Urban Planning, Environment and Health initiative and the Air pollution and Urban Environment Research Program at ISGlobal Barcelona, Spain

Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen PhD is a Research Professor and a director of the Urban Planning, Environment and Health initiative and the Air pollution and Urban Environment research program at ISGlobal Barcelona, Spain. He is a world leading expert in environmental exposure assessment, epidemiology, and health impact assessment with a strong focus and interest on healthy urban living. He has edited 3 books on Exposure Assessment and on Environmental Epidemiology, 5 books around urban and transport planning and health (including COVID19), co-authored 35 book chapters, and has co-authored more than 500 papers published in peer reviewed journals. In 2018, he was awarded the ISEE John Goldsmith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Epidemiology. In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 he was among the 1% most cited scientists in the world. In 2021 he was ranked as the number 1 scientist in Urban health. In 2020 and 2021 he was the president of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology.

Dr. Tolullah Oni
Clinical Director of Research, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge & Extraordinary Professor, Innovation Africa, University of Pretoria

Tolullah Oni is the Director of the Global Diet and Physical Activity Group and Network at the University of Cambridge MRC Epidemiology Unit and an Extraordinary Professor & Chair at Innovation Africa@UP, University of Pretoria, South Africa where she leads the Urban Better Satellite Studio. She is the Founder & Principal of UrbanBetter | Oni et al and an Honorary Associate Professor and Lead of the Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE) group at the University of Cape Town. A Public Health Physician and urban epidemiologist, her work supports a coordinated approach between science, policy and societal role players, identifying creative and long-term strategies to address complex urban health challenges in rapidly growing cities. She has served as scientific adviser for several organizations including Future Earth and the International Science Council and is an editorial board member of PLOS Global Public Health, Cities and Health, and the Journal of Urban Health. In recognition of her work, she has been profiled in the Lancet journal, Science magazine, and the British Medical Journal, and is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, Next Einstein Forum Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Somsook Boonyabancha
Chairperson, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, Chairperson Baan Mankong Housing Committee Thailand

Somsook Boonyabancha, chairperson of Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, a coalition of organizations working on urban poor housing and city development in Asia. She was a former Director of Community Organizations Development Institute in Thailand. She has been working extensively on urban poor housing development and slum upgrading in Thailand and in countries in Asia in the past 30 years (since 1977). During her CODI years, she implemented the national city-wide community upgrading which has been implemented in more than 300 cities. Apart from urban community process, she also has good experiences managing various community-led development process on various rural development activities, the rural-urban link and community-led disaster rehabilitation, community welfare, etc. Under ACHR, she has supported community-driven city-wide upgrading activities in 215 cities in 19 countries in Asia as well as community development fund activities in more than 100 cities, exchange visits, workshops are some among them.

Ethan Kent
Executive Director, PlacemakingX

Ethan Kent works to support public space and placemaking leadership around the world, to grow the global placemaking movement. In 2019 he co-founded PlacemakingX to network and accelerate placemaking for global impact, growing 18+ regional placemaking networks that he helped initiate, including helping to lead the national network PlacemakingUS, and the resource center The Social Life Project. Ethan builds on more than two decades of experience at Project for Public Spaces working with local communities on public space and placemaking projects and campaigns, traveling to more than 1000 cities and towns, in 60 countries. He has been integral to the development of placemaking as a transformative approach to economic development, environmentalism, transportation planning, governance, resilience, social equity, design, digital space, inclusion, tourism and innovation. Ethan has keynoted well over 100 leading urbanism conferences and has helped organize dozens of the conferences that have most shaped the placemaking movement.

Louise Francis
Managing Director, Mapping for Change

Louise Francis is Co-Founder and Managing Director of the social enterprise Mapping for Change, which is part-owned by University College London. Louise discovered the power of maps through her early research in evolutionary genetics and the environment. She moved on from there to combine people, places, the environment and maps in her work and research, with a particular focus on justice, sustainability, and community development. Louise has led projects that embed participatory processes, community engagement, co-design, and citizen science to drive positive change. This spans topics from sustainable tourism and diversification in small island states to local pollution monitoring and urban planning, from exploring issues of accessibility for people with mobility impairments to looking at citizenship and social housing issues, with a particular focus on marginalized groups. Louise’s research relates to the differing contributions participatory processes, mapping, volunteered geographic information and citizen science make as agents for change at both a grassroots and policy level. Her extensive experience includes working with a diverse range of grass-roots organizations, local authorities, and academics in the UK, Caribbean, mainland Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Carme Borrell
Director, Public Health Agency of Barcelona

Carme Borrell, Medical Doctor, PhD in public health, specialist in preventive medicine and public health and in family medicine. She works at the Public Health Agency of Barcelona (now as Executive Director). Associate Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and at the Johns Hopkins University. Editor in chief of the Spanish journal Gaceta Sanitaria (journal of public health) 2010-2016. Her area of research is the study of social determinants of health, leading research groups on this topic, having lead many national and international projects and having published many scientific articles. She was the principal investigator of the European Union 7th framework project SOPHIE (http://www.sophie-project.eu/).

Dr. Thiago Hérick de Sá
Age-friendly Environments, Technical Officer, World Health Organization (WHO)

Thiago Herick de Sa holds a degree in Sports Science and Masters and PhD degrees in Public Health. He started his career as a physical educator, working with older people at hospitals, primary care settings and households in Brazil. From 2010, Thiago worked as a researcher in Brazil and in the UK, with a track record of scientific publications in high-impact journals. Thiago joined WHO in 2017 to support the work around urban, transport and health, including the development of WHO’s Urban Health Initiative (ongoing) and WHO’s Urban Health Research Agenda (2022). He also led the development of several technical resources such as the Sourcebook on Integrating Health in Urban and Territorial Planning (2020) and the adaptation for global use of the HEAT tool (2021). In 2022, Thiago joined the Department of Social Determinants of Health to lead the work on Age-friendly environments, including the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities.

Nina Renshaw
Head of Health, Clean Air Fund

Nina Renshaw has eighteen years of experience of international policy and advocacy in diverse fields, including health, environment, economy, transport and international development. Nina has a Master’s degree in Contemporary European Politics and Policy from Humboldt University, Berlin and the University of Bath, UK, writing her thesis on the role of civil society in environmental policy-making, and a degree in International Business and Modern Languages (German and French) from Aston University, UK. She has represented civil society on advisory groups to the WHO, OECD, UNECE and to the European Commission on international trade, better regulation, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Nina has served as a board member of several NGOs, including the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), the European Citizens’ Organisation for Standardisation (ECOS), and Green Budget Europe, and is engaged in academic research aiming to tackle unhealthy commodity industries’ interference in policy-making. Nina was previously based in Brussels, where she led the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) as Secretary-General and was Deputy Director of the campaign group Transport & Environment.

Dr. Maria Neira
Director, Department of Public Health and Environment, World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr. Maria P. Neira is the Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland since September 2005. Prior to that she served as Under-Secretary of Health and President of the Spanish Food Safety Agency. Dr. Neira began her career as a medical coordinator working with refugees in El Salvador and Honduras for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). She then spent several years working in different African countries during armed conflicts. Born in the city of Oviedo, Asturias, Dr. Neira is a Spanish national, a medical doctor by training and specialized in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases in Paris, France. In addition, she holds a Master of Public Health and a Diploma in Human Nutrition, Epidemic Preparedness and Crisis Management. Among many distinctions, she has been awarded the Médaille de l’Ordre national du Mérite by the Government of France and received an “Extraordinary Woman” award by HM Queen Letizia of Spain. In early 2019, she was nominated among the top 100 policy influencers in health and climate change.

Susanna Hausmann
Chief Program Officer, Fondation Botnar

Susanna is the Chief Program Officer for Fondation Botnar. She has been working over the past 25 years in global and public health, with long field stays in Tanzania and Mexico, and completed her Master in Medical Anthropology and her PhD in Epidemiology. She has extensive experience in implementation research, specialising on multisectoral collaboration and bringing the community voice into policy and planning. She was previously Deputy CEO and Head of Grant Making at the UBS Optimus Foundation and helped establish several NGOs in the global health field. At Fondation Botnar she leads the city engagement portfolio, developing the strategy and implementation of partnerships in selected intermediary cities worldwide, supporting the transformation into young people centred cities. She is responsible for the Foundation’s Evidence to Action Participatory Action Research for city transformation and for several Initiatives such as the Healthy Cities for Adolescents Program as well as the Youth Gamechanger Initiative and Youth2030 Cities Program in collaboration with UN-Habitat.

Sharon Roerty
Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Sharon Roerty, AICP/PP/MCRP, is an urban alchemist and Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation where she concentrates on the impact of the built environment on population health including looking for global exemplars that can be adapted and adopted in the U.S. She has worked extensively on transportation, environmental and urban policy. Prior to RWJF, Roerty was the CEO of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking (NCBW); and prior to that Roerty was the Supervising Manager for the multibillion-dollar capital improvement program for the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. She was a Senior Project Manager for applied research at the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University working closely with faculty, staff students and lead state and federal agencies. She has prepared and reviewed Environmental Impact Statements and development feasibility studies. Sharon believes our public spaces should hug us; and that inclusion is paramount to health equity.

Jacqueline Weekers
Director, Migration Health Division, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Jacqueline Weekers is the Director of the Migration Health Division at IOM in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Weekers has been working in the domain of migrant health for some twenty-five years in the Asia Pacific region and at Headquarters level in IOM and WHO. Ms. Weekers advises Member States, partners and colleagues on the management of migration health issues, relevant strategies and policies in line with sustainable development goals and building needed partnerships. She was i.a. responsible for the organization of the 2010 and 2017 multi stakeholder Global Consultations on the Health of Migrants, and she has widely promoted the mainstreaming of migration health into the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and UHC agenda. She is a Swiss and Dutch national with an educational background in psychology and public health. Before joining the international community, she worked as a clinician in the USA and The Netherlands.

Dr. Nathalie Röbbel
Head of Urban Health, World Health Organization (WHO)

Nathalie Röbbel is the Lead for WHO’s work on Urban Health at the WHO, in the Department on Social Determinants of Health. Prior to this she was leading WHOs work on air pollution and housing in the Department for Environment, Climate Change and Health. One of her main areas of work was the development of WHO Housing and Health Guidelines and WHO’s efforts to address slum upgrading through housing policies and other social policies and interventions. Before joining WHO HQ, she worked as a technical officer at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, in Bonn and Copenhagen, where she was responsible for environmental health performance reviews and involved in several urban health related projects. Ms Röbbel holds a Ph.D. from the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn, Germany.

Dr. Billie Giles-Corti
Distinguished Professor and Vice Chancellor Professorial Fellow

Professor Billie Giles-Corti is a Distinguished Professor and a Vice Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow at RMIT University. For over two decades, she and a multi-disciplinary research team have been studying the impact of the built environment on health and wellbeing. She currently leads the Healthy Liveable Cities Lab in RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research; and between 2014-2020 led an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Liveable Communities. She has been a Technical Advisor of the Victorian Office of the Government Architect’s Design Review Panel, a member of the Victorian Planning Authority’s Precinct Structure Plan Review Committee, a member of Melbourne Water’s Liveability Panel and is an Honorary Fellow of both the Planning Institute of Australia and the Public Health Association. She has published over 400 articles, book chapters and reports, and by citations, is ranked in the top 1% of researchers in her field globally.

Dr. Marc Ho
Director, Contact Tracing and Epidemiology Centre, Ministry of Health, Singapore

Marc is Director for the Contact Tracing and Epidemiology Centre at the Ministry of Health, Singapore. He oversees national policy and operations of contact tracing, surveillance and epidemiologic investigations for COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. Prior to his current appointment, Marc was seconded to the World Health Organization as technical lead for urban health emergency preparedness. He led the development and publication of the interim guidance and checklist for local authorities on strengthening preparedness for COVID-19 in cities and urban settings. He also ran a series of technical working group meetings culminating in a framework, guidance and the adoption of a global resolution on health emergency preparedness and response in cities and urban preparedness at the World Health Assembly. A medical doctor and public health specialist, Marc obtained his Master of Public Health from the National University of Singapore and is a fellow of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

Dr. Madeleine Thomson
Head of Climate Impacts & Adaptation, Wellcome Trust

Dr. Madeleine Thomson is the Head of Climate Impacts & Adaptation at Wellcome Trust where she seeks to advance the institutes vision of “a world where catastrophic climate breakdown is averted in a way that allows human health to flourish” and mission of “putting health at the heart of climate action”. Prior to her current position she was the interim Head of Our Planet Our Health. Before joining Wellcome in July 2019, Madeleine worked as Senior Research Scientist at The International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, where she directed the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on ‘Malaria Early Warning Systems and other Climate Sensitive Diseases’. She was also a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Her research has involved the development of new data, methodologies and tools for improving climate-sensitive health interventions with a focus on infectious disease, public health outcomes of hydrometeorological disasters and nutrition. Madeleine is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Health Informatics, Computing and Statistics at Lancaster University Medical School.

Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford
Clinical Professor of Global Health, New York University School of Global Public Health & Chair of the Board, International Society for Urban Health

Dr. Boufford is immediate past President of The New York Academy of Medicine. Since 2018, she is Clinical Professor of Global Public Health at the College of Global Public Health at New York University where she is also Professor of Public Service, Health Policy and Management at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine. She served as Dean of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University from 1997 to 2002. Prior to that, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1993 to 1997. While at HHS, she was the U.S. representative on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) from 1994–1997. Dr. Boufford was awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC for 1979–1980. She received Honorary Doctorate of Science degrees from the State University of New York, Brooklyn, New York Medical College, Pace University, and Toledo University. Dr. Boufford received her BA (Psychology) magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, and her MD, with distinction, from the University of Michigan Medical School. She is Board Certified in pediatrics.

Sra. Giselle Sebag
Executive Director, International Society for Urban Health

Giselle Sebag (MPH, LEED AP) is the Executive Director of the International Society for Urban Health. She holds a Master’s of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, joint M.Sc. degrees in international cooperation and urban development from the Technische Universität Darmstadt and international cooperation in sustainable emergency architecture from the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, and bachelor’s degrees in architecture and government from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture (UTSOA) and College of Liberal Arts. She is a globally recognized urban health leader with 15 years of experience advising governments, multilaterals, NGOs, and private sector companies to develop sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities that promote and enhance resident health. Prior to joining ISUH, Giselle was a public sector consultant at Bloomberg Associates, where she advised cities developing evidence-based urban health solutions with the aim of improving the lives of the greatest number of citizens.

Dr. Carlos Dora
President, International Society for Urban Health

Dr. Carlos Dora is the President of the International Society for Urban Health. He is a medical doctor and an epidemiologist with an MSc and a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has a distinguished career in global public health and environment. Until recently, he coordinated the WHO’s global work on health impacts of sector policies (energy, transport, housing, extractive industry) and on articulating a global response to air pollution. He led the development of a new Urban Health Initiative to strengthen health systems capacity in cities to support health, climate and air quality benefits from urban policies, which is under pilot implementation in Africa and Asia. He also led the development of a framework for how public health can contribute to Habitat III objectives and the New Urban Agenda. He has worked in academia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and as a visiting professor at Columbia University School of Public Health. He currently advises governments, civil society and philanthropy about health as it relates to non-heath sector policies and the urban environment.

LIST OF PLENARY SPEAKERS & CHAIRS PER SESSION

Opening Ceremony

Sr. Joan Ribó Chair

Sra. Maimunah Mohd Sharif Speaker

Sra. Giselle Sebag Speaker

Dr. Carlos Dora Speaker

Sra. Laura Soto Speaker

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Speaker

Dra. Mª Vicenta Mestre Speaker

Plenary 1: Strengthening the Policy Response to Improve Climate, Clean Air and Health in Urban Environments

Dr. Carlos Dora Chair

Dr. Madeleine Thomson Speaker

Nina Renshaw Speaker

Dr. Maria Neira Speaker

Joanna Masic Speaker

Plenary 2: Transforming Urban Environments for Health

Giselle Sebag Chair

Dr. Nathalie Röbbel Speaker

Dr. David J. Erickson Speaker

Rowena Estwick Speaker

Louise Vogel Kielgast Speaker

Sarah Skenazy Speaker

Plenary 3: Urban Health Pathways

Dr. Tolullah Oni Chair

Dr. Ann Aerts Speaker

Dr. Audrey de Nazelle Speaker

Dr. Shamim Hayder Talukder Speaker

Dr. Ricardo Leite Speaker

Dr. Roel Vermeulen Speaker

Plenary 4: Making it Happen

Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux Chair

Dr. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen Speaker

Susanna Hausmann Speaker

Louise Francis Speaker

Dr. Carme Borrell Speaker

Ethan Kent Speaker

Plenary 5: Building Equitable Cities for All

Dr. Thiago Hérick de Sá Chair

Somsook Boonyabancha Speaker

Sharon Roerty Speaker

Dr. Billie Giles-Corti Speaker

Dr. Matilda Bernadette King Speaker

Erion Veliaj Speaker

Paul Supawanich Speaker

Plenary 6: Special Session – Global Challenges for Urban Health

Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford Chair

Jacqueline Weekers Speaker

Dr. Marc Ho Speaker

Vicky Hobart Speaker

Claudia Pizarro Peña Speaker

Sr. Joan Ribó

Chair

Sra. Maimunah Mohd Sharif

Speaker

Sra. Giselle Sebag

Speaker

Dr. Carlos Dora

Speaker

Sra. Laura Soto

Speaker

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Speaker

Dra. Mª Vicenta Mestre

Speaker

Dr. Carlos Dora

Chair

Dr. Madeleine Thomson

Speaker

Nina Renshaw

Speaker

Dr. Maria Neira

Speaker

Joanna Masic

Speaker

Giselle Sebag

Chair

Dr. Nathalie Röbbel

Speaker

Dr. David J. Erickson

Speaker

Rowena Estwick

Speaker

Louise Vogel Kielgast

Speaker

Sarah Skenazy

Speaker

Dr. Tolullah Oni

Chair

Dr. Ann Aerts

Speaker

Dr. Audrey de Nazelle

Speaker

Dr. Shamim Hayder Talukder

Speaker

Dr. Ricardo Leite

Speaker

Dr. Roel Vermeulen

Speaker

Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux

Chair

Dr. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen

Speaker

Susanna Hausmann

Speaker

Louise Francis

Speaker

Dr. Carme Borrell

Speaker

Ethan Kent

Speaker

Dr. Thiago Hérick de Sá

Chair

Somsook Boonyabancha

Speaker

Sharon Roerty

Speaker

Dr. Billie Giles-Corti

Speaker

Dr. Matilda Bernadette King

Speaker

Erion Veliaj

Speaker

Paul Supawanich

Speaker

Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford

Chair

Jacqueline Weekers

Speaker

Dr. Marc Ho

Speaker

Vicky Hobart

Speaker

Claudia Pizarro Peña

Speaker