Diagnostics Beyond 2030

Ong Ye Kung is the Minister for Health. He was elected Member of Parliament for  Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in September 2015, and  was re-elected in July 2020 in Sembawang GRC. 

He had held the positions of Minister for Transport, Minister for Education, Second  Minister for Defence and board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He  is also the Chairman of the Chinese Development Assistance Council. 

Prior to joining politics, he held various positions in Government, including Chief  Executive Officer of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency, and Deputy  Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. He served several  years in the Labour Movement, as the Deputy Secretary-General of the National  Trades Union Congress, and spent some time in the private sector, as the Director of  Group Strategy at Keppel Corporation. 

Mr Ong graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) and the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland. He is  married with two children. 

Ayoade Alakija is a medical doctor who brings over two decades of experience from Asia, the Americas, the Pacific region, Europe and Africa to the role. She is a global health and humanitarian leader, and has been a leading voice calling for the urgent reimagining of how the globe should respond more consciously to the inequities in access to healthcare exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She currently serves as World Health Organization (WHO) Special Envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, co-chairs the Principals Group and has worked closely with the WHO Director-General, FIND, and other ACT-Accelerator agencies throughout the pandemic. In her previous Minister-Counselor role as Chief Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, she led the integrated humanitarian response and spearheaded the Oslo Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, working with governments and multilateral institutions to mobilize resources for some of the most under-recognized humanitarian crises in the world. Ayoade is the Chair of the African Union’s African Vaccine Delivery Alliance/Africa Countermeasures and Readiness Platform and founder of the Emergency Coordination Centre in Nigeria which promotes the rights of women and girls in education and health.

Born on the Caribbean island nation of Dominica, Baroness Scotland grew up in east London. Training as a lawyer she, in 1991, became both the youngest and first black woman to be appointed a Queen's Counsel. She was the first black woman to be appointed Deputy High Court Judge, Recorder and Master of Middle Temple. She joined the House of Lords in 1997 as Baroness Scotland of Asthal, going on to serve in the Foreign Office, Home Office and Lord Chancellor's Department. In 2015 she represented Dominica at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. She is the second Secretary-General from the Caribbean and the first woman to hold the post. She is well known for spearheading a major reform of the British criminal justice system, including the introduction of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act. In 2007, she was appointed Attorney General (the chief legal advisor to the Crown), the first woman to hold the post since its creation. Since 2015, she has been the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, another first. She is working to encourage development, economic success, climate change reversal and democracy in the fifty-three countries that make up the organization. Scotland is a patron of several charities, including the Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence, and Children and Families Across Borders.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, is the Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. She is one of the nation’s top health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track-record protecting Americans’ health and safety. Dr. Cohen is an internal medicine physician and led the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, where she was lauded for her outstanding leadership during the COVID crisis, focusing on equity, data accountability, and transparent communication. She also transformed the North Carolina Medicaid program, through the state’s Medicaid expansion and her focus on “whole person health” with the launch of the country’s first statewide coordination platform, NCCARE360. Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Cohen served as the Executive Vice President at Aledade and CEO of Aledade Care Solution, which helps independent primary care practices, health centers, and clinics deliver better care to their patients and thrive in value-based care. Dr. Cohen previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and served as Acting Director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.  Dr. Cohen was involved in many aspects of the Affordable Care Act policy development and implementation, including the expansion of coverage, insurance protections, and new provider payment models. In February 2019, Modern Healthcare named Dr. Cohen one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare. In September of 2020, Dr. Cohen was awarded the Leadership in Public Health Practice Award from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health for her outstanding leadership through the COVID pandemic and Dr. Cohen was named Tar Heel of the Year for 2020. She has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Cohen received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, her Doctor of Medicine from the Yale School of Medicine, and her Master’s in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Cohen is married and has two daughters.

Hatem Amer is a highly accomplished professional with a successful career spanning over a decade in the healthcare and foreign relations sectors. He currently serves as the Associate Minister of Health & Population for International Relations and is responsible for overseeing private-public partnerships with numerous countries. He holds several important positions as well, including Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat of the National Coordinating Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption & Rapporteur of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Implementation Committee in the Ministry, as well as the National Committee for Human Rights.

Hatem has extensive experience in the field. Prior to his current position, he served as the Foreign Relations Manager in the Minister's Technical Bureau for two years, where he was responsible for organizing conferences & symposia, besides representing Egypt at the WHO’s 74th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.

Previously he served as Foreign Relations Coordinator in the Minister's Cabinet, where he represented the Ministry at high-level meetings nationally, regionally & internationally. Moreover, he coordinated the “Presidential Initiative to Treat 1 Million Africans from HCV” & prepared for Egypt’s participation in high-level events including the 72nd & 73rd WHO World Health Assembly, ICPD 2019 Nairobi, 20th ICASA, 2019 G20, 67-69 WHO EMRO Regional Committee.

Most importantly the UN high-level 74th General Assembly in 2019. Consequently, he was the youngest of Egypt’s Delegation to this historical event, which endorsed an inclusive political declaration on health.

Hatem began his career as an Infectious Disease Monitoring Supervisor & Vaccinations Co-Supervisor at the New Cairo Medical Zone. He also worked as a community pharmacist at a government Medical Centre.

He is highly educated and possesses several degrees, including a postgraduate medical education “Leadership in Medicine” & “Clinical Scholars Research Training” from Harvard Medical School, a Bachelor of Pharmacy & Biotechnology from the German University in Cairo, and a Bachelor of Law from Cairo University. He is fluent in Arabic, English, French & with basic proficiency in Spanish and German.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Hatem is a distinguished speaker & writer, having wrote & presented to the President of the Republic and several heads of State and Government the valedictorian speech of the National Training Academy at the WYF 2022; and spoken at a TEDx Event. He has also received numerous awards and distinctions and was a participant in the US Department of State’s International Visitors Leadership Program IVLP in May 2022.

Equally important to his professional achievements, Hatem is committed to community service and is dedicated to making a positive impact on the world.

Allison Carlson is the Executive Vice President of FP Analytics & Events at Foreign Policy. She oversees FPA’s cross-cutting research at the intersection of policy, technology, and global markets as well as Foreign Policy’s global dialogues and convenings. Prior to these roles, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for more than a decade, evaluating evolving climate and emissions policies and identifying opportunities for advanced technology deployment internationally. Before joining FP, she led the Latin America program for a boutique consulting firm assisting European companies on investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. Carlson has presented her work at a variety of international conferences and before the U.S. Senate. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she received a master’s degree in international relations and international economics.

Dr. Alex Costa is a Senior Health Advisor in the global Health Programme Group at UNICEF headquarters in New York where he coordinates UNICEF’s multisectoral response to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and manages projects aimed at increasing access to in vitro diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries. He has broad experience in the life sciences and expertise in developing comprehensive public health laboratory systems in Africa and Southeast Asia for detection of AMR as well as diagnosis, preparedness, surveillance, and response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Prior to joining UNICEF in 2017, he served as a technical officer at the World Health Organization in the Asia-Pacific region, where he was the focal point for laboratory diagnostics and AMR in Cambodia and Vietnam. He previously served as the director of the laboratory programme for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Liberia where he supported the establishment of a national laboratory diagnostics program. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and carried out post-doctoral studies on infectious diseases at Stanford University.

Farid Fezoua is the Global Director for Health, Education, and Services at IFC, a member of the World Bank and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Based in Washington DC, he is responsible for managing IFC’s investment and advisory services in health and education, tourism, retail, and property, leading a team responsible for an $8.2 billion investment portfolio. Prior to joining IFC, Farid was President and CEO of General Electric Africa, leading GE’s operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including developing sustainable solutions to strengthening health systems. Farid’s career at General Electric Company spanned 19 years, during which he served in a variety of different Executive and Senior Executive roles. Among other things, Farid led GE Healthcare’s business growth in Africa for 10 years, with a focus on addressing the continent’s need for better access to affordable and quality healthcare.  

Before moving to General Electric, Farid worked in the financial services and infrastructure industries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Russia, Turkey, and Central Asia. Farid has a strong track record of infrastructure project development and financing in the field of power, transportation, and healthcare in emerging markets, as well as business operations and management. 

Farid has held executive and non-executive board member roles in banking and healthcare. More recently, he was Co-Chair of the United States Presidential Advisory Council for Doing Business in Africa, Vice Chair of the US-Africa Business Council, and Chair of the US-South Africa Business Council.

Mr. Navid Hanif is the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) He is also the UN sous Sherpa to the G20 finance and main tracks. 

He joined UNDESA in 2001. He was Senior Policy Adviser in the Division for Sustainable Development and member of the team for the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. He served as the Chief of Policy Coordination Branch and later Director in the office for Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) support and the Director for Financing for Sustainable Development Office. He was the first head of the DESA Strategic Planning Unit established in 2010. 

He was Principal Officer in the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General, Vice-Chair of the UN High Level Committee on Programming (HLCP) and Co-Coordinator of the UN team on repositioning of the UN Development System that led to major reforms in 2018. 

He has contributed several articles on financing and investing in the SDGs in various journals and reports. 

He holds MIA, International Political Economy, Columbia University (NY), & M.A., English Literature, Government College University (Lahore)

Lance Little became the Head of Region, Asia Pacific for Roche Diagnostics in 2012. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of Roche Diagnostics India, where he was also the head of the wider Indian sub-region, which includes the neighbouring markets of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 

Lance joined Roche in New Zealand in 1995 in the technical support and management division of Boehringer Mannheim’s Clinical Chemistry portfolio, before moving on to sales and marketing roles until 2008. He was then appointed Managing Director of Roche Diagnostics Thailand and returned a year later to New Zealand to take up the role of Managing Director in 2009.

Lance began his career as a Medical Laboratory Scientist, specialising in Biochemistry at the Auckland Hospital Laboratory in New Zealand. Following that, he spent some time managing the Automation Laboratory at Diagnostic Laboratories in Auckland.

Lance graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a degree in Medical Laboratory Science with specialisation in Clinical Biochemistry. He currently sits on the Board of the Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed).

Ethel Leonor Noia Maciel holds a Master's in Nursing and a PhD in Epidemiology from UERJ, with a Post-Doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. She coordinated the Clinical Research Center and Postgraduate Program in Public Health at UFES University Hospital and was UFES vice-rector from 2013-2020. Though elected rector for 2020-2024, her appointment was denied by the President. Maciel was President of REDE-TB, contributed to the WHO's Tuberculosis efforts, and represented Brazil in the BRICS Government Tuberculosis Research Network. Emphasizing epidemiological methods, infectious diseases, and epidemic control (e.g., COVID-19, Tuberculosis), she combats misinformation as a science columnist for A Gazeta and CBN Vitória commentator. She's a Full Professor at the Federal University of Espírito Santo and a CNPq Epidemiology Productivity Fellow.

Isabel Mestres is the Chief Executive Officer of City Cancer Challenge (C/Can), which has established itself as a leader in building community-led cancer care solutions from the ground up.

Passionate about evolving public health and finding impactful ways to serve patients in need, Isabel was part of the founding team, and over the last five years she has been instrumental in converting more than 70 projects in 14 C/Can cities into engines to accelerate cancer control.

Until now, Isabel has occupied the post of Director of Global Public Affairs and was part of the founding team. She has also held leadership positions at the International Union for Cancer Control (UICC), serving as Director of Membership and Partnership Development, where she developed and implemented an award-winning membership growth strategy and a sustainable, high-value public-private partnership model that resulted in a tenfold increase in corporate, civic, and public sponsorship engagements.

Born in Barcelona (Spain), Isabel holds an MBA from ESADE Business School. She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Catalan. Together with her husband, two children, and two dogs, Isabel lives in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, is the first woman to occupy the position. She is an acclaimed leader in public health. Addressing gender inequity, she has worked to build a responsive, effective, and result-driven Secretariat that advances efforts towards universal health coverage and achieving the SDGs while tackling emerging threats, including climate change and future shocks. Dr Moeti joined WHO’s Regional Office for Africa in 1999 and has served as Deputy Regional Director, Assistant Regional Director, Director of Noncommunicable Diseases, WHO Representative in Malawi, and Coordinator of the Inter-Country Support Team for the South and East African countries. As Regional Director, she strengthened strategic investments in the laboratory services and testing capacity of all Member States in the African Region. Before joining WHO, Dr Moeti ran tuberculosis and HIV programs in Botswana and has worked for three United Nations agencies. At the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, she led WHO African Region’s efforts on treatment scale-up in the context of the ‘3 by 5’ initiative, including establishing a regional HIV laboratory network, resulting in a significant increase in access to antiretroviral therapy, and decrease in HIV-related deaths in the region. She is a COVID-19 response heroine, leading WHO in Africa’s support to countries, and building over 150 partnerships. She is spearheading a flagship capacity-building programme to boost African Member States’ resilience and readiness - through diagnostics - to detect and respond to disease outbreaks, as well as the successful realization of the SDGs.

Andrew Sollinger is the publisher and CEO of Foreign Policy, which he joined in 2018. Previously, he was executive vice president at Business Insider, executive director of Capital New York (now Politico NY) and managing director of the Financial Times Americas. Sollinger was part of the executive team that built Money-Media, a digital news startup focused on the fund management industry, and sold it to the FT. A former reporter and editor for Institutional Investor magazine's newsletter division, Andrew has lived in London, Hong Kong and New York. He is a graduate of Clark University, where he was executive editor of The Scarlet.