Southeast Asia Strategic Dialogue on Biosecurity

Download the Professional Biographies as a PDF.
View the agenda.

 

Indonesia

Endy M. BAYUNI

Mr. Bayuni is a senior Indonesian journalist with a career spanning nearly 38 years, mostly with the English-language The Jakarta Post. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Post in 2004–2010 and 2016–2018. He is a regular commentator on Indonesian politics, Indonesia’s foreign policy, and the changing media landscape, with his opinion pieces appearing in the Post and various international publications. In April 2020, he joined the Facebook Oversight Board to strengthen the platform’s content moderation efforts. Mr. Bayuni is founding board member of the International Association of Religion Journalists. He is a recipient of various fellowship programs, including 1 year as senior fellow at the East-West Center office in Washington, DC in 2011; as a Nieman fellow at Harvard University in 2003–2004; and as a Jefferson fellow at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii in 1999.

 

Ratna SITOMPUL, MD, PhD

Prof. Sitompul was appointed in 2022 as expert in the medical education field at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. Since 2022, she has served as the head coordinator of development, monitoring, and evaluation of the Academic Health Systems of a national working group at the Ministry of Health. Prof. Sitompul has been a member of the Joint Committee of the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education for improving the quality of education, research, and healthcare since 2016. She was appointed as Head of the Technical Commission of Health and Drugs Technology in the National Research Council of Indonesia to prepare national strategic policies for developing science and technology. From 2015 to 2017, she was a World Health Organization member in the Southeast Asia Regional Office, representing Universitas Indonesia.

Prof. Sitompul was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (FMUI), from 2008 to 2012 and was reelected for a second term, from 2013 to 2017. During her tenure as dean of FMUI, Prof. Sitompul directed mutual collaborations in the fields of healthcare services, medical education, and research among reputable institutions worldwide. She initiated a collaboration with the National University of Singapore (education, joint research, medical courses, staff and student exchange, PhD program) to support quality enhancement of FMUI. She is developing Academic Health System Universitas Indonesia, which is a collaboration in medical education, healthcare, and research with 9 national teaching hospitals in Jakarta, and actively participating in the Association of Academic Health Centers. Moreover, a joint program with the governor of the DKI Jakarta province, Jakarta Sehat, has been established to improve healthcare services and the referral system in DKI Jakarta.

Prof. Sitompul graduated as a medical doctor from FMUI in 1986, became an ophthalmologist in 1994, and earned her doctoral degree in 2005.

 

Amin SOEBANDRIO, PhD

Dr. Soebandrio is Chairman of the Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Health Committee for Stem Cell Development, serving in that capacity since 2021. From 2014 to 2021, Dr. Soebandrio was Chairman of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology. His research interests are in emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and hospital infection prevention. From 2000 to 2013, he served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Research and Technology. He served as Chairman of the Expert Panel of the National Committee for Zoonotic Diseases from 2009 to 2017. He was Chairman of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology from 2014 to 2021. He is currently the Steering Committee Chairman for the Asian Partnership for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research; Board Chairman of the Coordinating Organization for Regional Diseases Surveillance; member of the expert panel of the Indonesian Global Health Security Agenda Committee; member of the National Committee for Bioethics; member of the Expert Committee of the COVID-19 Special Task Force; and Chairman of the Ministry of Health Committee for Stem Cell Development.

Dr. Soebandrio graduated from the Medical Faculty University of Indonesia, obtained clinical microbiology specialization from the same institution, and was awarded a PhD in immunogenetics by Kobe University in Japan.

 

MG (ret) Daniel TJEN, MD, SpS

Major General (ret) Tjen, from Indonesia, is currently a member of the WHO Health Security Interface – Technical Advisory Group (HSI-TAG). He currently serves as Commissioner of Mayapada Healthcare, previously serving as Chief Medical Officer responsible for all Mayapada hospital operations. MG Tjen was appointed as Special Advisor for the Minister of Health in 2019–2020.

Prior to joining Mayapada and the Ministry of Health, MG Tjen was the Surgeon General of Indonesia Armed Forces, with responsibility for the medical support of and force protection in military deployments both domestically and overseas (UN PKO). He was actively involved in the initiation of Indonesia leadership in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). MG Tjen was appointed as the Chairman of the International Committee of Military Medicine in 2015. He has actively participated in the Multilateral Dialogue on Biosecurity (hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health) since 2014. He is a regular opinion contributor for The Jakarta Post, an English-language newspaper.

 

Malaysia

Badrul Hisham ABDUL SAMAD, MBBS

Dr. Abdul Samad is a Consultant Public Health Physician at the Faculty of Medicine and Defence Health, National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM) and a Research Fellow at the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Research Centre, NDUM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Also, he is the Deputy Director II for the National Biological Weapons Convention Technical Committee, Malaysia. Dr. Abdul Samad started his career in public health, back then, in the Ministry of Health (MoH) Malaysia since 1997. His expertise is in communicable disease epidemiology, prevention, surveillance, detection, and outbreak control; laboratory biosafety; biosecurity, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) preparedness and response.

Dr. Abdul Samad obtained his MBBS degree from the University of Malaya, Malaysia (1994); MPH degree from the University of Glasgow, Scotland (1996); and master’s degree in environmental engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (2003).

 

Sazaly ABU BAKAR, PhD

Dr. Abu Bakar is a Senior Professor and the Director of the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Center (TIDREC) and the World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHOCC) for Arbovirus Reference and Research at Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. He is the Chairperson of the subcommittee for Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity for International Health Regulation implementation, Malaysia. He is also the Editor of the Malaysia Biosafety and Biosecurity Policy and Guideline (2015). He received his PhD and postdoctoral training in virology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

 

CHONG Chee Kheong, PhD, MPH

Dr. Chong was formerly from the Ministry of Health Malaysia and held positions of Director of the National Public Health Laboratory, Director of the disease control division, and Deputy Director General of health (Public Health) before he retired in July 2022. He is currently serving as the Senior Health Advisor for the ASEAN Mitigation of Biological Threats (MBT) program, which lies under the purview of the ASEAN Health Cluster 2. His experience in ASEAN began in 2009, when Malaysia was lead country for the ASEAN Partnership Laboratory, ASEAN Risk Communication Centre (now known as Risk Assessment and Risk Communication), ASEAN Expert Group for Communicable Diseases (AEGCD), UNITEDengue (co-lead with Singapore), and ASEAN EOC Network.

 

Novia KUSWARA, MD

Dr. Kuswara is Project Coordinator of ASEAN EOC Network project Phase 2.  She received her MD from Hasanuddin University, Makassar.

 

BG Mohd Arshil MOIDEEN, MD, DrPH, MPH

Brigadier General Moideen is currently Head of the Innovation Team with the Malaysian Armed Forces Health Service, where he is designer and head of an Innovation Team for 2 cost-effective field water treatment systems: the JERNIH (Jointly developed, Efficient, Novel, Innovative and Handy) field water treatment system and SafeWhere (Safe Water Everywhere) field water treatment system. The field water treatment systems are highly efficient, cheap, mobile, and practical for responses to various situations.

BG Moideen is also a member of the Malaysian government’s Working Group Committee, Security and Social Cluster of the Strategic Committee for the Control of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In this capacity, he is responsible for technical input for the write up of strategic planning and response documents on infection control and pandemic response involving the Security Agencies in Malaysia.

He has also served as Deputy Director 1 of the Makeshift National COVID-19 Quarantine Treatment Centre, Serdang, and as a Committee Member of the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.  

He has Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees (equivalent to Doctor of Medicine) from IIUM, Malaysia, a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney, and a Doctor of Public Health from UPM, Malaysia.

 

Philippines

ASEC Bernardo Rafaelito R. ALEJANDRO IV, CESO IV, MNSA

Assistant Secretary Alejandro is currently the Civil Defense Deputy Administrator for Operations with the Office of Civil Defense, Department of National Defense, Republic of the Philippines. His career with the Office of Civil Defense has spanned more than 20 years. He holds a Masters in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines, and a Masters in Peace and Security Studies from Bicol University.

 

Anthony C. BUCAD, DVM

Dr. Bucad is currently Veterinarian III and OIC, Animal Disease Control Section, in the Animal Health and Welfare Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture in the Philippines. In this role, he assists in the implementation of animal health and animal disease prevention and control programs. He also coordinates with regional and local counterparts in the implementation of animal health and animal disease prevention and control programs and in the conduct and monitoring of related field activities. He also assists in the conduct of veterinary inspections and sample collections in farms and other animal establishments and assists and participates in the conduct of animal disease outbreak investigations.

Dr. Bucad has a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna.

 

PGen (ret) Camilo Pancratius P. CASCOLAN, MPM, CESE

Police General (ret) Cascolan is Undersecretary of Health for Field Implementation and Coordination Team (FICT) in the Philippines Department of Health. Prior to this, PGen Cascolan was Executive Director of the Anti-Terrorism Council-Program Management Center and Chief of the Philippine National Police.

PGen Cascolan has an MA in Public Management from the University of the Philippines Visayas and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Philippine Military Academy.

 

MG Jose EMBANG, Jr., Ret.

Major General Embang is Commissioner of the Philippine Racing Commission and former Chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippines. As the Bureau of Fire Protection Chief, he passed into law the BFP Modernization Law, engineered the BFP organizational structure, and facilitated rank reclassification of the BFP.

He also was Task Force Commander BFP and Task Group Commander for Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) APEC and ASEAN in 2015 and 2017.

 

Janette GARIN, MD, MBA

Dr. Garin’s journey began as a constant academic achiever, consistently garnering various academic honors and scholarships. Throughout her education, she was able to hone her skills in the areas of medical technology, public health, and vaccinology, which have become her fields of expertise today. Her achievement of an MBA in health inculcated in her the necessary management skills to further hone her knowledge on public health, while learning how this interacts with the economy and society.

Dr. Garin’s extensive experience in public health and her various academic disciplines are matched only by her stint in the government and public service. All in all, she is equipped with 9 years of experience in Local Legislation, 13 years in National Legislation, and 3 years in the National Executive Government. One of her career highlights is her stint as the Secretary of Health for the Philippines. While in this position, she introduced systems and innovative programs that were seen to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and contributed to the lessening of fraud in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Currently, she is serving as the Deputy Majority Leader in Congress, Vice Chair of the Committee on Appropriations, Vice Chair of the Committee on Health, and a member of all standing committees in Congress. As a district representative, she represents not only the voice of her constituents and stakeholders, but also the values she gained from her deep academic and political experience. She continues to advocate for quality health care, which includes access to immunization.

 

Nina GLORIANI, MD, PhD

Dr. Gloriani is a medical doctor with a public health background and postgraduate training in microbial immunology and medical biotechnology. She had postdoctoral fellowships on HIV/AIDS immunology and virology (UCLA, USA), hepatitis C molecular analyses (Kobe School of Medicine, Japan), sexually transmitted diseases (CDC-San Francisco DPH, CA, USA), and clinical microbiology and molecular diagnostics (Georgetown University Medical Center, USA).

Dr. Gloriani retired in 2018 as Full Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology after serving academe for 38 years. Although retired, she continues to serve as technical consultant to various agencies in the fields of medical microbiology and microbial immunology, medical biotechnology, and public health.

Dr. Gloriani served as the Chairperson of the DOST Expert Vaccine Panel on COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials from March 2020 to March 2022. She currently serves as a member of the WHO Scientific Steering Committee for COVID-19 Solidarity Vaccines Trial and an independent member of the panel of expert reviewers of the Philippine FDA. She continues to chair the National Certification Committee for Poliomyelitis Eradication in the Philippines.

 

Irma R. MAKALINAO, MD, MA, FPPS, FPSCOT

Dr. Makalinao is Professor and Graduate Program Advisor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila College of Medicine. She is the UP College of Medicine Coordinator for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Health Security. She was instrumental in the creation of the UP Manila Institutional Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee, serving as its first Chair. For many years up to present time, Dr. Makalinao has been part of the CBRN National Team actively contributing to the finalization of the National CBRN National Action Plan (NAP CBRN), including its presentation and final approval by the Anti-Terrorism Council through the adoption of ATC Resolution 40, which institutionalized the CBRN National Team including the NAP CBRN.

Dr. Makalinao was Special Assistant to the University of Philippines Manila Chancellor for External Linkages and Partners; Special Assistant to the Dean; first appointed Chair of the University of Philippines Manila Institutional Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee; Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Consultant Head for the Capacity Building Office of the Anti-Terrorism Council Program Management Center, Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the President, Malacañang Palace; President of the Philippine Society of Clinical and Occupational Toxicology; Secretary of the Philippine Society of Clinical and Occupational Toxicology; Board Member of the Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology; former Secretary of the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association; and member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health.

Dr. Makalinao holds a BS in biology, a Doctor of Medicine with a specialization in pediatrics and toxicology, and an MA in peace and security studies. She is a PhD candidate in peace and security administration.

 

BGen Fatima Claire Santos NAVARRO, MD

Brigadier General Navarro Medical Corps (MC) is the 57th Surgeon General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as designated on 01 July 2021, and the first female MC to have assumed the position and promoted to the flag rank. She is also designated as the Official Spokesperson of the Chief of Staff, AFP for COVID-19 cases and issues.

BGen Navarro completed her BS degree in psychology at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila and pursued her studies obtaining a Doctor of Medicine degree at the same institution.

BGen Navarro MC also held various administrative positions at VLMC of the AFP Health Service Command (AFPHSC), such as Chief of the AFPHSC Public Health Service Center, Chief of VLMC Hospital Infection Control Committee, Chief of VLMC Medical Service Division, Deputy Chief, and lastly, Chief of the Medical Center. Upon the outbreak of COVID-19, she conceptualized the establishment of the VLMC COVID-19 complex, which provided full-spectrum care to moderately to critically ill patients. She also implemented the service delivery network system parallel to the roles of care in combat casualty response, thereby preventing the overwhelm of the AFP Health Service System. In the AFP’s support to national government efforts, she was designated as the Deputy Commander of the AFP Regional Task Force for the National Capital Region Comprehensive and Responsive Elements (RJTF NCR CARE), which operationalized the 3 National Isolation Facilities and 1 Mega Swabbing Facility, as well as provided oversight to the deployment of medical teams to augment overwhelmed hospitals within and outside the National Capital Region (NCR). She is also frequently invited as a lecturer or research advisor at the AFP Command and General Staff College (CGSC), National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), as well as in pediatrics and neonatology conferences/webinars.

 

Ma. Cyrrel VALENTIN

Ms. Valentin is National Security Specialist IV, National Security Council, Philippines.

 

Singapore

Marc HO, MD, MPH

Dr. Ho is Director of the Contact Tracing and Epidemiology Centre and Director of Communicable Disease Transformation in the Ministry of Health, Singapore. He oversees national contact-tracing efforts, surveillance, and epidemiologic investigations into COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases. He also leads a project team on the reorganization and expansion of communicable diseases functions in Singapore.

Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Ho was seconded to the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme as technical lead for urban health emergency preparedness and health systems for health security. His previous portfolios in the Ministry of Health include policy development and operational response to communicable diseases, National International Health Regulation (IHR) focal point, and horizon scanning for global threats.

A medical doctor and public health specialist by training, Dr. Ho obtained his Master of Public Health from the National University of Singapore. He is a fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore and holds an adjunct position with the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.

 

Poh Lian LIM, MD, MPH

Associate Professor Lim is Director of the High-Level Isolation Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases; Head of the Travellers’ Health and Vaccination Clinic, Tan Tock Seng Hospital; and Senior Consultant with the Ministry of Health, Singapore.

Prof. Lim serves as the Deputy Chair for WHO’s Technical Advisory Group for the Health Security Interface (HSI-TAG), working on preparedness and response for deliberate events and biothreats. She has been involved in WHO’s Global Governance for Responsible Life Sciences framework, horizon scanning foresight exercises, and the SAGE working group on smallpox vaccines.

Prof. Lim grew up in Malaysia, studied biochemistry at Harvard University, medicine at Columbia University, and public health at Tulane University. She moved to Singapore in 2003, working as a frontline ID clinician during the SARS outbreak. Prof. Lim then served as Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Tan Tock Seng Hospital from 2012 to 2016, working on national outbreak preparedness and response for dengue, chikungunya, leptospirosis, Ebola, MERS, Zika, and yellow fever. She is active on expert committees for the Ministry of Health and Singapore Armed Forces, including Singapore’s Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination (EC19V).

Prof. Lim has been active in outbreak preparedness and responses internationally, serving on the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) Steering Committee for a decade, and WHO and United Nations taskforces. She is on the faculty of LKC and NUS schools of medicine and public health, and has over 100 publications, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, AIDS, and Emerging Infectious Diseases.

 

ONG Bee Leng May

Ms. May Ong is the Director of the CBRNE Center of Expertise (CoE) in the Home Team Science and Technology Agency, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Singapore. Since 2009, she has been leading a team of CBRNE scientists and engineers in the MHA to detect security-sensitive materials at Singapore’s border. The team also develops and implements new detection technology for the Home Team. The team also leverages computer modelling capability to conduct risk assessment and study the effectiveness of mitigation solutions in national emergency preparedness against CBRNE threats.

Ms. Ong started her professional career as a researcher at DSO National Laboratories in 1995. During her 11 years at DSO, she was exposed to chem-bio research with niche areas in chemical and biological decontamination and analysis of chemical warfare agents. She rose to the post of Project Manager in the Centre for Chemical Defence, where she managed research and development projects.

Ms. Ong moved on to the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2008 to embark on a journey of infusing science and technology into MHA frontline operations. In 2009, she operationalized the world’s first-ever Protective Analytical Facility (PAF) in Singapore. The PAF provides scientific analysis capabilities to screen and analyze high-risk consignment at Singapore’s border.

Today, Ms. Ong heads a network of CBRNE scientific facilities at the land and sea borders. The network of scientific laboratories has allowed Singapore to conduct onsite screening and confirmatory analysis for security-sensitive material detected at the border; this capability has sent out a strong deterrence message to potential penetrators that attempt to try Singapore’s border.

Ms. Ong, ensuring the CBRNE CoE maintains a strong link with the Home Team, grounds officers through the CBRNE Training School under her wings. To date, the CBRNE Training School has trained more than 20,000 Home Team Officers, in addition to running its own training program. The school also works with international institutes to invite experts to share their knowledge and experience with the Home Team.

Most recently, Ms. Ong can be seen leading the CBRNE team in multiple fronts in the national fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, including the team conducting PCR screening of travelers and returning Singaporeans from overseas who enter Singapore via air, land, and sea borders. The team also works in collaboration with NEA to conduct COVID-19 wastewater surveillance of the dormitories and Home Team facility in Singapore.

 

Tikki Elka PANGESTU, PhD

Dr. Pangestu is presently a Visiting Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. He was previously a Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (2012–2020) and Director of Research Policy and Cooperation at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva (1999–2012). Prior to joining WHO, he was a Professor of Biomedical Sciences in the Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (1989–1999), and a Lecturer and Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (1977–1989).

His research interests are in epidemiology, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases, dual-use research, genomics and global health, health research policy, health research systems, global health governance, best practices in research, development of research capabilities in developing countries, linkages between research and policy, and the concept of harm reduction.

He holds a PhD in immunology-microbiology from the Australian National University, Canberra, and he is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (UK), Institute of Biology (UK), American Academy of Microbiology (US), Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, and Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

 

Thailand

Teerasak CHUXNUM, DVM, MPH

Dr. Chuxnum earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Chulalongkorn University in 1999. He received his Master of Arts degree in Library and Information Science in 2003 from the Khon Kaen University. According to his work in the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, he graduated the bachelor and master program in Public Health from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University in 2007 and 2015. He also graduated the Bachelor of Laws program from Ramkhamhaeng University in 2015.

Dr. Chuxnum has been the Veterinarian at the Division of Epidemiology, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, since 2002. His interest focuses on zoonotic diseases such as rabies, brucellosis, avian influenza, leptospirosis, trichinosis, anthrax, Streptococcus suis infection, and Q fever. He has experience in the COVID-19 and mpox investigations. His research is focused on disease surveillance systems and investigations. So far, he is working on International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), international cooperation, and other bilateral/multilateral epidemiology collaboration.

 

Soawapak HINJOY, DVM, MSc, MPH, DrPH

Dr. Hinjoy (DVM, MSc, MPH, DrPH) has a background in veterinary medicine. After graduating with a doctorate in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, she currently holds the position of Director of Office of International Cooperation, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. She is enthusiastic about developing collaborations in public health research on zoonotic diseases and emerging and reemerging infectious diseases under a One Health concept in Thailand and at the international level. Dr. Hinjoy also serves as National Coordinator of the ASEAN Health Cluster 2 and MBDS network and Chief of Thailand’s Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) coordinating unit, developing effective public health control and prevention strategies with a perspective of global health security.

 

Attaya LIMWATTANAYINGYONG, MD, MSc

Dr. Limwattanayingyong is the senior researcher at the International Health Policy Program, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. She is specialized in policy and system research in health security, health system development, global health, and immunization. She was trained in pediatrics and earned a Master of Science in clinical epidemiology.

Dr. Limwattanayingyong has a wide range of experience in immunization, from vaccine policy at the national level to implementation in the field as the former National Immunization Program Manager and former Deputy Director of the National Vaccine Institute.

She also has experience in policy development and health systems, for example, the development of a new vaccine introduction mechanism for Thailand, health system and disease control system reforms, national pandemic preparedness and disaster management, Thailand's innovative model of WHO-CCS. In 2018–2019, she was seconded to WHO, Geneva, by the Thai government as a technical advisor to share Thailand’s experiences in health systems development, support other countries in implementing UHC, and support global movement on UHC to the UNGA.

Apart from her expertise in immunization, policy development and health systems, Dr. Limwattanayingyong has been working on global health policies and global health capacity building for several years, actively involved in many global health policy platforms. Currently she is the manager of the Public Health Emergency Program under the WHO-RTG (Royal Thai Government) collaboration. Further, she is involved in some policy decision mechanisms, including as a member of the Subcommittee on National lists of Essential Medicines and Traditional Medicines, Co-Chair of the Price Negotiation Working Group, and a member of a technical working group on Ending the Pandemic through Innovation Programs.

 

Tanarak PLIPAT, MD, PhD, MPH

Dr. Plipat is the Inspector General of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Thailand. Dr. Plipat started his medical career as the general physician at Krabi provincial health office in 1991. He served as Medical Epidemiologist for the HIV/AIDS surveillance section, Bureau of Epidemiology (2000–2010), Chief of the national HIV/TB/STI surveillance unit (2003–2009), and Director of Bureau of Knowledge Management, Department of Disease Control (DDC; 2006–2010). From March 2010 to December 2013, he served as the Thai Co-Director of the Thailand MOPH–US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Collaboration. He was Director of the Bureau of Epidemiology, DDC, between December 2013 and February 2017, and he was Deputy Director of the DDC between February 2017 and December 2020. He was promoted to Inspector General of the Ministry of Public Health in December 2020.

From 2001 to present, Dr. Plipat has served on numerous national committees for the MOPH, including recently serving as a member of the Committee for Clinical Study of Pandemic Influenza Cases and Deaths and on the National Strategic Advisory Committee of Experts on Pandemic Influenza. He was appointed Chair of a committee to draft the DDC research strategic plan in 2003 and the strategic plan in 2004 and in 2017. He has experience working in the field of surveillance and outbreak investigation. As Director of the Bureau of Epidemiology, he initiated a laboratory-based surveillance system for priority syndromes in Thailand, supported the initiation of a public health laboratory network, and supported the use of laboratory evidence to support an outbreak investigation. As Deputy Director of the DDC, he led the public health response to COVID-19 and several other initiatives to strengthen national health security.

Dr. Plipat received an MD from Prince Songkla University, Thailand; an MPH from Mahidol University, Thailand; and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the Field Epidemiology Training Programme, Thailand.

 

Wisit TANGKEANGSIRISIN, PhD

Dr. Tangkeangsirisin is currently the manager of the Bureau of National Vaccine Capacity Development, National Vaccine Institute (NVI), Thailand.  He received his Bachelor of Pharmacy from Silpakorn University, Thailand, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Later, he received postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, on antibody phase display technology. Dr. Tangkeangsirisin was an assistant professor teaching and doing research in biologics, biopharmaceuticals, monoclonal antibodies, and biosimilars. He is also a registered professional pharmacist.

A strong advocate for biologics and biosimilars, Dr. Tangkeangsirisin has been involved in bioprocessing and bioanalytical technology teaching and research activities. For more than a decade, as an external expert, he has contributed to reviewing quality documents for biologics, including vaccines and biosimilars, and registration dossiers for the Thai FDA. In addition, he has been recognized as a distinguished lecturer on biologics, including vaccines, on dossier preparations and reviews.  

 

Weerapong THANAPONGTHARM, PhD, DVM

Dr. Thanapongtharm is Senior Expert on Zoonotic Control, Bureau of Disease Control and Veterinary Services, Department of Livestock Development, Thailand. Dr. Thanapongtharm received a doctorate in agronomic sciences and biological engineering from the University of Brussels, a Master of Science in tropical medicine from Mahidol University, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Kasetsart University.

 

Suwit WIBULPOLPRASERT, MD

Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert is a public health specialist, administrator, and policy advocate at both the national and global levels. He began his career as a director and practitioner in rural areas and has various technical and administrative experience in the Thai FDA, Bureau of Health Policy and Plan, and as a Deputy Permanent Secretary and a senior expert in health economics and disease control. His current position is as an advisor to the Ministry of Public Health in global health.

Dr. Suwit has been proactively working in public health for more than 3 decades, from the grassroots to the highest policy levels. In parallel, he has been working with the science sector in various areas, including the reform of the science sector (legal frameworks and restructuring of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation) and drug, including vaccine and medical device development along the value chain. Apart from his contribution in public health and R&D in Thailand, Dr. Suwit is one of the global health leaders who is well-known in the public eye as a forefront fighter to protect the benefit of the developing countries and the low-income.

At present, Dr. Suwit is a Board Member of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), Board Member of the National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), Board Member of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and Chair of the Subcommittee for Development of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM Subcommittee) and the Board Council of Praboromrachanok Insititute.
Dr. Suwit also serves as the Vice Chair of both the International Health Policy Program Foundation (IHPF) and the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Foundation (HITAF).

 

United States

Phyllis ARTHUR, MBA

Arthur is Senior Vice President for Infectious Diseases and Emerging Science Policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). In this role, Ms. Arthur is responsible for working with member companies in vaccines, antimicrobial resistance, and biodefense on policy, legislative, and regulatory issues. Ms. Arthur joined BIO in July 2009 as the Director of Healthcare Regulatory Affairs.

Prior to joining BIO, she worked in numerous marketing and sales positions for Merck & Co Inc in their Vaccine Division. Over her 16-year career at Merck, Ms. Arthur launched several exciting new vaccines in the United States and internationally, including the first HPV vaccine, GARDASIL. During her years in marketing, she worked closely with clinical and academic thought leaders in infectious diseases, oncology, and public health. In addition, Ms. Arthur led a large vaccine sales organization of more than 75 representatives and managers covering 14 states. Before graduate school, Ms. Arthur worked as a research assistant for 2 economists at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. There, she conducted economic analyses related to savings and investment policies for the OECD countries.

Ms. Arthur received her BA in 1987 in economics and international politics from Goucher College and her MBA in 1991 from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Anita CICERO, JD

Ms. Cicero is Deputy Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a Senior Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a lawyer with 30 years of experience. At the Center, Ms. Cicero helps to lead strategic planning, program development, budgeting, and health security policy development. She is an Associate Editor of the journal Health Security, the leading peer-reviewed journal in this field.

Ms. Cicero greatly expanded the Center’s efforts in epidemic preparedness policy, global catastrophic biological risk issues, and international programs to engage constructively with other countries and regions in collaborative efforts to address biosecurity threats. Ms. Cicero has launched a number of initiatives to improve mutual understanding of health security issues with countries including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and the People’s Republic of China. She has also worked on projects to assess and improve Taiwan’s preparedness for public health emergencies.

Ms. Cicero has authored or co-authored several widely cited articles and reports on biosecurity policy, pandemic preparedness, biosurveillance, biosecurity in the South-East Asian region, public health measures required during pandemics, and international disease surveillance. She serves as Chair of a WHO Working Group on Dual Use Research of Concern, and she chairs a WHO Working Group tasked with developing recommendations for a governance framework for advanced life science research.

Ms. Cicero is a graduate of the Yale Law School and Oberlin College.

 

Julie FISCHER, PhD

Dr. Fischer is the Technical Director for Global Health at CRDF Global, an independent nonprofit organization that works to empower people and programs to prevent, detect, investigate, and mitigate disease threats worldwide. Prior to joining CRDF Global, she served as Director of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Program and as an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University, where she led a multidisciplinary team to promote evidence-based biosafety and biosecurity practices and to help partner nations strengthen their capacities to detect and characterize disease threats rapidly, reliably, accurately, and safely.

Before joining Georgetown, Dr. Fischer held leadership positions at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Global Health Security Program at the Stimson Center.
 
Dr. Fischer is a former Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Congressional Science & Technology Fellow. She received a PhD in microbiology and immunology from Vanderbilt University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Washington and the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute.

 

Tom INGLESBY, MD

Dr. Inglesby is the Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Inglesby is also a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a Joint Appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Dr. Inglesby's work is internationally recognized in the fields of public health preparedness, pandemic and emerging infectious disease, and prevention of and response to biological threats. He was Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Center for Preparedness and Response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2010 to 2019. He was Chair of the National Advisory Council of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s National Health Security Preparedness Index. He was also a member of the CDC Director’s External Laboratory Safety Workgroup, which examined biosafety practices of the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration following high-profile laboratory incidents in federal agencies. He has served as advisor to US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), US Department of Defense, and US Department of Homeland Security on preparedness and response issues, and he has testified before Congress on many occasions. He has served on a range of committees and panels of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Inglesby has provided technical guidance to response efforts at the global, federal, state, and local level. He has given analysis and expert testimony to policymakers, business leaders, and health organizations on public health interventions needed to control the pandemic. Dr. Inglesby served as Senior Advisor on the White House COVID-19 Response Team. In 2020, he served on the Biden-Harris transition team reviewing HHS and advising on COVID-19 policy. In 2021, Dr. Inglesby served as Senior Policy Advisor for the COVID-19 response in the Office of the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. Dr. Inglesby served on the Maryland Governor's COVID-19 Response Advisory Committee, the COVID Collaborative’s National Advisory Council, and as a commissioner on the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice.

Dr. Inglesby completed his internal medicine and infectious diseases training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also served as Assistant Chief of Service. Dr. Inglesby received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his BA from Georgetown University.

 

Gerald W. PARKER, Jr., DVM, PhD

Dr. Parker is the Associate Dean for Global One Health at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Pandemic Preparedness and Biosecurity Policy Program at the Bush School of Government Service at the Scowcroft Institute for International Affairs within the Bush School of Government & Public Service.

Dr. Parker is a member of several advisory boards, including the Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response and the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel for the Texas Department of State Health Services, and an ex officio member of the Bipartisan Commission for Biodefense and the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Parker also served as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services from August 2020 to February 2021.   

Prior to his appointment to Texas A&M University, Dr. Parker held technical to executive leadership positions throughout 36 years of public service as a recognized defense and civilian interagency leader in biodefense, high consequence emerging infectious diseases, global health security, and all-hazards public health/medical preparedness. This included coordinating federal medical/public health responses to Hurricanes Katrina thru Alex, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and the Haiti earthquake. Dr. Parker’s service includes more than 26 years on active duty leading military medical research and development programs and organizations. He is a former Commander and Deputy Commander, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Parker held senior executive level positions at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Defense (DoD), including serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense at DoD.

Dr. Parker is a 2009 recipient of the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service in 2013, and the Senator Melcher Leadership in Public Policy Award from the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges in 2019. Dr. Parker graduated from Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

 

Matthew SHEARER, MPH

Mr. Shearer is an Associate Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His primary research and practice interests include infectious disease outbreak and epidemic response, healthcare and public health resilience for high-consequence infectious disease events, biological weapons nonproliferation policy, and exercise development and implementation.

Mr. Shearer contributes to a broad scope of domestic and international Center projects, including numerous efforts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and he was an integral part of developing and implementing the Clade X and Event 201 pandemic exercises.

Mr. Shearer’s domestic work focuses principally on outbreak and epidemic response policy and operations. He has served as Project Manager for Outbreak Observatory since its inception in 2017. Outbreak Observatory aims to capture and disseminate operational lessons from outbreak responses, based on the firsthand experience of frontline responders, in order to improve domestic and global public health and healthcare preparedness. As part of Outbreak Observatory, he has completed studies on the public health response to domestic hepatitis A and measles epidemics and the operational impact of seasonal influenza on hospitals and health systems. He also contributed to Center projects on US healthcare operations, including in high-level isolation units and monitoring and movement restriction policies in response to the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic as well as communications and operations for medical countermeasures distribution and dispensing.

Mr. Shearer also has a diverse international portfolio, ranging from national-level public health and preparedness capacity to regional natural, accidental, and deliberate biological threats to biological weapons nonproliferation policy. He has participated in multiple collaborations with the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), including an analysis of Taiwan CDC’s seasonal influenza mass vaccination program and as a member of the External Assessment Team for Taiwan’s 2016 Joint External Evaluation. He also developed and conducted biosecurity, outbreak response, and exercise development and implementation training for private sector clinicians and other health experts in Iraq. He is currently leading research to develop policy guidance for elected and appointed officials on the use of nonpharmaceutical interventions for emerging outbreaks and epidemics.

Mr. Shearer leads much of the Center’s work on the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). He helped conceive and direct the Global Forum on Scientific Advances Important to the BWC, which convenes an international group of technical and policy experts to inform BWC delegations on emerging and future capabilities in biotechnology and other scientific fields with potential impact on BWC policy and implementation. He supported the BWC Implementation Support Unit in hosting a series of regional workshops with Association of Southeast Asian Nations States Parties, including the development of a tabletop exercise scenario. He is currently leading a study to identify assurance mechanisms to increase the degree of certainty that States Parties are meeting their BWC obligations and support BWC implementation.

Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Shearer worked at local public health departments in Michigan and California, developing and implementing medical countermeasures distribution and dispensing exercises, updating communicable disease response protocols, conducting infectious disease surveillance and outbreak investigations, and supporting emergency preparedness activities, including returning traveler monitoring and other Ebola-related preparedness efforts.

Mr. Shearer earned an MPH in epidemiology from the University of Michigan in 2014 and a BS in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 2007.

 

Kathleen (Kate) STEVENS, PhD

Dr. Stevens works in the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation at the US Department of State, where she is focused on promoting scientific cooperation, including for emerging technologies. Prior to this, she served as Acting Chief of Staff for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary. Dr. Stevens entered the Department of State as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow in the Office of International Health and Biodefense in October 2019, where she led efforts to advance foreign policy related to the international COVID-19 response and US efforts to strengthen global health security. She earned a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Master in Epidemiology from Temple University.

 

Benjamin WAKEFIELD, MSc

Mr. Wakefield is a Senior Analyst at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a Research Associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His primary research interests include biosecurity, health emergency preparedness and response, civil-military relations, the biological and chemical aspects of CBRN non-proliferation, and preparedness and response to deliberate events.

Mr. Wakefield’s work at the Center focuses on international biological security issues and understanding, developing, and improving health emergency preparedness for natural, accidental, and deliberate events. This includes working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to develop and implement best practice for civil-military collaboration as part of health emergency preparedness, as well as newly developing work related to deliberate biological events.

Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Wakefield spent 5 years at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, United Kingdom, where he was a Research Fellow in the Global Health Programme. His work at Chatham House was at the intersection of public health and national security and focused on biosecurity and health security. He has experience working in Nigeria and Ghana and has worked directly with the WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GP), and several other governmental and nongovernmental health and security actors across Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Canada, the US, the UK, and others.

Mr. Wakefield co-authored the Chatham House Sustainable Laboratories Prior Assessment Tool as part of a long-term biosecurity project on improving the sustainability of laboratories in low-resource settings and worked with the GP and UK Government Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at Wilton Park on mitigating deliberate biological threats. Mr. Wakefield also ran awareness-raising courses on biological threats and bioterrorism in Morocco, lectured on biological threats and health emergencies in the Chatham House Summer School, and contributed to the ongoing revision of the 2004 Public Health Response to Biological and Chemical Weapons: WHO Guidance.

Mr. Wakefield was an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity (ELBI) Fellow at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security in 2020 and 2021, a 2020 OSCE-UNODA Peace and Security Scholar, and an associate member of the Global Violence Prevention special interest group at the Faculty of Public Health, UK. He has a multidisciplinary background in international relations and holds an MSc in security studies from the Department of Political Science, School of Public Policy, at University College, London. He also holds a BA (Hons) in international relations from Loughborough University and a Diploma of international studies from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Mr. Wakefield is primarily based in London, UK, but spends time in the US in Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC.

 

Guest Speakers

Ada A. BACETTY, PhD

Dr. Bacetty is the Department Chief for the Biological Threat Reduction Program of the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cooperative Threat Reduction program at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Most recently, Dr. Bacetty held positions as a Director for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and Senior Policy Advisor for a Chairman of a House Appropriations Subcommittee. From 2008–2016, she served in various roles within the DoD, to include International Scientific Program Manager, Country Officer, Team Lead, Branch Chief, and Program Manager. Prior to her DoD career, Dr. Bacetty was a USDA-ARS research scientist conducting studies focused on host-pathogen interactions, mycotoxins, nematology, and pathogen detection. She has authored numerous publications and presented at several national and international fora. Dr. Bacetty holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from South Carolina State University, a master’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Georgetown University, and a PhD in plant pathology from the University of Georgia.

 

Ferdinal Moreno FERNANDO, MD, MDM

Dr. Fernando is Assistant Director and Head of the Health Division of the Human Development Directorate (HDD) under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Department (ASCCD) of ASEAN Secretariat since 2011. Under his purview is the facilitation, coordination, initiation, management, and implementation of the ASEAN Health Development Agenda and Work Programmes focused on various health priorities involving promoting healthy lifestyles, responding to all hazards and emerging threats, strengthening health systems and access to care, and ensuring food safety.

He has been a licensed physician in the Philippines since 1993. He has also been engaged with various development work and health-related initiatives at local and international levels for the past 29 years, either as part of his professional or volunteer work.

Dr. Fernando has a Bachelor of Science in biology and Doctor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines, and a Master in Development Management (2003) from the Asian Institute of Management in Makati, Philippines.

 

Anna Laura ROSS, PhD

Dr. Ross is the Head of Emerging Technologies, Research Prioritization and Support, in the Research for Health department of the WHO Science Division and the Head of the Secretariat for the WHO Science Council. In this role, Dr. Ross oversees activities related to the use of new and emerging technologies for the benefit of global health, and activities to facilitate, support, and optimize steps in research and development for health products.

Originally from Italy, Dr. Ross has over 15 years of experience in global health. Her areas of interest are in the field of HIV biomedical research, scientific program management, implementation research, and global health policy. Prior to joining the WHO, Dr. Ross served as Head of International Affairs and Scientific Relations at the Agence nationale de recherche sur le sida et les hépatites (ANRS) in Paris, France. Previously, Dr. Ross carried out biomedical research at the UK Medical Research Council, London, England, and at the Institut Pasteur network. In the latter role, she worked in France, Cameroon, and Cambodia on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Dr. Ross is particularly interested in facilitating and accelerating equitable access to science and research products for the benefit of global health. She holds a PhD in biomedical research from the University of Cambridge and a post-graduate qualification in global health policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

Emmanuelle TUERLINGS, DPhil, MSc

Dr. Tuerlings is a Technical Officer with the Emerging Technologies, Research Prioritisation and Support Unit of the Research for Health Department, Science Division, at the WHO. She is currently working on activities associated with the governance of dual-use research, the mitigation of biorisks, and the responsible conduct of the life sciences. She has experience in the governance of science and technology, especially in the field of dual-use research, biosecurity, and global health security, having worked for WHO from 2004 to 2011, including on the project "Responsible life sciences research for global health security." She has also been consulting with WHO on the topic of human genome editing governance.

Before joining WHO, Dr. Tuerlings was based at the Harvard Sussex Program, University of Sussex, United Kingdom. She also consulted with several international and nongovernmental organizations on topics associated with dual-use biological technologies and their governance. She holds a Master of Science and a Doctorate in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom).