Expert Commentators
Expert Commentators for Innovations for Health: Solutions that Cross Borders
Meet our Expert Commentators who are doing great work in the sector and sharing their insights, expertise and feedback with competition entrants.
Rose Reis
Rose Reis, Program Officer, joined Results for Development Institute in August 2010 to lead communications for the Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI). She focuses on creating connections between key stakeholders in the health marketplace: Program implementers, funders, researchers, and policy makers. Rose manages the CHMI blog and other communication projects. Before joining R4D, Ms. Reis worked at the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), developing and executing communication campaigns focused on accelerating the adoption of policies to fight childhood pneumonia and the take up of underutilized vaccines in low and middle income countries. Ms. Reis has also helped design and launch a family-planning focused interactive web community for the INFO Project at JHSPH’s Center for Communication Programs. Prior to working at JHSPH, Ms. Reis was a research editor in New York City. A graduate of Vassar College, Ms. Reis has a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Donika Dimovska
Donika coordinates the activities of the Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI) at the Results for Development Institute (R4D) in Washington, DC. Donika leads project efforts under R4D’s private sector in health portfolio with a focus on identifying, analyzing, and diffusing innovative market-based models that work to improve the lives of the poor in developing countries. Prior to joining R4D, Donika worked at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) where she conducted research on democratic developments in the Balkans and the Black Sea region. Ms. Dimovska obtained a M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in December 2007. She spent the last semester of graduate studies at the International University of Japan (IUJ) in Niigata where she focused on contemporary issues of economic and political governance. In addition, Ms. Dimovska was a Graduate Assistant with the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts (PARC) at Syracuse University where she performed a comparative analysis of conflict patterns and the impact of multilateral peacekeeping operations in three West African countries. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she gained extensive development program experience working with Religions for Peace International in New York, and interning at the Council on Foreign Relations, Action Against Hunger and The Trickle Up Program.
Firman Lubis
Dr Firman Lubis is a senior lecturer at the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Public Health. He serves also as director of Yayasan Kusuma Buana, an NGO working for public education and empowerment in health. A doctor and expert in public health, he was chairman for Coalition for Healthy Indonesia, a network of health initiatives and institutions focusing on health promotion and preventive campaign. Involvement in various projects, studies, and research (among which in collaboration with University of Leiden, the Netherlands, WHO Geneva, Unicef, UNFPA, UNAIDS, Population Council, Family Health International, PATH) shaped his rich understanding of the field from both academic and citizen sector perspective.
Richard Bartlett
Richard Bartlett is the Associate Director of the newly created International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery (IPIHD), which was launched through the World Economic Forum and actively supports healthcare innovators and entrepreneurs scale and replicate their business models. In his role, he oversees all the functions of the IPIHD with a specific focus on facilitating all projects and pilots. Richard is formerly from McKinsey & Company where he worked within the Global Healthcare Practice serving clients around the world on different topics of health systems reform. While at McKinsey, he was heavily involved in innovative healthcare delivery and led all the work with the World Economic Forum on the topic.
Mercedes Jones
Mercedes, is the Director of the Social Innovation Center (CIS) from the San Andres University in Argentina and she coordinates the Management challenges in Health Social organizations. She is a sociologist, member of the professional council of sociology as well as advisor to the healthy citizenship department within the Cambio Democratico foundation. Mercedes coordinates Paradigma XXI- an alliance for collaborative incidence in health issues which concentrates on a health system focused on the people. She is a university professor, author and compiler of various publications as well as researcher of articulation processes. She also worked in civil society organization networks. Mercedes keeps a wiki page http://gestion-del-conocimiento.info/ as a network working and social learning tool.
Laura Spero
Laura Spero is the founder and director of Eva Nepal, a non-profit organization with health and education projects in Nepal. Eva Nepal's initiatives include the Kaski Oral Health Care Project and Gaky's Light, a higher-education guidance and scholarship program for first-generation-literate youth. Laura has spent extensive periods of time living in rural Nepal as a non-profit entrepreneur. In the U.S., she is a freelance radio journalist and has worked for LEAP, a New York based non-profit, as an arts education consultant in NYC public schools. She has a keen interest in the intersection between health, education, and economic opportunity in different parts of the world. Laura is currently working as a therapist with the Institute of Integrative Manual Therapy in Bloomfield, CT and is developing plans to introduce these healing techniques to rural Nepal. She has a bachelor's degree in anthropology and neuroscience from Williams College and an MFA in nonfiction writing.
Dr. Ruchi Dass
Dr Ruchi Dass is an award winning Physician from India with a Post Graduate in Preventive and Promotional Healthcare and with medical technology applied expertise. Dr. Dass has been involved in Healthcare IT, e-learning and ICT projects for the public/private sector in India. During this period, she has managed several projects that seek to use mobile phones and wireless technologies to accelerate the achievement of the United Nation’s health related Millennium Development Goals across the world. Dr Dass led the Business development and Operations of Lifetime Wellness Rx. She is a part of the ICT4D team India and recently judged the most coveted “GSMA’s Best mHealth Innovation Awards 2011” in Barcelona, Spain. She is on the International Editorial Review board of International Journal of User-Driven Healthcare, IGI Global, Pennsylvania, USA and a Council Member with the renowned Gerson Lehrman Group. Today, Dr Dass serves on selected Advisory Boards of leading mHealth companies and takes care of the consortium called “Healthcursor” — an organization oriented towards facilitating innovation around technology driven healthcare for the underprivileged across the World.
Akila Maheshwari
Akila Maheshwari Charagi, aged 51 years, was afflicted by paranoid schizophrenia in 1992. After a series of challenges and struggles in her professional and personal life she was able to overcome her delusions and also manage her negative symptoms and emotional and cognitive deficits associated with the illness. Akila is bound by a strong set of values like integrity, passion, team player, humility, compassion and a strong leadership orientation. She is a double major in both Law ( LLB) and Finance ( MMS) from Mumbai University. She has written a variety of books in Finance and Marketing and is a poet and short story writer. In a career spanning 30 years she has been in many leadership roles both in the public and private sector. Her key skills are in consulting, administration, innovation, creativity, teaching, training and Instructional Design. She has been a member of the Insurance and Education Committees of Indian Merchant Chamber in Mumbai. Her domain expertise is wide ranging from Banking, Insurance, Financial Services, Media and Healthcare. As the founder and promoter of NAMI INDIA Akila has been actively involved in advocacy, change, stigma eradication, policy and creating Networks in the area of Mental Health in India. She has been a part of the sub- committee for Rehabilitation in Disability for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012- 2017) for Government of India. Akila is happily married to Dr.Shiban Charagi, an academician and scientist and has three children Tashina, Neha and Neil. She acknowledges their remarkable role in her journey to recovery and happiness.
Vítor Asseituno
Founder of Empreender Saúde and EPM Junior. Former president of EPM Junior. Vítor is Medicine student of 6th year at Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) and student of Financial Management from the University of São Paulo (UNICID). He is also a Board Member of Angels of Brazil and former venture capital fund analyst at BR Opportunities for health.
Raquel Barros
Ashoka Fellow since 1999 and founder of Associação Lua Nova, Sorocaba (SP), Brazil, focused on social integration of girls and young women with background of abuse, violence and sexual exploitation. Raquel is a member of the Latin American Network for Reduction of Social Suffering (RAISSS) and of Community Outreach Committee of UNISA - University of Sorocaba. She is also responsible for the Institute Empodera - Training Center for Community Treatment in Brazil (Caritas Germany) and serves as a consultant for Integrated Action Programme for the National Secretariat on Drugs in the attention of the use of crack
Carol Grodzins
Carol’s professional life has been at the conjunction of international development, health and public policy. Carol served in the Peace Corps as a primary school teacher in rural Sarawak, E. Malaysia. The experience led her to study how to create healthy communities at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Studying and practicing as a nurse, later she became President of a statewide, nurse-led and owned non-profit organization promoting family-centric obstetrics. In the 1980s, Carol spearheaded the development of the Massachusetts Committee for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze, because she saw nuclear war as the number one public health threat. In 1989, Carol joined the Harvard Institute for International Development's macroeconomic and food policy group. Carol co-launched the Program on NGOs and their role in international development, and a new degree program, the Master of Public Policy in International Development at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Carol also completed a Master of Public Administration, concentrating on International Development and Health. Carol joined Ashoka as Vice President and Change Leader of the Global Fellowship in 2000. Now retired, Carol has moved to Chiang Mai Thailand, teaches social change and enjoys the friendship of Asian Ashoka Fellows, colleagues, and her former students.
Patrick Golden
Patrick Golden is the Director of the World Health Care Congress Health Innovations program (WHCC Health Innovations). Affiliated with the World Health Care Congress conference company, WHCC Health Innovations seeks to promote a wide array of global health innovations that are impacting developing nations. The program includes poster exhibits in the U.S., Europe, South America and the Middle East. The program also includes an online platform www.whcchealthinnovations.com, which serves as a year-found forum for innovators and innovations seekers. Patrick began his career as a newspaper journalist and as a health care research specialist in the Massachusetts State Legislature prior to joining the World Health Care Congress in 2007.