Former chair of DNDi Board of Directors (2003-2007), Yves Champey is a physician with over 40 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He served as Medical and Scientific Director, and then as Senior Vice President, International Drug Development, at Rhone Poulenc (1995- 1997). Dr. Champey is founder of ITEEC and a consultant on drug R&D for the pharmaceutical and health biotechnology industries. He is Advisor to the Director General of Evry Genopole, a French national project for the development of biotechnology activities, and CEO of Genopole 1er Jour, a private seed fund established by Genopole d’Evry. He is a former member of Rhône- Poulenc Pharma R&D’s Board of Directors; he was General Secretary, and later President, of the French Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians, and Founder and President of the Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Foundation. Dr. Champey was also a member of the Inter-Ministerial Mission on Public Research and Drug Innovation Research.

Former Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and founding partner of DNDi, Mr. Ganguly started as medical teacher and then became Professor of Immunology at GB Pan Hospital. Later, he served as Professor of Experimental Medicine and Biotechnology at PGI Chandigarth. In his role as Director General of ICMR, he succeeded in growing the Institute’s assets and was one of the founding partners of DNDi. He has also served as Chairman of the Lacefield International Society on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases, President of International Society of Health Research (Indian Chapter), Vice Chairman of the Joint Coordinating Board for the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, and Honorary Professor, Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore.

Mr. Lewis is the Chair of the Board of the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Canada, and is the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada, and the former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. He is a Professor of Global Health, Faculty of Social Sciences, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and Co-Director of AIDS-Free World, a new international AIDS advocacy organization, based in the United States. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF at the organization’s global headquarters in New York. From 1984 through 1988, Stephen Lewis was Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. Lewis is the author of the best-selling book, Race Against Time.

Former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (2001-2004), Dr. Rostrup undertook several missions across three continents for the organization and was an official representative of MSF when the organization received the Nobel Prize in 1999. He is also a former a DNDi Board member (2003-2005). On May 1997, Rostrup, made his sixth expedition to the Himalayas and his 12th to mountains higher than 5,000m, drawing attention to the importance of medical and ethical aspects of high altitude climbing. He is currently serving as senior consultant to the Department of Acute Medicine, Division of Medicine, Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Ms. Wirth is Chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, and former Chair of DNDi’s Scientific Advisory Committee (2003-2007). An international expert in tropical disease and molecular microbiology, Ms. Wirth directs the Harvard Malaria Initiative and is past President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She is also is a recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome Award in Molecular Parasitology. Ms. Wirth graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin, spent one year as a Fulbright Fellow, and then completed her Ph.D. in cell biology and virology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was awarded a Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship for her postdoctoral work in molecular biology at Harvard University, joined the faculty of Harvard School of Public Health in 1982 and was promoted to full professor in 1990.

Mr. Yuthavong is the former Minister of Science and Technology, Thailand, and a former member of DNDi’s Scientific Advisory Committee (2003-2006). Yuthavong is immediate past President of the Thai Academy of Science and Technology. He began his career in science as a researcher and biochemistry Professor at Mahidol University. In 1992, he was appointed the first Director of the National Science and Technology Development Agency and later worked on the development of antimalarial drugs at the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Yuthavong’s research interests include drug target interactions, drug resistance, molecular biology of malaria parasites, and the broad issues of science and technology. Yuthavong earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford. He was appointed Minister of Science and Technology, Thailand, in 2006.

Dr. Meymandi is the director of the Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, in Sylmar, CA, which opened in 2007 as the first US clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease. The Center has since diagnosed and treated over 50 patients and conducts free comprehensive mobile medical evaluations in a grassroots effort to educate about the disease and to detect cases early. It also performs important clinical research into rates of prevalence, conduction abnormalities, pregnant women, and congenital transmission. Such research aims in part to identify potential markers for those at risk of sudden death due to Chagas. Dr. Meymandi is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, the Associate Program Director of the UCLA Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program, and the Director of Cardiovascular Research and Invasive Cardiology at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. She graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine and has a Bachelor’s in Psychobiology from the University of Southern California. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the UCLA-San Fernando Valley Program.

Rafael Vila San Juan took a degree in journalism and political science at the University of Barcelona. He then worked as a journalist in Spain until 1988 when he became Deputy Communications Director for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1994 he worked as communications director for Benetton. He joined MSF in 1995 when he coordinated the return of the MSF Spain teams in Rwanda. In 1996 he became Director of Communications at MSF Spain and in 1998 Director General. Since 2000, Rafa Vila San Juan has been the Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières. He was Chair of the Steering Committee on Humanitarian Response, a platform of the main international humanitarian organisations. Rafael Vila San Juan currently serves as Vice Director – Manager of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB).

Dr. Rowan Gillies is a Former President of MSF International Council, 2004 to 2006 and DNDi Board Member – 2006 to 2007. Graduated from the University of New South Wales, Dr Gillies is training as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Australia, and worked in the field with MSF as a doctor and medical coordinator.

Samih Darwazah, Founder and Chairman of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2005, was employed at Eli Lilly from 1964 to 1976 before establishing Hikma Pharmaceuticals in Jordan in 1977. Between 1995 and 1996 he served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in Jordan. He also founded the Jordan Trade Association and was a member of the Advisory Economic Council to His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan. A fullbright scholar, Samih holds a Masters Degree in Industrial Pharmacy from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Missouri which he obtained in 1964, and a Bachelors Degree in Pharmacy from the American University of Beirut obtained in 1954. Mr. Darwazah was elected Middle East Entrepreneur of the year in 2007 by Ernst and Young. In 2009, Mr. Darwazah was elected Chairman of Capital Bank of Jordan and he also served as a member of the Senate of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Mr. Darwazah was granted an honorary doctorate from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in May 2010 and in January 2011, the Samih Darwazah Center for Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship was established at the OSB (Olayyan School of Business) at the American University of Beirut.

A physician with a Master degree in Social Medicine from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Paulo Buss is a specialist in Pediatrics and Public Health. Dr. Buss was President of Fundação Oswaldo Cruz from January 2001 – 2008. At ENSP. he held offices as Deputy-Director (1985-1989) and Director for two terms (1989-1992 and 1998-2000). During his terms the ENSP inaugurated Public Health Residence, Public Health Doctorate, Distance Learning Program, Government Health and Professional Master Degrees. As vice-president of Education and Information at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (1992-1996), Dr. Buss created the Health Channel and the Fiocruz publishing house. He represented Brazil in the World Health Organization’s Executive Council (from December 2004 to May 2007), nominated by the President of Brazil, and represented Fiocruz in the world networks of the Health Research Institutes, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from USA, and of the Public Health Institutes, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also from USA.

Emeritus Professor, Institute of Endemic Diseases University of Khartoum, Sudan. Professor Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan is the founder and ex President of SNAS. He graduated from the Kitchener School of Medicine in 1955 and had his graduate education at the Universities of London and Edinburgh. He was previously Professor at the department of pathology at the Faculty of Medicine University of Khartoum and Dean in the same Faculty. He served as Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Khartoum and Minister of Higher Education Government of Sudan. He was also founder and Chairman of the Department of pathology and Director of Publications and Translation at King Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was awarded several prizes: Kitchener Memorial Prize, University of Khartoum, Shousha Prize, World Health Organization, Donald Mackey Prize, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, El Zubair Prize for Medicine, Government of Sudan and EL Neelain Order Government of Sudan. His has 230 publications in infectious diseases, cancer, renal diseases, genetics, gastroenterology and cardiovascular disease.

Ricardo Preve is an Argentine filmmaker, photographer, and activist. He owns Ricardo Preve Films LLC, a production company.In 2005, he wrote and produced the documentary Chagas, Un Mal Escondido and wrote, produced, and directed the documentary entitled Esperanza Means Hope in 2006. Preve has made a name for himself as a Chagas activist, raising awareness about the deadly disease.

José Gomes Temporão is a Brazilian public health physician and politician from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party. He took office as Brazilian Minister of Health on March 16, 2007, during the second term of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration. Temporão graduated on the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Medical School on 1977. He became a researcher in tropical diseases on that same university and became a master in public health on the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. He later also got a PhD in Social Medicine on the Rio de Janeiro State University.

Dr. Kant is an MD in Public Health and has a Masters degree in Communicable Disease Epidemiology. He heads the Division of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research. He has also headed the Division of International Health. Lalit Kant has been on the Board of DNDi between 2003 and 2010.