Opart Karnkawinpong, M.D., the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health (former Director General of the Department of Disease Control) has outstanding public health work that creates value for society and the country. He is an expert in Preventive Medicine (Epidemiology, Maritime Medicine, Traffic Medicine, Travel Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine) Clinical Preventive Medicine, Family Medicine, and Internal Medicine. His work to update Communicable Diseases Act B.E.2523 to Communicable Diseases Act B.E.2558 is an important tool and mechanism for Thailand to deal with communicable diseases and epidemics more efficiently than in the past. When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, it was used concretely and has great results to save people's life (Thailand had fully vaccinated at least 82%, with around 500,000 case‐recovery rates). Under his management, the Department of Disease Control received the most prestigious international award “the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) 2021” for the Department’s initiative titled “Intelligent and Sustainable Public Health Emergency System in Thailand," which enhances the response to emergency and health threats and seeks to achieve two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely, Goal 3 and Goal 17.
Meet Our Inspiring Speakers
Opart Karnkawinpong, MD
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health
Thailand
Dr. Andrea Bruni
Regional Adviser for Mental Health, WHO
With 15 years of international experience in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Europe, Andrea is a senior expert in mental health systems, policies and services.
Andrea is a Medical Doctor, specialized in Psychiatry. He holds the International Master on Mental Health Policy and Services (Lisbon, Portugal) and the Mental Health Human Rights and Legislation Diploma (Pune, India). Andrea is highly committed to promoting the rights of persons with disability.
Dr. Saira Mehnaz
Professor & Chairperson
D/O Community Medicine
Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College
Provost, Begum Sultan Jahan Hall
Aligarh Muslim University, India
Dr. Saira Mehnaz is a distinguished public health expert and academician with extensive experience in community medicine. Currently a Professor at the Department of Community Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), she also serves as the Country Representative for the International Association on Public Health. Dr. Mehnaz earned her MBBS and MD in Community Medicine from AMU and has completed advanced courses in medical education, underscoring her commitment to academic excellence.
Her contributions span research, teaching, and leadership. She has supervised numerous MD theses addressing critical public health issues like intimate partner violence, child nutrition, and neuropsychiatric disorders in vulnerable populations. Her research has received national and international acclaim, including prestigious awards like the Vijaynarayan National Award and the Pyarelal Mohan National Award for Best Research Paper.
As a scientific reviewer and committee member for international conferences, Dr. Mehnaz has actively shaped discussions on global health challenges. Her work has been published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, covering topics like maternal and child health, community-based interventions, and access to healthcare among marginalized groups.
Dr. Mehnaz's leadership roles include serving as Vice President of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (UP & UK Chapter) and Provost at AMU's Begum Sultan Jahan Hall. She has also successfully implemented projects funded by the Ford Foundation and Indian Council of Medical Research, focusing on adolescent health and healthcare access in urban slums. With a career dedicated to improving public health through research, education, and advocacy, Dr. Mehnaz continues to inspire change and innovation in her field.
Dr. CHIA Sin Eng, MBBS, MD, MSc. (OM), FAMS, FFOM (Lond)
Associate Professor
Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
National University of Singapore,
Singapore
Speech Title: : “Total Workplace Safety & Health approach to Health of the Community – A Singapore approach”
Dr. Chia Sin Eng is an accomplished occupational physician and Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), teaching in both the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. He is actively involved in educating undergraduate medical students, postgraduates, and medical professionals, specifically through programs like the Graduate Diploma in Occupational Medicine (OM) and the Master of Public Health (OM). In addition, Dr. Chia serves as the Assistant Program Director for the National Public Health and Occupational Medicine Residency Programme under the Ministry of Health, Singapore.
From 2018 to 2020, he was seconded to the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council at the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, where he played a key role in developing and implementing the Total WSH programme. This initiative, now a national program, has been widely adopted in various companies across Singapore.
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Dr. Chia also offers his expertise as an occupational health consultant to numerous organizations within Singapore and has extended his services internationally. He has worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a temporary and expert advisor, consulting on occupational health matters for multiple countries.
His primary research interest revolves around integrating workplace safety and health, a focus that aligns with his broader goals of improving occupational health standards both locally and globally.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rodi Isa
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Malaysia
Dr. Mohamad Rodi Isa, MBBS, DAP&E, MPH, DrPH, is an Associate Professor in Public Health Medicine at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. He earned his medical degree (2002), Master of Public Health (2009), and Doctor of Public Health (2014) from the University of Malaya, alongside a Diploma in Applied Parasitology and Entomology (2006). His expertise includes biostatistics, clinical epidemiology, non-communicable diseases, and health system and policy. Formerly, he was an honorary research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
Dr. Hulisani Matakanye
University of South Africa,
South Africa
Dr. Hulisani Matakanye is a Senior Lecturer in Health Studies at the University of South Africa with extensive expertise in public health, monitoring and evaluation, and quality assurance. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Venda and has contributed significantly to the field through his research, publications, and mentorship of postgraduate students.
Dr. Matakanye has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles in accredited journals, focusing on topics such as tuberculosis treatment adherence, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health strategies, and the role of behavioral interventions in healthcare. He is also a recognized peer reviewer for esteemed journals, including BMC Public Health and PLOS ONE.
With over a decade of experience, he has held roles such as Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and Program Manager at leading health organizations, including WITS RHI and The Aurum Institute. Dr. Matakanye has actively participated in global conferences, presenting research that addresses critical public health challenges.
His commitment to advancing public health is further demonstrated through his ongoing engagement in community-based research projects and his role in guiding Ph.D. and Master's students toward academic excellence.
Dr. Pahurat Kongmuang Taisuwan
Director
Secretariat Office of the Royal Development Projects Committee
Department of Disease Control
Ministry of Public Health
Thailand
Dr. Pahurat has been a dedicated professional in the Department of Disease Control at the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand since 1993. Initially focused on public health preparedness and response within the Bureau of General Communicable Diseases, she earned her Ph.D. in Medical and Public Health Social Sciences in 2011. In 2013, she transitioned to the Bureau of Risk Communication, specializing in crisis risk communication for public health emergencies, including the Emergency Operations Center. Dr. Pahurat has developed numerous training programs, procedures, and guidelines addressing significant health threats such as MERS, SARS, avian influenza, Zika virus, Ebola, and COVID-19.
She is currently evaluating her concepts on event-based risk communication and its integration with health literacy. Now serving as the Director of the Secretariat Office of the Royal Development Projects Committee, Dr. Pahurat oversees initiatives related to diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, particularly in rural and prison health contexts. In addition to her administrative role, she is a visiting professor at Mahidol University and Thammasat University. She collaborates with institutions in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam, as well as international organizations like WHO and ASEP. Her expertise in crisis risk communication significantly contributes to public health efforts at national, regional, and global levels.
Prof. Padmini Ranasinghe
Co-Director
Education Division of Hospital Medicine Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,
USA
Dr. Padmini D. Ranasinghe serves as the Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she is also the Co-Director of Hospitalist Education Programs. Her clinical expertise spans hospital medicine, internal medicine, preventive medicine, and public health. She currently leads educational initiatives as the Director of Education for the Hospitalist Program at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Ranasinghe earned her M.D. from the University of Colombo Faculty of Medicine in Sri Lanka. She completed a combined residency in internal medicine and preventive medicine at Yale-Griffin in 2006, earning an M.P.H. in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University. During her residency, she demonstrated a commitment to global health by organizing a medical mission for tsunami-affected regions in 2004 and volunteering in mobile health clinics in East Timor. Additionally, she worked with underserved communities in Connecticut and contributed to disaster preparedness efforts, research projects, and public health initiatives.
Her research interests focus on health and wellness, internal and preventive medicine, and international health. As the head of the Padmini Ranasinghe Lab, her research emphasizes innovative approaches to these areas, with her findings contributing to systematic reviews and policy-making. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including works on meditation for stress management and lipid-modifying therapies for diabetes.
Dr. Ranasinghe is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM). She has held leadership roles, such as serving on the Governing Council for the AMA’s International Medical Graduates Section and the Federation of State Medical Boards’ Special Committee on Strategic Positioning. Recognized for her contributions, she was named a Fellow of the American College of Physicians in 2012 and received the American Medical Association’s Foundation Leadership Award in 2007.
Throughout her career, Dr. Ranasinghe has demonstrated a commitment to advancing medical education, public health, and global healthcare initiatives.
Prof. Karin Verspoor
Dean, School of Computing Technologies RMIT University in Melbourne Australia
Professor Karin Verspoor is Dean of the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Karin’s research primarily focuses on the use of artificial intelligence methods to enable biological discovery and clinical decision support, through extraction of information from clinical texts and the biomedical literature and machine learning-based modelling. Karin held previous posts as Director of Health Technologies and Deputy Head of the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, as the Scientific Director of Health and Life Sciences at NICTA Victoria Research Laboratory, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She is also the Victorian Node lead and co-founder of the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Health.
Dr. Rajesh Kumar K V
Chief Technological Scientist AI Research Centre Woxsen University, India
Dr. Rajesh Kumar K V is a distinguished academic and researcher currently serving Chief Technological Scientist at the AI Research Centre, and as an Associate Professor at School of Business – Business Analytics department, Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India. Currently he is leading a team of engineering working on interdisciplinary research projects. He holds the prestigious Chair Professor of France Belanger of Information Systems and is actively involved as Co-Chairperson of the Centre of Excellence – Sports Analytics and Management. Furthermore, he is the Advert flair Chair Professor in Marketing and Advertising, specializing in AI Projects. His academic credentials include an M. Tech in Embedded Systems, and Ph.D. in Applied Artificial Intelligence in biomechanical engineering. His research specialization lies in Human Computer Interface-based signal Data Analytics for Bio-Medical Applications, Machine and Deep Learning, and Business Analytics. In 2022, he showcased his expertise in sports analytics at the Data Con LA+ IM Data 2022 conference in the US, California. His significant research contributions were recognized at ICRA 2023-UK in a workshop on Computer Vision for Wearable Robotics by Harvard University. He recently attended as a panel member to discuss “Digital landscape – Beyond AI” at Digital Innovation summit – Bucharest, Romania and “How AI is changing the landscape of work” at the AI Tech Summit in April 2024, in Malaga, Spain. Recently he got selected to participate as panel member to discuss on “Future Cars: How does it looks like” in MOVE Conference, June 2024 at London, UK.
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