April 12-13, 2008
Yale University, New Haven Connecticut

Saturday 08:00am-08:30am Introductory Remarks and Presentation of Volunteer Service Awards
Saturday 08:30am-09:20am Keynote Address By Dr. Susan Blumenthal
Saturday 09:25am-10:15am Keynote Address By Dr. Allan Rosenfield
Saturday 10:20am-11:10am Keynote Address By Dr. Jim Yong Kim
Saturday 11:15am-12:00pm Plenary Panel - Building Capacity with Community Health Outreach Workers
Saturday 01:00pm-02:30pm Concurrent Sessions
Saturday 02:35pm-04:05pm Concurrent Sessions
Saturday 04:10pm-05:40pm Concurrent Sessions
Sunday 08:45am-09:35am Keynote Address By Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
Sunday 09:40am-10:30am Keynote Address By Dr. Sonia Sachs
Sunday 10:35am-11:15am Plenary Panel - The Need For A Global Coalition of Good
Sunday 11:20am-12:00pm Plenary Panel - Brain Drain: The Health, Development, and Economic Effects on African Countries
Sunday 01:00pm-02:30pm Concurrent Sessions
Sunday 02:35pm-04:05pm Concurrent Sessions
Sunday 04:10pm-05:40pm Concurrent Sessions

---

Saturday, April 12, 2008

08:00am-08:30am

08:30am-09:20am

09:25am-10:15am

10:20am-11:10am

11:15am-12:00pm

01:00pm-02:30pm

02:35pm-04:05pm

04:10pm-05:40pm

Sunday, April 13, 2008

08:45am-09:35am

09:40am-10:30am

10:35am-11:15am

11:20am-12:00pm

01:00pm-02:30pm

02:35pm-04:05pm

04:10pm-05:40pm

---

Biographies of Speakers

Sam Abbenyi, MD, MSc, Director, Programs and Logistics, International Trachoma Initiative

Dr Sam-Abbenyi is a Cameroonian physician with a lot of experience in community primary health care experience. Upon graduating from Medical School in Cameroon (October 1980), Sam worked as District Medical Officer, under the Ministry of Health. He did an outstanding job in reducing the prevalence of trypanosomiasis through mass screening of the population and treatment of patients (1981-1984). He also charted the endemic focus of Paragonimiasis in the district of Fontem. Following his work in Fontem, Sam worked in both the clinical and community services at Tiko District Hospital and at the Provincial Hospital for the South West Province in Limbe (1984-1988). His work earned him a fellowship award from the International Development Research Center, Ottawa, Canada to read for the MSc in Community Health at the University of Montreal (1998-2000).

Sam returned to Cameroon after his Masters program and was appointed Deputy Director of Epidemiology in the Ministry of Health, Yaounde, Cameroon. He was the coordinator of a program to control potentially epidemic diseases such as meningitis, cholera and yellow fever. He also managed diligently the dracunculiasis eradication program. Sam received a Ministerial award as a leader of the team that eliminated dracunculiasis from Cameroon (1990 - 1996).

Sam left the Ministry of Health and joined the National Epidemiology Board of Cameroon where he was a team leader of a research unit. He conducted six province-wide studies on the prevalence and risk factors of cancer of the breast, cervix and the prostate as well as on arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. These were conducted in order to establish baseline data for chronic diseases in Cameroon.

Later Sam worked as consultant with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa on the surveillance of epidemic prone diseases in Congo (Brazzaville), Namibia and Uganda and on HIV/AIDS. His skills in consultant services made him work for the International Unit of the Department of Montreal on standardizing training curricula on syndromic approach for the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in five West African countries where the University of Montreal was implementing STI/HIV/AIDS control projects.

Sam has also worked in the Great Lakes Region of Africa in 1998-2003 as Health Program Coordinator of the American Refugee Committee (ARC), Reproductive Health Coordinator at CARE International/Rwanda and Health Coordinator of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

In July 2003, Sam moved from Africa to John Snow Inc, DELIVER Project in Arlington, Virginia as the HIV - AIDS Advisor, a year later Sam was appointed Director of Program Plannings and Analysis at the International Trachoma Initiative in New York. During the past 18 months Sam assisted seven trachoma control programs, namely: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Tanzania and Viet Nam in designing national trachoma strategic plans 2005-2009.

Rob Abel, MD, Delaware Ophthalmology Consultants

Dr. Abel earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in 1969, completed his ophthalmology residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital and was a Cornea Fellow at the University of Florida. board certified ophthalmologist. He is a former Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University. He founded and has been Medical Director of the Medical Eye Bank of Delaware since 1981. He teaches locally and internationally on numerous subjects, including cornea, cataract and nutrition. He instructs the Cornea Microsurgery Workshops at the Academy of Ophthalmology meetings annually and has been on the Academy's Committee of International Ophthalmology. Dr. Abel has done active research on corneal transplants, corneal pathology, contact lenses and drugs as they relate to the eye. He holds two patents on artificial corneas and has received the AAO Senior Honor Award. Dr. Abel is the author of the popular new books, "The Eye Care Revolution" and "The DHA Story," which teach patients how to treat and reverse common vision problems. Other inquiries concerning eye care can also be found on his website, the www.eyeadvisory.com. He practices at Delaware ophthalmology Consultants in Wilmington, Delaware.

Ronald Adelman, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Director of Retina Service, Yale University School of Medicine

Dr. Ron Adelman is Director of the Yale Retina Section. His formal education includes a Master of Public Health from Stanford University and an Ophthalmology residency and two-year Retina fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary of Harvard Medical School. During his years at Harvard, he received many awards, including the Club Vit Fellow Research Award, the Ron G. Michels Fellowship Award, and Fellow of the Year 2000. He has published extensively, primarily in the area of retinal disease and surgery, with over 35 papers in print or in press. He is Section Editor of the Digital Journal of Ophthalmology, a peer-reviewed ophthalmology journal on the worldwide web, serving as a resource for ophthalmologists, vision scientists, and patients worldwide.

Greg Allgood, PhD, Director, Children's Safe Drinking Water, Procter & Gamble

Dr. Greg Allgood is the Director, Children’s Safe Drinking Water at Procter & Gamble and Senior Fellow in Sustainability. Dr. Allgood has been with P&G for 21 years and leads P&G’s efforts to provide safe drinking water in the developing world. He has a PhD in Toxicology from North Carolina State University and a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, where he did research in the water area.

The focus of the Children's Safe Drinking Water program is provision of safe drinking water through a novel household water treatment product called PUR Purifier of Water. The program received the Grainger Challenge Bronze Award for Sustainability in 2007, the inventors of the PUR product were recognized as Inventor’s of the Year in 2006, and the program won the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2005 and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) World Business Award in 2004.

R. Rand Allingham, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology; Director, Glaucoma Service, Duke University Eye Center

R. Rand Allingham, MD, is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Duke University Eye Center, Durham, North Carolina. He is a clinician-scientist whose subspecialty and research focus is glaucoma. He is Director of the Duke University Glaucoma Service, one of the largest clinical and research glaucoma programs in the United States. Dr. Allingham’s research is primarily devoted to furthering our understanding of the genetic causes of glaucoma and other inherited disorders. He has studied glaucoma in many regions of the United States and worldwide including Iceland, Canada, India, Nepal, and Africa. He and his research collaborators have successfully identified the location of several major genes for POAG. Gene identification is critical to the formation of new insights into the cause of glaucoma and will open the door to novel treatment for this and other forms of blinding diseases. In addition to genetic research, Dr. Allingham is a collaborator on projects designed to identify protein expression in the trabecular meshwork, aqueous humor proteins in the normal and glaucomatous eye, and new surgical approaches to treat glaucoma.

Jared Ament, MD, MPh, Clinical Research Fellow, Ophthalmlology & Corneal Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School; Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. Jared Ament graduated with an International Baccalaureate from Upper Canada College and an Hon.BSc in Neurophysiology from the University of Toronto. He went to the collaborative medical school program between Ben-Gurion University in Israel and Columbia University, New York. His MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health is to be completed summer of 2008. He is crrently a post-doctoral fellow at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, and a Clinical Research Fellow at Mass. Eye & Ear Infirmary. His current research includes the Boston Keratoprosthesis (KPro) in the developing world under Dr. Claes Dohlman at MEEI and Dr. Ilene Gipson at Schepens. He recently returned from a KPro medical mission to Ethiopia, where he completed 5 KPro procedures.

Jane Aronson, MD, Director, International Pediatric Health Services; Founder and Executive Executive Officer, Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO); Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Dr. Jane Aronson is a board-certified pediatrician and infectious diseases specialist who has worked in adoption medicine for the last 15 years. She is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO)which provides direct services to orphans all over the world to improve their development,health, growth, and education. WWO has programs in Ethiopia and Vietnam (HIV/AIDS services), Bulgaria, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, China and soon there will be programs in Russia. She has received the Angel in Adoption Award 2000 and has been featured in many newspapers and magazines for her humanitarian work. She is a parent through international adoption.

Elizabeth Ashbourne, Results Secretariat, OPCS, World Bank

Elizabeth Ashbourne is responsible for the World Bank�s partnerships on managing for development results with OECD, donor agencies, and the private sector. She spent the last seven years working closely on issues specific to engaging the private sector in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As the focal point for private sector partnerships with the World Bank�s Africa Region, HIV/AIDS programs, her role was to develop and implement the mechanisms through which the private sector can access financial and technical resources from the Multicountry HIV/AIDS Program, the Bank�s $1.5billion investment in HIV/AIDS. She has worked in some 24 countries in Africa, and provides technical assistance in another 8. In addition, she facilitates global corporate relationships with the Bank and HIV/AIDS programs throughout Africa and the rest of the world.

Before coming to the Bank, Elizabeth Ashbourne spent three and a half years in Eastern Europe managing USAID training programs as Country Director in Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Deputy Director and Program Manager of a Management Training Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Her other experience includes designing programs to encourage and facilitate joint ventures between developing country entrepreneurs and SMEs in the US; serving as the senior coordinator for international internship programs at the American University; adjunct professor, career planning and tracking, and human resources change management at Arthur D. Little�s Executive Management Program; and worked for the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri. She also spent two years in NYC working with the textile designer, Jack Lenor Larson.

She holds an MA in International Education, with an emphasis on Organizational Management from American University, in Washington DC, and a BSc in Communications and History from Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY.

Vidush Philip Athyal, MD, MPH, Fellow/Clinical Instructor, University of Rochester Medical Center

Dr. Vidush Athyal is a fellow and clinical instructor at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY. He recently graduated from the University of Rochester/Highland Hospital family practice residency program. He received his medical degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev/Columbia University, NY after completing an MPH with an emphasis in International Health from Loma Linda University, CA.

Dr. Athyal’s special interests include international health, preventive medicine/public health, practice management and behavior change. He has traveled extensively with medical experience in Israel, Kenya, India, Honduras and Mexico. He has completed research projects in HIV/AIDS for the Centers for Disease Control, and in health care service delivery for the Mayo Clinic. His most recent global health experience includes helping the University of Rochester establish an international health clinic site in San Jose, Honduras serving approximately 700 families.

Hibah Ayaz, BS Candidate, Union College; Unite For Sight Volunteer in Chennai, India

Hibah Ayaz is a senior at Union College majoring in Neuroscience. She is passionate about volunteering and giving back to those that are less fortunate. Hibah has dedicated her time to volunteering in hospitals, clinics, schools and on a suicide hotline. In December of 2006 she traveled to Chennai, India to volunteer with the Unite For Sight team in an effort to give the gift of sight to hundreds of locals. She hopes to attend Optometry school in the near future and to continue to volunteer around the world.

Hibah thought that perhaps she could make a small difference by giving the gift of sight to the people of India. As part of a rural outreach program, she was able to help screen over 1000 villagers with Uma Eye Clinic and provide sight-restoring cataract surgeries to dozens, none of whom had access to eye care before UFS's arrival. Furthermore, she was able distribute over 500 prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses that were prescribed by optometrists. It was truly an eye-opening opportunity to experience first-hand, life in rural India.

Adeline Azrack, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Hopital Albert Schweitzer

Adeline Azrack is the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation for the Hopital Albert Schweitzer, an integrated rural health system that provides medical care and community health and development programs for more than 300,000 impoverished people in the Artibonite Valley of central Haiti. Adeline’s evaluation work currently focuses on assessing the impact of the hospital’s child survival programs, which include maternal health, nutrition, and infectious disease interventions delivered at the community level by community health workers and traditional medical providers.

Adeline’s prior experience includes working with high-risk children in New York City as the founder and director of the “I Have a Dream” Foundation’s Youth Health Literacy Program, and with foundation-sponsored programs targeting child nutrition and farm worker health as the Vice President of Abundantia Consulting in San Francisco, CA.

Adeline received her MS in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and her BA in Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University.

Thomas Baah, MD, MSc, Ophthalmologist, Our Lady of Grace Hospital, Ghana

Dr. Thomas Tontie Baah is an ophthalmologist from Ghana. He describes himself as a dedicated foot soldier in the frontline of the battle against preventable blindness. Devestated by the sudden and needles death of his mother�s seventh born from measles, a preventable and treatable infection, Dr. Baah was challenged to become a doctor at the tender age of 12. He was in class six in a village school. He told everyone that he wanted to become a doctor, but he says that the odds were against him. Painful childhood experiences of living with a blind uncle who had gone blind long before he was born motivated him to pursue a career in ophthalmology. In 1998, Dr. Baah started an eye clinic in a mission hospital, the Our Lady of Grace Hospital in Breman Asikuma. The clinic has grown steadily over the years. It is now one of the leading eye clinics in Ghana in the forefront of the battle against preventable blindness. In addition to his training in ophthalmology in Ghana and India, Dr. Baah obtained his MSc in Community Eye Health in England. He was trained in India in phacoemulsification and other advanced ophthalmic techniques. His relationship with Unite For Sight started two years ago, and he is a close partner of Unite For Sight.

Abrahim Bagheri, BS Candidate, Loyola Marymount University; Unite For Sight Volunteer in Chennai, India

Abrahim Bagheri is a senior majoring in biology at Loyola Marymount University. There, he serves as the president of the Unite for Sight chapter.

In December 2006, he traveled to Chennai, India to volunteer with Uma Eye Clinic. During his two-week stay in Chennai, Abrahim visited five villages where he participated in screening more than 500 patients, scheduling more than 80 cataract surgeries, and distributing more than 250 eyeglasses to patients.

In addition to his humanitarian work abroad, Abrahim has worked as an intern at Mayo Graduate School where he performed research on Atopic Dermatitis.

Robert Bailis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Rob Bailis is an Assistant Professor in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale. He conducts research and teaches courses on the human dimensions of energy and environmental issues in the developing world. He served as a Peace Corps Voulnteer in Kenya in the mid-1990s and continues working there on a variety of research projects.

Michele Barry, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine and Global Health Director, Office of International Health; Chief, General Medicine Firm, Yale University School of Medicine

Michele Barry, MD, FACP is a Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health at Yale University where she is the Director of Yale's Office of International Health. She also serves as the health consultant for the Ford Foundation overseas programs. As co-director for over 20 years of Yale/Johnson and Johnson Physician Scholar Award program, she has sent over 800 physicians overseas to underserved areas. As a past President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, she led an educational initiative in tropical medicine and travelers health which culminated in diploma courses in tropical medicine both in the U.S. and overseas, as well as a U.S. certification exam. Dr. Barry is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Science where she served on a task force to develop options to mobilize a volunteer U.S. Global Health Service Corps for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. She is Chair of the Interest Group on Global Health, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences, Executive Board Chairperson of the Professional Education and Training Committee at the International Society of Travel Medicine, and Chair of the Public Health Technical Advisory Board for the State of Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

Areas of interest include clinical tropical medicine, emerging infectious diseases, problems of underserved populations and globalization’s impact upon health in the developing world. She has written extensively in the areas of clinical tropical diseases, traveler and refugee health, ethical dilemmas of western researchers working in developing countries as well as how multinational industries and sanctions can impact health.

Ravin Bastiampillai, BSc Student, University of Alberta

Ravin Bastiampillai is a pre-medical student, currently in his fourth year in a BSc General program at the University of Alberta. Although he holds a strong interest in Biological Science, Ravin's main focus is to attain an entrance into Medical School, where he hopes to achieve his lifelong dream of practicing Medicine internationally in areas where the need is the greatest.

Additionally, Ravin is the President of the University of Alberta's UFS Chapter, and is also an executive of the Pre-Medical Students'

Association on his campus.

Ravin traveled to Chennai, India, in May 2006 through the Unite for Sight internship program, where he says that he experienced the uplifting nature of volunteering internationally. His three weeks in India involved learning about the eye and eye diseases at the local eye clinic, visiting village camps to screen for potential patients, and observing phaco-emulsification cataract removal surgeries.

Georges Benjamin, MD, Executive Director, American Public Health Association

Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E) is well known in the world of public health as a leader, practitioner and administrator. Benjamin has been the executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the nation's oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, since December 2002. He came to that post from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he played a key role developing Maryland's bioterrorism plan. Benjamin became secretary of the Maryland health department in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services.

Benjamin, of Gaithersburg, Md., is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine and a fellow of the American College of Physicians; he is also a Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Habib Benzian, , MSc, Director Public Health & Development, FDI World Dental Federation, France

Dr Habib Benzian is Director for Public Health And Development at the FDI World Dental Federation, the global representative organisation of dentistry, based in Ferney Voltaire near Geneva, Switzerland. The FDI has members in more than 140 countries and represents over one million dentists worldwide (see http://www.fdiworldental.org)

Dr Benzian has a degree in Dental Public Health and extensive experience in designing, managing and evaluating projects around the globe. He is responsible for all public health and health promotion activities of the FDI World Dental Federation, which includes projects in more than 50 countries. He has organised numerous international conferences and meetings on global oral health and is a strong advocate for prevention and access to affordable oral care. He has published papers about tobacco control and the role of the dental team, dental NGOs and volunteerism and affordability of oral care in developing countries.

Dr Benzian is member of the Oral Health Advisory Group to the Millennium Village Project and has helped in the development of an Essential Package for Oral Care that aims as providing basic oral care for less than 1USD/per person and year.

Elvira Beracochea, MD, MPH, Founder, President and CEO, MIDEGO

Dr. Elvira Beracochea is a development doctor. Development doctors have unique public health mission: to reach the Millennium Development Goals � for her that means thinking big about ensuring quality health services for every woman, man and child and create ways of reaching 1% of that goal every day. Dr. Beracochea is a professional speaker, writer and consultant and founder, president and CEO of MIDEGO, Inc., a consulting firm that provides innovative global public health and international development solutions for the reaching the Millennium development Goals. It is her "Think Big and Reach 1% Every Day" philosophy that inspires health workers worldwide to join MIDEGO's coaching programs, and that attracts a very talented team of professionals that keep MIDEGO�s projects productive and successful. This unique philosophy is the result of more than 20 years experience as physician, public health and international development expert, health policy advisor, epidemiologist, researcher, health systems and hospital manager, university teacher and health management consultant and coach in Latin America Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and South Pacific. Dr. Beracochea's book "Health for All Now" presents this strategy and shows how to make it work with the right tools, attitude and determination.

Paul Berman, Paul Berman, OD, FAAO, Chairman, The Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries

Dr. Paul Berman is an Optometrist and owner of Focus Eye Health and Vision Care, in New Jersey. He is Chairman of the Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries, Director of Professional Relations and Education of Liberty Sport, and the past Chair of the AOA Sports Vision Section and consultant to professional sports teams. He is proudest of being Founder and Senior Global Clinical Advisor of Special Olympics Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes.

He has lectured globally on sports vision, vision care for persons with intellectual disabilities, and global refractive error. He has received many awards, including the AOA Sports Vision Optometrist of the Year, the New Jersey Optometrist of the Year, and the World Council of Optometry’s International Optometrist of the year. But for him the joy is in the doing.

P. Berman, OD, FAAO, Senior Global Clinical Advisor and Founder, Special Olympics Lions Clubs, International Opening Eyes

Dr. Paul Berman is an Optometrist and owner of Focus Eye Health and Vision Care, in New Jersey. He is Chairman of the Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries, Director of Professional Relations and Education of Liberty Sport, and the past Chair of the AOA Sports Vision Section and consultant to professional sports teams. He is proudest of being Founder and Senior Global Clinical Advisor of Special Olympics Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes.

He has lectured globally on sports vision, vision care for persons with intellectual disabilities, and global refractive error. He has received many awards, including the AOA Sports Vision Optometrist of the Year, the New Jersey Optometrist of the Year, and the World Council of Optometry’s International Optometrist of the year. But for him the joy is in the doing.

Julie Bernas-Pierce, MEd, Executive Director, Blind Babies Foundation

Julie Bernas-Pierce holds a Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education from the College of St. Mary�s of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana and a Masters of Education in Special Education, Visual Impairments from Boston College.

Ms. Bernas-Pierce has been associated with Blind Babies Foundation as a Board member, Program Director and Executive Director since 1991, following an eighteen year career as a teacher of children with visual impairments. She has served on the advisory boards and/or as a lecturer at San Francisco State University and California State University, Los Angeles.

In 2004, Ms. Bernas-Pierce represented Blind Babies Foundation through the PartNER Project in the Volga Region of Russia, sponsored by USAID, the United States Agency for International Development and administered by IREX, the International Research and Education Exchange. This collaboration provided technical assistance to establish early intervention services for families of young children whose multiple disabilities included vision loss.

Gail Calvello received a B.A. with Honors in Liberal Arts from the University of Maine and a M.A. in Education at San Francisco State University. She has pursued post-graduate work at Santa Rosa Junior College, College of Marin, Wichita State University, and Sonoma State University.

Gail�s work experience includes teaching secondary English in Connecticut, Maine, and California and serving as an Itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired, grades 7-12 in the San Francisco area. Gail served for seven years as the Coordinator of the Local Interagency Coordination Area in a three-county area in Northern California to implement the Public Law I.D.E.A. (Individuals with Disability Education Act). Gail worked for fifteen years as a Vision Impairment Specialist and Outreach Coordinator for the Blind Babies Foundation. She is currently a Program Director for the agency. Gail served as the Project Coordinator for the Russian PartNER Project in Nizhniy Novgorod. Sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Research and Education Exchange (IREX), this project supported the establishment of a parent education model for families of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in the Volga Region of Russia.

Terry Blaschke, MD, Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Pharmacology (Active Emeritus), Stanford University School of Medicine

Terrence F. Blaschke, MD, is Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Pharmacology (Active Emeritus) at Stanford University School of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Biopharmaceutical Sciences at UCSF and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Indiana University. Dr. Blaschke received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and after residency training in Internal Medicine at UCLA Center for Health Sciences, he was a Clinical Associate in the NCI/Metabolism Branch at the National Institutes of Health. Following fellowship training in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Blaschke joined the faculty at Stanford in 1974.

Dr. Blaschke’s research has been primarily related to the clinical pharmacology of drugs used in patients with HIV infection, with an emphasis on modeling exposure-response relationships and medication adherence. He was a member of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) at its inception, and served as chair of the Pharmacology Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the ACTG. His current efforts in HIV are directed at questions related to the use of antiretroviral agents in less developed countries. He is a member of the Tibotec Global Access Program Advisory Board and a Scientific Advisor to the Institute for OneWorld Health

Dr. Blaschke is a past president of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT). He is the recipient of the Rawls-Palmer award, the Henry W. Elliott award and the Oscar B. Hunter award from ASCPT. He has been a consultant, past Chair of the Generic Drugs Advisory Committee and a past member of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee for the US FDA. He chaired the Drug Utilization Review Panel of the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1995-2000. He is an Associate Editor of the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology

Susan Blumenthal, MD, MPA, Former US Assistant Surgeon General, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown School of Medicine and Tufts University Medical Center; Senior Medical Advisor, amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A, an internationally recognized health expert, served as U.S. Assistant Surgeon General and Senior Science and E-Health Advisor in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University School of Government. She is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown and Tufts Schools of Medicine and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Women's Studies at Brandeis University. Dr. Blumenthal served as the government's top women's health expert as the first ever Deputy Assistant Secretary of Women's Health and a White House advisor on these issues. She has been a pioneer in bringing women's health to increased scientific and public attention and has also been a major force in advancing other public health issues including global health, mental illness, disease, suicide and violence prevention. Dr. Blumenthal has been at the forefront of the national response to terrorism and other emerging disease threats including pandemic flu. She has been a leader in applying information technology to improve health establishing several award winning health websites. Dr. Blumenthal has written numerous articles and books and served as the health columnist for US News and World Report and Elle magazines, as host and medical director for an award-winning television series on health and for a Discovery Channel/American Film Institute film series on global health. A leading national health advocate and spokesperson, Dr. Blumenthal has briefed Presidents, Heads of State and Health Ministers, testified before Congress, and often appeared as a medical expert on national television and news programs. She has received many honors for her landmark, innovative contributions and leadership in improving health and has been named as one of the most important and influential women in medicine.

Neil Boothby, EdD, Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health; Director, Program on Forced Migration and Health, Mailman School of Public Health

Neil Boothby is an internationally recognized expert and advocate for children affected by war and displacement. Prior to coming to Columbia University, he was senior representative of UNICEF, UNHCR and Save the Children and worked for two decades with children in crises in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Now, as Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health and Director of the Program on Forced Migration and Health at Columbia University, he oversees a comprehensive graduate training program that prepares health professionals to work effectively in the field of humanitarian response. Dr. Boothby’s research focuses on the impact of violence and displacement on children, and the efficacy of international efforts to protect them. Dr. Boothby is author of articles and books on children and war, and also the recipient of awards for his fieldwork, including the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award, for his work with child soldiers, the Mickey Leyland Award, for his work on behalf of uprooted people, and the United Nation’s Golden Achievement Award, for excellence in the social sector.

Philippe van den Bossche, Executive Director, Raising Malawi

Philippe van den Bossche has served as Executive Director of Raising Malawi since its inception in January, 2006. Raising Malawi, co-founded by Madonna and Michael Berg (co-Director of The Kabbalah Centre), is a humanitarian aid program designed to revitalize the lives of hundreds of thousands of orphaned and vulnerable children in Malawi, Africa. Philippe has served as an officer, executive administrator, consultant and advisor to several not-for-profit organizations. His previous work focused on strategic planning, organizational development, advancement and fiscal integrity.

Before assuming his role as Executive Director, Philippe traveled extensively in Europe, Central America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to meet with leaders in development, healthcare, economics, and education, as well as government officials, non-government agency leaders, local community-based organizations, religious leaders and countless men, women and children living in areas permeated by disease, poverty, war and starvation.

An impassioned and committed volunteer, Philippe also serves as Director of Development for Spirituality for Kids (SFK), an international educational non-profit organization serving tens of thousands of underprivileged children in the United States, Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. At SFK, Philippe advances the organization's critical work of empowering children, particularly those who are affected by war, poverty, and neglect.

Philippe’s professional interests include development, health, and education in developing countries, new approaches to peacemaking in the Middle East, and global children’s issues.

Peter Bourne, MA, MD, Visiting Scholar, Oxford University; Vice Chancellor Emeritus, St. George's University; Formerly Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Health Issues; Chair, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC)

Peter G. Bourne, MD, MA is a Visiting Scholar at Green College, University of Oxford, Vice Chancellor Emeritus of St. George�s University, Grenada and chairman of Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC). Dr Bourne served as Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Health Issues in the Carter White House and later as an Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations where he directed the "International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade." In that capacity he launched the global campaign to eradicate the disease caused by guinea worm later convincing President Carter to join the effort. He has also served as a consultant to and on the board or chairman of numerous non-profit organizations including Save the Children, Health and Development International, the American Association for World Health, Global Water and The Hunger Project. He is the author of more than a hundred articles and book chapters and has authored or edited nine books. He is the producer of the award-winning, documentary film, !Salud! dealing with the global health challenge and Cuba�s role in meeting it around the world.

While in the White House, Dr Bourne convinced President Carter to include blindness worldwide as an international health priority in the first address on the topic by any US president. He was also instrumental in the creation of Project Orbis. Over thirty years working to build bridges with the health system in Cuba he has followed closely Cuba�s commitment to the visually impaired and especially "Operacion Milagros," which has made them by far the most consequential players in the field of sight in this hemisphere.

Major Bradshaw, MD, Founding Dean, University of Botswana School of Medicine

In July of 2006 Major Bradshaw became tne Interim Founding Dean of the University of Botswana School of Medicine. He is an internist specializing in infectious diseases. Prior to coming to Botswana he was Senior Vice President, Dean of Medical Education, and Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He had served the institution in various deanship capacities for 30 years.

Michael Brennan, MD, President-Elect, American Academy of Ophthalmology

Dr. Michael W. Brennan practices comprehensive ophthalmology in Burlington, North Carolina, after a 20 year career in the U.S. Army. A West Point graduate, Dr. Brennan received a Masters in Aeronautics at Stanford University. He served as an Army aviator in Vietnam and instructor at West Point. Dr. Brennan was a finalist in the NASA space shuttle selection process. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas and served as Chief of Surgery at Fort Bragg, NC.

Dr. Brennan is the past president of the N. C. Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons and has served on numerous State Medical Society committees. He has formulated state and federal governmental affairs policies for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and currently serves as the AAO President-Elect. He is a member of the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology Executive Committee and a number of international ophthalmology societies

His special interests include the development of physician leaders and the empowerment of physician organizations. He has conducted physician leadership programs for many Latin American, European and Middle Eastern countries. He directs Medical Alliance for Iraq, volunteer US and UK physicians who collaborate with the Iraqi Medical Specialty Society and the Iraq Ministry of Health for the delivery of continuing medical education.

Harry S. Brown, MD, Founder, Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International

Dr. Brown is the founder of Surgical Eye Expeditions International, a humanitarian organization established to restore sight through surgery among the indigent blind of the world. The organization is often referred to by the acronym, SEE.

Under the auspices of SEE, medical teams led by eye surgeons bring their skills to blind patients in countries as distant as Borneo, Zimbabwe, Peru, and Mongolia, among many others. All SEE's eye-care professionals perform their services without compensation, and defray their own expenses.

Dr. Brown, a board-certified ophthalmologist, donated his services as Medical Director of SEE from its founding under his direction in 1974 until his retirement from active medical and surgical practice in 1992. During those years he participated as an operating surgeon in 89 of SEE's clinics. He has served the organization in the capacity of Chairman of the Board, President and CEO. SEE's headquarters are located in Santa Barbara, California.

After completing his naval service, Dr. Brown attended medical school at George

Washington University in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1959. He then practiced general medicine in Riverside, Calif., until 1967 when he was admitted to the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA Medical Center for residency training in the specialty of

ophthalmology. Dr. Brown established a private ophthalmology practice in Santa

Barbara, California in 1971, and began formulating the concept that was to take shape as the SEE organization.

For services to mankind accomplished by the organization he founded, Dr. Brown has received recognition and awards in the United States and abroad. He has been honored by a tribute from the United States House of Representatives. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recognized him with its Outstanding Humanitarian Award and Special Recognition Award. Lions Club International bestowed on him its International President Award. The George Washington University Alumni Association recognized Dr. Brown with its Community Service Award, and he has received the Hampton Roy Medal from the World Eye Foundation. The St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired honored him with the Leslie Dana Gold Medal Award. Rotary International bestowed on him its Paul

Harris Award. The Santa Barbara News-Press recognized him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Brown was elected a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1980.

John Bryant, PhD, Professor, Johns Hopkins University

Public Health physician with extensive experience in developing countries -- five years in Thailand; 10 years in Pakistan; and many years in visiting work in Africa.

Currently completing chapter for the Encyclopedia of Public Health on the Alma-Ata -- The Evolving Story of Primary Health Care. This is being pursued in coordina-tion with Dr. Margaret Chan's (DG, WHO) insistence on revitalization of Primary Health Care. On the faculties of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health; Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Kenya; University of Virginia; and Emeritus Professor, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

Richard Bucala, MD, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine

Rick Bucala is Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University. He focuses his research on the role of host immunity in infectious diseases and the host-pathogen interaction. Dr. Bucala directs genetic epidemiology studies to examine the role of innate immunity in the susceptibility and manifestations of different infections. Ongoing studies are presently underway in severe malaria (Macha Malaria Research Institute and University of Lusaka in Zambia) and in leishmaniasis (CIDEIM, Colombia). Among his research accomplishments are the discovery of the circulating fibrocyte, and the cloning and characterization of variant alleles of the innate cytokine gene, MIF. Dr. Bucala has developed low-cost and robust biosensor chips that are suitable for genetic analyses of pathogen or host DNA in rural field settings. Complementary investigations in the laboratory are employed to validate novel hypotheses and identify genes and molecular pathways for further study.

Dr. Bucala received his BS and MS degrees from Yale University, and his combined MD/PhD degree from Rockefeller University. He pursued post-graduate work at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and then trained in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women�s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. After faculty positions at Rockefeller University and the Picower Institute, where he was also Scientific Director, he joined Yale in 2002. Dr. Bucala has served on Yale�s Committee on International Health, a United Nations (IAEA) committee for global health, and was recently visiting Professor of Medicine in Chongqing, China.

Donald Budenz, MD, MPH, Professor of Ophthalmology, Epidemiology, and Public Health, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Donald L. Budenz, MD, MPH, graduated magna cum laud and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania and received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed an Ophthalmology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, Scheie Eye Institute. Dr. Budenz then completed a Heed Foundation Fellowship in Glaucoma at the University of Miami School of Medicine, where he subsequently became a faculty member. In 2004, he received a Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is currently professor of Ophthalmology, Epidemiology, and Public Health at the University of Miami, School of Medicine.

He is an editorial reviewer for several medical journals, including Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Retina, Eye, and Ophthalmic Surgery and Laser Therapy and is on the editorial board of Journal of Glaucoma. Dr. Budenz has been the principal investigator in a number of clinical trials including the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study. Concurrent with his research, Dr. Budenz has been published widely in the field of glaucoma; he has authored a textbook, Atlas of Visual Fields, contributed chapters to several other books, and written or coauthored more than 90 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is senior instructor of a graduate course entitled Clinical Trials in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Dr. Budenz is the recipient of a Golden Apple Award for Best Resident Teacher (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) and has received the teaching award for Best Course in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He has been a guest lecturer at numerous universities, hospitals, and medical societies worldwide.

Dale Buscher, Director, Protection Program, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Dale Buscher, Protection Program Director, leads the Women's Commission�s work on refugee livelihoods, displaced out-of-school youth, gender and UN advocacy in New York. Mr. Buscher has been working in the refugee assistance field since 1988 in a variety of capacities. He worked with Vietnamese boat people in the Philippines and later with Haitian refugees interned at Guantanamo Bay. He has worked with displaced Kurds in Northern Iraq, with Bosnian refugees in Croatia and with Kosovars in Albania and in Kosovo. He went on to work as the Director of Operations for the International Catholic Migration Commission in Geneva where he oversaw the organization�s $25 million international programs � covering 20 countries and 800 staff. He started numerous new programs for the organization, including during extended field postings in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Additionally, Mr. Buscher has worked as a consultant for UNHCR where he wrote a field handbook entitled Operational Protection in Camps and Settlements. Dale earned his Master�s Degree in Social Work from the University of Utah and earned a Bachelors of Science degree from Iowa State University.

Ann Campbell, RN, MSN, CPNP, Old Dominion University/Operation Smile International

Ann Campbell, RN, MSN, CPNP is a senior lecturer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia. She practices part time as an RN at Children�s Hospital of the Kings Daughters She has been an active volunteer at Operation Smile International, an organization that provides surgery to children around the world with cleft lip and palates.

Ann is on the Nursing Council at Operation Smile and received the "Volunteer of the Year" award in 2007. She has participated in missions around the world as well as the domestic programs such as World Care and the Physician Training Program. Ann was instrumental in developing the first Operation Smile Nurse Training Program last year which brought 7 international nurses to the Old Dominion campus for advanced surgical and airway training using simulation.

Michael Cappello, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine; Director, Yale World Fellows Program

Michael Cappello MD is Professor of Pediatrics, Microbial Pathogenesis, and Epidemiology & Public Health at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Cappello directs a laboratory and field based research program focused on the pathogenesis, epidemiology and treatment of soil transmitted nematode infections. Much of this work has focused on hookworms, bloodfeeding intestinal parasites that infect nearly one billion people in resource limited countries. Collaborative studies of hookworm immunoepidemiology are currently underway in Latin America (Peru, Guatemala) and West Africa (Ghana). In 2006, he was named a Global Health Ambassador by the Paul G. Rogers Society of Research!America, the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority.

In addition to his research, Dr. Cappello provides clinical care as an Infectious Diseases specialist at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and serves as Co-Director of the Yale International Adoption Clinic. In 2002, he founded the Yale Program in International Child Health, which coordinates global initiatives in Pediatric research, clinical care and medical education. In 2007 President Richard Levin appointed Dr. Cappello Director of the Yale World Fellows Program, an initiative that brings 18 emerging global leaders from various disciplines to Yale for a semester of intensive academic enrichment and leadership training.

Kristin Ow Chapman, MD Candidate, NYU School of Medicine

Kristin Ow Chapman earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and minored in music at Pepperdine University and is currently a first year medical student at New York University School of Medicine (NYUSoM). She served as a summer volunteer in Bihar, India in May-June 2006. Her interest in visual health began in high school where she served as president for a Leo Club, affiliated with Lions Club International. She worked with Leos and Lions at Camp Pacifica, a summer camp for the deaf and blind. In college, she helped the Los Angeles Blind Children's Center and Junior Blind of America in the STEP Program helping young sight impaired students gain confidence and independence at school and in their lives. She is presently a member of the Unite for Sight chapter at NYUSoM.

Nancy Chin, MPH, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester

Nancy Perini Chin received her Ph.D. in Anthropology and her MPH from the University of Rochester. She is on the faculty of the Department of Community & Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester, where she is also the Associate Chair for Education. Dr. Chin’s basic research has focused on the intersection of society, culture and health. For the past 3 years she has co-directed a research team working in Tibet, where they have been trying to identify and address general health needs and reduce maternal mortality rates in the region.

James Clarke, MD, Ophthalmologist and Medical Director, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana

Dr James Afful Clarke graduated from the University of Ghana Medical School with an MBChB. After a year of internship at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana, he worked as a General Practitioner and did a General Surgery Residency at the University of Saarland Medical Faculty, Germany and thereafter practiced as a general surgeon in Ghana. In 1996, he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Ophthalmology from the West African Postgraduate Medical College and has since been practicing as an ophthalmology. He also holds a Diploma in Community Health and Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Clarke has done various clinical attachments at the University of Saarland Eye Clinic in Germany, Wake Forest Eye Center, Winston-Salem in North Carolina, Wheaton Eye Clinic in Chicago, and is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He now runs an eye clinic in Accra, Ghana, where he provides outreach services in eye care and provides various surgical procedures, including corneal transplantation. He is the only ophthalmologist providing corneal transplantation in Ghana. Dr. Clarke is also a member of Unite For Sight's Medical Advisory Board and works closely with Unite For Sight's volunteers in Ghana.

Anna Cooper, MPH, MD Candidate, University of Rochester School of Medicine; Unite For Sight Volunteer in Bihar, India

Anna Cooper is an M.D. candidate at the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. In the summer of 2005, she volunteered for Unite for Sight in Patna, India. With a Masters degree in Public Health, she is interested in epidemiologic analyses of disease and systems-level influences on health care utilization and maintenance. Other interests include academic medicine (a representative in the Organization of Student Representatives of the American Association for Medical Colleges) and community-research partnerships (Board member and founder of the Western New York Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention).

Ismael Cordero, Advisor, Healthcare Technology, Orbis

Ismael Cordero is a Technical Advisor for Healthcare Technology with ORBIS International, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that strives to eliminate avoidable blindness and restore sight in the developing world. ORBIS works closely with local communities, governments and hospitals to design programs that increase local skills, improve health care facilities and foster awareness of eye health. In his role at ORBIS, Ismael provides technical assistance in the areas of healthcare technology management and ophthalmic equipment technology. Ismael has worked in and traveled to more than 30 countries all over the world. Prior to ORBIS he worked as a clinical engineer for several hospitals in Philadelphia. Ismael holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering technology from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.

Scott Corlew, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Interplast

Scott Corlew is Chief Medical Officer of Interplast, a US-based NGO working to increase access and host-country capacity for reconstructive surgery in developing nations. In that role he oversees program development and evaluation, and edits Interplast Grand Rounds, a web-based consulting and educational project serving surgeons in geographically isolated areas. Prior to assuming this role, he practiced general surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery, serving as Chief of Surgery at Middle Tennessee Medical Center and as president of a large multispecialty clinic. During this time he also worked as a volunteer in various developing countries. He practiced primary care medicine in the National Health Service Corps prior to his surgical residencies. His MD was from Emory University in 1981, his MPH in International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, and he is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Rachel Davis, OD

After graduating at the top of her high school class, Dr. Rachel Davis joined the United States Navy. She worked as a Nuclear Machinists� Mate on board the aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. Upon completion of her tour of service, she attended Old Dominion University and Western Illinois University and double majored in Biology and Chemistry.

After her undergraduate work, she elected to study optometry at Indiana University School of Optometry and became a member of the Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity (VOSH). As a member of VOSH, she volunteered and helped treat over 3,500 people from the surrounding areas of Guanajuato, Mexico. Discovering a passion for this type of work, she then returned to Guanajuato for a three month internship in which she participated in opening the largest eye clinic and surgery center in Central America. After graduation from optometry school, Dr. Davis volunteered with Unite for Sight in Tamale, Ghana where she worked with Dr. Seth Wanye of the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

She currently practices in Chicago, Illinois, and is looking forward to future endeavors with Unite for Sight around the world.

Samantha Diamond, BA Candidate, Yale University; Unite For Sight Volunteer in Asikuma Breman, Ghana

Samantha Diamond is currently a sophomore at Yale University. She was a Unite For Sight volunteer in Asikuma Breman, Ghana, during Summer 2007. Her volunteer work with Unite For Sight was recently featured on CNN International.

Julia Dickinson, RN, Yale University School of Nursing

Julia Dickinson is currently in her final year of studies at Yale School of Nursing's Nurse-Midwifery program. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and her RN from the Yale School of Nursing's Graduate Entry Pre-Specialty in Nursing program.

In the summer of 2007, Julia was awarded the The Downs International Health Student Travel Fellowship from Yale School of Medicine to carry out a research project regarding breastfeeding beliefs and practices in Ethiopia.

Kartee Karloweah and Robert Dolo, ON, RN, Ophthalmic Nurses, Unite For Sight-Ghana

Kartee Karloweah completed his Nursing Education at the Winifred J. Harley College of Health Sciences, United Methodist University, Monrovia, Liberia. He started his professional work in 2003 with Medecins Sans Frontier-France(MSF-France), an international NGO that provided emergency services in water, sanitation and mostly health during the Liberia civil war. At MSF-France Emergency Hospital in Monrovia, he served in the position of a Registered Nurse(RN) in the Emergency Room and Surgical Ward.

When he recognized the need for higher education, he enrolled at the Ophthalmic Nurses Training School, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana in 2004. After completing the curriculum, he was given an Advanced Diploma in Ophthalmic Nursing. Kartee Karloweah is affiliated with some renowned eye centers in Ghana, including the Eye Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Accra, Ghana and the Bawku Presbyterian Eye Center in the Upper East Region of Ghana. He returned home in 2006 and began work with the Medecins Sans Frontier-Switzerland(MSF-CH). In 2007, he joined the Unite For Sight program in Ghana. Presently, he is in charge of the Unite For Sight Screening Center in Achimota, Accra, and he also conducts outreaches in the rural villages. Kartee Karloweah is a member of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) International Association, and Nurses and Midwives association of Liberia.

Cody Donahue, Director of Partnerships, Tostan Empowered Commmunities Network

Cody grew up in Oregon and studied at Oregon State University, majoring in Political Science and International Studies, minoring in French, and earning a Certificate in Peace Studies. During his undergraduate studies, Cody studied abroad at the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Lyon, France from 2003-2004, earning a Certificate of Political Studies.

Cody went on to complete an undergraduate internship with an international nongovernmental organization, Tostan, in Senegal for six months in 2004. That experience has brought him back to Tostan and West Africa many subsequent times--working for Tostan Guinea from 2005-2006, and then in various capacities for the NGO from the United States. In 2006, Cody began attending the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont, working towards a Master of Arts in sustainable development and nonprofit management. The second year of the SIT program is spent working in the field, which for Cody meant returning full-time to Tostan as Director of Partnerships, a role he continues to play in Washington DC now in 2008. He will present his thesis on monitoring of community-based groups in Senegal in May 2008. Cody speaks French and Spanish in addition to English.

Syril K. Dorairaj, MD, Glaucoma Associates of New York, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Center

Dr. Dorairaj completed his residency in Ophthalmology at the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology in Bangalore, India. Subsequently, he entered into a fellowship in Ophthalmic Molecular Genetics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India followed by a clinical research fellowship in Glaucoma at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, under the preceptors Drs. Robert Ritch, Jeffrey Liebmann, and Celso Tello.

Dr. Dorairaj has authored numerous medical and scientific book chapters, articles, and abstracts. He is a peer reviewer for several journals in Ophthalmology including the Journal of Glaucoma, Ophthalmology, the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and Eye. Dr. Dorairaj is a member of the International Members Committee and Host a Researcher Program of the Association of Research and Vision in Ophthalmology. He also serves as the Executive Director of Lindberg Society for Research in Exfoliation Syndrome. Dr. Dorairaj has also served on the Education Distribution Task Force division of the International Assistance Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Dorairaj has given numerous talks on Glaucoma across United States. His current research focuses on clinical applications of anterior segment imaging and genetics in early diagnosis and management of glaucoma.

Margaret Duah-Mensah, RN, ON, Ophthalmic Nurse, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana

Margaret Duah-Mensah received her nursing education in the Central Region of Ghana and worked as a general nurse at the Cape Coast Central Hospital. In 1989, she started eye care work in Cape Coast, also in the Central Region, in a clinic called Christian Eye Center, which was initiated in 1989 by two American ophthalmologists, including Dr. Peter Egbert. Intraocular lens implant after cataract surgery was started in this clinic.

In the face of few eye clinics to deal with the huge need in Ghana, Margaret was transferred to help establish an eye clinic in Sunyani, a city in the middle belt of Ghana. There were no resident doctors at the clinic. Margaret ran the day-to-day clinic and also screened patients for visiting American doctors, including Professor Peter Egbert.

After years of working in this position, Margaret was transferred to assist Dr. Herbert Billman in the establishment of the Emmanuel Eye Clinic in Accra, which provided eye care to patients from all over Ghana and other parts of West Africa. In the early days, most of the surgeries were performed by American doctors. Margaret also worked with Ghanaian doctors who later joined the team.

In 2003, Margaret joined Crystal Eye Clinic to assist Dr. Clarke in running the clinic and performing surgeries. Crystal Eye Clinic is a partner of Unite For Sight, and Margaret has provided numerous outreach screenings for Unite For Sight programs over the past two years. She provides eye care regularly at Buduburam Refugee Camp and other remote villages throughout Ghana.

William D. Evans, PhD, Vice President, Research Triangle Institute

W. Douglas Evans serves as Vice President of RTI's Public Health and Environment Division. Dr. Evans has published extensively on media influences on health risk behavior, including the effects of social marketing on behavior change. He has led numerous large-scale evaluations and intervention studies in the areas of tobacco control, obesity prevention, and reproductive health.

Dr. Evans currently conducts research on childhood obesity risk factors in the Western Cape region of South Africa. He is a co-investigator with researchers at the Medical Research Council of South Africa developing an intervention to prevent and control obesity risks among school-age children and their families. Dr. Evans is designing a social marketing campaign to reach parents that will be one arm of a combined intervention aimed at children in school. The overall intervention will be evaluated in a future randomized controlled trial.

Anthony Farah, MD Candidate, Jefferson Medical College

Anthony Farah is currently a second year medical student at Jefferson Medical College. He volunteered with Unite for Sight in New Delhi from July 1st - July 31st 2007. He has also organized several eye screenings at homeless shelters in the Philadelphia area with the Jefferson chapter of Unite for Sight.

Sheri Fink, MD, PhD, Kaiser Media Fellow; Visiting Scientist, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; Senior Fellow, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative

Dr. Sheri Fink is a 2007-2008 Kaiser Media Fellow in Health. She has reported on humanitarian crises and on the HIV pandemic in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas for print and broadcast media including BBC/PRI�s The World, Scientific American and Discover. Fink wrote the award-winning book War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival (Public Affairs, 2003) about Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. She has worked with humanitarian agencies in the U.S., Balkans, the north Caucasus, Central and Southeast Asia, southern Africa and the Middle East, responding to emergencies including Hurricane Katrina and the December 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami. She is a senior fellow of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, a visiting scientist at the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health and an adjunct associate professor at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine�s Department of International Health and Development. Fink holds degrees from Stanford University School of Medicine (MD, PhD) and the University of Michigan (BS).

Susan Hall Forster, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Medical Studies, Department of Ophthalmology, Yale School of Medicine; Chief, Ophthalmology, Yale University Health Services

Doctor Susan Hall Forster, MD is an Associate Clinical Professor at Yale University School of Medicine in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science where she is the Director of Medical Studies. She is also the Chief of Ophthalmology at the Yale University Health Services and Medical Director of the Ophthalmology Department at the Hill Health Center. She is the faculty advisor for the Student Sight Savers Program at Yale.

Clark Freifeld, Healthmap.org

Clark Freifeld is the software architect and developer of HealthMap.org, a joint initiative of Harvard University and MIT. Clark has a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Yale University and has over seven years of experience developing Web applications. He�s interested in computational linguistics, Web-based user-interface design, data visualization, and technologies for developing countries. In his spare time, Clark tutors 8th graders in Boston, and has lived and taught & tutored in South Africa as well.

David Friedman, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and International Health, Johns Hopkins University

David S. Friedman, MD, MPH, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, Associate Professor in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Senior Technical Advisor for Eye Health for ORBIS International. Dr. Friedman received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, completed his residency at Wills Eye Hospital and served as a glaucoma fellow with Dr. Harry Quigley. A recipient of a master�s degree in public health and a doctorate in chronic disease epidemiology from Johns Hopkins, Dr. Friedman was the recipient of a Clinician Scientist Award from the National Eye Institute in which he studied vision rehabilitation in nursing homes. He is a recipient of the Douglas Jahnigen Award from the American Geriatrics Society and has consistently carried out research on elderly populations, particularly as related to the impact of glaucoma on these individuals. He recently published the results of an NIH-funded study on the prevalence and impact of glaucoma on persons 75 years of age and older.

Dr. Friedman has worked overseas throughout his career researching eye disease prevalence in both India and China. He has focused on angle closure glaucoma and potential preventive strategies for this disease. Dr. Friedman continues to see patients, specializing in the medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma and cataract. Dr. Friedman has been advising ORBIS International for the past year and will present on the importance of partnerships in eyecare development.

Stephen Furlow, MD Candidate, University of Kentucky School of Medicine; Unite For Sight Volunteer in Accra, Ghana

Stephen Furlow is a third year medical student at the University of Kentucky. He has recieved a BS in Engineering and a MA in Education also from Kentucky. He volunteered in Acrra, Ghana during the July 2007. He currently plans to train in ophthalmology and participate in future UFS volunteer work.

Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute; Director, The Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascuclar Health; Richard Gorlin, MD/Heart Research Foundation Professor, Mount Sinai; Past-President, American Heart Association; Past President, World Heart Federation

Dr. Fuster serves The Mount Sinai Medical Center as Director of Mount Sinai Heart, the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and the Marie-Jos�e and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health. He is also the Richard Gorlin, MD/Heart Research Foundation Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Among the seemingly countless positions of distinction that he holds are Past President of the American Heart Association, Immediate Past President of the World Heart Federation, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a former member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Advisory Council, and former Chairman of the Fellowship Training Directors Program of the American College of Cardiology. Seventeen distinguished universities throughout the world have granted him honoris causa. Dr. Fuster is President of the Scientific Advisory and External Evaluation Committee at the Fundacion Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) in Madrid, Spain

Dr. Fuster is the recipient of three major ongoing NIH grants. He has published more than 500 articles on the subjects of coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis and thrombosis, and he has become the lead Editor of two major textbooks on cardiology, 'The Heart' (previously edited by Dr. J. Willis Hurst) and "Atherothrombosis and Coronary Artery Disease" (with Dr. Eric Topol and Dr. Elizabeth Nabel). Dr. Fuster has