Vienna 2023

Professor Kickbusch is a leading global health expert. She has contributed to many innovations, policies and educational initiatives during her distinguished career. She has received many prizes, honorary degrees and recognitions. She was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz) and the WHO Medal for contributions to global health. She is honorary professor at the Charité, Berlin.

She continues to advise the WHO and is a member of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. She served as a member of the path-breaking WHO Council on the Economic of Health for All. She was key instigator of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, WHOs Healthy Cities Network, WHO’s Health Behavior and School Children Survey, health literacy and Health in All Policies. She has always been committed to women’s health and rights and initiated the @wgh300 list of women leaders in global health.

She is the founder and Chair of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and was the director of the Global Health Division at Yale University School of Public Health. She has pioneered new approaches to leadership training in global health: she initiated the first executive training in Global Health Diplomacy and is program chair of the leaders in health network SCIANA at Salzburg Global. She publishes widely in distinguished journals.  

She was co-chair of the Lancet FT Commission on “Governing health futures 2030: growing up in a digital world” and is now working on following through on its recommendations, especially addressing the digital determinants of health.

She chaired the international advisory board for the development of the German global health strategy, advised on the establishment of the WHO Hub on Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin and has been involved in German G7 and G20 activities relating to global health as well as the global health initiatives of the German EU presidency in 2020. She works on a continuous basis with EU presidencies on global health and was advisor to the development of a revised EU Global Health Strategy. She is vice-president of the European Health Forum Gastein.

She is a political scientist with a PhD degree from the University of Konstanz.

Prof. Dr. hab. n. med. Bożena Walewska-Zielecka is a medical doctor, graduate from Medical Faculty, Medical University of Warsaw. She became National Coordinator of Polish HPH Network in 2011. Since 2014 she is a member of HPH Governance Board. Her first term as a Chair of International HPH Network Governance Board lasted from 2016-2018 and then second term from 2020 until now. Professor in Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science Medical University of Warsaw from 2011 till 2020. Since 2020 member of Public Health Committee in Polish Academy of Sciences. She worked for many years in the National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw, where she developed her scientific career. Now she is Senior specialist on health promotion in hospitals in National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Hygiene, Poland. Since 2005 – manager in healthcare (medical director) – quality assurance and patient safety. Still practicing doctor – hepatologist, travel medicine doctor; special interest: health promotion, non-communicable diseases, immunology of liver diseases, infectious diseases and epidemiology.

George is the Executive Director of EHMA. He represents the voice of health management to many European and international bodies including the European Parliament, the European Commission, the World Health Organisation, Industry bodies, and community groups. George Chairs EHMA's webinar series, guides the coordination of the annual conference and has an active role in all EHMA's projects by providing high-level advice on health management matters.
 
Prior to joining EHMA, George was the Chief Executive Officer of a Scottish policy agency focusing on blood-borne viruses and sexual infections. He has managed multiple strategic policy and education collaborations with diverse stakeholder, worked as an education specialist for the International AIDS Society, served on the Board of Diabetes Australia and as an Advisor on its Medical Education and Science Council and as Principal Strategic Advisory to the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Scotland.

Will is the Executive Director of HCWH Europe, the international NGO leading the sustainable healthcare movement in Europe. His role involves providing leadership to the organisation, creating its strategy, designing effective operational processes, developing the team, and reporting progress to its Board of Directors.

Will is an environmentalist with over 20 years’ experience in corporate social responsibility, carbon management, and resource efficiency. Prior to joining HCWH Europe he spent nine years working in the NHS in the UK where he pioneered an award-winning and sector-leading sustainable healthcare programme and had the privilege to be able to develop the largest team of specialist sustainable healthcare practitioners working in the NHS.

He holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Biogeoscience from the University of Leeds and an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London. He is also a Member of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (MIEMA), a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA).

Claas Röhl studied communication science at the University of Vienna, after graduating from an engineering school. When his daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease called Neurofibromatosis he began to educate himself on this disease and did several educational programs on patient advocacy, patient involvement in research and fundraising. He set up the Austrian patient organization NF Kinder in Dec 2013 and in collaboration with Medical University of Vienna NF Kinder has set up Austrias first center of expertise for Neurofibromatosis in 2018. On a national level Claas Röhl is also chair of EUPATI Austria, co-chair of the umbrella organization for oncological patient organizations "Allianz der onkologischen PatientInnenorganisationen“, a member of the board of the Austrian umbrella organization for Rare Diseases "Pro Rare Austria", and he is a member of an expert advisory board for oncology at the Austrian health ministry. Claas Röhl is also involved in several international organizations, like the European umbrella organization for NF patient organizations "NF Patients United" that he chairs, the ERN GENTURIS where he serves as a member of the executive committee, or as a member of IHI’s pool of international patient experts.

Professor Dr Oliver Groene is CEO of the International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services and Vice Chairman of the Board at the population health management company OptiMedis AG, where the Network's secretariat is hosted.

He also holds the position of Professor at the Department of Management, Economics and Society at the University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany. Previously, he was Associate Professor in Health Services Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Manager of the "Quality of Health Systems Programme" at the World Health Organization.

He holds an MSc and PhD in Public Health and an MA in medical sociology and organizational sciences. Oliver Groene publishes widely on quality of care and health services research topics (H-index: 45).

Herwig Ostermann is director of the Austrian National Public Health Institute and associate professor (part-time) at the Department for Public Health, Health Service Research and Health Technology Assessment at UMIT Tirol.

He studied international economics in Innsbruck and Dublin and holds a master’s and doctoral degree in Health Sciences from UMIT Tirol.

Herwig Ostermann has an in-depth knowledge of national and international health systems serving as an advisor to the Austrian Ministry of Health with regard to structural and economic impacts of the health reform. His main research interests encompass health system analysis and performance assessment, health economic forecasting and impact assessment, health economic evaluation, and health policy implementation.

Herwig Ostermann is member of various international committees and expert groups