International Advisory Board
To guarantee our curricula remains up-to-date and integrates actual developments in the field of Global Health we get advice from important stakeholders representing international business, governmental and non-governmental organizations and the professional field. Through fruitful discussions at the annual advisory board meetings and intense communication with quarterly newsletters and e-mail exchanges, they challenge us to ensure our students will be on the leading edge in Global Health. The current members of our advisory board are:
Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands (Honorary Chair)
Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa, Canada, during World War II as Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Princess Margriet is interested in matters of health and culture. Nowadays she is involved in disaster preparedness and prevention.
Since 1967 Princess Margriet has been actively involved in the work of the International Red Cross. From December 1995 to December 2003 she chaired the highest international body of the Red Cross, the Standing Commission. From 2005 to the end of 2013, Princess Margriet was a member of the governing board of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
She was President of the European Cultural Foundation from 1984 to 2007.
Princess Margriet has many honorary positions, f.e. the Patroness of Vision 2020 Netherlands.
Dr. Jeff Mainland (Chair)
Executive Vice President, The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada.
Before joining SickKids where he has served for 20 years, Mainland served as Chief of Staff to a provincial cabinet minister and deputy premier and held leadership positions in the Ontario Public Service with two ministries. Mainland is a member of the Rotman School of Management Healthcare & Life Sciences Advisory Board at the University of Toronto, and acts as a preceptor for a number of North American graduate programs in business and health administration.
Dr. Luis Barreto
President of Luis Barreto & Associates, (consultancy for vaccine development, immunization, science policy, global health and biotechnology), Canada.
Barreto’s 35+ year career as an executive and senior leader in vaccine development and healthcare/science policy has spanned private industry, the public sector, academia, and philanthropy, in Canada and globally. He is the former Vice President of Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs, Science and Global Health Policy for Sanofi Pasteur Canada. He was the first Territorial Epidemiologist of the Northwest Territories, Canada. He has also been an Assistant Professor of Community Medicine and Occupational Health at St. John’s Medical College, and a lecturer at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, India.
Dr. Vipat Kuruchittham
Member and Secretary of Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) Foundation, and Executive Director of SEAOHUN.
Vipat has over 16 years of experience working in and managing health and education programs across Southeast Asia, working with international organizations, U.S. government agencies, and international and regional NGOs. He led the regional drive to embed One Health knowledge and skills into the next generation of One Health professionals as the Executive Director of SEAOHUN, a regional network of over 100 universities in 8 Southeast Asian countries, working to develop a resilient and competent One Health workforce by leveraging education, research, and training excellence.
Leonard (Len) de Jong
Director of Balide Investeringen BV, investment and consultancy/management company, also Board member of the Topsector Life Science and Health Netherlands, Director of Health-Holland and Chairman of the Task Force Healthcare.
As CEO of Enraf-Nonius (Projects) Mr. De Jong worked for over 25 years in the field of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. Working with all major international funding agencies and banks, he supplied medical equipment packages: a single source that supports design, build, equip, train and maintain any size of healthcare facility and/or concept in countries worldwide.
Maj Gen Atul Kotwal
Executive Director of the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), Government of India, New Delhi, India., and Fellow of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (FIAPSM).
Kotwal is a medical professional, public health researcher, administrator, educator, and mentor with significant contributions in the field of Public Health for more than 39 years. His areas of expertise include health systems, planning, implementation of healthcare policies, primary health care, epidemiology, implementation and inter-disciplinary research. With more than 170 publications in indexed journals, he has contributed to evidence generation and knowledge sharing. He has diverse experience of serving in the armed forces medical services India, advisor public health, Botswana, Africa, and OSD-Public Health in erstwhile Planning Commission. In his work for N where he has been instrumental in developing national guidelines and policy decisions for Health Systems Strengthening.
Inaugural Advisory Board
We wish to acknowledge the important contribution of the inaugural Global Health Advisory Board members. Over the years, they provided directions and a sense of coherence as our innovative model for collaboration in higher education evolved.
A special acknowledgement to inaugural chairs Ms. Elisabeth Witmer and Dr. Thijs Teeling, who’s wisdom and experience were invaluable. Additional acknowledgement to two long standing board members – Dr. Priscilla Reddy and Ms. Mary Heersink.
