Dr. Joshi is Dean and a Distinguished University Professor of the School of Public Health of the University of Memphis. Dr. Joshi is an innovator, entrepreneur, educator, researcher, administrator, and mentor and brings with him diverse experience of working across 12 countries, engaging community-based organizations, academic and other institutions, government agencies, policy-makers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. He combines data-driven innovative entrepreneurial creative approaches to advance excellence in public health education, and research, and practice that can have the greatest community impact. Dr. Joshi is a population health informatics researcher who combines his academic training in clinical medicine, public health, and informatics to design and develop human-centered, technology-enabled interventions to enhance population health outcomes across diverse community settings. He has extensive experience in utilizing community and hospital-based data to implement and evaluate informatics-enabled solutions to address social, economic, and health inequities of the 21st century. He has designed and developed, standalone and internet-enabled, multi-lingual, digital health interventions such as population health dashboards, consumer health informatics, m-health interventions, and population-based surveillance tools across multiple settings to improve population health outcomes. Dr. Joshi is a prolific researcher obtaining grants and contracts nearing $25million in his academic career and continues to be an active researcher despite being in an administrative role. Dr. Joshi successfully completed more than two dozen research projects in the areas of population health informatics across multiple countries including the US, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Haiti, Egypt, and Brazil. Dr. Joshi emphasizes the role of higher education as a social economic agent of change towards building sustainable communities.

Dr. Diana Ruggiero is a Full Professor in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at the University of Memphis, where she has served since 2012, and co-chair of the engaged scholarship faculty network. Her teaching portfolio includes a variety of undergraduate and graduate specialized courses across the Department of World Languages and Literatures, as well as the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management and the Honors Forum. She teaches Spanish for the Hospitality Industry, Spanish for Healthcare, Interpreting and Translating in Healthcare, Spanish for Commerce, and Teaching, Researching, and Applied Languages for Specific Purposes, emphasizing the practical application of language skills in real-life situations and fostering Latinx Wellness. Dr. Ruggiero takes an interdisciplinary approach to language education, integrating aspects of language learning with professional, scientific, and humanities knowledge to offer a holistic educational experience. She is notably committed to community engagement, guiding her students through hands-on experiences that bridge academic learning with community service. Her significant contributions include the development of "Corazón y Mente: A Journey to Mental Wellness for Latinx Women," a free, accessible, Open Education Resource enhancing mental wellness understanding for the Latinx community. As the online coordinator and UM3D department aide for upper-division Spanish, Dr. Ruggiero is a cornerstone of the department's online educational offerings. Her pioneering work and ongoing innovation, becoming an instructional designer and completing the 2021 Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL) Global Program, have been crucial in expanding our reach to UM Global students. She passionately supports ASCEND's first goal of aggressively providing access and is deeply committed to accessibility. Her dedication was recognized with the 2023-24 Teach Access Faculty Grant, awarded to amplify students' understanding of accessibility and disabilities by advancing education in accessible technology design and development awareness. Through innovative teaching strategies and a "Heart in Mind" philosophy, Dr. Ruggiero prioritizes emotional intelligence and mental health awareness, ensuring her students are well-prepared for professional success and civic engagement. Her work enriches the academic realm and profoundly impacts local communities, working with local nonprofits such as Cazateatro, a bilingual theater company, and Latino Memphis, exemplifying her dedication to education and student empowerment in language education and community service. Dr. Ruggiero received a $29997 Cycle 3 OER Grant OER for a Healthcare Interpreting Course Redesign. The primary purpose of the OER Grant Project is to increase equity in access to quality, no/low-cost educational materials. The Project is designed to increase success rates and improve educational outcomes for traditionally underserved students, including, but not limited to, students of color, first-generation college students, and economically disadvantaged students. She is currently working with mental health and the Latinx community.

Beverly Tsacoyianis, an Associate Professor in the History Department, is a historian of the modern Middle East with interest in interdisciplinary studies of disability, migration, trauma, and gender. She wrote the 2022 CHOICE Academic Title Award-winning Disturbing Spirits: Mental Health, Trauma, and Treatment in Modern Syria and Lebanon published in June 2021 with the University of Notre Dame Press. She is currently co-editing a volume titled Disability History in the Modern Middle East, under contract with Bloomsbury. She teaches the World since 1945 class regularly, as well as courses on the global history of science, medicine, and technology, courses on Islamic history (with one from the ancient world until 1405, and one from 1405 CE to the current century), the Ottoman Empire, Modern Middle East, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. She is also the faculty advisor for the University of Memphis's Epsilon Nu chapter of the national History honors society, Phi Alpha Theta.

Marian Levy, DrPH, RD, FAND, is Associate Dean for Public Health Practice & Community Engagement and a Professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of Memphis. Dr. Levy received her doctorate in public health from UCLA. A Registered Dietitian and Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, she has spearheaded numerous initiatives to promote health equity, provide environmental support for healthy lifestyles, enhance academic equity, and support public health workforce development. Since 2005, she has served on NIH special emphasis review panels for the National Institute for Minority Health. She received the Ruby R. Wharton Outstanding Woman Award for Race Relations and has been recognized with teaching awards from the University of Memphis (Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2011 Outstanding Dietetic Educator). Dr. Levy has held several leadership posts, including President of the Tennessee Public Health Association. In 2017 she received the Doris Spain Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Public Health Association. She was named to the University of Memphis 2023 Class of PI Millionaires in recognition of attaining over $1 million as Principal Investigator on externally supported sponsored projects. Dr. Levy served on the Board of Editors of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2013-2016) and currently serves on the Governing Council of the American Public Health Association and as a Site Visitor for the Council on Education for Public Health.

Gretchen Peterson is a Professor of Sociology and is currently serving as the Graduate Studies Coordinator for the Sociology Department at the University of Memphis. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 2000. Prof. Peterson's primary research interests are in the areas of sociology of sports, social psychology, sociology of gender and the sociology of emotions. She is particularly interested in the intersection of those areas and her recent research has focused on adult recreational activities. She utilizes a variety of research methods in her studies including experiments, surveys, and ethnographic fieldwork. Prof. Peterson's research has been published in American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Sociology Compass, and the Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions.

Xinhua Yu, MD, PhD, MS, is an epidemiologist with additional training in medicine and statistics, and the coordinator of the epidemiology program. He is an expert in large health data analytics and health informatics. Dr. Yu's current research focuses on health disparities, epidemiology of aging, determinants of health care utilization and epidemiological methods. He is also interested in applying quantitative methods to examine public health diplomacy and assess public health policy impact across nations.

Dr. Joshi is Dean and a Distinguished University Professor of the School of Public Health of the University of Memphis. Dr. Joshi is an innovator, entrepreneur, educator, researcher, administrator, and mentor and brings with him diverse experience of working across 12 countries, engaging community-based organizations, academic and other institutions, government agencies, policy-makers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. He combines data-driven innovative entrepreneurial creative approaches to advance excellence in public health education, and research, and practice that can have the greatest community impact. Dr. Joshi is a population health informatics researcher who combines his academic training in clinical medicine, public health, and informatics to design and develop human-centered, technology-enabled interventions to enhance population health outcomes across diverse community settings. He has extensive experience in utilizing community and hospital-based data to implement and evaluate informatics-enabled solutions to address social, economic, and health inequities of the 21st century. He has designed and developed, standalone and internet-enabled, multi-lingual, digital health interventions such as population health dashboards, consumer health informatics, m-health interventions, and population-based surveillance tools across multiple settings to improve population health outcomes. Dr. Joshi is a prolific researcher obtaining grants and contracts nearing $25million in his academic career and continues to be an active researcher despite being in an administrative role. Dr. Joshi successfully completed more than two dozen research projects in the areas of population health informatics across multiple countries including the US, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Haiti, Egypt, and Brazil. Dr. Joshi emphasizes the role of higher education as a social economic agent of change towards building sustainable communities.

Dr. Laura Magaña is President and CEO of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). She is also the founding President of the Global Network for Academic Public Health (GNAPH), an alliance of seven regional associations representing schools and programs of public health worldwide. Under her leadership, ASPPH has continued to advance academic public health by mobilizing the collective power of its members to drive excellence and innovation in education, research, and practice. During her tenure, ASPPH has strengthened academic public health research through the Data Center, launched the academic public health leadership institute, and enhanced the voice of academic public health through advocacy. Dr. Magaña expanded the association’s global reach and is leading five strategic initiatives to address critical issues in public health as part of ASPPH’s Vision 2030: Dismantling Racism in Academic Public Health, Climate Change and Health, Framing the Future 2030, Gun Violence Prevention and the ASPPH Workforce Development Center. Prior to joining ASPPH, Dr. Magaña dedicated more than 35 years to successfully leading the transformation and advancements of public and private universities in Mexico, educational organizations in the United States, United Nations programs, and nongovernmental organizations in Central America and Europe. She was most recently the dean of the School of Public Health at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico. Dr. Magaña’s diverse portfolio features 90 academic publications — many of which relate to learning environments, the use of technology in education, and public health education.

His research primarily focuses on the intersections of the built environment, public health, sustainability, and active living. Dr. Reis has accumulated extensive policy and practical experience through collaborations with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the Pan American Health Organization, the National Physical Activity Plan in the United States, and ASPPH, working to enhance public health capacity across the United States and Latin America. Before his current position, Dr. Reis served as a professor in the Urban Management Graduate Program at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil. He has made significant contributions to the field, co-authoring pivotal studies for the Lancet Physical Activity Series and the Urban Design, Transport, and Public Health series. He has also been actively involved in international projects, such as Project GUIA (Guide for Community in Latin America), the IPEN Network (International Physical Activity and Environment Network), and the HULAP project, among others. His collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Health and PAHO has helped develop and monitor the National Plan for Combating Non-Communicable Diseases in Brazil and implement evidence-based public health and physical activity promotion courses. In addition, Dr. Reis has contributed to CDC physical activity courses in Latin America, the National Physical Activity Plan in the United States, and PAHO/ASPPH epidemiology and evidence-based public health courses across the region. He has worked extensively to build capacity for physical activity research and practice in Latin America, serving as a founding member and past president of the Brazilian Society for Physical Activity and Health and as a board member of the Latin American Congress of Physical Activity and Health Research.

So Yoon Kim, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Medical Law and Ethics, Division of Medical Humanities and Society, College of Medicine, and the Director of the Asian Institute of Bioethics and Health Law (AIBHL), Yonsei University, which is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Law and Bioethics., South Korea. The AIBHL is established to develop legal and ethical considerations for the healthcare sector in South Korea and around the world. Since 2002 the AIBHL has been leading the field of bioethics and health law by actively working on research in medical ethics, public health, medical disputes, etc. Her research areas include medical law, medical ethics, advanced biotechnology and clinical ethics, medical dispute, patient safety, global health, elderly health, and mental health. Prof. Kim also served on various government committees and advisory boards, including the Regulatory Review Committee of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Policy Planning Advisory Committee to the President. Currently, she is the President of the Korean Association of Medical Law, the Editor-in-Chief of both the Academic Network for Future Medicine and Humanities and the Korean Society for Global Health, and a member of the Ethics and Law Committee of the Korean Society of Preventive Medicine. Prof. Kim is the President of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) Korea Region Office.

Woldekidan Amde is a senior researcher at the School of Public Health (SOPH), University of the Western Cape. Woldekidan has a background in sociology, development management and public health. His interests span health policy and systems, capacity development, doctoral training, and social determinants of health, including gender. He has been extensively involved in SOPH’s multi-country collaborative research and program initiatives in the aforementioned areas. He coordinates SOPH's doctoral program and convenes the Introducing Public Health Postgraduate Diploma module. Woldekidan is a member of the Executive Board of the Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa (ASPHA).

Bridget Kelly Gillott is a Dietitian and Associate Professor in Public Health Nutrition at the Early Start Institute, University of Wollongong, Australia. She has almost two decades of experience in leading national and international research that seeks to foster supportive food environments, particularly for children. She is a world leader in the field of critical food marketing, whose research has generated evidence on the scope of unhealthy food marketing to children, the impact of this marketing on children’s diets and policy options to restrict exposures. She is the co-Director of a WHO Collaborating Centre on Children’s Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity. A major activity for this Centre is to provide support to the WHO for disseminating and implementing the Regional Action Framework on Protecting Children from the Harmful Impact of Food Marketing in the Western Pacific. She was an inaugural member of INFORMAS, a global consortium of academic researchers and public interest organisations that seeks to monitor and benchmark food environments, with a view to supporting and catalysing policy development. For over a decade, she has been the INFOMAS lead on food marketing monitoring and has supported evidence-building in this field globally.

Prof. Ramunė Kalėdienė, MD, MPH, PhD, Habilitated Doctor, Head of the Dept. of Health Management at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. She is a president of Lithuanian Public Health Association, member of different committees at the Lithuanian Ministry of Health, expert of Health Committee at the Parliament of Lithuania, member of the National Board of Health at the Lithuanian Parliament, served as expert for COVID-19 management at the Government of Lithuania and President of Lithuania, member of the Governing Council and scientific committee of European Public Health Association (EUPHA), member of the Steering Committee of the Central, Eastern Europe and Baltics Health Policy Network (CEEBA-HPN). Throughout the period of 2002-2022 she worked as a Dean of the Faculty of Public Health at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Ramune Kalediene coordinated establishment of the Master program in Management of Public Health, as well as Master program in Lifestyle Medicine at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Professor serves as expert of the accreditation of programs of public health for European region and beyond in the framework of the activities of Accreditation Agency for Public Health Education for European Union (APHEA). For several years, she has chaired the Peer Review Committee of the Association of Schools of Public Health of European Region (ASPHER), was member of the Board of ASPHER. She worked as expert of ASPHER for developing schools of Public Health and quality of training in Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Syria, Bulgaria and several other countries. Her scientific interests cover social and demographic inequalities in health and health care, authoring or co-authoring of several textbooks and more than 400 scientific publications. In 2022, she was awarded with the cross of the Knight of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas for active involvement in health policy formulation of Lithuania.

Erica Kastrup is an advisor for South-South cooperation at the Center for International Relations in Health at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (CRIS/FIOCRUZ). She holds a master's degree in Global Health and Health Diplomacy and a PHD in history of sciences and health from Fiocruz. Her primarily research focus is on health, foreign policy and South-South cooperation in Brazil. Dr. Kastrup is currently the co-editor of the publication Health Diplomacy and Global Health from the research group on international relations and health at CRIS/FIOCRUZ. Also, she collaborates in educational programs and technical cooperation projects, especially with African countries.

Prof. Rajendra Surenthirakumaran is a Professor in Community Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He is a public health researcher and non-communicable diseases epidemiologist interested in social determinants of health, health systems, ageing, and palliative care. He joined the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, in 2004 as a lecturer and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2011. He was the Head of the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the University of Jaffna from 2012 to 2019. Prof. Surenthirakumaran is the Country Lead for the Global Health Atrial Fibrillation Study Group, the University of Birmingham UK, funded by the National Institute of Health Research UK, Coordinator of the AHEAD World Bank-funded project on Water Security in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, and Principal Investigator of a collaborative study with SingHealth on premalignant oesophageal lesions among patients at the Teaching Hospital Jaffna. He is also a co-investigator and supervisor of many research activities which are regional interests. Prof. Surenthirakumaran has worked as a consultant for numerous Government and international agencies, including Save the Children and UNDP and is currently on the WHO SEAR Expert panel on Urban Health and Healthy City Network- Nov 2022the and managerial Coordinator of the Jaffna Healthy City project supported by WHO Sri Lanka. He is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Centre for eLearning at the Public Health Forum of India (PHFI). He is working with the Minister of Health Northern Province, Sri Lanka, on developing and implementing Strategic Management Plan for the Northern Province and also helping with the implementation of a Cancer Control programme and palliative care services in the province with the support of Cancer Control Programme Sri Lanka, Cancer Care Manitoba Canada and Two World Cancer Collaboration. Prof. Surenthirakumaran has delivered more than 30 guest lecturers in regional, national and international forums and published over 30 academic articles. He has also authored and co-authored more than ten books in Tamil and English on Public health. At present, Prof. Surenthirakumaran is the President of the Sri Lanka Public Health Education Institutions Network (LANKAPHEIN), executive committee member of the South-East Asian Public Health Education Institutions Network (SEAPHEIN) and treasurer of the Global Network of Academic Public Health (GNAPH). He holds the This is Public Health (TIPH) award for 2021. In addition to his numerous academic commitments, Prof. Surenthirakumaran serves as the Honorary Medical Superintendent of the Cooperative Hospital Moolai, Chairman of CANE Sri Lanka, President of Institute of Medical Sciences Trust, Manipay, President of AHEAD Trust, Jaffna, and President, of Jaffna Social Action Centre (JSAC). He is also a member of several regional and national professional organisations and actively engages with and supports the activities of various community organisations in Jaffna.

Catherine Kane is a technical officer on the WHO Health Workforce Policies, Norms and Standards team. Areas of focus include the Global Health and Care Worker Compact, national workforce capacity for essential public health functions and community health workers. Prior to joining WHO, Catherine worked for the Red Cross Movement locally, nationally and internationally, and has held additional policy, humanitarian diplomacy, learning, public health and emergency management positions in national government agencies and health advocacy organizations. She is an advisory board member for the Addis Ababa-based International Institute for Primary Health Care. Catherine holds a Masters in Contemporary Diplomacy from the University of Malta (magna cum laude) and Bachelor degrees (International Relations and Russian) from the University of Notre Dame (Honors program). A strong believer in lifetime learning, Catherine recently was a member of the first cohorts of both WHO’s Infodemic Management leadership course and the joint Diplo Foundation-International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Humanitarian Diplomacy certificate course.

Mr. William Yotive is currently the Model UN Coordinator for the World Federation of United Nations Associations where he is responsible for organizing WFUNA’s Model UN programs around the world which includes conducting trainings on how to accurately simulate a wide range of UN bodies, including all the main UN Organs as well as some Subsidiary organs and Specialized Agencies. Mr. Yotive also served as the Curriculum Director for the WFUNA summer youth program in the Republic of Korea that focused on teaching students at the primary, intermediate and secondary level about the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to working at WFUNA, Mr. Yotive was Project Manager of the United Nations Global Teaching and Learning Project within the Outreach Division of the UN Department of Public Information from 2001-2015 where he was responsible for creating educational materials for schools around the world on the United Nations and global issues on its agenda and organizing various global videoconferences for students and teachers each year at UN Headquarters. Mr. Yotive is an Advisory Council Member of the Committee on Teaching about the United Nations and also serves on the International Institute on Peace Education Transnational Advisory Group.

Tim Ken Mackey is a Professor of Global Health in the Global Health Program at UC San Diego, the Director of the Global Health Policy and Data Institute, the CEO and co-founder of S-3 Research, and the Editor-in-Chief of JMIR Infodemiology. He holds a BA in Political Science-International Relations, a Masters Degree in Health Policy & Law and also earned his PhD in Global Public Health from the joint doctoral program at UC San Diego - San Diego State University. Prof. Mackey is both a researcher and entrepreneur whose work focuses on an array of multidisciplinary topics, including global health governance, diplomacy, policy and data science topics associated with public health. He also has extensive professional experience including over 10 years working in the private sector and acting as a consultant for the World Health Organization, the US Department of State and others. He has published several articles on global health diplomacy and teaches a global health policy course where health diplomacy simulations are part of the curriculum.

Dr. Matthew Brown is serving as the Deputy Director for Program Quality in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD). From 2021 to 2023, Dr. Brown served as the Deputy Country Director for the CDC in Ethiopia, supporting a large legacy PEPFAR “focus country” field site of more than 90 staff and partnerships that also address vaccine preventable diseases, health security, and support to the African Union’s Africa CDC. From 2020 to 2021, Dr. Brown served as the Deputy Health Attaché in the U.S. Embassy Beijing, providing diplomatic, scientific, and management support to the CDC, FDA, and NIH offices in China. From 2018-2020, Dr. Brown served as the Director of the China Office, NIH Fogarty International Center, in Beijing, China, supporting multiple NIH research initiatives, including brain and neuroscience research, bilateral research funding, and U.S.-China data and biological sample sharing. This Trans-NIH initiative was recognized in 2021 with an NIH Director’s Award. From 2016-2018, Dr. Brown served as a Director of the China Office, NIH National Cancer Institute, supporting several U.S.-China initiatives, including tobacco control, HPV vaccine trials, and studies in esophageal and nasopharyngeal cancer. Dr. Brown expanded Chinese contributions to the Cancer Imaging Archive, and led a trans-NIH joint funding program with the National Science Foundation of China which made multiple peer reviewed joint funding awards to Principle Investigators at leading research intuitions in the U.S. and China. From 2012-2016, Dr. Brown served as a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs in HHS, where he led several U.S. global health initiatives, including the Global Bidding and Assignment Program (GBAS), to strengthen U.S. health security with a more responsive workforce, and served in multiple leadership deployments during the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. Dr. Brown has also served in multiple international long-term assignments, including: • From 1998-1999 as acting CDC Deputy Director in Almaty, Kazakhstan, supporting the roll-out of TB/DOTS in the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union; • From 1999-2003 served as the CDC Deputy Director in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, supporting HIV/AIDS research interventions among sex workers, pregnant women, TB patients, and a vaccine trial while leading an evacuation during a coup d'état and received a 2003 Federal Employee of the Year Award for Heroism; • From 2003-2005 served as the first CDC Director in Port au Prince, Haiti and representative for PEPFAR’s 2 week ‘start-up team’ following the 2003 SOTU address; established national web-based site monitoring system, electronic medical record, public health laboratory, and tested 80,000 people, qualifying 4,000 for ART, while leading the CDC during a coup d'état; • From 2005-2010 served as the CDC Deputy Director, in Beijing, China, developed a trans-CDC platform office supporting HIV/AIDS, TB, influenza, NCDs, and an emerging infectious disease collaboration (EID) with multiple CDC and Chinese counterparts; • From 2010-2012 served as the Deputy Director of the Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Program in San Diego, California, supporting military to military collaborations in 40 countries, and led a seroprevalence study in the Defense Force in Guyana, which identified and mitigated active transmission of hepatitis B. Dr. Brown is a thought leader in the field of global health diplomacy practice with more than 50 peer reviewed publications in this nascent field, continues to lecture and mentor student research in the field, and maintains academic appointments at the University of California, San Diego; George Washington University; and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.