Health Worker Migration Global Policy Advisory Council Meeting
November 22, 2011
The Aspen Institute, Washington D.C.
PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES
Sir George Alleyne
Chancellor, University of the West Indies
Director Emeritus, Pan American Health Organization/WHO
Sir George Alleyne is the Chancellor for the University of West Indies, as well as the Director
Emeritus for the Pan American Health Organization. Sir George has over 144 scientific publications
and has received numerous awards for his contribution to medicine and global health. In 1990, he was
made Knight Bachelor by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his services to medicine. In 2001, he
was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community, the highest honour that can be conferred to a
Caribbean national. Amongst his many international roles, Sir Alleyne has been an active member of
the Council.
Dr. Elsheikh Badr
Director, National Human Resources for Health Observatory
Vice President of the Academy of Health Sciences, Federal Ministry of Health, Sudan
Dr. Elsheikh Badr is a consultant public health physician qualified in Sudan and the UK. He is
currently the Vice President of the Academy of Health Sciences, Federal Ministry of Health
(FMOH)/Sudan and as well the Director of the National Human Resources for Health Observatory
(NHRHO). Dr. Badr has a good experience in the health sector and has been actively involved in
health system strengthening over the last ten years. Through his senior positions in the FMOH, he
contributed to policy development and strategic planning for the health sector in the country. He
researched the field of health system strengthening and produced reports to the WHO on health
system governance, health information system and human resources for health. Dr. Badr developed
his interest and expertise in the filed of human resource development (HRD) and participated actively
in the inception of the Academy of Health Sciences (AHS) to address the critical shortages in health
workforce in Sudan. The AHS currently enroll over 12.000 students in nursing and paramedic
disciplines. Dr. Badr has also contributed to capacity development for HRD and health system
management and initiated the establishment of the NHRHO in Sudan. Dr. Badr also serve as
Assistant Secretary General for Arab Medical Union and was designated an Arab migration and
population expert status by the Arab League. In recognition for his work on medical migration, Dr.
Badr was also selected to serve as a member of the high level Global Health Worker Migration Policy
Advisory Council under the auspices of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA).
Ms. Carol Bellamy
Chair, Alliance for Ethical International Recruitment Practices, USA
Former Executive Director, UNICEF
Former Director, Peace Corps
Carol Bellamy presently serves as the Chair for the Alliance for Ethical International Recruitment
Practices, a non-profit organization that aims to ensure that the recruitment of foreign-educated health
professionals to the United States is ethical, responsible, and transparent. In addition, she also serves
as Chair of the Global Partnership for Education Board of Directors. Since its creation in 2002, the
Global Partnership has grown to become a dynamic global partnership endorsing the education sector
plans of 46 developing countries around the world and granting approximately $2 billion in support of
these strategies. Prior to this, Ms. Bellamy served as President and CEO of World Learning, a private,
non-profit organization promoting international understanding through education and development in
over 70 countries. Ms. Bellamy previously served 10 years as Executive Director of UNICEF, the
children’s agency of the United Nations. She was also the first former volunteer to become Director
of the Peace Corps.
Ms. Bellamy has worked in the private sector at Bear, Stearns & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Cravath,
Swaine & Moore. She spent 13 years as an elected public official, including five years in the New York
State Senate. In 1978, she became the first woman to be elected to citywide office in New York City
when she was elected President of the NYC Council, a position she held until 1985. Ms. Bellamy was
named one of Forbes magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 2004. In 2009, she was
awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the Government of France. Ms. Bellamy also chairs the Board of
Governors of the International Baccalaureate.
Dr. David Bowen
Deputy Director for Global Health Policy and Advocacy,
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA
David Bowen is currently Deputy Director for Global Health Policy and Advocacy at the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation. In this role, he has responsibility for interactions between the Foundation
and governments worldwide.
Dr. Bowen was formerly chief health counsel to Senator Edward Kennedy and Staff Director for
Health of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He left the Senate staff
following the successful enactment of health care reform legislation. In 1999, Dr. Bowen joined the
staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as a Congressional Fellow
with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 2000 to 2002, he held a joint
appointment as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical
School. Prior to joining the Committee staff, Dr. Bowen received his undergraduate education at
Brown University then earned a Ph.D. in neurobiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Bowen has been an active participant at Health Worker Migration Global Policy Advisory Council
meetings (representing the late Senator Edward Kennedy).
Ms. Peggy Clark
Vice President, Policy Programs
Executive Director, Aspen Global Health and Development
The Aspen Institute
Peggy Clark is the Vice President of Policy Programs at The Aspen Institute and the Executive
Director of Aspen Global Health and Development (GHD). Peggy served as the founding Managing
Director of Realizing Rights, providing overall strategic, financial and management direction.
Previously, Peggy was the Executive Vice President for Policy Programs and Seminars for the Aspen
Institute, where she managed all programmatic and leadership divisions of the Institute. Peggy was a
leader in founding and shaping the microenterprise and microfinance fields internationally, helping to
draft the first microenterprise legislation for USAID in the U.S. and serving on the first
Microenterprise Advisory Council to the Administrator of USAID. Peggy also led efforts to establish
the microfinance field in the U.S., helping to draft the first legislation to support it out of the SBA and
leading the first national evaluation and documentation of the microenterprise field in the U.S. Peggy
received the Inaugural Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development from
President Bill Clinton in 1995.
Senator Tom Daschle (co-chair)
Senior Policy Advisor, DLA Piper, USA
Former United States Senate Majority Leader (D-SD)
Tom Daschle is a senior policy advisor at DLA Piper. Senator Daschle served his home state, South
Dakota, in the Senate from 1987 to 2005. He is the only senator to have served twice as both Majority
and Minority Leader. In addition, Daschle serves as Vice Chair of the National Democratic Institute
is a co-founder of the Bipartisan Policy Center and a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for American
Progress. He is the author of Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed
America Forever, Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis and Getting It Done: How Obama and
Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Health Care Reform.
Ms. Katie Drasser
Senior Program Officer, Health Worker Migration Initiative
Aspen Global Health and Development
The Aspen Institute
Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, Katie worked nationally and around the world on global health
and development initiatives, including HIV/AIDS implementation strategies in Romania, operations
research for private health services in Myanmar and the scale up of Kenya’s national emergency
medical system through a public-private partnership. Katie also spent time leading a range of start-ups
that included designing a network of charter schools, integrating microfinance with other development
activities, and most notably was instrumental to the success of Good Capital, a venture fund that
invests in expanding social enterprises. Katie holds a BA in political science from Colgate University
and MSPH in global health policy and administration from the Gillings School of Global Public
Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Ms. Margaret W. Glos
Management Analyst, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
Health Resources and Services Administration, USA
Ms. Glos joined the Health Resources and Services Administration in November 2010 as a
management analyst in the new National Center for Health Workforce Analysis. Prior to joining
HRSA, Ms. Glos worked in research, both as a best practices research consultant in hospital
operations and as a research assistant in neuroendocrine studies of mood disorders. Ms. Glos holds
an ScB in cognitive neuroscience from Brown University.
Mr. Robert Kapp
Of Counsel, Hogan Lovells, USA
Mr. Kapp is Of Counsel to the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. where his
practice is primarily in the not-for-profit sector. He is also Co-Founder and Co-President of the
International Senior Lawyers’ Project (an international pro bono legal service organization) and Senior
Advisor to the Ethical Globalization Initiative. He has served in the Tax Division, United States
Department of Justice. Mr. Kapp has served as Chair of each of the following individual rights
organizations: Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Washington Lawyers’ Committee for
Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capitol Area; and
Global Rights (formerly the International Human Rights Law Group). Mr. Kapp participated in
international election observer missions in Namibia and South Africa.
Ambassador Jimmy Kolker
Deputy Director, Office of Global Affairs
Department of Health and Human Services, USA
Ambassador Jimmy Kolker is Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Global Affairs, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, he is a leader in the Department’s efforts to
better the health and well-being of Americans and of the world’s population through global strategies
and partnerships and working with U.S. government agencies in the coordination of global health
policy.
Jimmy was most recently Chief of the HIV and AIDS Section at UNICEF’s New York headquarters
(2007-2011). Prior to joining UNICEF, Jimmy had a 30 year diplomatic career with the State
Department. He served as Deputy Global AIDS Coordinator in the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS
Coordinator (2005-2007), U.S. Ambassador to Uganda (2002-2005) and to Burkina Faso (1999-2002),
and earlier served in State Department political reporting and management assignments in Denmark,
Botswana, the UK, Sweden, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
Jimmy holds a B.A. in Political Science from Carleton College (Minnesota) and a Masters in Public
Administration from Harvard University. He speaks French, Swedish, and Portuguese.
Dr. Malixole Percy Mahlati
Executive Director
African Institute of Health and Leadership Development, South Africa
Dr. Percy Mahlati is the Executive Director for the African Institute of Health and Development, a
non-profit organization based in Pretoria, South Africa.
Previously, Dr. Mahlati served as Deputy Director General in the National Department of Health for
South Africa. One of the leading members of the National Department of Health, Dr. Mahlati was
responsible for health workforce policy development for the Government of South Africa, including
interaction and coordination with institutions of higher education. Dr. Mahlati has been an active
member of the Council.
Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan
Murdock Head Professor, Medicine and Health Policy
George Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Fitzhugh Mullan is the Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at the George
Washington University School of Public Health and a Professor of Pediatrics at the George
Washington University School of Medicine. His research and policy work focus on US and
international health workforce issues with particular emphasis on capacity building in Africa. He is the
Principal Investigator of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Coordinating Center, an
NIH/HRSA/PEPFAR funded 12 country African medical education project. His US work includes
the Kellogg Foundation funded Beyond Flexner Study and the Medical Education Futures Study.
Dr. Mullan graduated from Harvard University with a degree in history and from the University of
Chicago Medical School. He trained in pediatrics and was commissioned in the United States Public
Health Service where he worked in New Mexico as one of the first members of the National Health
Service Corps. During 23 years in the Public Health Service he served in many capacities including
director of the National Health Service Corps, director of the Bureau of Health Professions, and as an
Assistant Surgeon General. He was a member of both the President’s Task Force on Health Care
Reform and the Council on Graduate Medical Education. In 1996, he retired from the Public Health
Service, joined the faculty at George Washington University and the staff of the journal Health Affairs
where he is a Contributing Editor and the founding editor of the Narrative Matters section.
Dr. Mullan has written widely for both professional and general audiences on medical and health
policy topics. His books include White Coat Clenched Fist: The Political Education of an American Physician,
Vital Signs: A Young Doctor's Struggle with Cancer, Plagues and Politics: The Story of the United States Public
Health Service, and Big Doctoring in America: Profiles in Primary Care. Dr. Mullan is the Founding President
of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. He is the recipient of the American Cancer
Society's 1988 Courage award, the Society for Surgical Oncology's 1989 James Ewing medal, as well as
the Surgeon General's Medallion, and the United States Public Health Service's Distinguished Service
Medal. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Milena Novy-Marx
Program Officer, MacArthur Foundation, USA
Milena joined the Foundation in 2003 and co-led a two-year effort to develop the Foundation’s
Initiative on Global Migration and Human Mobility. She also manages the Foundation's work on
international development, where she has led an effort to create the new, interdisciplinary Master's in
Development Practice degree at universities worldwide. She previously worked for the World Bank,
USAID, and as an economic consultant on anti-trust issues. She is a former Term Member of the
Council on Foreign Relations and a former board member of the African Economic Research
Consortium. A Fulbright Scholar, she earned her B.A. in political science from Yale University, and
her M.P.A. in economic policy and her Ph.D. with a focus on economics and development from
Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Dr. Francis Omaswa, Co-chair
Executive Director
African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST)
Uganda
Dr. Francis Omaswa is the Executive Director of the African Centre for Global Health and Social
Transformation (ACHEST), an initiative incorporated in Uganda and promoted by a network of
African and International leaders in health and development. It is an independent “Think Tank and
Network” that works stimulate the growth of African rooted capacity for leadership and excellence in
health and to make Africa a stronger player in international health.
Until May 2008, Dr. Omaswa was Special Adviser to the WHO Director General and founding
Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA), a partnership that is dedicated
to identifying and providing solutions to the global health workforce crisis. Dr. Omaswa additionally
serves as co-chair, along with Senator Tom Daschle, for the Health Worker Migration Global Policy
Advisory Council.
Dr. Patricia Pittman
Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy
George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
Patricia (Polly) Pittman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy at the George
Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Her current research portfolio
focuses on health workforce policy and on comparative health systems. Before joining the university,
she served as the Executive Vice President of AcademyHealth where she oversaw multiple research
and policy projects, international programs, conferences, professional development, knowledge
transfer projects, and the organization's development and evaluation activities. She has also served as a
consultant to the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization, the World
Bank, Johns Hopkins University, and multiple foundations. During the late 1980s she was the
Director of Social Programs for the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Pittman received her
undergraduate degree from Yale University and subsequently completed her Ph.D. in Medical
Anthropology and a Diploma in Public Health from the University of Buenos Aires and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.
Ms. Barbara Rijks
Migration Health Program Coordinator
International Organization of Migration, Switzerland
Ms. Barbara Rijks has been working in the migration and health fields since 1995, after receiving a
Masters in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. She has worked for Amnesty
International’s Department of Refugees before joining the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
for which she worked in New York and South Africa. After a short stint with UNHCR’ regional office
in Southern Africa, focusing on sexual and reproductive health programmes targeting young people
and refugees she joined IOM’s regional office for southern Africa as a migration health officer where
she started the multi-year Partnership on Health and Mobility in Southern Africa (PHAMSA) which is
currently in its 3rd phase and expanded to east Africa. She is currently working at IOM Headquarters
in Geneva as migration health programme coordinator supporting IOM globally with programmes
related to health promotion and assistance to migrants and migration and development.
Ms. Ilia Rodriguez
Government Affairs Consultant, DLA Piper, USA
Ms. Rodriguez advises clients on a wide range of domestic and international policy matters. She
provides strategic public policy counsel to clients on issues before Congress and the executive branch
involving education, immigration, health care and energy.
Ms. Rodriguez joined DLA Piper from the Center for American Progress, where she was Vice
President of Government Affairs and was in charge of the Center's overall legislative agenda and
outreach efforts, with a specific focus in education, energy, national security and immigration policy.
Previously, Ms. Rodriguez served as the Senior Legislative Representative for the People for the
American Way (PFAW), a progressive non-profit organization which focused on equal rights, freedom
of speech, religious and civil liberties, where she focused on federal legislative policy matters and
managed election protection efforts and immigration matters. Prior to PFAW, Ilia was Associate
Director for the Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee of the US Senate under the
Leadership of Senator Tom Daschle. Before working on Capitol Hill, Ilia served as Associate Director
in the White House Office of Public Liaison and as Special Assistant to the Director of the Women's
Bureau in the US Department of Labor. Ms. Rodriguez is a graduate of Penn State University.
Mr. Edward Salsberg
Director, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
Health Resources and Services Administration, USA
In August 2010, Mr. Salsberg joined the Department of Health and Human Services as the Director of
the new National Center for Health Workforce Analysis established by Affordable Care Act. The
National Center, which is located in the Bureau of Health Professions (BPHR) within the Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is responsible for providing health workforce
information and data to assist national and state health workforce policies as well as health and
education sector decision making related to the health workforce. The Center will be a focal point for
the collection, analysis and dissemination of health workforce data.
Prior to joining HRSA, Mr. Salsberg was the founding Director of the Center for Workforce Studies
and a Senior Director at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The AAMC Center
was established in 2004 to inform the medical education community, policy makers and the public as
to the nation’s current and future physician workforce needs. Prior to joining AAMC, Mr. Salsberg
was the Executive Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies which he established in 1996
at the School of Public Health at the University at Albany of the State University of New York
(SUNY). From 1984 until 1996, Mr. Salsberg was a Bureau Director at the New York State
Department of Health.
Mr. Salsberg is on the faculty at the George Washington University School of Public Health and
Health Services. He is a frequent speaker across the country and has authored and co-authored
numerous reports and papers on the health workforce. Mr. Salsberg has been a member of the U.S.
delegation to the International Medical Workforce Collaborative since 1999 and was chair from 2003
to 2006. Mr. Salsberg received his Masters in Public Administration from the Wagner School at New
York University.
Hon. Chairperson Patricia Santo Tomas
Chair, Development Bank of the Philippines
Former Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippines
Patricia A. Sto. Tomas is the former Chairman of the Board of the Development Bank of the
Philippines from July 2006 to August 2010. She is also the former Secretary of the Department for
Labor and Employment from February 2001 to June 2006. During her stint as Labor Chief, she
reoriented the department towards achieving its core mandates of employment facilitating, worker’s
welfare and protection, and commitment to prompt and adequate service delivery. She has earned
numerous citations for her distinguished career in the public sector, including receiving the
Presidential Award as Order of Lakandula on March 2010. Patricia Sto. Tomas has been an active
member of the Council.
Dr. Mubashar Sheikh
Executive Director, Global Health Workforce Alliance
World Health Organization, Switzerland
Mubashar Sheikh is a medical doctor and a specialist in health system policy and planning. At present,
Dr Sheikh is holding the post of the Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance
based at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva. In this capacity, he is playing the lead role for the
development of national policies and plans in 57 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America aimed at
ensuring that all people, everywhere, have access to skilled, motivated and supported health workers
within a robust health system. Dr Sheikh is chairing and also acting as member of various expert
committees and task forces at the international and regional levels. He is the author and co-author of
numerous policy documents, training manuals and guidelines. He is also writing regularly in well
reputed journals on various aspects of health systems and human development.
Hon. Professor Sheila Dinotshe Tlou
Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for East and Southern Africa
Former Minister of Health, Botswana
Dr Sheila Tlou is Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for East and Southern Africa. She
joined UNAIDS on 1 October, 2010. Dr Tlou, a committed advocate for effective AIDS responses in
the region, brings to this position over 25 years of experience in public health programming for HIV
prevention, treatment care and support.
Prior to joining UNAIDS, Dr Tlou held the post of Minister of Health for the Government of
Botswana from 2004 to 2009, where she spearheaded the country’s highly effective AIDS programme.
Dr. Tlou was employed at the University of Botswana since 1980, and has held the post of Professor
of Nursing at the University of Botswana since 1999. Dr. Tlou has been an active member of the
Council.
Dr. Wim Van Lerberghe
Director, Department for Health System Governance and Service Delivery
World Health Organization, Switzerland
Currently Director of the Department for Health System Governance and Service Delivery at the
World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland.
2003 – 2009 Coordinator, Department of Partnerships and Coordination, Health Systems
Strengthening Cluster, WHO, Geneva.
1993-2003 Professor of Health Policy, Chair of the Public Health Department at the Institute of
Tropical Medicine, Anvers, Belgium. Wim Van Lerberghe has worked in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Morocco, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Thailand.
He is the principal author of the World Health Reports 2005 and 2008, respectively on maternal and
child health, and on primary health care. He is the author of several works and of more than a
hundred scientific articles.