INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr Saeed Sadiq Hamid, Professor, Department of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr Saeed Sadiq Hamid is Professor, Department of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. He formerly served as Chair, Department of Medicine from 2008-2018. He trained in Medicine and Gastroenterology in the UK, and in Hepatology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, USA. He has been Vice President, Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology and President of the Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD). He is currently Chair of Hepatology Interest Group of the World Gastroenterology Organization, has been a member of the Executive Council of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) from 2006-2010 and has chaired the WHO Guidelines Development Group for Hepatitis C in 2015 and again in 2017. He sits on Advisory Committees of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE) and the Hepatitis Fund. His main research interests are viral hepatitis and Liver Failure. He has been an author on over 160 peer reviewed publications and three book chapters. He has mentored a number of postgraduate GI trainees, PhD and other graduate students.

Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa, MD, DTM, MSc, PhD, Senior epidemiologist, Emerging Disease Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa is a senior epidemiologist at the Intitut Pasteur, Paris, an expert on viral hepatitis control in Africa. He obtained a medical degree from the Jikei University, Tokyo, Japan, and MSc and Ph.D. in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He has professional experience in working in resource-limited countries as a clinician (MSF in Thailand) or an epidemiologist (MRC Unit The Gambia). He leads several research projects in Africa including the NéoVac (neonatal vaccination against hepatitis B) and HBV LAMP (simplified management of chronic hepatitis B virus infection). He has been commissioned by the WHO for external reviews and conduct of systematic reviews to inform the guidelines for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B.

Dr Natasha K. Martin, University of California San Diego, USA

Natasha is an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health in the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Diego. She is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol. Dr. Martin is an infectious disease modeler whose work evaluates the impact and cost-effectiveness of viral hepatitis and HIV prevention interventions among high risk populations such as people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and incarcerated populations. She is one of the leading modelers examining the potential impact of HCV treatment as prevention, and what prevention scale-up is is required for HCV elimination. In 2016, she was selected by The Economist magazine as a “HCV Change Maker”, providing “fresh thinking on the road to elimination of HCV.”

LOCAL KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Chris Gough, Executive Director of the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA) and The Connection health service

Mr Chris Gough is Executive Director of the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA) and The Connection health service. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Honours in entomology and developmental parasitology from the University of Queensland. He has over ten years of experience in the blood borne virus and alcohol, tobacco and other drug sectors, and has identified as a person who uses drugs for 20 years. Chris’ expertise centres around peer and consumer driven programming including peer education, peer treatment support, community development, consumer representation and advocacy. He has worked at the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) and the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA). Chris has served on the Boards of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), NUAA, the ACT Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association (ATODA) and is currently the Secretary of the Australian Illicit and Injecting Drug Users League (AIVL).

Zhihong Gu, Program Manager, HIV, Hepatitis and Sexual Health Program at the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland

Zhihong Gu is the program manager for the HIV, Hepatitis and Sexual Health Program at Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland. She has been in this role for about 14 years working with a range of culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Queensland