Dr. Homedes studied medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and specialized in internal medicine and preventive medicine at the University of Barcelona, Spain. She received a Doctorate in Public Health from the School of Public Health at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, she joined the faculty in 1997 and was the founder and Co-Director of the Global Health Program since 2005 until she retired in August 2018. As a physician, she worked with the Spanish National Health Service and coordinated a comprehensive health project in a rural area of Catalonia called Altebrat, which included 60 cities, for the Department of Health of Catalonia. She was a researcher at the Center for Rural Health, University of Arizona. She was the director of the Research Unit at the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic. Has worked as a consultant for WHO, USAID, PAHO, the world Bank and the governments of Colombia, Mexico and Zambia, on issues related to health systems and human resources. She is the Secretary of the Executive Board for the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB) and has been a member o the editorial board of several international health and ethics journals. Between 1992 and 1997, she worked as a Public Health Specialist at the World Bank. Has published six books and more than 100 articles; and has worked in Asia (Papua Nueva Guinea), Africa (Mozambique, Chad, Zambia), América Latina (México, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Perú, Argentina) y Guyana. In 2015 and 2016 she was Visiting Professor at Georgetown University.
Antonio received his PhD from Stanford University. After teaching at the University of New Mexico and at the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas-Austin (28 years) he reached the status of Professor Emeritus. From 1981 to 2010 he was a member of the board of editors for the Handbook of Latin American Studies of the United States Library of Congress, with the section on Mexico. He has been a member of the board of editors of Social Science and Medicine, Cuadernos Médico-Sociales (Argentina), Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Medical Science Monitor, Clinical Trial Magnifier (Hong Kong) and Pacific Sociological Review. He is currently a member of the Salud Colectiva Advisory Council (Argentina).
Under the auspices of WHO, UNDP, USAID, American Public Health Association, World Bank, and Canadian Institute for International Development and Cooperation he has worked as a consultant in various countries in Asia and Latin America. As a visiting professor, he has taught at the Universities of Pittsburgh, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Universidad del País Vasco, Universidad del Valle (Colombia), the Catholic University of El Salvador, la Universidad del Pacífico (Peru), and the School of Public Health of Andalusia (Granada). He is the author and compiler of a dozen books and has published numerous articles in scientific journals.
Pharmacology advisor |
Albín Chaves, Costa Rica
During the 2003-2004 biennium he chaired the Drug Utilization Study Group (DURG-LA) and in 2004 he chaired the Sub-Committee of Drug Utilization of the Clinical Pharmacology Division of the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR). Dr. Chávez has worked as a pharmaceutical consultant in several countries under the sponsorship of PAHO, WHO, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the UN Industrial Development Program. Until 2018 he was a member of the Pharmaceutical Commission of Central America and the Dominican Republic. He was the head of the Directorate of Pharmacoepidemiology and Coordinator of the Central Committee of Pharmacotherapy of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS). He has been a professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the School of Medicine and of Pharmacoeconomics at the School of Economics of the University of Costa Rica. He has delivered lectures in multiple congresses in Latin America, Europe and the United States, and his research has been published in prestigious journals. Until 2006 he was a member of the Group of Experts on Drug Evaluation of the World Health Organization (WHO), and since 2013 he is a member of the Committee of Experts for the incorporation of drugs into the Strategic Fund of the Pan American Health Organization. Health. |
Clinical Trial Advisor |
José Humberto Duque, Colombia
During his long professional career, he has held the following positions: Technical Health Coordinator of Antioquia, Director of the National Hospital Fund (Ministry of Health), Quality of Care Director of the San Vicente de Paul University Hospital and General Director of the Bolivarian University Clinic. Dr. Duque has headed several NGOs working on health and has been a member of various Institutional Review Boards in hospitals and Universities. He has taught bioethics, professional ethics, clinical management, and public health in master programs of several Colombian universities. His publications include articles on clinical bioethics, and he is the editor and co-author of the book “Controversies in Clinical Bioethics”. |
Pharmaceutical Policy and Access Advisor |
Carlos Durán, Ecuador
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Clinical Trial Advisor |
Juan Erviti, España
From 2002 to 2017, Dr. Erviti was editor of the Navarra Therapeutic Information Bulletin (2003-2017), and from 2004 to 2014 Vice President of the Ethics Committee for Clinical Trials of Navarra (2004-2014). Between 2012 and 2016 he was the Secretary General of the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB), an international organization that houses many of the most well-known independent drug bulletins. He currently works in the Innovation and Organization Section of the SNS-O and is responsible for a research group belonging to the Health Research Institute of Navarra (Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra IdiSNA), and is the Director of the Navarra Cochrane Center. His research activity is focused on pharmacoepidemiology and systematic reviews. His publications include more than 50 articles in high-impact medical journals. He has also directed 5 doctoral dissertation and in 9/2020-9/2021 was a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. |
Ethics Advisor |
Jaime Escobar, Colombia
In 1977 Dr. Escobar cofounded the Colombian School of Medicine and became its Dean. He developed and has been the director of the Bioethics program at the Universidad El Bosque. During a twenty-year period, he was selected president of the Universidad El Bosque several times. He has been the Director of Specialization, Master, Doctorate and Postdoctoral Programs in Bioethics at the same University. Dr. Escobar is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine of Colombia. His honors include the Federico Lleras Acosta National Medicine Award, the Alejandro Ángel Science Award, the Charles Debray Award for research work on ischemic colitis, the National Medicine Award from the National Academy of Medicine (Colombia). His scientific activities at the San Juan de Dios Hospital of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá earned him the Antonio Nariño Award from the Government of Cundinamarca. Dr. Escobar is an Honorary Member of the Board of Directors of Redbioética of UNESCO for Latin America and the Caribbean and author of numerous texts and publications. |
Policy Advisor |
Eduardo Espinoza, El Salvador
Chief of medical services for the FMLN insurgent army and the civilian population in conflict areas, 1976-1992, Dean of the School of Medicine, University of El Salvador, 1995-1999. Vice Minister for Health Policies at the Ministry of Health of El Salvador, 2009-2019, Founder of the Master in Public Health and the Master in Sexual and Reproductive Health at the School of Medicine, University of El Salvador, and Founder and Member of the academic faculty of the Universidad Internacional para la Salud de los Pueblos (UISP) 2000-present. Currently, he is Coordinator of the ALAMES MARGARITA POSADA Collective in El Salvador and Member of the General Coordination of the Latin American Association of Social Medicine and Population Health (ALAMES) 2018-to date. |
Pharmacology Advisor |
Rogelio Fernández Argüelles, México
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Drug Publicity and Promotion Advisor |
Adriane Fugh-Berman, EE UU
Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD is a Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology with a joint appointment in the Department of Family Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). Dr. Fugh-Berman codirects the M.S. program in Health and the Public Interest and directs PharmedOut (GUMC), a research and education project that promotes rational prescribing, exposes the effect of pharmaceutical marketing on prescribing practices and has had a profound impact on prescribers’ perceptions of the adverse consequences of industry marketing. Dr. Fugh-Berman has authored many key articles in peer-reviewed literature on the area of industry influence on medicine, including the first studies in the medical literature about how the pharmaceutical industry influences surgeons, pharmacists, basic scientists, and individual patients. Other key articles include the first comprehensive article on marketing messages in continuing medical education, including studies of messaging in CME on short-acting opioids, fentanyl, binge-eating disorder, and hypoactive sexual desire disorder; a national survey of dentists attitudes about opioids, a study that shows that Medicare prescribers who accept industry gifts prescribe more medications (and more expensive medications), a review of how industry uses social psychology to manipulate physicians, an exposé of how ghostwritten articles in the medical literature were used to sell menopausal hormone therapy, an article about how “key opinion leaders” are used to market drugs off-label, an explanation of drug rep tactics, a national survey of industry interactions with family medicine residencies, and a study of the first educational activity that changed physicians’ perceptions about their own individual vulnerability to pharmaceutical marketing. |
Ethics Advisor |
Volnei Garrafa, Brasil
Volnei is involved in multiple activities: Coordinator of International Affairs of Redbioética Unesco; Over the years he has participated in various activities related to bioethics: President of the Brazilian Society of Bioethics (2001-2005); President of the Sixth World Congress of Bioethics of the International Association of Bioethics, Brasília, 2002; Member of the National Research Ethics Commission of Brazil, CONEP (1997-2003); Co-founder and first President of UNESC’s Latin American and Caribbean Bioethics Network (2003-2010), and Member of the International Bioethics Committee of Unesco (2010-2013; 2014-2017). His extensive research appears in 315 scientific papers published in indexed journals, 21 books and 108 book chapters. The impact of his teaching and tutoring of 34 doctoral dissertations, 26 master’s theses and 48 final papers for obtaining a specialization in Bioethics is well recognized. The city of Brasília has acknowledged his contribution to the capital of Brazil and in 2001 named him an Honorary Citizen of the City of Brasília. |
Clinical Trial Advisor |
Sergio Gonorazky, Argentina
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Ethics Advisor |
Fernando Hellmann, Brasil
Dr. Hellman is an adjunct professor in the Department of Public Public Health and the Graduate Program in Population Health of UFSC and Coordinates the Inter-institutional Doctorate in Public Health of FUSC/ UNIFAP. He is Deputy Coordinator of the Research Ethics Committee of the State Secretariat of Health of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, Member of the Advisory Committee of RedBioética / UNESCO. |
Clinical Trial Advisor |
Tom Jefferson, Italia
Tom is also a founder of the RIAT initiative and a member of the RIAT support centre (https://restoringtrials.org/) |
Pharmacovigilance Advisor |
Mariano Madurga, España
In 1986, he became a career civil servant and worked at the Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS), where he developed and coordinated the Spanish Pharmacovigilance System (SEFV-H) until his retirement in January 2017. The focus of his professional career has been the development of databases and pharmacovigilance systems, such as FEDRA and NotificaRAM.es (Spanish), EudraVigilance (European) and FACEDRA and NotiFACEDRA (Central American). Since 2000, he has been teaching Pharmacovigilance and Regulatory courses in Spain and Latin America. In 2014 he began to teach Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance in the master’s Program at the University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and since 2015 he has participated as an expert in the PAHO-WHO Pharmacovigilance Focal Point Network. In 2022 he was appointed member of the Technical Chamber of Pharmacovigilance of Brazil’s Regulatory Health Agency, ANVISA; during 2022-2023 he served as an advisor to the University of Panama in the study “Safety of COVID-19 vaccines applied in Panama, and a teacher facilitator in the Pharmacovigilance Course (MARFAR 275) of the master’s program Regulatory Affairs for Pharmacists, with an Emphasis in Pharmacovigilance, (60 teaching hours; May-June 2023). He is a member of the Latin American Network of Ergonomics and Human Factors in Health Services (ReLAESA). He has multiple publications, is a reviewer of articles for several journals and has been a speaker at many national and international events. |
Regulatory Policy Advisor |
Ricardo Martínez, Argentina
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Intelectual Property Advisor |
Peter Maybarduk, EE UU
Maybarduk has provided technical and strategic assistance to government agencies and health organizations in dozens of countries. He facilitates U.S. and global civil society alliances on access to medicines. Maybarduk’s commentary frequently appears in papers of record, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. He sits on the governance board of the Medicines Patent Pool. Maybarduk studied technology law at the University of California at Berkeley and anthropology at The College of William and Mary in Virginia. He is an affiliate fellow with the Information Society Program at Yale Law School. Maybarduk founded International Professional Partnerships for Sierra Leone, a non-profit dedicated to supporting public sector development in one of the world’s least developed countries. |
Pharmacy Advisor |
Emilio Pol Yanguas, España
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Advisor in Regulation |
Francisco Rossi, Colombia
During the last 20 years he has been working with Civil Society Organizations interested in promoting access to medicines, and has experience in networking with professionals in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and El Salvador. He is a board member of Health Action International, an NGO that promotes evidence-based advocacy on access and rational use of medicines. Former board member of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition ITPC, a global network for access to HIV medicines. |
Pharmacology Advisor |
Luis Carlos Saíz, España
He has been editor of independent pharmaceutical publications for more than 20 years, and has been part of the executive committee of the International Society for Drug Bulletins (ISDB). Currently, he is editor of the Cochrane Collaborating Centre of Navarra, linked to the Cochrane Hypertension Group based in Vancouver (Canada). He has also received funding to carry out research projects in fields such as arterial hypertension, ADHD and childhood infections. He is the author of more than 40 scientific articles with national and international impact. |
Ethics Advisor |
Jan Helge Solbakk, Noruega
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Economics Advisor |
Federico Tobar, Panamá
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Access and Policy Advisor |
Claudia Patricia Vaca Gonzales, Colombia
She is a member of several international expert groups dealing with public health and access to medicines, which promote the adoption of inclusive policies and technical regulations sensitive to access and rational use of chemically synthesized medicines, biologics and other medical technologies. She was an advisor to the Colombian Ministry of Health under the leadership of Beatriz Londoño and Alejandro Gaviria, especially in the design and implementation of the national pharmaceutical policy. She is also founder and director of the Think Tank “Medicines, Information and Power” of the National University of Colombia. |
Clinical Trials Advisor |
Emma Verástegui, Mexico
She has a Master of Sciences in Bioscience, Biomedicine and Society, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, University of London. Diploma in Palliative Care. Former Operational Director of the National Bioethics Commission. President of the Research Ethics Committee of the National Cancer Institute (Mexico). Member of the National Academy of Medicine. Member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. National Researcher Level 2. Author of articles in indexed journals, book chapters and books. Physician attached to Palliative Care at the National Institute of Cancerology. |
Translators |
Nazarena Galeano
I have collaborated in projects led by different international organizations, translating books, interviews and reports, and subtitling videos on topics related to humanitarian aid, children’s and women’s rights, and democratic education. I worked as an editorial assistant for an open access scientific journal that promotes critical thought in health, preparing articles to be published in its English version and translating contents for its web page. Presently, I continue to focus on specializing in different translation fields. |
Enrique Muñoz Soler
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María Beatriz Vejarano Villaveces
In addition, she is an official translator-interpreter English-Spanish, accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. He has translated more than a dozen books for Editorial Planeta, Carvajal and Norma, as well as many documents and reports of various kinds for the United Nations, IDB, CDA-Boston, IOM, Norwegian Council for Refugees, International Alert, Colombian Commission of Jurists, Colombia Diversa and Coalico, among other organizations. |
Araceli Hurtado
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Antonio Freitas Rocha de Menezes
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