Conference “Digital health in times of crisis” 9th October 2025

Dr. Anaid (Aniya) Atasuntseva is a licensed clinical psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. She also serves as chief mental health advisor at Telehelp Ukraine, a non-profit volunteer effort seeking to provider telehealth medical and mental health consultation and support to individuals in Ukraine affected by the Russian invasion. In addition to providing direct care, Telehelp Ukraine partners with international agencies to identify needs and train Ukrainian based of mental health professionals in evidence-based practices. Dr. Atasuntseva is an expert in treating adolescents presenting with suicidality and self-harming behaviors. Her additional areas of clinical focus include the treatment of trauma and disordered eating.

Dr. Rabih El Chammay is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst recognized for his leadership in mental health in Lebanon and internationally. Since 2014, he has led the National Mental Health Program within the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, in partnership with WHO, UNICEF, and the International Medical Corps, with the goal of reforming the care system and raising public awareness of mental health issues. He is also a Lecturer at Saint Joseph University and practices at Hôtel Dieu de France Hospital in Beirut. With over 15 years of experience with international agencies such as WHO, UNHCR, and UNICEF, he brings recognized technical and strategic expertise. He served as Chair of the WHO Advisory Group on Mental Health from 2022 to 2024 and was subsequently renewed for a second term from 2025 to 2027. Fully dedicated, he works to improve care and promote mental health as a fundamental right

Lola Kola is a researcher in global mental health with over 15 years of experience in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in West Africa. She is a Medical Sociologist with extensive experience in the development and clinical implementation of mental health digital interventions in low- and middle-income countries, particularly across Sub-Saharan Africa She is affiliated to the University of Ibadan and Kings College London. Her research project has been funded by major funders such as the National Institute of Health USA, the Wellcome Trust, UK, Medical Research Council, UK, Grand Challenges Canada and the IDRC, Canada. Her work has been published in The Lancet, Nature, JAMA, World Psychiatry and other leading journals. She teaches and mentoring young researchers.

Hemes Nkwa is a doctor specialising in field epidemiology and president of Youth for Health and Development of Africa (YOHEDA), an organisation that has already trained and raised awareness among more than 50,000 young people, women and vulnerable individuals in Central Africa on health and access to reliable information. Committed to the front line in crises such as COVID-19 and maternal deaths in Cameroon, she also coordinates the International Council for Dialogue and Partnership, a pan-African platform building bridges between civil society, decision-makers and international partners. Her work, at the intersection of digital health, citizen diplomacy and social innovation, makes her a key voice in thinking about digital health as a lever for equity in times of crisis.

Dr Pilar Hernández is managing director at the SORMAS Foundation. She has over 15 years’ experience working on programmes for the control of infectious diseases, with special focus in Pandemic Prevention and Response, Digital Health, and Neglected Tropical Diseases. She has provided technical assistance to ministries of health and regional institutions across several countries in Africa and Latin America and led international teams for effective implementation. She holds an MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases and a PhD in molecular diagnostic methods for infectious diseases.

With over 25 years of experience in public health, including with the US CDC and WHO. In UNICEF, he contributes to shaping global strategies for public health emergencies. He focuses on infectious diseases epidemiology, transmission dynamics, and modeling. He seeks to understand how pathogens spread within and between populations and to identify drivers of outbreaks to inform timely, and effective responses. He explores the intersection of outbreak response and public health policy, examining how health systems and governance influence epidemic trajectories. He focuses on the challenges of responding to threats in resource-constrained and emergency-prone settings.

Dr Justus Nsio Mbeta is an experienced epidemiologist and manager with over twenty years of experience in epidemic surveillance and response. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), he has held several senior positions, including National Director of the National Border Hygiene Programme, Coordinator of the Management Unit of the Technical Secretariat for the Global Fund's C19-RM Grant, National Coordinator for Epidemics and Deputy Country Director of Africa CDC.

Dr. Anushka R. Patel is a trauma-focused clinical psychologist. She is based at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where she is conducting NIMH-funded research on domestic violence. Anushka specializes in assessing and treating trauma reactions with a cultural lens in low-resource settings. Anushka is leveraging strengths in low-resource communities, such as high cellphone usage, to improve access to care and using briefer treatment designs (e.g., single-session interventions) to improve adoption of care at scale. Anushka’s work has been cited in Al Jazeera and New York Times. Anushka has been with the EMPOWER project since 2020, which aims to build the mental health workforce globally using a suite of digital trainings designed for non-specialist frontline health workers. Anushka co-led content development for two EMPOWER courses; she is currently designing the methodology for competency assessments to ‘graduate’ EMPOWER-trained learners into delivering case-based care.

Director of the Centre for Innovation and Digital Health (DIGI-SANTE-MALI), University of Science, Technology and Technology (USTTB) Director of the Centre for Expertise and Research in Telemedicine and E-health (CERTES) General Coordinator of the Francophone African Network for Telemedicine (RAFT)

Frédéric de Saint-Sernin entered politics in 1988 alongside Jacques Chirac, first working in communications for the Paris City Council and then at the Elysée from 1995 to 2006. There, he held various positions as advisor in charge of opinion polls/electoral studies, overseas territories, and then political advisor to the President of the Republic. He was also the representative of the Co-Prince of Andorra from 1999 to 2002. At the same time, he pursued a political career in Périgord, where he was elected twice as a Member of Parliament in 1993 and 2002. During his second term, he was elected Secretary of the National Assembly. In 2004 and 2005, he served in the government as Secretary of State for Regional Planning. At the end of his political career, Frédéric de Saint-Sernin joined the PPR/Kering group in 2007 as Director of Institutional Relations and Head of Anti-Counterfeiting. He is a member of the group's management committee and chairman of the Ethics Committee. During this period, he chaired Stade Rennais Football Club and sat on the Board of Directors of the Professional Football League. Since 2015, Frédéric de Saint Sernin has been Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Acted, France's leading humanitarian NGO, which supports more than 18 million beneficiaries in 43 countries thanks to its 5,000 employees who implement emergency, development and environmental projects. He became President of Acted in 2025.

Yara Aboelwaffais a Senior Digital Health Advisor at health.enabled, where she supports governments and partners in strengthening digital health ecosystems. With more than 14 years of international experience, she has worked across global health and digital transformation, focusing on sustainable solutions that improve service delivery and patient care. Previously, Yara held roles with UNICEF, WHO and ITU, and in private sector consulting, where she advised on health system innovation and strategy in diverse country contexts. She holds an Executive Master’s in Digital Transformation from IE Business School and a Master’s in Public Health from the Universities of Sheffield and Copenhagen. Her work reflects a commitment to advancing healthcare equity, access, and quality through technology, and to building bridges between people, ideas, and institutions to achieve lasting impact.

Dr. Asaad Kadhum is a medical doctor with a Masters degree in Public Health. He has over 15 years of experience in designing and implementing health programs for refugees and populations affected by emergencies. Currently serves as a Senior Public Health Officer at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, and has previously worked across multiple regions including the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes (EHAGL), as well as the MENA region in Lebanon and Jordan. Areas of expertise include: Refugee health programming and policy, Health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis control, Vaccination campaigns, Nutrition and malnutrition interventions.