Moderator: Prof. Felicia Marie Knaul, PhD
Professor of Medicine, UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine
Sr. Advisor to the Dean and the President of UCLA Health,
Associate of the UCLA Chancellor,
Los Angeles, CA, the USA

Prof. Felicia Marie Knaul (BA, University of Toronto; MA & PhD, Harvard University) is Professor of Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Sr. Advisor to the Dean and the President of UCLA Health. She is also the Associate of the Chancellor.

Her research focuses on health system strengthening, equity and poverty alleviation, cancer control, pain relief and palliative care, women and health, medical employment, female labor force participation, and at-risk children and youth and she has produced some 350 academic and policy publications. Prof. Felicia Marie Knaul currently serves as Co-Chair of The Lancet Commission on Cancer And Health Systems and of The Lancet Commission on Gender-based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People, and previously chaired the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief. From 2012-2015, she was a member of The Lancet Commission on Women and Health and a leading co-author of its June 2015 report. This Commission has also spawned a stream of research initiatives and she leads an international group of scholars preparing follow-up submissions refining the estimates of gender differentials in paid and unpaid contributions to health and caregiving and on gender and caregiving.

Prof. Felicia Marie Knaul maintains a strong research and advocacy base in Mexico and has published extensively on the Mexican health system, most recently in 2023 in The Lancet. In 2008, as a result of her breast cancer experience, she founded Cáncer de Mama: Tómatelo a Pecho A.C., a Mexican non-profit institution founded to promote research, advocacy, and awareness to reduce the burden of breast cancer and now focused on women’s health broadly. Prof. Felicia Marie Knaul chronicled her cancer journey, published as Tómatelo a Pecho (Grupo Santillana, 2009) and Beauty without the Breast (Harvard University Press/ Harvard Global Equity Initiative 2013).

Speaker: Dr. Mathew Leonardi, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Advanced Gynaecological Surgeon and Sonologist, Hamilton Health Sciences,
Assistant Professor, McMaster University, Canada
Honorary Adjunct Lecturer, University of Adelaide, Australia

Dr. Mathew Leonardi is an expert in complex gynecology, endometriosis excision surgery and gynecological ultrasound (assistant professor) at McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton, Canada. He is an honorary adjunct lecturer at the University of Adelaide. His philosophy of care includes working in an interdisciplinary team and patient-centered decision-making. He has been awarded his PhD from the University of Sydney, which is focused on the utility of ultrasound in the diagnosis and surgical management of endometriosis.

Dr. Leonardi is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in his field. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, several textbook chapters, and presented at numerous international congresses on endometriosis. He has received numerous awards for his conference presentations on endometriosis. He is an avid researcher, actively contributing academically to the advancement of gynecologic health.

Dr. Leonardi is on the World Endometriosis Society Early Career Board and a founding member of the Next Generation Committee at the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is an Associate Editor for Reproduction & Fertility and on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Canada. He is part of an international research group named Imagendo, which won the most prestigious science award in Australia, the 2023 ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology.

Speaker: Dr. Carolina Zafalon-Ferreira, MD
OBGYN
Hospital Materno- Infantil Dr Joaquim Sampaio, Brazil
Clinica Criar,
Ilheus, BA, Brazil
Volonteer,Instituto Dharma,
Bahia, Brazil

Carolina Zafalon Ferreira is an experienced obstetrician and gynecologist with a specialization in fetal medicine. She has dedicated her career to both clinical practice and humanitarian work, providing medical care in underserved communities across Brazil and internationally.

Dr. Ferreira earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Brazil, where she later completed her residencies in Gynecology & Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine. She has extensive experience in maternal-fetal health, having worked in various hospitals and medical institutions, including Fleury, ProMatre, and Hospital Materno-Infantil Dr. Joaquim Sampaio. She currently serves as an Obstetrics Coordinator at Hospital Materno-Infantil Dr. Joaquim Sampaio and provides specialized care at Clínica Criar in Ilhéus, Brazil.

Beyond clinical practice, Dr. Ferreira is deeply committed to humanitarian medicine. She has participated in multiple medical missions with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Brazil, offering life-saving obstetric and gynecological care in conflict zones and resource-limited settings. In Brazil, she has collaborated with Instituto Dharma, Expedicionários da Saúde, and Volunteer Vacations, providing healthcare to remote and Indigenous communities in the Amazon, Roraima, Acre, and Piauí. She is a member of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Society of São Paulo.

Her career reflects a strong commitment to maternal health, health equity, and medical education, making her a dedicated advocate for improving women’s access to healthcare worldwide.

Speaker: Prof. Amanda Henry, PhD MPH FRANZCOG B.Med.(Hons) B.Med.Sci(Hons) DDU
Program Head, Women’s Health, The George Institute for Global Health
Professor, Discipline of Women’s Health, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine and Health
Obstetrician, St George Public Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Prof. Amanda Henry is Program Head, Women’s Health at The George Institute for Global Health, Professor of Obstetrics in the Discipline of Women’s Health, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine and Health, and an obstetrician at St George Hospital, Sydney.

Her research focus is on how pregnancy complications, particularly hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and gestational diabetes, can affect women’s lifelong health. She leads a program of work on early intervention and improving systems of care to advance long-term cardiovascular health outcomes for women after a hypertensive pregnancy. Prof. Amanda Henry is also an active researcher and research supervisor in the areas of high-risk pregnancy and pregnancy/postpartum clinical trials, and teaches pregnancy care to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Prof. Amanda Henry has a strong emphasis on collaborative research projects to drive improvements in Women’s Health, and in addition to her role with the George Institute, researches collaboratively with medical, midwifery and Allied Health colleagues, as well as consumer and community partners, both locally and nationally.

She also promotes Women’s Health research translation into guidelines, policy and practice through her professional society roles, including as Councillor for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Society of Obstetric Medicine of Australia and New Zealand.

Speaker: Dr. Laura Downey, PhD
Program Lead, Global Program for Universal Health Coverage (UHC),
The George Institute for Global Health,
Conjoint Senior lecturer, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
Advanced Research Fellow, Imperial College London, School of Public Health, London, United Kingdom

Dr Laura Downey leads the George Institute’s global program for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). She is an Advanced Research Fellow in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, and a conjoint Senior lecturer in the School of Population Health at the University of New South Wales Australia.

Dr Downey’s research is focused broadly on evaluating health system performance in relation to UHC goals, and developing innovative solutions to support equitable access to high quality, affordable care for the world’s most at-risk populations. She is a Senior Investigator and the Capacity Strengthening co-lead of the £10million NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Environmental Change, where her research focuses on community-driven multisectoral intervention design, delivery, and evaluation to strengthen health systems to protect populations in India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh from environmental issues such as extreme heat and air pollution. She was an expert member of the Health Economics advisory group to the UK Infected Blood Inquiry (2020-2024), whose work directly informed recommendations made by the Inquiry Chair to the UK Government on behalf of the tens of thousands of individuals who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis A, B, and C during the 1960s and 70's through interaction with the National Health Service. She was also an advisor to the Indian federal government between 2015 -2019 to support the establishment of a core Health Technology Assessment (HTA) function within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and remains an active advisor to the Indian Institute of Public Health in Shillong, and the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Dr Downey has active research collaborators across Asia, Africa, and Europe and has worked in partnership with global institutions such as the World Health Organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank. She has held previous positions with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Centre for Global Development, and University College London.