Co-Founder, VP of Policy and Strategy, Vaxess Technologies; andFellow, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA

Livio Valenti is a Giorgio Ruffolo Research Fellow in the Sustainability Science Program and the Harvard Global Health Institute. He is co-founder of Vaxess Technologies. Livio is researching the potential to sustainably commercialize innovative technologies to improve global health. He is contributing to collaborative work with the Initiative on Innovation and Access to Technologies for Sustainable Development led by William Clark. He received a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2013, where he was the recipient of the Empedocle Maffia Fellowship. While a student, he co-founded Vaxess Technologies, an innovative life sciences company that aims to create vaccines that do not need refrigeration. His work has been featured in international media such as The Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes Magazine, and elsewhere. Prior to studying at Harvard, he worked for the United Nations in several developing countries. His work included advising government clients and international financing institutions in the identification, appraisal and financing of large investment projects. He also backstopped a diversified portfolio of economic and social development projects.

Director, Mobilization of Research and Innovation, Institute of Research for Development, France

Sarah Marniesse is a graduate of the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (Paris) and has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Sorbonne, Paris. After a post-doctorate in the Michigan State University Small Enterprises Program, she joined the Research Department of the French Development Agency, where she worked on several development issues, in particular global public goods. She now works as a project manager in the Human Development Department.

Named Executive Director of Policy and Global Affairs, USA

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Vaughan C. Turekian to be the Executive Director of the Policy and Global Affairs Division (PGA), effective May 12, 2018.

Dr. Turekian is currently serving a joint appointment as Senior Director of the Program on Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS), a program within PGA for which he was hired August of 2017. Prior to joining the STS program, Dr. Turekian served as the fifth Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State. In this capacity, he advised the Secretary of State and other senior State Department officials on international environment, science, technology, and health matters affecting the foreign policy of the United States. From 2016 to 2017, he served as a country co-chair, along with the Kenyan Ambassador to the United Nations, for the Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, a high-level discussion at the United Nations designed to accelerate progress toward globally agreed upon development targets. In 2018, Dr. Turekian was appointed by the U.N. Secretary General as one of the ten international members to promote the role of science, technology, and innovation for achieving for the 17 SDGs.

Dr. Turekian drew upon his background in atmospheric chemistry and extensive policy experience to promote science, technology, and engineering as integral components of U.S. diplomacy. Previously, he was Chief International Officer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Director of AAAS's Center for Science Diplomacy (2006 - 2015). In this capacity, he worked to build bridges between nations based on shared scientific goals, placing special emphasis on regions where traditional political relationships are strained or do not exist. As Editor-in-Chief of Science & Diplomacy, an online quarterly publication, he published original policy pieces that have served to inform international science policy recommendations. In addition, Dr. Turekian worked at the State Department as a Special Assistant and Advisor to the Under Secretary for Global Affairs (2002 - 2006) on issues related to sustainable development, climate change, environment, energy, science, technology, and health. He also served as Program Director for the Committee on Global Change Research at the National Research Council (2000 - 2002), where he was study director for a White House report on climate change science.

Dr. Turekian holds a B.S. in Geology and Geophysics and International Studies from Yale University and a M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia where he focused on the transport and chemistry of atmospheric aerosols in marine environments. Dr. Turekian not only brings both technical expertise and over 15 years of policy experience to the position, but also a decorated track-record and steadfast commitment to utilizing our nation's capital science and technology innovation to advance the long-term sustainability and U.S. diplomacy.

Member of the 10 Member Group to the STI Forum, and Coordinator of the FIOCRUZ Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil

Dr. Paulo Gadelha, MD, PhD, Member of the 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism with the UN Inter-agency Task Team on STI for the SDGs; Coordinator of the FIOCRUZ Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil.

As coordinator of the FIOCRUZ Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Dr. Gadelha is in charge of promoting FIOCRUZ’s strategic engagement with the Agenda’s aspirational principles and goals. His background in technology includes studies of the application of technology in public health, healthcare models, and STI’s history. Dr. Gadelha was FIOCRUZ’s president from 2009 to 2016, leading scientific achievements in biomedical sciences, the generation of scientific and technological knowledge, and health and social development promotion. Previously, he founded and directed “Casa de Oswaldo Cruz”, a FIOCRUZ Institute dedicated to the sociology and history of science and health. Dr. Gadelha served as a member of the National Health Council’s Science and Technology Intersectoral Commission. As President of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, he chaired the 11th World Congress on Public Health. In 2017, with UN/DESA, he chaired FIOCRUZ’s efforts in organizing the 1st Consultation on Health and STI in the 2030 Agenda’s implementation.

Director General of Science, Technology and Higher Education; Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education; Indonesia

Prof. Ali Ghufron Mukti is the Director General of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia. He was the Former Vice Minister of Ministry of Health, Indonesia. He is well known for his involvement, mainly in health insurance, and has expertise in the field of health service quality, family medicine, and epidemiology.

After earning his medical degree from University of Gadjah Mada, Prof. Ghufron took his master degree at University of Mahidol, Bangkok with MSc degree on tropical hygiene. After completing his master degree, in 2000, Prof. Ghufron finished his doctoral degree in public health at the University of Newcastle, Australia. As part of his educational history, Prof. Ghufron has received an award as a research fellow from Brown University. During his professional career, Prof. Ghufron has been appointed to several important positions. Some of the academic positions trusted to Prof. Ghufron are Head of Public Health Division, Director of Gadjah Mada Medical Centre (health plan) department, and Director of Health of Gadjah Mada Graduate Program on Health Financing and Health Insurance Management in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta.

In 2008, at the age of 46, Prof. Ghufron was appointed as Dean in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Gadjah Mada and became the youngest dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Gadjah Mada. Prof. Ghufron also had a professional career as consultant for international agencies in the area of social protection, health finance, and health insurance.

Since the 90’s, Prof. Ghufron has been published more than 30 publications and wrote several books. His publications span several disciplines, including health financing/ insurance, public health and healthcare management, clinical epidemiology, etc. He was invited as lecturer and examiner in prominent national and international universities such as: University of Indonesia, University of Tokai in Japan, Asia University in Taiwan, and University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Prof. Ghufron is actively involved in many professional organizations both in the national and international scale. In some of the organizations, such as the Indonesian Community and Public Health Doctor Association (PDK3MI), Indonesian Health Insurance and Social Security Expert (PAMJAKI), and Indonesian Health Economics Association (IHEA), Prof. Ghufron was appointed as Chairman of the organization. Internationally, Prof. Ghufron was appointed as Indonesian country representative for the South East Asian Public Health Institutes Network (SEAPHEIN) in 2007 and designated as Chairman of the ASEAN “One Health” in 2011.