H. E. Vice Minister of Health Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Thi Lien Huong works as a Vice Minister, a Policy-maker, and a Senior Expert on Preventive Medicine and health Science Management at the Ministry of Health of Vietnam. She graduated as a Medical Doctor from Ha Noi Medical University of Viet Nam. She obtained a masters degree in Public Health at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK; a Masters degree in Medical Administrative Management from Nayoya University of Japan; and obtained her PhD Degree in Occupational Health at the National Institute on Hygiene and Epidemiology, Viet Nam. In 2016, she was appointed associate professor by the National Committee on Professorship.
She has published nearly 200 research papers in high-quality national and international journals and has been involved in many national and international projects on Health Environment management, occupational health, and injury prevention in Viet Nam. She has nearly twenty-six years of working experience in national management on preventive medicine, occupational health, occupational disease prevention and injury prevention, health science management, school health, chemical management, international health cooperation, Insecticides, and disinfectants for household and public health purposes, control of drinking water quality, environmental health, Environmental Management in Healthcare Facilities.
During COVID-19 pandemic, she directly directed, urged, participated in the development and promulgation of more than 100 documents and instructions on epidemic prevention of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health. In particular, she directed the development and advised the leaders of the Ministry of Health to submit to the Government for promulgation Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP on “Safe and flexible adaptation and effective control of the COVID-19 epidemic” and Resolution No. 38/NQ-CP in 2022 promulgating the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control program, creates a basis for both effectively control the epidemic and recover the development of socio-economy.
Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dzung was born in 1964 in Ha Noi. He has more than 30 years of experience working in the Foreign Service and has held various positions and built up a wide range of experiences, especially in international integration, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, international economic affairs, and human resources management and development. He was appointed by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the seventh Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the United States of America in January 2022. He arrived in Washington, D.C. on February 16, 2022. From 2016 to February 2022, Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dzung served as Deputy Foreign Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, ASEAN SOM Leader of Viet Nam.
Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dzung graduated from the Institute for International Relations (now the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam) in 1986. He attended the “Russian Language Intensive Training Course” at Kiev University, Ukraine from 1986 – 1987 and obtained a Master in International Studies at Birmingham University, United Kingdom from 1993 – 1995. He is fluent in English. Other languages include Russian, French, and German (for general communication).
Dean George Q. Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School and the Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine at HMS, is an internationally recognized leader in stem cell science and cancer biology. He is also a longtime member of the HMS faculty whose work spans the fields of basic science and clinical medicine. Daley has been professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at HMS since 2010 and was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2008 until he resigned in 2017 upon assuming the HMS deanship. He previously held, as its inaugural incumbent, the Samuel E. Lux, IV Chair in Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital and was the Robert A. Stranahan Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at HMS.
Dean David Golan, the George R. Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, was appointed dean for research operations and global programs in August 2019. He previously served for 11 years as HMS dean for basic science and graduate education and special advisor for global programs. He is a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, where his laboratory applies biophysical and cell-imaging methods to the study of membrane proteins in blood cells. Dr. Golan is a senior physician in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he sees patients as a practicing hematologist and clinician teacher. Dr. Golan founded and directed the core course in pharmacology in the New Pathway curriculum at HMS from 1989 to 2006, and he co-directs a translational pharmacology course that brings together PhD students in the Therapeutics Graduate Program with MD fellows in the Master of Medical Sciences Program in Clinical Investigation at HMS. He is editor-in-chief of Principles of Pharmacology: The Pathophysiologic Basis of Drug Therapy, an award-winning textbook of pharmacology that is used worldwide. In his role as dean for research operations and global programs, Dr. Golan is responsible for planning, coordination, and operations involving research in the School’s basic and social science departments and for planning, implementation and oversight of interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, School-wide, interinstitutional and global research initiatives and technology platforms at HMS.
Assistant Professor Lisa Cosimi earned a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University in 1992 and M.D. from the Weill Cornell Medical College in 1996. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Primary Care at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Infectious Disease training at the Mass General Brigham combined fellowship program. As a clinician she focuses on infections in the immunocompromised host. As a researcher, Dr. Cosimi studies ways to improve improve health systems and quality of health care in resource-limited settings. primarily in Vietnam where she has worked since 2003. Her group brings together faculty, residents and medical students throughout the Harvard Medical School community to partner with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, Medical Universities and hospitals to understand and improve health systems gaps, improve healthcare quality, and reform and modernize medical student and health care worker education.
Dr. Ha Anh Duc, Chief of Cabinet at the Ministry of Health, graduated from Hanoi Medical School in 1996. He earned a Master of Sciences in Population and International Health at Harvard School of Public Health in 2004, and a Doctor of Public Health at Boston University in 2010. Dr Ha has been working in the Vietnam Ministry of Health for more than 20 years, handling a wide variety of tasks, ranging from national policy and regulation formulation, administration, and technical tasks to problem solving, both nationally and internationally. He has also been an Adjunct Associate Professor at UMMS. Previously, he worked as a consultant for several international organizations and institutions including the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, Family Health International, and Tulane University School of Public Health. His doctoral dissertation at the Boston University School of Public Health focused on the cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce cardiovascular disease in Vietnam. Dr Ha is currently the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Health. He has also been Co-PI of several studies funded by NIH and published over 20 papers in internationally peer-reviewed journals.
Professor Tran Diep Tuan is the Chairman of the Board of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP), which is one of the two most influencing medical universities of Vietnam. Under his tenure, the UMP has demonstrated its strong commitment for innovation and quality improvement. Professor Tran received his M.D. training at UMP with excellent qualification (1989), and then specialized in pediatrics (1990-1993) and later in pediatric neurology. He got his Ph.D. training at Tokyo University (1998-2003) and post-doctoral training at National Institutes for Physiological Sciences of Japan (2003) and at University of Michigan (2003-2005). He was a fellow of Asian Youth Fellowship (1997), Monbusho Fellowship (1998), John J. Bonica Award (2002), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2003), International Brain Research Organization (2003), WHO/NINDS International Neurological Science Fellowship (2003), International Dean’s Course in South East Asia (2010), Program for Leading Innovation with Harvard Macy Institute (2013), and Leadership Development Program (2016). His research interest is pain imaging, pediatric neurology, and children quality of life. He has published more than 30 articles in international peer review journals. As a president, his main agenda is to make UMP a leading health profession university in Vietnam and an internationally recognized institution in the region.
Associate Professor Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, born in 1959 in the central province of Ha Tinh, was appointed Minister of Health in August 2011 and her tenure lasted up until 2019. She was member of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam between January 2011 and January 2016 but was not reelected for the 12th tenure of the Party’s Central Committee for the 2016-2021 term, making her the only minister without being member of the Party Central Committee. During her time as health minister, Tien had assigned herself the task of reducing overcrowding at hospitals and a focus on improving the primary healthcare system in Viet Nam.
Dr. Margaret E. Kruk is Professor of Health Systems at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Kruk’s research generates evidence on how health systems can improve health for people living in low-income countries. Working with colleagues in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nepal, South Africa, and India, among other countries, she develops novel measures of health system quality and studies the links between quality and population demand for health care, health outcomes, and confidence in the system. Dr. Kruk and her team use implementation science and econometric methods to evaluate large-scale health system reforms.
Dr. Kruk is Director of the QuEST Centers and Network: a multi-country collaboration to produce a global evidence base for improving health systems. The QuEST Network responds to the findings of the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era (HQSS Commission), a global initiative chaired by Dr. Kruk. QuEST will develop new instruments to assess health system quality, test structural and policy solutions to systemic quality deficits, and support expansion of high-impact health systems research in partner countries.
Dr. Kevin Croke is assistant professor of global health in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His work has two main areas of focus. In one strand, he uses qualitative methods to study the political economy of health systems in developing countries. In another set of projects, he uses empirical methods—including experimental approaches—to study political economy and public service delivery in developing countries. Croke completed a postdoctoral fellowship in political economy at Harvard Chan School, and earlier served as an economist and an impact evaluation specialist at the World Bank, and as an evaluation consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Marissa Courey is with the United States Agency for International Development, Bureau for Global Health. She was previously Chief of the Health Systems Strengthening Branch of CDC-South Africa. She held various roles at CDC, including Prevention Branch Chief, Surveillance Lead, and Associate Director for Science for the CDC/DGHT office in Central Asia Region (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan). Dr. Courey completed her doctoral training in health economics and epidemiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and her MSc in Demography and Economic Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mr. Dustin Haines is based in Gilead Sciences’ Hong Kong hub, as Vice President & General Manager of Asia, Turkey, and the Middle East, American Dustin Haines oversees a vast region that includes the “Asia 5” territories Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea and is the biggest of the company’s intercontinental areas with respect to revenues. He has led efforts in developing a bespoke solution for each of these diverse markets, Gilead’s efforts to help break down the stigma around HIV in the region, and how the company is working with governments and community-based organizations to put HIV and hepatitis educational tools and testing in place.
Dr. David Duong is currently the Director of the Harvard Medical School Program in Global Primary Care and Social Change and the Associate Director of HAIVN. In this position, David is responsible for the overall strategy development, partnership engagement, programmatic activities and donor relations for the Program in Global Primary Care and Social Change at Harvard Medical School in order to meet the goals and mission of Harvard Medical School as well as the local, national and global primary care community. He also provides teaching, mentorship and career development support to students, residents, junior faculty and staff.
David has led many research studies and has published on health care systems. David is a primary care physician, a World Health Organization’s Young Leader in Primary Healthcare, serves on the 2020 World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare and a former US Fulbright Scholar. David earned both his Bachelor’s Degree and Masters in Public Health, from the University of Michigan, a Medical Doctor from Harvard Medical School. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Le Kien Ngai is the Director of Infection Control and Prevention at the Viet Nam National Children’s Hospital
Professor Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy’s professional fields of interest include competency-based medical education (CBME); evidence-based medicine, high-risk pregnancy, gynecologic endocrinology; and especially gynecologic cancers screening and treatment. He has served as consultant in the field of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Health for Vietnam Ministry of Health, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Health Organization’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (SRH), including the UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and many international NGOs in health sector; been involved in the development of guidelines and policy papers in cervical cancer prevention & control, and screening & preventive treatment of preeclampsia for the Ministry of Health of Vietnam.
Dr. Caleb Dresser is the Director of Healthcare Solutions at Harvard Chan C-CHANGE. In this role, he leads efforts to develop operational, analytical, and informational approaches to improve climate readiness in healthcare settings and enhance the capability of healthcare systems and professionals to address the climate crisis. Caleb leads the Climate Resilient Clinics project at Harvard Chan C-CHANGE. Through this collaboration with Americares, Climate Central, and other organizations, he is working to develop evidence-based, patient-centered approaches to climate change adaptation, preparedness, and resilience in frontline health clinics. Current projects include evaluation and refinement of toolkits for patients, administrators, and clinicians, a pilot assessment of the use of targeted heatwave alerts for clinic staff, and adaptation of existing resources to new settings.
Caleb is also Assistant Director of the Physician Fellowship in Climate Change & Human Health, which is offered through a collaboration between Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Chan C-CHANGE, and other centers at Harvard. This fellowship trains physicians to become leaders in climate change and human health research, education, communication, and advocacy.
Associate Professor Barbara (Bobby) Gottlieb, has been a primary care physician at Brookside Community Health Center since 1981. In addition to providing care to multiple generations of patients, the majority immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean, she has developed innovative clinical and public health programs to improve the health of populations and the community. Although she is a committed generalist, with a wide range of interests, she has particular interest and expertise in clinical and public health areas most salient to the community she serves, including women’s and minority health and the integration of mental health and primary care. In addition to her work in Boston, she has worked with a group of health promoters in rural Guatemala since 2000, developing their capacity to address key health issues including tuberculosis, mental health and women’s health and the growing burden of chronic disease.
She has taught multiple courses at Harvard Medical School since 1987, including Patient-Doctor 1, the Primary Care Clerkship and is Co-Chair of the Global and Community Health Track in the Scholars in Medicine/Pursuing Inquiry in Medicine Course. She precepts residents in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Medicine Residency Program, where she is also Director of Ambulatory Faculty Development. She has a secondary appointment at TH Chan/Harvard School of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, where she directs the MPH Practicum course and a course on Gender and Mental Health.
Dr. Ingrid Katz is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director for Behavioral Science for PEPFAR. She is also an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Katz has spent the past decade focused on developing sustainable socio-behavioral interventions aimed at improving care for the most underserved in low-resourced settings, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Her expertise in mixed-methods research combines qualitative and quantitative techniques to understand barriers to care in hard-to-reach populations. In addition to her NIH-funded research, Dr. Katz holds an appointment in the Division of Medical Communications, where she has taken on multiple roles including National Correspondent at the New England Journal of Medicine, as well as commentary for NPR and BBC on topics related to HIV, global health, and the Covid pandemic. She co-led a course in 2020 (with Professor Allan Brandt) in the Harvard College Program in General Education titled, “Confronting COVID-19: Science, History, Policy (Gen Ed 1170), taught to over 130 Harvard College students. She has received the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2019, and was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Dean’s Award for an Emerging Leader in Women’s Careers in 2021, by the Joint Committee on the Status of Women, in recognition of a faculty member who is making an impact to advance women’s careers at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals.
Dr. Cuc Tran is a senior epidemiologist with the HIV Care and Treatment Branch, within the Division of Global HIV and TB at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is the care and treatment implementation subject matter expert for Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. Her expertise includes differentiated service delivery models of care, continuity of treatment, and sustainability. She has 15 years of public health training and experience working in PEPFAR, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, SARS-COV-2, influenza, and rabies. Over the course of her career, she has published 34 peer review manuscripts and obtained a total of $2.2 million of funding. As an Epidemic Intelligence Officer (2015-2017), she spent seven months in Vietnam, co-leading WHO funded studies to support Gavi’s investment for human rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in low-income countries.
Mr. Bao An is the Director Center for Applied Research on Men and Community Health
Dr. Do Thi Nhan is Chief of HIV Treatment, Ministry of Health
Assistant Professor Todd Pollack is a member of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care and the Division of Infectious Diseases at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). He graduated from Temple University School of Medicine and completed his residency, chief residency, and fellowship at BIDMC. He was based full-time in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2009-2021, Dr. Pollack provides training and clinical mentoring in HIV care and treatment to Vietnamese clinicians, and technical assistance to the Vietnam Ministry of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other partner agencies in the development of HIV curricula, guidelines, and policies. He has a particular interest in the use of technology to provide training in resource-limited settings and is currently leading a project to provide HIV training and clinical mentoring over the internet to distant sites in Vietnam. Dr. Pollack mentors visiting medical students and residents from BIDMC and other institutions.