Amani Ballour, MD

Pediatrician, Activist, Raoul Wallenberg prize 2020 winner

Amani Ballour one of the most recognized activists against the Syrian Civil War that started in 2011, and 9 nine years later is still ongoing. One of the most tragic wars of the 21st century that lead to thousands of deaths and millions of refugees. In a midst of this tragedy, and before completing her graduation she started help causalities from this war. After the bombing of a rebel hospital that Dr. Amani and her colleagues worked, they created and underground hospital, also known as the cave. She was one of the directors on this hospital and help to save numerous innocent lives. This hospital was captured and Dr. Amani was forced to escape to Turkey, since then she has keep talking about the atrocities committed in this war and tell her story in a Oscar nominee documentary called The Cave. Join us at 19th March to learn more about Dr. Amani’s history and how can doctors act professionally and politically to save countless lives.

Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH

Professor & John P. Holton Chair in Health and the Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Director of the Global Health Institute.

Director of the Global Health Institute, Professor and the John P. Holton Chair in Health and the Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jonathan Patz is a current Professor and John P. Holton Chair in Health and the Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also directs the Global Health Institute. With an extensive career in the medical, research and academic fields, he is one of the world’s lead experts in Global Health and Environmental Health, continually striving to divulge his research to his students, policy makers and the general public. His research and interests include climate change, infectious diseases, urban air pollution and public health, having written over 90 peer­‐reviewed scientific papers and co-edited books on these subjects, and having received multiple awards for his work. For 15 years, Patz was a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), leading to him being a co-laureate of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Professor Patz has occupied both national and international organizational positions, having served as Founding President of the International Association for Ecology and Health, briefed both houses of Congress, served on several scientific committees of the National Academy of Sciences and also co-chaired the health expert panel of the U.S. National Assessment on Climate Change. Being one of the biggest issues of this century, Climate Change will bring new and challenging problems for our health. Join us on March 19th at the AIMS Meeting 2021 to discuss these urgent challenges with one of the world’s most renowned name of the field.

Jerome Kim, MD

General Director of the IVI, Professor at Yonsei University, Adjunct Professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Chief Executive and “Head of Mission” of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), a nonprofit international organization that focuses on the discovery, development and delivery of safe, effective and affordable vaccines for Global Health. With a vast experience in clinical and medical investigation he led the first trial that demonstrated than an HIV vaccine could be used to protect against HIV infection and authored more than 250 publications. Due to these achievement, Prof. Kim received the John Maher Award for Research Excellence from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is Professor at Yonsei University in South Korea and adjunct Professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Prof. Kim is also a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. When vaccines represent our only hope to stop the COVID-19 pandemic major challenges emerge vaccine hesitancy, vaccine nationalism and the inability to cover some parts of the world due to the lack of financial means. Join us on March 19th at the AIMS Meeting 2021 to discuss these topics with one of the world’s most renowned name of the field.