Support from organizations such as yours is critical to the success of the ICIC20 Virtual Conference. Participation and partnering can occur in several ways. The conference provides partners with many opportunities to connect with international policymakers, practitioners and researchers working towards integrated care. Over 1,000 global health invested practitioners, academic, researchers and students from around the world are expected to participate in the ICIC20 Virtual Conference. In addition to connecting participants with the valuable resources your organisation provides, your support enables community-based leaders and students to attend by offsetting registration expenses.

By sponsoring the ICIC20 Virtual Conference you will benefit from extended exposure of your brand to delegates.

• The ICIC20 Virtual Conference Platform will be available to delegates 2 weeks prior to the first day of the conference, allowing the opportunity for browsing your company, product and service details prior to the conference.
• As the conference will take place on 4 days over 4 weeks, this not only provides increased exposure to your brand, it also allows for follow up meetings with delegates on subsequent days of the conference. This could increase the speed of decision making processes as delegates will have the opportunity to discuss their sponsorship meetings back at the workplace before meeting with you again to discuss further.
• The ICIC20 Virtual Conference Platform will be available to delegates for 12 months after the conference, extending the exposure of your brand further.
• Prove the value and impact of your sponsorship and your return on investment with instant data analytics
• Receive data and contact details for delegates you met at your ICIC20 Virtual Exhibition Stand
• Receive data and contact details for delegates who attended your sponsored session
• Request meetings and exchange contact details with delegates through the one to one Meeting Hub – a great opportunity for following up with delegates you have had an initial meeting with and also allows delegates to request a meeting with you outside of the Virtual Exhibition opening hours
• Save money on travel, shipping, and exhibition set-up costs

To discuss a bespoke package contact Fiona Lyne, Director of Communications

Phillip Davies
Chair
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Philip Davies has extensive experience in health policy and governance. During an international career spanning more than 40 years he has held senior positions in four government health administrations, served as Professor of Health Systems and Policy in a leading Australian University, worked as a Senior Health Economist in the global headquarters of the World Health Organisation and was a appointed as a Partner in a ‘Big 4’ international professional services firm. His previous non-executive roles include Deputy Chair of the World Health Organisation’s Executive Board (its principal governing body) and Director of a number of government agencies and not-for-profit companies operating in the health sector. Philip’s interest in integrated care began in the early 1990’s when he was involved in the early stages of New Zealand’s health reforms. More recently, he was responsible for overseeing Australia’s network of primary health care organisations with a particular focus on fostering enhanced collaboration among primary, secondary and community-based care providers. He is particularly interested in the opportunities that integrated care can offer to address the financial and human resource challenges faced by contemporary health systems. Having consulted extensively in low and middle income countries Philip also sees the potential for concepts drawn from integrated care to contribute to the improvement of health systems in resource poor settings.

Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat

Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat is a medical doctor, a specialist in public health, and the author of several publications in public health and European health policy.
Following her qualification as a medical doctor from the University of Malta in 1995, Dr Azzopardi-Muscat worked in various areas in the health sector in Malta, including maternal and child health, mental health, and primary care. Her transdisciplinary research bridging health policy, European studies and small states studies led to her PhD entitled “The Europeanisation of health systems: a small state perspective”.

Since 1999, Natasha has been a resident academic at the University of Malta, teaching in the department of health services management and public health. In 2003, she completed her specialization in public health medicine and obtained her membership in the Faculty of Public Health of the United Kingdom. Between 2001 and 2013, she occupied various senior positions in the Ministry of Health in Malta, including that of Chief Medical Officer.

Before joining WHO, Dr Azzopardi-Muscat served as President of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) from 2016 to 2020, where she was actively involved in health advocacy at the European level.

Dr Azzopardi-Muscat is married to Dr Conrad Azzopardi, a practicing physician, and has 3 children.

Nina Obuljen-Koržinek
Minister of Culture of the Republic of Croatia
Ministry of Culture, Croatia

Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, has more than 25 years of professional experience in the fields of international relations, culture and media policies. She graduated from the Academy of Music and Faculty of Philosophy and obtained her Ph.D. from the Faculty of Political Sciences. Prior to her appointment as the Minister of Culture in 2016, she was working as a research associate at the Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb. She is publishing books and articles as well as expert studies in Croatian and international journals and teaches at the University of Zagreb. Her consultancy and expert engagements include work for UNESCO, Council of Europe, European Cultural Foundation, UNDP, European Parliament etc. She received the European Cultural Policy Research Award for her research on the impact of the EU enlargement on cultural policies that was published in the book Why we need European Cultural Policies: impact of EU enlargement on countries in transition, Amsterdam, 2006. Former Assistant Minister and State Secretary, she was a member of the negotiating team for the Croatian accession to the EU responsible for the fields of culture and education as well as information society and media. She was also the head of the Croatian delegation for the negotiations on the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Prof Gordana Buljan Flander
Director
Zagreb Child and Youth Protection Center

Gordana Buljan Flander, Ph.D, is a psychologist and psychotherapist; director of the Child and Youth Protection Center of Zagreb, an institution specialized in working with traumatized children and their families. In 1997 she founded the Brave Phone, help line for abused and neglected children, and in 2002 she initiated foundation of the Child and Youth Protection Center of Zagreb, a health care institution that received ISPCAN’s award for best multidisciplinary team. She received many awards for her work; the most significant was Lifetime Achievement Award from 2018. She coauthored 10 books and numerous scientific papers regarding child development, parenting and child trauma, abuse and neglect. She also works as a lecturer at University of Zagreb and as expert witness in court. She is an expert of Council of Europe regarding child protection, collaborating in numerous European projects and consulting in international organizations.

Prof. Ran Balicer
Board Member, International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)
Director, Innovation Division, Clalit Health Services & Founding Director, Clalit Research Institute

Prof. Ran Balicer, MD, PhD, MPH serves as Founding Director of the Clalit Research Institute, the WHO Collaborating Center on Non-Communicable Diseases Research, Prevention and Control. In Parallel, he serves as Chief Innovation Officer and Head of the Innovation Division for Clalit – Israel’s largest healthcare organization. In these roles, he is responsible for strategic planning of novel organization-wide interventions for improving healthcare quality, reducing disparities and increasing effectiveness. These include the introduction of innovative data-driven tools into practice – predictive modeling, real-life effectiveness studies, decision support tools and proactive care models. Prof Balicer also serves as a Full Professor and as Track Director in the MPH program at the Ben-Gurion University, Israel. With over 200 peer-reviewed papers, his research is focused on the study of extensive clinical databases in care provision and policymaking, health systems integrated care, and quality management. Prof. Balicer serves as Chair of the Israeli Society for Quality in Healthcare, as an Advisor to Israeli Ministry of Health and as a Board Member of the International Foundation for Integrated Care. Prof. Balicer also serves as a Commissioner for the Lancet and the Financial Times “Healthy Futures 2030” International Commission. Prof. Balicer serves in senior advisory groups to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, and is involved in projects focusing on chronic diseases monitoring, prevention and control, use of big data and artificial intelligence in healthcare, and healthcare systems integration

Prof Áine Carroll
IFIC Ireland and Board Member, International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)
Prof. of Healthcare Integration and Improvement, University College Dublin/National Rehabilitation Hospital Co-Director

Áine is Professor of Healthcare Integration and Improvement at University College Dublin and a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin. She is co-Director of IFIC Ireland and a Senior Associate of IFIC. Prior to this, she was National Director of the Clinical Strategy and Programmes Division in the Health Services Executive. During her tenure, Professor Carroll established the Integrated Care Programmes for older persons, chronic disease, children and patient flow to promote coordinated care and team work across services and specialties, ensuring that care is provided effectively and seamlessly to patients as they move through the system. Áine is acknowledged Internationally for her expertise in large-scale change and implementation. An experienced Improvement advisor, she has provided advice, guidance and training on improvement and change to leaders of healthcare systems across the world. She is passionate about Person Centred Coordinated Care and Implementation Science.

Danny Vadesz
CEO
Health Issues Centre

Danny is the CEO of the Health Issues Centre. He has a background in marketing communications and public engagement that stretches across a range of sectors including health, environment, local government, telecommunications and consumer goods. He is currently CEO of the peak Victorian consumer health body, Health Issues Centre and prior to that was COO and Marketing Director at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Fiona Lyne
Director of Communications
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

In 2014, Fiona joined the International Foundation for Integrated Care as Director of Communications. Fiona is responsible for developing the overall brand, marketing and communication strategy for the Foundation including membership development. She leads on various projects including Project INTEGRATE, the Annual International Integrated Care Conference Series and the World Congresses.

Fiona has worked in public policy communications since 2003. She began her career as a community stakeholder engagement manager at Fingal County Council in North Dublin supporting the local Community and Voluntary Forum to have an impact on local decision-making bodies. She went on to hold various project co-ordination and communication roles in both the public and private sector including periods with NHS North West London and the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2010 she joined the King’s Fund, an internationally renowned healthcare policy think tank, as Head of Events and in subsequent years was responsible for moving the Fund into a leading position in the healthcare conference market. Fiona has a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Limerick, an MA in Community Development and Stakeholder Engagement from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Diploma in Management from the Dublin Business School.

Dr Toni Dedeu
Interim CEO and Director of Programmes
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Dr Dedeu is the Interim CEO of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) based in Oxford, UK and he is the former Director the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia, Ministry of Health of the government of Catalonia. Dr Dedeu is a MD (University of Barcelona), specialised in Urology and Family Medicine and he holds MScs in Health Economics, in Primary Care and in Healthcare Management.

He has professional experience spanning more than 20 years at international level in the field of quality assessment and health systems development. He has worked as policy maker, manager, researcher and implementer or health system reforms. Former Chair of EUREGHA (European Association of Regional and Local Authorities), association based in Brussels. He has also been the Director of research and knowledge exchange of the Digital Health and Social Care Institute of Scotland, in association with the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Dr Dedeu is currently involved as PI in more than ten EU projects, such as FP7, H2020, Interreg, Health Programme and also EIT Health. Along with his scientific career he has published more than 55 research papers in SCI and SCIE journals of high impact factor.

Leo Lewis
Senior Fellow and Head of Research and Development
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Leo joined the International Foundation for Integrated Care Team in early 2013 as a Senior Fellow leading IFIC’s work in the EU funded SmartCare integrated care project. Since this time, Leo has expanded IFIC’s role in Europe through involvement in two other integrated care projects as well as the United4Health telehealth study. In addition, Leo is a member of the IFIC team collaborating with WHO Europe in the development of their Coordinated and Integrated Health Services Delivery: Developing the Framework for Action.

Leo is an experienced programme manager having working in academia, the NHS and Welsh Government leading eHealth, chronic conditions management service improvement and research projects and was responsible for the development and testing of NHS Wales’ predictive risk modelling (Prism) tool. Through the building of strong relationships with stakeholders, Leo works with others to bring her knowledge, skills and expertise together to co-design new transformational change approaches for delivering ICT-enabled integrated care solutions to meet the needs of different populations. Leo has a keen interest in rural health and wellbeing and also works part time for the Institute of Rural Health.

As well as gaining NHS management qualifications early on in her career and Prince 2 training, Leo studied an MSc in Health Informatics at Swansea University and most recently gained a Diploma in Leadership for Collaboration from University of Wales Institute in Cardiff.

Dr Edelweiss Aldasoro
Senior Researcher
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Edelweiss joined IFIC in 2018 as a Senior Fellow to support the creation of the Knowledge Centre and Resource Area. She will also work on a range of education and communication projects, and three European research projects; EURIPHI, VIGOUR and Digital Health Europe.

A qualified medical doctor, Edelweiss specialised in General Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases (Osakidetza, Basque Country, Spain), and completed postgraduate studies including an MSc in Epidemiology (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Diploma in Health Research Methodology (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and Advanced Studies in Development, Globalisation and International Cooperation (Applied Economy Track, University of the Basque Country and HEGOA).

Edelweiss is a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Programme in Medicine and Translational Research in the International Health track in the subject of adult Chagas Disease treatment (University of Barcelona and ISGlobal, Spain).Her main clinical and research expertise is in International Health and specifically in adults with Chagas Disease (Clinic Hospital in Barcelona). She has also worked with adults with Cystic Fibrosis (University Hospital of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust), Chronic diseases and Elderly and General Internal Medicine (Osakidetza, Basque Country). Edelweiss is specially interested in the integrated care for vulnerable populations with chronic and incurable conditions that have a wide clinical expression and life quality impact.

Marije Kraan
Events Manager
Abbey Conference and Events

With a Bachelor degree in Tourism Management, Marije is a highly experienced Project Manager and has 14 years’ experience working in the industry. Originally from The Netherlands, she has wide-ranging expertise in all aspects of conference & event management from delegate services to financial management, exhibition management and project management. Marije has successfully led and managed some of Abbey’s largest events and conferences, most notably the 2012 Emerald Isle Classic where she led the team and managed the logistics for over 10,000 participants. Her goal is always to deliver a memorable event or conference through the eyes of her clients and to make it the best that it can be.

Ass. Prof. Antonija Balenović
Director,
Health Care Center Zagreb
Assistant Professor,
Nuclear Medicine at the University of Rijeka,
Croatia

Editor of two Croatian Textbooks in Nuclear medicine. Published over 50 articles and book chapters, including two chapters in USA Textbook “Nuclear Oncology”. Invited lecturer on over 130 domestic and international congresses. Lecturer at University of Zagreb, University of Rijeka, private University „Libertas“ in Zagreb and European School of Nuclear Medicine. Participated in creating oncology guidelines in Croatia, in many international projects and professional trainings. Providing professional support for establishing first PET/CT diagnostic Center in Varna, Bulgaria.

Since 2014 director of the largest primary health center in Croatia. Participation in projects: 21 of which 11 are international (European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, EIP on AHA, Reference Site „City of Zagreb“, mHealth Hub within the framework of the WHO ‘“Be Healthy, Be Mobile“, ITU and WHO workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Health). Education and international professional training at numerous international courses and centers. Awards for the contribution to the development of Nuclear medicine in Bulgaria 2010 and for the development of Dentistry and Family medicine in Croatia 2017. Member of several Croatian Medical Associations and Working group for the Integration of Emergency Medicine of the Ministry of Health.

Vanja Lazic
PhD student
Health Center Zagreb

Vanja is a family medicine resident and a PhD student in Health center Zagreb – Center, Zagreb, Croatia. As a part of his roles, he assists in managing the involvement of Health center Zagreb – Center, the leading institution of EIP on AHA City of Zagreb Reference Site for Active and Healthy Ageing in various regional and EU projects linked to the topics of chronic disease prevention and management, multimorbidity, quality management in primary care, digital transformation of healthcare and primary care organization, family medicine research and integrated care.

Sanja Predavec
Ministry of Health
Head of Service for Primary Health Care Organization

Ministry of Health, since December 2005, Department for Primary Health Care Organization (formerly Primary Health Care Department); The Ministry of Defense from January 1997 to December 2005, a member of the New commission – assessment of the medical ability of the conscripts, the novices and the reserve, Health Center Zagreb-Center and Health Center Zagreb-West from March 1994 to December 1996- work in General medicine.
Membership in professional bodies: Commission of the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance for the establishment of a special standard in the implementation of health care from compulsory health insurance; HZZO Committee for Orthopedic Appliances.
Ministry of Agriculture – Member of the Commission for implementation of the European project School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, Ministry of Internal Affairs – member of the Working Group for Monitoring the Implementation of the National Program for the Safety of Road Traffic of the Republic of Croatia 2011-2020; Ministry of Labor and Pension System – Member of the National Council for Retirees and Seniors; Ministry of Social Policy and Youth – Member of the Council for Children; UNICEF- Member of the Supervisory Board in the implementation of the project One nursing sister-one group and member of the Council of the program “Rodents – Friends of Children”, Association of Our Children’s Associations – member of the Coordination Committee for the implementation of the action “For the smile of a child in the hospital”

Ivana Portolan Pajić
Deputy Head,
City of Zagreb Office for Health

Education:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb
PR Management, postgraduate course
Public Health, postgraduate study
Certified „Internal Auditor Course Quality Austria“

Career:
Head of Council, Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Quality of Life in the City of Zagreb
Board Member, Project Coordinator Croatian Heart House Foundation
Council Member, Project Coordinator, Prevention of Drug Abuse in the City of Zagreb
Council Member, Quality of Life in Disabled Pearsons in the City of Zagreb
Project Coordinator:
Projekt CheckPoint Zagreb – early detection of HIV and HCV infections
E-digital National Campaign for Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases
National Campaign in CPR Education

Jasna Tucak
Head of Department for Health Promotion at City Office for Health
City of Zagreb

Education:
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology,
University of Zagreb, Public Health – postgraduate course,
Career:
Involved with the activities of developing a program for promoting health and healthy lifestyles and
programs for the prevention of addiction, providing funds for the implementation of public health,
epidemiological and health – ecological activities and prevention of illness in the City of Zagreb,
financing and monitoring activities of healthcare organizations programs and others jobs from the
scope of the Department.
Project Coordinator „Zagreb Healthy City“ of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network
Member of Committee for Palliative care in the City of Zagreb
Member of Committee for Protection the Domestic Violence in the City of Zagreb
Member of Committee Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Quality of Life in the City of Zagreb
Member of Committee for Monitoring and Inclusion of Romani people in the City of Zagreb

Associate Prof. Igor Kanižaj
University of Zagreb Faculty of Political Science

Igor Kanižaj, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Science, Department of Journalism and Media Production. From 2010 he is teaching journalism and in the last seven years his field of interest is media education and media literacy. He is also Vice president of the Association for Communication and Media Culture (DKMK). Together with his associates he is coordinating the project Djeca medija, the biggest media education project in Croatia with more than 1000 workshops held for almost 20.000 participants. This project was awarded with Evens Foundation Special Jury Prize for media education in 2017. He has experience as a communication expert in several EU funded IPA, CARDS and ERASMUS projects. He is the co-author of the first public opinion research on Media Literacy in Croatia and co-author of Paris Declaration on Media and Information Literacy (UNESCO). From 2017-2019 he was national coordinator for EU Kids Online. He is also a member of the Council for Children. In 2012 he was coauthor of the paper
“Media and public relations as a bridge between patients and healthcare institutions” on the experiences and attitudes of Croatian doctors toward media.

Željko Plazonić
Internal Medicine Specialist, Cardiology Subspecialist
Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka

Internal Medicine Specialist, Cardiology Subspecialist, employed at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Clinic for Internal Medicine, Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, where he has been working since 1977. In November 2016, he was appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia. He has had training in many internationally recognized institutions. He is a member of scientific and professional societies: Croatian Medical Association, Croatian Medical Chamber, Croatian Cardiology Society, International Medical Society of St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, International Physician Associate Program of St. Luke’s Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, American Heart Association and American Stroke Association International Society of Endovascular Specialists. Author and co-author of numerous scientific papers. Member of the HDZ since 1990, a volunteer at the Homeland War. He has held numerous positions, including chairman of the Board of Directors of the Clinic for Orthopedics Lovran since 2016, member of the HZZO Medicines Committee since 2016. He has been awarded the medal of Saint Vid from the Archdiocese of Rijeka for his many years of humanistic work.

Helenca Pirnat Dragičević
Ombudsperson
Children of the Republic of Croatia

Helenca Pirnat Dragičević, a graduated lawyer, was appointed by the Croatian Parliament as the Ombudsperson for Children on November 2017. Before she had the position of the Deputy County State Attorney in Zagreb.
She has spent her entire professional career in the judiciary. She has worked in the State Attorney’s Office in different fields of criminal law and her focus was on children and minors as perpetrators of criminal offences as well as on cases where children were victims.
Most of her cases included sexual offences and criminal offences of abuse and child neglect. Her special interests include restorative justice and out-of-court settlement as a means of resolving conflicts related to children. She has also written and published on the topic and has participated in a number of international events related to the topic.
As an expert in the field of juvenile justice she participated in the development of educational materials and the implementation of professional education and workshops for judges and state attorneys for young people. She has participated in the Judicial Academy as an educator of judges and state attorneys, and the staff of the Police Academy on the topic of judging minors. She has also participated at UNICEF trainings as a lecturer on the topic of out-of-court settlement and hearing of children as victims or witnesses in criminal proceedings.

Anka Slonjšak
Ombudsperson
persons with disabilities, Croatia

In 2008 Ms Slonjšak was appointed the first Croatian ombudswoman for persons with disabilities by unanimous vote of the Croatian Parliament. She was reappointed unanimously for her second 8 year term of office in 2016. She has built up the institution of the ombudsman for persons with disabilities and positioned it as an important stakeholder in protection, promotion and monitoring of the rights of persons with disabilities with a strong international presence.
Her appointment to this duty was preceded by a very intense work in associations and federations of persons with disabilities.
She took part in working groups drafting legislation on accessibility and independent living in the community, managed projects aimed at raising awareness on a number of issues of importance to persons with disabilities and women with disabilities.
Among her other numerous roles, she was a member of the Committee for the protection and promotion of the rights of women and girls with disabilities of the Council of Europe and a member of the focus group as a part of the study on the EU Disability strategy.
She took part in the Work Forum on Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the EU.
Ms Slonjšak holds a degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb. Since 2005 she has been a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World.

Prof. Krunoslav Capak
Director
Croatian Institute of Public Health

Epidemiologist, Environmental Health expert. From May 1989 he worked as Head of Environmental Health Department in Croatian National Institute of Public Health dealing with risk assessment, health impact assessment, communicable diseases prevention and management, research, management of the department. Public Health professional with international experience, experience in research, teaching, leadership and management, published more than 100 scientific and professional papers and different types of publications.

Maja Grba Bujević
Director
Croatian Institute for Emergency Medicine

Maja Grba-Bujević is Anesthesiology, Reanimation and Intensive Care Specialist and Emergency Medicine Specialist. She holds the title of Primary and Master of Science. Before taking over the position of Director of the Croatian Institute for Emergency Medicine in 2009, Maja had vast experience in the treatment of emergency patients. She is Head of the Crisis Staff of the Ministry of Health, where she actively managed flood crisis in Croatia in 2014 and migration crisis in 2015. Currently she actively participates in the design and implementation of numerous projects in the healthcare system, among which are Development of Emergency Medical Services and Investment Planning Project financed by the World Bank and Continuous professional training of workers in the field of emergency medicine co-financed by the European union. She participates in the organization of numerous courses and education and a number of professional congresses. She is the author of one and co-author of seven professional books in the field of emergency medicine.

Prof. Ana Stavljenić Rukavina
Vice Rector
Libertas International University
Vice-President
Zagreb City Council

Ana Stavljenić Rukavina is vice rector at Libertas International University, vice-president of Zagreb City Council and former Minister of Health in Croatian Government is for long time engaged in different public health projects on national and international level. More than 350 scientific articles and nine books she has published in high ranged scientific journals. Since 2012.she leads projects focused on the improvement of integrated quality of care for elderly and vulnerable population groups. In Libertas International University in Zagreb Prof Stavljenic-Rukavina 2014 organized postgraduate study Management of quality in health care which is unique program in this part of Europe. This course provides a range of modules which support knowledge transfer, development of skills and technical know-how focused on quality of integrated care. This postgraduate study is relevant for all professionals in health and social care as well as research and health administration bodies on local and governmental level. Beside above she serves as co-director of Summer schools organized by European Centre for Peace and Development United nations focused on most important issues in healthcare.

Asst.Prof. Vjekoslav Jeleč
Head of the City Health Office
City of Zagreb

Vjekoslav Jeleč attended the Medical Faculty in Tuzla from 1979 until 1985. When she graduated, she started working at the Surgical Clinic in Tuzla and started neurosurgery specialization, in 1989. Vjekoslav enrolled for her postgraduate neurologist, and in 1990 specialized neurosurgery at KBC Rebro in Zagreb.
Since 1992. Vjekoslav worked in New Hospital Zagreb, now known as Clinical Hospital Dubrava. Since December 2016 she has been appointed as a scientific professor (scientific associate) – Mother Committee for the field of biomedicine and health – field of veterinary medicine, Zagreb.
From August 21, 2017, she become the head of the City Health Office of the City of Zagreb, which I now hold.

Romana Galić
Head of Office
City Office for Social Protection and People with Disabilities
City of Zagreb

Romana Galić earned a master’s degree in social work at the Faculty of Law in Zagreb in 1997. In 1998 she was employed in the City Administration of the City of Zagreb. In 2017 she became the Head of the City Office for Social Protection and Persons with Disabilities, where she is currently employed. In 2011 she completed her postgraduate studies at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb and earned the academic title University Specialist in the Management of Non Profit Organizations and Social Advocacy. She is currently attending a doctoral programme in Social Work and Social Policy at the Faculty of Law in Zagreb. In the past ten years she participated in a series of seminars and education that enriched her knowledge and skills. In 2007 she was elected Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek, Department of Psychology, in the “Poverty and Solidarity” course, since 2009 she is a lecturer at the Business Academy Experta.
During her education and work, she is directly dealing with socially vulnerable and excluded persons. In her master’s thesis she analyzed the contribution of non-governmental organizations in promoting the idea of poverty eradication. At the same time, she is also the co-creator of the Social Policy of the City of Zagreb, which places the City of Zagreb high on the scale of cities with a modern and proactive approach to the fight against poverty.
She is author and co-author of scientific papers and publications.

Marinka Bakula-Anđelić
Deputy Head of City Office for Social Protection and Persons with Disabilities
City of Zagreb

Marinka Bakula-Anđelić is the deputy of Head of City Office for Social Protection and Persons with Disabilities in the City of Zagreb and president of The Committee of The City of Zagreb for Persons with Disabilities. She initiated the establishment of the Croatian Association of Social Workers and the Croatian Chamber of Social Workers. She has been working in the Committee for professional education and standards.
Also, she is included in activities of the Assembly of European Regions and Eurocities in the field of social policy, public health and mobility.
She is the author and co-author of various professional articles in the area of social policy. She graduated from The Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb – Center for Social Work Studies, and completed her Postgraduate studies in theory and methodology of social work at the same University. She is currently about to defend her doctoral dissertation.
Further on, she has participated in many professional therapies and education on social and public health issues. Also, she has been participating in international and local scientific conferences and has obtained certificates and expert points.
After graduating she worked in the Center for Social Work Susedgrad for five years. In the next thirteen years she was working at the Center for Psychosocial Diagnostics of the Zagreb District Prison on the diagnostics of prisoners in the Republic of Croatia.
Since 2000. she has been employed in the City of Zagreb on different posts concerning social policy.

Prof. Davor Miličić
Prof. Davor Miličić
Vice-president of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Internal medicine and cardiology specialist
Medical School University of Zagreb,
University Hospital Centre Zagreb,
Department of Cardiovascular Diseases

Davor was born in 1962. in Zagreb. He graduated from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 1986, and completed his PhD at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 1990. He became a specialist in Internal Medicine 1994. In 1994/95 Davor was a DAAD Stipendist, at the Cardiology Department,University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. He specialised in Cardiology in 2000, received the European Cardiology Diploma in 2001, FESC in 2004, and FACC in 2009.
In 2009, he became a Full Professor of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, University of Zagreb School of Medicine. Since 2003, he has been the president of the Croatian Cardiac Society and since 2007 a head of the Department of Cardiovascular diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb.
From 2009 to 2014 he had been the Dean of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, from 2012 to 2014 the councillor of the ESC Board and has been an ex officio Nucleus Member of the ESC WG6 since 2015.
He is the director and founder of the Croatian Heart House (Foundation), member of the European Heart Network
Davor is an associate of several foreign projects, including the EUROASPIRE (Imperial College of London), ISAC-TC (University of Bologna) and a major researcher in large multicenter projects: PARAGON-HF, AEGIS II, ENDO-HF, PARADISE, AFFIRM HF, AEGIS II, SELECT. Davor has been working as a member of the editorial office of the Medical Journal, and is currently attending editorial boards of prominent foreign journals: Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cardiology, Core et al., Archives of Cardiology. He is a leading reviewer world cardiology journals. Davor is the Croatian representative at the Committee for heart and lungs transplantation in EUROTRANSPLANT.
He was the director of the Dubrovnik Cardiology Highlights – an ESC Update Meeting in Cardiology, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015.
He is the director of Postgraduate Studies in Cardiology, University of Zagreb School of Medicine. He is currently a member of the Central Ethics Committee of Croatia.
Davor is a full member of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and since January 2018, the Vice-president.

Prof. Vida Demarin
Prof. Vida Demarin
Head of Department of Medical Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Professor and Scientific Advisor,
University of Zagreb

Vida Demarin, is a distinguished scientist, scientific advisor and full professor of the University of Zagreb, a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 2002 and since January 2019 a head of its Departement of Medical Sciences. She was head of the University Department for Neurology of the “Sestre Milosrdnice” University Hospital, founder and head of the 2 reference center of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (for neurovascular disorders and for headaches). She is one of the founders of the Croatian Society for Neurology of the Croatian Medical Association (its president 1990-1994 and 1995-1999.), founder and president (1999 – 2017) of the Croatian Stroke Society, and founder and president of the Croatian Society for Neurovascular Disorders of the Croatian Medical Association (2001 -2008). She has been president of the Central and Eastern European Stroke Society (2007-2017), president of the Organizing Committee of the „Mind&Brain“ International Neuropsychiatric Congress in Pula since 2007,founder and director of the International Summer Stroke School “Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention of Stroke and Other Brain Impairments“ within the Academic program of the Interuniversity Center in Dubrovnik. She was active in organizing and giving lectures at specialised workshops during EFNS congresses since 2006. She is active as a member of WSO Educational Committee and she was elected the second term in WSO Board of Directors. She is active as a member of Editorial Board of European Stroke Journal and of Editorial Board of the International Journal of Stroke, Journal of Cerebral Hemodynamics and Neurosonology and others.The core area of her research work is the study of circulatory disorders of the brain, cerebral autoregulation, cerebral vasoreactivity, brain cognitive functioning and headache. She is a pioneer in dopler diagnostics in Croatia and in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Her scientific and professional work has significantly influenced the development of neurology and neuroscience in Croatia and in the world, contributing to WFN motto „There is no health, without brain health“!

Prof. Damir Boras
Rector
University of Zagreb

Professor Damir Boras is Rector of the University of Zagreb since October 2014 (reelected in February 2018). Rector Boras deals with computer processing of the Croatian language, education, organization and structuring of knowledge, and computer lexicography and encyclopaedia. From 2009 until 2014, he was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb.

Prof. Ivana Čuković-Bagić
Vice Rector for Students,
Study Programmes and Quality Management,
University of Zagreb,
Croatia

From 2014 (now in the second mandate), Ivana Čuković-Bagić is holding the position of Vice Rector for Students, Study Programmes and Quality Management, University of Zagreb, Croatia. For the past 27 years, she has been involved in research, teaching and specialist healthcare at the University of Zagreb, School of Dental Medicine and University Hospital Center Zagreb, where she holds the position of Full Professor and Specialist in Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry.

Prof. Damir Knjaz
Assistant Rector
Social Communications and Sport at the University of Zagreb
Faculty of Kinesiology University of Zagreb

Prof. Damir Knjaz is a full professor at the Department of Kinesiology of Sport and Dean’s Adviser for Business Policy and Finances at the Faculty of Kinesiology University of Zagreb. He is also head of the Laboratory for Sports Games and project leader of several scientific and infrastructural projects, such as ‘Health-oriented physical activity and changing biomarkers of age as a result of engaging in recreational exercise’. Damir’s main fields of interest are connecting science, technology, education and professionals in basketball, as well as health-oriented physical activity and biogenetics. During his professional experience he has established numerous scientific and professional international cooperation projects and is thus the head coordinator of the collaboration between Beijing Sport University from China with Croatia on the university level. Prof. Knjaz is a member of numerous international organizations, a reviewer of several scientific and professional journals and an invited speaker, presenter and lecturer at significant international conferences in Europe, Asia and the USA. In addition to his rich experience as a visiting professor at many acknowledged universities from Europe, USA and China, Damir is also the author of several book chapters, teaching materials and over 100 scientific and professional papers.

Prof. Jasna Mesarić
Dean of Faculty Health Sciences
Libertas International University

She graduated from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine. She is specialized in transfusion medicine with postgraduate qualification in Hematology, Clinical Pediatrics and Leadership and Management of Health Services.
She has worked as a physician, spending 7 years working in primary care and 25 years working in hospital settings.
She had a leadership role in launching the WHO PATH (Performance Assessment Tools for Hospitals) program in Croatia in the framework of BCA-WHO and Ministry of Health (2008-2010). She was the WP2 Leader of PaSQ Joint Action (European Union Network for Patient Safety and Quality of Care, 2012-2016). She had a leadership role in research group of the SAFE-EUR-OOH project (Patient Safety Culture in European Out-of-Hour Services) in Croatia (2015).
She is president of the Croatian Society for Quality Improvement in Healthcare, Croatian Medical Association. She was a member of the EU Patient Safety and Quality of Care Expert Group.
For years, she has been active and involved in a wide range of issues and initiatives associated with the healthcare quality improvement and patient safety at national and international level. Throughout her career she had a strong interest and focus on education and training, teaching students and professionals in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety. In 2019 she joined the Libertas International University.

Prof. Marijan Klarica
Dean School of Medicine
University of Zagreb

Professor Marijan Klarica, MD, PhD (21th August 1960, Benkovac Croatia)
Professor of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine University of Zagreb (SMZ)
Croatian Institute for Brain Research (CIBR), Šalata 12, 10 000 Zagreb
Education: M.D. degree (1984; SMZ), PhD (1992; SMZ). Postdoctoral fellow (1994-95 – Synthelabo Recherche – Paris).
Employment: Internship 1985-1986 (Medical Center in Zagreb). Research assistant (1987-1992), assistant professor (1992-2001), associate professor (2002-2007), and full professor of pharmacology (2007-present) at SMZ.
Research and teaching experience: Director of program project “Cerebrospinal pathophysiology and application of ultrasound” (53 publications in WOS). Thirty years pharmacology graduate course for medical students (SMZ); 28 years of teaching experience in postgraduate course for neurosurgeons, neurologists, psychiatrics, anaesthesiologists and pharmacologists (SMZ).
Administrative experience: Director of Center for Clinical Research in Neuroscience (1998-2008; SMZ, CIBR), Vice-dean (2008-2014) and Dean (2015-today) at SMZ.
Main research interest: pathophysiology and pharmacology of the cerebrospinal fluid disorders and intracranial pressure.

Prof. Zrinka Tarle
Dean School of Dental Medicine
University of Zagreb

Zrinka Tarle was born on the 28th of August 1969.
She is a dean of School of Dental Medicine University of Zagreb. From 2011 she is full professor, permanent position in the field of restorative dentistry and endodontics. Her field of expertise is based on the investigation of properties and possible improvements of materials and procedures in restorative dental medicine. She obtained a PhD degree in 1995.
She was a Vice dean for Science and Research from 2007 to 2018, as well as head of Postgraduate Doctoral Study Dental Medicine.
She is head of Restorative dental medicine. She is the author of more than 230 publications, lecturer at numerous national and international meetings and organizer of different courses, symposia and congresses.
She is a Board member of CED IADR (2008-2016, President 2013-2014), PER IADR (2014-; Treasurer 2016-), AODES (2015-) and a member of IADR Nominating Committee (2014-2018) as well as a member of many national scientific associations, such as boards and committees of University, Ministry of Science, Ministry of Health, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Croatian Science Foundation.
She got many national and international awards for her scientific work but the most important one was the National Award for Science in 2012. The biggest privilege was her choice in the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Jerko Valković
Associate professor
Head of Department of Communication Sciences
Croatian Catholic University

Jerko Valkovic is Head of the Department of Communication Science at the Catholic University of Croatia. He is an associate professor at the Catholic University but he also teaches at the Theological Faculty in Rijeka.
His research interest includes the areas such as bioethics, social and theological ethics, media ethics, ethics of communication, and the relationship between the Church and the media.

Prof. Livia Puljak
Professor
Catholic University of Croatia

Livia Puljak is a full professor at Catholic University of Croatia. She obtained her MD and PhD degrees from the University of Split School of Medicine. Subsequently she obtained research training in the United States, Italy and Canada. Her research interests are evidence-based medicine, research methodology, clinical epidemiology and pain. She has published more than 150 research manuscripts and mentored more than 40 researchers in defended diploma, MSc and PhD theses. She is a reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals and funding agencies.
Prof. Puljak was founder and inaugural director of Cochrane Croatia, where she managed for years a project for translating Cochrane plain language summaries into Croatian language, and currently serves as a Knowledge Translation Coordinator. In 2017, she received Cochrane’s Chris Silagy prize for her contributions to the activities of Cochrane. She is actively promoting evidence-based medicine concepts to healthcare professionals and lay audience.

Assist. Prof. Marta Čivljak
Head of Department of nursing,
The Catholic University of Croatia

Assistant Professor Marta Čivljak, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Nursing at the Catholic University of Croatia, is a psychiatrist and expert on public health, with extensive teaching experience at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels at the Catholic University of Croatia and the Medical School of the University of Zagreb.
Dr. Čivljak has been involved in numerous national public health programs for tobacco control and World Health Organization public health programs as a coordinator or member. She was also a member of a team that participated in the development of the National Strategy for Health Care, 2012‒2020, in
Croatia. As a member of Cochrane Croatia, she actively promotes evidence-based medicine and practice.
Dr. Čivljak was a Senior Advisor at the Department for Development, Research and Health Technology Assessment and is an associate of the HORIZON 2020 projects (Sustainable intEgrated care modeLs for multi-morbidity: delivery, FInancing and performance, SELFIE). She is also engaged in activities aimed at improving biomedical education, the advancement of the nursing profession and the development of palliative health care in Croatia.
Her scientific and professional interests are psychiatry and mental health, evaluating and developing public health interventions for tobacco control, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as well as developing palliative medicine and palliative health care in Croatia.

Prof. Gordan Črpić
Vice-Rector
Organization and Financial Affairs at Catholic
University of Croatia
Head
Department of Sociology

He is also the Director of Centre for the Promotion of the Social Teachings of the Church, Croatian Bishops’ Conference, Zagreb, Croatia. His areas of research and interest are: Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Morality, Sociology of the Family, Comparative Values Studies.

Prof. Mirjana Kujundžić Tiljak
Director
Andrija Štampar School of Public Health
School of Medicine
University of Zagreb

Mirjana is medical doctor, specialist of social medicine and organization of health care, professor of biostatistics, head of Department for medical statistics, epidemiology and medical informatics at School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and director of Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. She is teaching students in the field of medical data analysis and participate in many scientific researches in medicine and public health. She has published over 100 scientific and professional papers, including chapters in professional books. The scientific and professional field in which she made the most achievements is public health and health care, biostatistics and data analysis in medical research.
During and after the Homeland War, from 1991 to 1998, Mirjana participated in solving problems of refugees and other civil war victims and organizing the return of displaced persons and refugees. She has worked in the Office for Refugees and Refugees as Head of the Department for International Cooperation, the Government of the Republic of Croatia as Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and in the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia as Assistant to the Chief of Staff. From 1998 until 2000, as an Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Science and Technology of the Republic of Croatia, she participated in solving problems of the organization of scientific activity in the Republic of Croatia.

Prof. Đurđica Kašuba Lazić
Assocate Professor
Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine
University of Zagreb

Đurđica has been working as professor in Family medicine at the Department of Family Medicine, Medical School, University of Zagreb. She is a specialist in Family medicine with a master’s degree in the field of respiratory tract infection and Ph.D. degree in the field of chronic disease multimorbidity.
Đurđica also works part-time as a family physician in teaching practice in Health Centre Zagreb –Center. She is assigned as a consultant in Family medicine by the Ministry of Health. Her expertise areas are Chronic diseases and multimorbidity management, Research in family medicine, Characteristics and quality of work in Family medicine, etc. She has been very active in medical education: undergraduate and postgraduate medical and nursing studies and continuous medical education in the field of Family medicine and research.
Đurđica is a Croatian national representative in the European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN), and she has been researcher or national coordinator of few international research projects such as „CareWell project – international research on ICT supported integrated care“ – researcher ,„The appropriateness of prescribing antibiotics in primary health care in Europe with respect to antibiotic resistance“ – APRES; FP7, Family Practice Depression and Multimorbidity Study (FPDM), etc. She has been a mentor of doctoral thesis, master dissertation, and graduate paper. She is the author of numerous publications in the field of Family medicine.

Prof. Selma Šogorić
Professor
Department of Social Medicine and Organization of Health Care
Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine
University of Zagreb

Professor Selma Šogorić is the lecture at Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, Medical School, University of Zagreb, working with undergraduate medical and nursing students on the subjects of Social medicine, Community health and Organization of the health care services. She is director of Postgraduate studies in Public Health and Public Health Medicine. She was leading researcher in several University of Zagreb and Croatian Ministry of Science research projects and program leader in the Ministry of Health Program “Counties Public Health Capacity Building”. She actively participate in the World Health Organization (Office for Europe) Health 2020 strategy development and, as the country consultant, in EU DG Research Projects: Health Services Research into European Policy & Practice, EURO – URHIS Project, Project: SPHERE – Strengthening Public Health Research in Europe. In 1998 she was awarded by the President of the Republic of Croatia with the medal “Red Danice Hrvatske s likom Katarine Zrinske” for her work with Croatian Healthy Cities Network (with whom she is working till today). In 2013 she received CDC Global Health of Distinction award for the Program „A Counties public health capacity building program – Health: Plan for it“. Since 1988 she participated, in different capacity (as national network coordinator or member of advisory committee) in all WHO, Euro Healthy Cities related conferences and events.

Prof. Ninoslav Mimica
Head of Department
Biological Psychiatry and Psychogeriatrics
University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb,
Referral Centre of Ministry of Health for Alzheimer’s Disease and Old Age Psychiatry

Prof. Ninoslav Mimica, MD, MSc, DSc, Primarius, IFAPA is a professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. Currently he is a Head of Department for Biological Psychiatry and Psychogeriatrics and Medical Director at University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče in Zagreb. He is also a Head of Referral Centre of Ministry of Health Republic of Croatia for Alzheimer’s Disease and Old Age Psychiatry.
He is a subspecialist in biological psychiatry, forensic and social psychiatry. He is a president of Croatian Association for Alzheimer’s Disease and Old Age Psychiatry, and President of Alzheimer Croatia (Patient-Caregivers NGO). On his initiative, the Croatian Alzheimer Alliance was established, and now has 31 members societies/NGOs. He is an international fellow of American Psychiatric Association (IFAPA), member of European Psychiatric Association, and Croatian representative in umbrella organisations Alzheimer’s Disease International and Alzheimer Europe. He is a court expert in the field of Psychiatry, with experience of working for ICTY, Hague, Netherlands.
He was involved in translations of ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders, DSM-IV and DSM-5 into Croatian language. His expertise on various scientific fields such as biological psychiatry, adult psychiatry, old age psychiatry, psychopharmacotherapy including clinical trials is supported by more than 700 abstracts, articles, chapters and books that he has authored or co-authored.

Prof. Branko Kolarić
Head of Department for Public Health Gerontology
Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health
Reference site of Ministry of Health for Protection of Health of the Elderly

Branko Kolarić Assoc. Prof., Medical Faculty of the University of Rijeka, specialist in epidemiology, primarius.
Born in Zagreb, 1973. Graduated from the School of Medicine of the University of Zagreb (1998), Ph.D. at the University of Zagreb (2007), title “Second Generation of HIV Surveillance – Seroprevalence Among Most at Risk Populations”. Employed as a head of Public Health Gerontology Department and The Reference Center for Healthcare of the Elderly of the Ministry of Health, as well as associate professor at the Department for Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty of the University of Rijeka.
Scientific interests: methods in epidemiology, public health gerontology. Mentor of four PhD thesis, published over 50 articles indexed in SCI-E. Active participation in six scientific and four international projects.

Assist. Prof. Dario Rahelić
Head of Clinic
University Clinic for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Vuk Vrhovac, Merkur University Hospital

Asst. professor Dario Rahelic, MD, PhD. is a specialist of internal medicine, endocrinologist and diabetologist. He is director of Vuk Vrhovac University Clinic for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Merkur University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia. He is a president of Croatian Society for Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders of Croatian Medical Association, chair of IDF Young Leaders in Diabetes Programme, Executive committee member of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Study Group of EASD, Croatian Endocrine Society, Croatian Society for Obesity and Croatian Society for Endocrine Oncology. Dr. Rahelic published several chapters in croatian and international books. He was invited speaker at many croatian and international conferences. He participates in teaching of students at Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology and Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry. He was visiting scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Motol Clinic in Prague. Asst.prof. Rahelic is a Fellow of American College of Endocrinology (FACE) and Fellow of Royal College of Physicians of Edinburg (FRCP Edin). He received Young Investigator’s award by Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group of EASD, Etzwiller Rising Star Award, Croatian Endocrine Society award, Award for International collaboration by Macedonian Scientific Association of Endocrinologists and International Diabetes Federation Award for outstanding service.

Prof. Mirjana Turkalj
Deputy Director
Head of Department of Pulmonology and Allergology of Preschool and School Children Srebrnjak Children’s Hospital

Assoc. prof. Mirjana Turkalj, MD, PhD graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb in 1987. Since 1998 she has been a pediatric specialist, 2005 subspecialist in allergology and clinical immunology. She was elected as a Scientific Assistant Professor in 2015, and professional title of associate professor she acquired in 2017.
She works as a pediatric subspecialist at Srebrnjak Children’s Hospital in Zagreb, where she is also Deputy Director, Head of the Clinical Allergology Center of the Croatian Ministry of Health and Head of Department for Allergology, Immunology and Pulmonology. Mirjana is a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb and University of Osijek, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, and Catholic University of Croatia. She was head of the 2 FP7 European projects and major ERDF project. She is a member of European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, the European Respiratory Society, Croatian Medical Association, Croatian Society for Pediatric Pulmonology, Croatian Society for Personalized Medicine and many others.
Medical interests: Immunological mechanisms in asthma and allergic diseases, pathomechanisms of specific immunotherapy in allergic diseases, mechanisms of food allergy, primary immunodeficiency, prevention of allergic diseases in children.
She wrote over 190 scientific papers with over 400 citations, 37 of which are CC indexed and 16 book chapters.

Prof. Gordana Buljan Flander
Director
Child and Youth Protection Center of Zagreb

Gordana Buljan Flander is psychologist and psychotherapist, currently working as a Director of the Child Protection Center of Zagreb. In 1997 she founded the Brave Phone, a help-line for abused and neglected children, and in 2002 she initiated the foundation of the Child Protection Center of Zagreb, which is still the only specialized institution for working with abused and neglected children in this part of Europe. Her work has been widely recognized, the most significant acknowledgement are the reward by International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) in 2008. for the Centre´s multidisciplinary team and Lifetime Achievement Award from 2018. She wrote nine books, book chapters, and numerous scientific papers regarding child development, parenting and child psycho-trauma. She is also passing her knowledge on future generations of professionals by working as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb and the University of Osijek, as well as sharing her experiences with other professionals in Croatia and even internationally, through cooperation with the Council of Europe, European Commission, UNICEF and many other respected organizations in the field of child protection. A significant part of her carrier is also focused on working as an expert witness for psychology, especially in cases of child custody evaluations as well as in cases of children victims’ testimonies evaluations.

Tanja Lupieri
President
Croatian Nurses Association

2008-2014, Tanja had been the Head Nurse of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Clinical Hospital „Sveti Duh“. In 2014, Tanja graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb Graduate program of studies in nursing and received the title Master of Nursing.
Since 2014, Tanja has been a Head Nurse for education in Clinical Hospital „Sveti Duh“. Since 2015, she has been a senior lecturer in the Undergraduate Nursing Programme of the Croatian Catholic University. Since 2016, she has been the president of Croatian Nurses Association, and since 2017, a Nursing Committee Member at the Croatian Ministry of Health.

Mario Ravić
Head of IoT & Digital Health
Ericsson Nikola Tesla

Mario Ravić is a Manager of IoT & Digital Health business area in company Ericsson Nikola Tesla. He led product development and market introduction for medical product Ericsson Mobile Health used for remote patient monitoring on the global market. For the last ten years he is actively involved in commercial and research digital health projects worldwide. He graduated on Faculty of electrical engineering and computing in 1999 where he also obtained M.Sc. in 2011, and in 2016 he enrolled international graduate program „Leadership and Management of Healthcare Services“ on Medical Faculty in Zagreb. In EU ICT CIP project CareWell for integrated care he was responsible for Croatia site and acted as technical partner for the project. Domains of interest in healthcare: service design, integrated care, patient empowerment, digital health.

Fiona Lyne
Director of Communications
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

In 2014, Fiona joined the International Foundation for Integrated Care as Director of Communications. Fiona is responsible for developing the overall brand, marketing and communication strategy for the Foundation including membership development. She leads on various projects including Project INTEGRATE, the Annual International Integrated Care Conference Series and the World Congresses.

Fiona has worked in public policy communications since 2003. She began her career as a community stakeholder engagement manager at Fingal County Council in North Dublin supporting the local Community and Voluntary Forum to have an impact on local decision-making bodies. She went on to hold various project co-ordination and communication roles in both the public and private sector including periods with NHS North West London and the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2010 she joined the King’s Fund, an internationally renowned healthcare policy think tank, as Head of Events and in subsequent years was responsible for moving the Fund into a leading position in the healthcare conference market. Fiona has a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Limerick, an MA in Community Development and Stakeholder Engagement from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Diploma in Management from the Dublin Business School.

Dr Toni Dedeu
Interim CEO and Director of Programmes
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Dr Dedeu is the Interim CEO of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) based in Oxford, UK and he is the former Director the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia, Ministry of Health of the government of Catalonia. Dr Dedeu is a MD (University of Barcelona), specialised in Urology and Family Medicine and he holds MScs in Health Economics, in Primary Care and in Healthcare Management.

He has professional experience spanning more than 20 years at international level in the field of quality assessment and health systems development. He has worked as policy maker, manager, researcher and implementer or health system reforms. Former Chair of EUREGHA (European Association of Regional and Local Authorities), association based in Brussels. He has also been the Director of research and knowledge exchange of the Digital Health and Social Care Institute of Scotland, in association with the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Dr Dedeu is currently involved as PI in more than ten EU projects, such as FP7, H2020, Interreg, Health Programme and also EIT Health. Along with his scientific career he has published more than 55 research papers in SCI and SCIE journals of high impact factor.

Leo Lewis
Senior Fellow and Head of Research and Development
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Leo joined the International Foundation for Integrated Care Team in early 2013 as a Senior Fellow leading IFIC’s work in the EU funded SmartCare integrated care project. Since this time, Leo has expanded IFIC’s role in Europe through involvement in two other integrated care projects as well as the United4Health telehealth study. In addition, Leo is a member of the IFIC team collaborating with WHO Europe in the development of their Coordinated and Integrated Health Services Delivery: Developing the Framework for Action.

Leo is an experienced programme manager having working in academia, the NHS and Welsh Government leading eHealth, chronic conditions management service improvement and research projects and was responsible for the development and testing of NHS Wales’ predictive risk modelling (Prism) tool. Through the building of strong relationships with stakeholders, Leo works with others to bring her knowledge, skills and expertise together to co-design new transformational change approaches for delivering ICT-enabled integrated care solutions to meet the needs of different populations. Leo has a keen interest in rural health and wellbeing and also works part time for the Institute of Rural Health.

As well as gaining NHS management qualifications early on in her career and Prince 2 training, Leo studied an MSc in Health Informatics at Swansea University and most recently gained a Diploma in Leadership for Collaboration from University of Wales Institute in Cardiff.

Dr Edelweiss Aldasoro
Senior Researcher
International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)

Edelweiss joined IFIC in 2018 as a Senior Fellow to support the creation of the Knowledge Centre and Resource Area. She will also work on a range of education and communication projects, and three European research projects; EURIPHI, VIGOUR and Digital Health Europe.

A qualified medical doctor, Edelweiss specialised in General Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases (Osakidetza, Basque Country, Spain), and completed postgraduate studies including an MSc in Epidemiology (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Diploma in Health Research Methodology (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and Advanced Studies in Development, Globalisation and International Cooperation (Applied Economy Track, University of the Basque Country and HEGOA).

Edelweiss is a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Programme in Medicine and Translational Research in the International Health track in the subject of adult Chagas Disease treatment (University of Barcelona and ISGlobal, Spain).Her main clinical and research expertise is in International Health and specifically in adults with Chagas Disease (Clinic Hospital in Barcelona). She has also worked with adults with Cystic Fibrosis (University Hospital of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust), Chronic diseases and Elderly and General Internal Medicine (Osakidetza, Basque Country). Edelweiss is specially interested in the integrated care for vulnerable populations with chronic and incurable conditions that have a wide clinical expression and life quality impact.

Jodeme Goldhar
Executive Lead, Strategy and Innovation
The Change Foundation

Jodeme Goldhar serves as Executive Lead, Strategy and Innovation at The Change Foundation, Toronto Canada. By listening to patients, caregivers, and health providers, The Change Foundation drives health system transformation to advance a high performing integrated health care system. Jodeme’s passion is convening opportunities for those in health and social systems to work together to realize the potential of the collective.

Jodeme serves as a catalyst to support large scale transformative change and ensures change opportunities are co-designed. Jodeme brings over 20 years of experience in health care and health policy and collaborates locally and internationally. Jodeme serves as a Fellow of Dr. Helen Bevan and the NHS, Horizons Team, Senior Associate for The International Foundation for Integrated Care, Adjunct Faculty at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and as a Leadership Coach.