SPEAKER PROFILES:

Dr Miriam Mutebi

Miriam Mutebi is a Consultant Breast Surgical Oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. She is also a clinical epidemiologist and health systems researcher with a research focus on understanding barriers to access for women with cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa and in designing interventions to mitigate those barriers.

She is the President of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), the immediate Past President for the Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology (KESHO) on the board of directors of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). She is also the co-founder of the Pan African Women’s Association of Surgeons (PAWAS-www.africanwomensurgeons.org) which was developed to mentor and provide transformative leadership for women in surgery in order to improve surgical care and pathology on the continent and is part of the Kenya Association of Women Surgeons.

Dr. Mutebi is the Co-chair of the National Cancer Taskforce in Kenya, Chair of the Commonwealth Taskforce for the elimination of Cervical Cancer and a commissioner with five Lancet commissions including Women, Power and cancer, Cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and Breast Cancer. She is currently pursuing a pilot’s licence in order to extend breast care services to marginalised areas.

Prof Bosch F. Xavier

Xavier Bosch (MD, MPH) is senior consultant to the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program (CERP) at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) in Barcelona Spain. He also serves as Chief of International Affairs at ICO and is the Executive Director of the ICO/IARC Information Centre on HPV and Cervical Cancer. Dr. Bosch is the editor in chief of the journal Papillomavirus Research (PVR) and the editor of the international newsletter HPV Today , served as guest editor for the HPV MONOGRAPH series (Vaccine, Elsevier) and is the organizer and current Director of an e-learning effort in oncology and notably on e-courses on cervical cancer prevention.

Dr. Bosch has conducted epidemiological research on cancers linked to infectious agents notably on cancer of the liver, the cervix, the genital tract and of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Dr Bosch was at the origin of the IARC program of epidemiological studies that demonstrated causality in the HPV and invasive cervical cancer relationship, established the role of the environmental co-factors for carcinogenesis among HPV positive women, and described the international variation of HPV types in cervical cancer. Some of these studies have played a catalytic role for the initiation of the first vaccine trials for HBV and HPV and for the evaluation of HPV tests as screening tools. Current interest reside in dissemination of scientific information of clinical relevance and in studies that integrate HPV vaccination and screening in environments with limited resources.

Dr. Bosch’s publications in relation to HPV and cervical cancer amount to over 420 original publications, over 25 monograph books and major reviews and over 700 scientific communications at medical meetings.

Dr Rose Jalang’o

Rose Jalang’o is a medical doctor who has built her career around vaccinology and public health programs management. She is the Head of National Vaccines and Immunization Program, with the Ministry of Health in Kenya. Her roles include: Leading child, adolescent, maternal and adult vaccination programs, program management and policy formulation.

Dr. Jalang’o has vast experience in spearheading successful planning and introduction of various vaccines across Kenya, including Malaria Vaccine, Influenza Vaccine pilot, Yellow Fever Vaccine introduction, HPV Vaccine introduction, and Covid 19 vaccines.

She serves as a Member/Board Member of various Technical Working Groups such as Kenya National Vaccine Safety Advisory Committee, and Kenya National Immunization Technical Advisory Group. She has served as a temporary advisor to WHO in the development of Framework of allocation of malaria vaccine.

She also actively participates in teaching and mentoring students and professionals in the area of Vaccinology as a Subject Matter Expert, Immunization Program Mentor, Guest Speaker, and Honorary Lecturer.

Prof Kenneth Ngure (Moderator)

Kenneth Ngure PhD is an Associate Professor of Global Health and the Dean School of Public Health of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya. He is also an Affiliate Associate Professor of the Department of Global Health, University of Washington and affiliated to the Center of Clinical Research of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (CCR-PHRD) and Visiting Scientist at Kenyatta National Hospital. Prof. Ngure is also a member of the Expert Committee on Clinical Trials of the Kenyan Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Prof. Ngure is a member of the Behavioral Research Group of the Microbicides Trials Network (MTN), the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT); and the Socio-Behavioral and Structural Working Group of the HIV Prevent Trials Network (HPTN), Office of HIV/AIDS Network Coordination (HANC) Cross-Network Behavioral Science Consultative Group (BSCG) and Pillar 1 co-lead for Microbicide R&D to Advance HIV Prevention Technologies through Responsive Innovation and eXcellence(MATRIX) MATRIX these groups are directed towards the development of new biomedical strategies to prevent HIV Infection.

Prof. Ngure is also a HIV prevention expert having been a site investigator in the landmark Partners PrEP trial, which was followed by the Partners (PrEP) Demonstration Project and more recently the Partners Scale-UP Project. He also a member of the PrEP Technical Working Group of the Ministry of Health, Kenya.

Currently, he is co-chairing a protocol (MTN-034) to evaluate the safety of and adherence to a vaginal matrix ring containing dapivirine and oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in an African adolescent female population and co-leading a randomized trial that tests how HIV self-testing might support PrEP delivery among men and women in Kenya (R01MH113572) as well as leading the behavioral component of several other multinational studies that are looking into simplifying PrEP delivery.

Prof Ngure has over 25 years public health leadership experience gained in from diverse HIV/AIDS research settings in sub-Saharan Africa, including working as a Program Director for the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA -Kenyan Chapter) and have consulted for organizations including World Health Organization and the Network of AIDS Researchers of East and Southern Africa, Gilead Sciences, Merck Co. and was recently re-elected to represent Africa in the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society where he is also sits in the Executive Board. He also serves as a Board Member for Partners in Health Development, Thika Kenya and member of the Ethical Review Committees of JKUAT and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital (KUTRRH). Kenneth has authored/co-authored 193 peer-reviewed conference abstracts and 161 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Kenneth has also mentored/supervised 33 (8 PhDs and 25 Masters) postgraduate students to completion and recently received the Senior Researcher Award at the Adherence 2023 conference.