Dr Nafula is a Palliative Care & Pain Management Specialist based at the Kenyatta National Hospital where I head the Pain & Palliative Care Unit. She is very passionate about palliative care and is actively involved in making services and education available in Kenya. She has volunteered for Coast, Kakamega and Nairobi Hospices in the past. Dr Nafula holds a Master of Science and Diploma for Higher Education in Palliative Care from Oxford Brookes University. She also holds a Certificate in Teaching and Learning for Higher Education from the same University and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Nairobi. She is a member of the Kenya Society for Pain and part of our agenda is training health care providers on proper pain assessment and management. She is a tutor at Oxford Brookes University and a member of the International Cancer Institute (ICI) faculty. Her roles involve teaching in various palliative care programs for health care providers across the country, taking care of patients and families needing palliative care and advocating for availability of opioid analgesics.

Dr. Miriam Mutebi is a Breast Surgical Oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. She is also the Vice-President of East Africa of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), Chairperson for the Kenya Society of Hematology and Oncology (KESHO) and on the Board of Directors of the Union for International Cancer Control(UICC). She is the co-founder of the Pan African Women’s Association of Surgeons (PAWAS –www.africanwomensurgeons.org) and is part of the Kenya Association of Women Surgeons.

She did her general surgery residency at AKU. She subsequently did a two-year fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology, which included a year in plastics and reconstruction at the University of Cape Town, Groote Schuur Hospital in South Africa followed by a Mammadi Soudavar International Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. She then worked for 2 years as a Graduate Surgical Oncology Fellow at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York and also completed her Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Systems Research at the Weill Cornell University, New York, with a focus towards understanding the barriers to the diagnosis and treatment, for women with cancers in Africa, thus designing interventions to mitigate these barriers.

She is an avid supporter for the education and support for women, especially in surgery and she aims to provide mentorship for women in surgery and to improve women’s health and surgical care on the continent. She is currently pursuing a pilot’s licence in order to extend breast care services to marginalised areas.

David Makumi is an award winning cancer control advocate and has worked in cancer control at clinical, advocacy and policy level for over 15 years. He was the first recipient of the International Award for Contribution to Cancer Care from the East African Region by Oncology Nursing Society (ONS-USA) in 2011.

David is the vice chair of Non-communicable Diseases Alliance Kenya (NCDAK) and the immediate former Chairman of the Kenyan Network of Cancer Organizations,(KENCO) the umbrella body of the cancer civil society groups with over 25 cancer patients associations, Community Based organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations and patient groups. He is also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Non Communicable Diseases Alliance of Kenya (NCD-AK) and sits on several cancer related boards and technical groups.

He has professional interests in low cost models of access to screening and care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and clinical ethics.

Naftali Busakhala is a Senior Lecturer and specialist Physician at Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. He is the departmental postgraduate coordinator at the department of pharmacology and toxicology at Moi University. He is the co-chairman of the Ampath Oncology working group. Dr Busakhala is the principal investigator of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, Moi University Site. He is also the principal investigator of the Lung and Breast Cancer Projects.

He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Prevention and Research, Lyon France. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals.

Dr Busakhala is the Chairperson of the Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology (KESHO).

He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Moi University and a Masters of Medicine in Internal Medicine from University of Nairobi. He also received post graduate training in Pharmacology from Tianjin University China and Makerere University Uganda. He was a Fogarty trainee in Haematology and Oncology at Brown University, USA.

Dr. Nanji is a surgeon-scientist with the Department of Surgery at Queen’s University. He has earned a MD, PhD, and designation as a clinical investigator through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has dual fellowship accreditation in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery as well as multi-visceral organ transplantation. His clinical training and research interests have provided opportunities to work in several institutions including the Universities of British Columbia, Alberta and Toronto as well as Emory University, Kings College Hospital in London, UK and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His current research interests in oncology complement his clinical practice in the surgical treatment of hepatobiliary and pancreatic malignancies. He conducts translational research in the epigenetics of human liver cancer to better risk stratify and treat patients with liver cancer. He also conducts epidemiological and health services research in HPB malignancies through the Cancer Research Institute at Queen’s University. More recently, he is completing a Master’s degree in Global Surgery to advance his clinical and academic interests in global surgical development. Outside of his professional commitments, he enjoys playing guitar, martial arts and spending time outdoors with his wife and 3 children.

Dr. Zipporah Ali has recently retired from the position of Executive Director of Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA), a position she held for 15 years. She serves on the board of several organizations including; Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association, International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN), City Cancer Challenge, Alzheimer/Dementia Kenya, Public Health and Palliative Care International, and Kenya Network of Cancer Organizations (KENCO). She has previously served on several other global, regional, and national boards.

Dr. Ali has been and continues to be involved in advocacy and creating awareness on pain relief and palliative care in Kenya for children and adults as well as Universal Health Coverage. In her leadership role as the Executive Director for KEHPCA, she was very instrumental in fostering strong relationships with the Ministry of Health to integrate palliative care into government hospitals. She was also instrumental in advocating for palliative care to be included in the undergraduate medical and nursing schools in Kenya. She is a strong advocate for cancer prevention, control, and treatment and was instrumental in developing the first National Cancer Control Strategy and the National Guidelines for Cancer Management-Kenya. She has also advocated for palliative care to be integrated into other non-communicable diseases as well as infectious diseases.

Dr. Ali has been involved in a number of activities at the World Health Assembly (Geneva) and the UN High-Level Meetings on Non-communicable diseases. She is a strong advocate for the right to health for all and a supporter of the movement on meaningful involvement of persons living with serious health conditions and leaving no one behind.

Dr. Ali holds an MD from Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Nairobi, a Higher Diploma in Palliative Care from Oxford Brookes University, and a Masters in Palliative Care from the University of Dundee. She has completed the International Pain Policy Fellow program with the International Pain Policy Studies Group (WHO Collaborating Centre for Policy and Communication in Cancer Care, University of Wisconsin) as well as a Higher Diploma in the International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative at The Institute of Palliative Medicine at the San Diego Hospice.

She has received a number of awards in recognition of her work nationally and globally. These include:

• Doctor of Law Honoris Causa-University of Dundee (2018)
• International Humanitarian Award-Women4Africa (2018)
• Social Impact Award for the Sub-Saharan Africa region-British Council (2018)
• Honorary Doctor of the University by Oxford Brookes University (2012)
• Individual Advocacy Award by the African Palliative Care Association and Open Society Foundations (2013
• African Palliative Care Award –(In recognition for being on the interim board and later serving on the board for 2 teams) -2007