Our Board
HealthAI’s International Board constitutes the organization’s main strategic governance body.
In line with HealthAI’s policies, the Board’s composition reflects its standards of transdisciplinarity and diversity, with particular attention to gender, geographic, and sectoral representation.
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Dr. Christoph Benn
BOARD CHAIR
Dr. Benn is the Director of Global Health Diplomacy at the Joep Lange Institute. A medical doctor with 30+ years of experience in global public health, Dr. Benn was formerly with the Global Fund as Director of External Relations.
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Dr. Jeanette Vega Morales
BOARD VICE-CHAIR
Dr. Morales is a Medical Doctor and Chile’s former Social Development and Family Minister. Among numerous positions, she has worked for the Red de Salud UC-Christus, the main private health provider in Chile, as Chief Medical & Innovation and Digital Health Transformation Manager and took part in The Lancet & Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030, as commissioner.
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Mathilde Forslund
BOARD MEMBER
Mathilde is the founding Executive Director of Transform Health and leads the Enabling Function of the coalition. She is a seasoned advocate and coalition builder with experience bringing partners and networks together to deliver on global agendas.She has spent the majority of her career building partnerships — between civil society, the private sector, international organizations, and foundations — and setting up coalitions in digital health and nutrition. Previous to Transform Health, she served as the Coalition Director at World Vision’s One Goal Campaign: Nutrition For Every Child.
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Marc Hofstetter
BOARD MEMBER
Marc Hofstetter has more than 35 years experience working for and managing non-profit organizations (ICRC, GAVI Alliance as Deputy executive secretary). His last position, until 2022, was Chief Operating Officer for the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. He is Swiss and holds a Master in Economics from the University of Lausanne and a Master in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School. Marc sits in the board of various non profit foundations and associations.
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Amb. Muhammadou Kah
BOARD MEMBER
H.E, Ambassador Kah is the Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the UN in Geneva. Formerly, he served as Vice Chancellor of The University of The Gambia, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Professor of IT and Computing at the American University of Nigeria, Founding Chairman of the Zenith Bank in the Gambia. He is also a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel and Visiting Professor (Non-resident), University of Johannesburg.
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Dr. Alain Labrique
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Alain Labrique, born and raised in Bangladesh, is the Director for the Department of Digital Health and Innovation at the World Health Organization. He is the founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Global mHealth Initiative and Editor-in-Chief for the Oxford Open Digital Health journal. An infectious disease and population epidemiologist, he served until September of 2022 as Professor and the inaugural Associate Chair for Research in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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Lesley-Anne Long
BOARD MEMBER
Lesley-Anne is President & CEO of GBCHealth, based in Washington DC. An internationally networked leader in the fields of global health, technology and international development, she works closely with policy makers, donors, and the private sector. Lesley-Anne is a former Barrister and Dean, serves on several boards, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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Amb. Cleopa Mailu
BOARD MEMBER
H.E. Ambassador Mailu is the Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the UN Office and former Minister of Health in Kenya, leading several national vaccination campaigns. Prior positions include CEO of The Nairobi Hospital and experiences working for UNICEF and WHO.
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Nnenna Nwakanma
BOARD MEMBER
Ms. Nnenna Nwaknma is the former Chief Web Advocate of the World Wide Web Foundation. She is an ICT4D strategist and an expert in eParticipation and Citizen Engagement with 15 years of experience working for the UN. A strong advocate for policy and systemic changes, she focuses on the need for meaningful internet access, open data, open government, and open web across Africa.
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Dr. Päivi Sillanaukee
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Sillanaukee is the Ambassador for Health and Wellbeing at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. She is a specialist in public health and management from the University of Helsinki. She has worked on policies to promote public health, social protection, gender equality, innovation and digitalization in the European Union and at the global level.
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Dr. Paul Richard Fife
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Paul Richard Fife is the Policy Director in the Global Health Section at the Department for Human Development, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). Prior to that, he was the Director for Human Development at Norad for several years. Over the last decade, he contributed to Norway’s international engagement and oversaw the implementation of aid investments in global health, education, higher education, and research, as well as human rights and gender equality.
A Norwegian national, he trained as a medical doctor in Norway and holds a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management.
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Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite
BOARD MEMBER (EX-OFFICIO)
Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite is a Portuguese Canadian medical doctor with extensive experience in global health, health systems and science-based policy making. Before joining HealthAI, he was a 4-term Member of Parliament in Portugal, on both health and foreign affairs committees. Dr. Baptista Leite is the Founder and President of the ‘UNITE Parliamentarians for Global Health’, a global platform of current and former members of Parliaments, Congresses and Senates, currently present in +97 countries.
Board Meetings
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Under the leadership of Dr. Christoph Benn, I-DAIR's Board Chair, I-DAIR’s Board approved the budget, congratulated the team for the tremendous efforts and accomplishments of the past months, and welcomed the implementation plan.
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Under the leadership of Dr. Christoph Benn, I-DAIR's Board Chair, I-DAIR’s Board received updates from the CEO on the new organizational strategy. In addition, a Vice Chair was elected and a new Board Member was welcomed.
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Under the leadership of Dr. Christoph Benn, I-DAIR's Board Chair, I-DAIR’s Board received updates from the CEO on his first 50 days, and discussed a number of topics including Swiss registration and the establishment of the Finance & Audit Committee.
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Under the leadership of Dr. Christoph Benn, I-DAIR's Board Chair, the two-day event welcomed three new Board Members and appointed I-DAIR’s new CEO. The Board was updated on the latest developments within I-DAIR, including the organisation's move to become an independent legal entity in Switzerland.
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Under the leadership of Dr. Christoph Benn, I-DAIR's inaugural Board Chair, the two-day event gathered the first members of the I-DAIR Board to discuss
I-DAIR’s strategy, governance and finances. Most importantly, it approved the bylaws for I-DAIR’s upcoming registration as a new legal entity under Swiss law and launched the search for I-DAIR’s next CEO.