cgh-iio (Presenters) | Events Registration

Presenters and Moderators

Natalia Sofia Aldana, M.D., MSc	Dr. Natalia Sofia Aldana, MD, MSc (homeopathy). Medical doctor specialized in acupuncture and homeopathy. She is a consultant for the PAHO/WHO´s Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME), and the editor-in-chief of the VHL TCIM. Member of the TCIM Americas Network.
Carlos Jose Andrade, M.D.	Carlos Jose Andrade is clinical oncologist with Ayurvedic training who works at Instituto Nacional de Câncer – Brasil (Brazilian National Cancer Institute-NCI) at the Medical Oncology Service and Leads the Integrative Care Team developing a program of mindfulness for health care providers and parents of pediatric patients. He was chief of medical oncology service three times and vice director of Hospital do Câncer I. With master’s in science in health technology management and Heath-MBA he has been involved with Health Technology Assessment and clinical trials. Carlos` special interest is wellbeing and he gives lectures about Happiness including a TEDx“Felicidade Baseada em Evidências” (Evidence Based Happiness).
Partha Basu, M.D., Ph.D.	Dr. Partha Basu is Head of Screening Group of International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). He was Head of Gynecological Oncology at Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, India before joining IARC in 2015. Dr. Basu’s current research projects include: a) cohort study to evaluate single dose of HPV vaccine; b) RCT to evaluate a new Indian HPV vaccine; c) evaluation of thermal ablation; d) evaluation of artificial intelligence based device for cervical cancer early detection; e) study of vaginal microbiome in HIV+ women; f) RCT to evaluate CBE; g) evaluation of automated breast ultrasound; h) evaluation of cancer screening programmes in Europe and Latin America; i) evaluation of colorectal cancer screening in Mediterranean Region. These projects are funded by National Institute of Health (USA), Gates Foundation, American Cancer Society, Norwegian Research Council, Swiss Cancer Research, Lalla Salma Foundation (Morocco), Indo-American Cancer Association etc. Dr. Basu’s publications may be accessed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1xk2ca_anty5j/collections/57597107/public/
Narendra Bhatt, M.D.	Dr. Narendra S. Bhatt, for over 46 years, has been an experienced physician, teacher, researcher and exponent and pioneer of pharmaceutical industry career in the field of Ayurveda. He has been involved with data management, clinical research and new product development for arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, liver disorders, hemophilia and few others. He has developed a ‘MATRIX Model’ for standardization and product development in Ayurveda and an ‘EVA Model’ for validation of traditional systems of medicine. As a practicing physician Dr. Bhatt has been interested in cancer care for more than two decades and has put in active efforts for integrative research in cancer care. *Consultant Ayurveda, Research and Industry, CRIA Consultants PVT Ltd., Mumbai, India.
Jeff Buchsbaum, M.D., Ph.D., A.M.	Jeff Buchsbaum joined the RRP Clinical Radiation Oncology Branch in July 2016 as the next step in his academic career that includes graduating from Dartmouth College, receiving his M.D., Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins (Dept. of Molecular Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry completing his residency in Radiation Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic and subsequent advanced training and faculty positions in pediatric oncology including St. Jude Hospital. Before joining NIH, he was Professor at Indiana University and a leader at the proton facility. He is board certified by the American Board of Radiology. At NCI Division of Cancer Treatment & Diagnosis his areas of special interest include: Biologic treatment planning, Particle therapy, Translational chemoradiobiology and immunoradiobiology, Re-irradiation in definitive and palliative settings, international collaboration, Safety and process analysis and Pediatric radiation therapy.
Paulo Caceres Guido, Pharm.D.	Pharmacist (Department of Pharmacy and Biochemistry - Buenos Aires University, Argentina). Hospital Pharmacy Specialist (Ministry of Health). Member of the Faculty and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the Buenos Aires University and Maimonides University, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Researcher in pediatric clinical pharmacology and integrative medicine. More than 200 studies presented in local and international journals, books, and at meetings. Former President of the Latin-American Society for Pediatric Research. Founder and Coordinator of the Clinical Pharmacokinetics Unit and current member of the Integrative Medicine Group at the Garrahan Pediatric Hospital).
Roger Chammas, M.D., Ph.D.	Dr. Chammas is a Professor of Oncology at Universidade de São Paulo (USP), where he directs the Center for Translational Research in Oncology at Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo. He received his M.D. (1988) and a Ph.D. degree in 1993 both from USP. His post-doctoral training was in glycobiology at University of California in San Diego (1994-1997). His research interest focuses on tumor cell resistance and combination experimental therapies. He has been engaged in the promotion of research activities, as a member of the Health Sciences Committee at FAPESP (2008-2018) and the Latin American Committee of AACR (since 2016).
Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D.	Dr. Lorenzo Cohen is the Richard E. Haynes Distinguished Professor in Clinical Cancer Prevention and Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Distinguished Clinical Professor, Fudan University Cancer Hospital, Shanghai, China. Dr. Cohen is a founding member and past president of the international Society for Integrative Oncology and past vice-chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health. Dr. Cohen leads a team conducting NIH-funded research and delivering clinical care of integrative medicine practices such as meditation, yoga, Tai chi/Qigong, massage, diet, exercise, acupuncture and other strategies aimed at reducing the negative aspects of cancer treatment and improving quality of life and clinical outcomes. As the majority of cancers are preventable, Dr. Cohen is conducting research to demonstrate that lifestyle can influence cancer outcomes. Dr. Cohen, along with Alison Jefferies, recently co-authored the book Anticancer Living: Transform Your Life and Health and the Mix of Six (Viking, 2018).
Vaidya Kartar Singh Dhiman, Ph.D.	Prof. Vaidya Kartar Singh Dhiman is the Director General, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), under Ministry of AYUSH since 2015. He is a highly accomplished Academician, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Researcher and Administrator with a distinguished career spanning over two and half decades in reputed Ayurvedic Organizations like IPGT&RA, Gujarat Ayurved University. He holds Ph.D in Ayurveda (Shalakya) from SSU Varanasi and MD, Ayurveda (Shalakya) from Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. His specialized field of Research is Ayurvedic Ophthalmology. He is having proven record of scientific contribution with sufficient published work in his credit. He is also the authors of 18 books and had authored many research bulletins, technical reports, course materials, and two monographs. Since his joining in this Council as Director General, he is putting his best in furtherance of the objectives of the Council, which is an apex body in India for formulation, co-ordination, development and promotion of research in Ayurveda on scientific lines. In the last three decades, this premier research organization has immensely contributed in areas of medicinal plants research, drug development, literary research, and clinical research in Ayurveda especially new drug development for emerging health challenges. The outcomes are now in commercial domain for public health care delivery.
Emmeline Edwards, Ph.D.	Dr. Emmeline Edwards is director of the Division of Extramural Research of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). In that capacity, she is responsible for development of scientific programs or areas of science that fulfill NCCIH's mission as well as planning, implementation and policy. NCCIH is one of 27 components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with a mission to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and alternative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care. Before coming to NIH, Dr. Edwards earned her Ph.D. in Neurochemistry from Fordham University, did postdoctoral research in behavioral pharmacology and neuroscience at the State University of New York, and was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland. Currently, Dr. Edwards is also Chair of Women World in Neuroscience (WWN), an independent mentoring and networking organization, with the primary mission of identifying, promoting and implementing mentoring and networking opportunities for women neuroscientists across the world.
Li Feng, M.D., Ph.D.	Dr. Feng is the chief physician and director of the department of Chinese Medicine at the Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/National Cancer Center. He is a professor at Peking Union Medical College and Beijing University of Chinese medicine. He chairs the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies Oncology Classical Prescriptions Therapy Committee. He leads a number of national funding projects, and has published more than 100 articles. Dr. Feng is recognized in China for the treatment of tumor and complications using Integrative Medicine. He has also studied the use of Chinese Medicine to reduce toxicity and side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and increase their efficiency; as well as the use of Chinese Medicine to treat cancer pain, pleural effusion and ascites to relieve symptoms and enhance patients’ quality of life.
Susana Fiorentino, Ph.D.	Professor, Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá, Colombia. BS. M.Sc. PhD in Immunology and Oncology (U Javeriana, U Antioquia, Colombia, Paris VI University and Centro de Estudios Biosanitarios España). She worked as a guest researcher for INSERM and the European Community for 4 years in France and currently is a full professor at the Javeriana University. Her research focuses on the study of the immune response particularly in chronic diseases such as cancer and in the last 16 years the research has focused on understanding the mechanisms of action of plant extracts (phytotherapeutics) in cancer control and immune response activation. She currently serves as the Scientific Director of one of the eight scientific centers in Colombia funded by the World Bank for the search for therapeutic alternatives in cancer from plants. She has published international scientific papers/high impact journals and have 7 patents granted in several countries, related to phytomedication. This year, in conjunction with the San Ignacio University Hospital and the Javeriana University, she led the phase I clinical study of one of the phytomedication that was recently completed following international standards.
William R. Folk, Ph.D.	Dr. Folk trained at Stanford University with Nobel Laureate Paul Berg, and his subsequent research and training interests have focused upon gene expression and replication of tumor viruses, plant molecular biology and food security, and most recently, plant medicines. Folk served on the faculties of the University of Michigan, the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Missouri – where he was chair of Biochemistry, Senior Associate Dean for Research, and acting Director of the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. His current efforts are funded by NCCIH/NIH and by NIGMS/NIH, and he participates in collaborative research and training in Africa, Vietnam and Brazil.
Daniel Gallego, M.D., DrPH (candidate)	Daniel F. Gallego-Pérez, MD, DrPH candidate at Boston University, participated in the design and implementation of a pilot project to develop complementary medicine services in public hospitals in Bogota, Colombia, between 2009 and 2013. He has been a consultant for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), at the Country Office in Nicaragua, and later at PAHO headquarters in Washington DC, focusing on health care systems strengthening the integration of traditional and complementary medicine. He is the current chair-elect of the Integrative, Complementary, and Traditional Health Practices (ICTHP) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Ricardo Ghelman, M.D., Ph.D.	Chair of the Brazilian Academic Consortium for Integrative Health in collaboration with the TCIM Americas Network and PAHO/WHO, Coordinator of the Integrative Pediatrics Unit of the Pediatric Department of the University of São Paulo (USP), and Vice-Chair of the Genetics Committee of the Pediatrics Society of São Paulo. Dr. Ghelman is a pediatrician and pediatric oncologist. Holds a Masters in Anatomy, Ph.D. in the area of Reproductive Toxicology with anti-carcinogenic plant and Post-doctoral training in Neurosciences and Integrative Medicine with focus on chronic pain.
Satish Gopal, M.D., MPH	Satish Gopal, MD, MPH was appointed Director of the Center for Global Health (CGH) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in February 2020. In this role, he oversees the development of initiatives and collaborations with other NCI divisions, NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, and countries to support cancer research and cancer research networks, promote cancer control planning, and build capacity in low- and middle-income countries. Previously, Dr. Gopal has provided leadership and expertise on NIH working groups, and review committees and boards. In 2018 he was selected to advise the NCI Director on the NCI global portfolio as Co-Chair of the NCI Advisory Board Ad Hoc Global Health Working Group. Before coming to NCI, Dr. Gopal was the Cancer Program Director for the University of North Carolina (UNC) Project-Malawi, in collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health. Dr. Gopal completed his Master of Public Health in 2000 at UNC-Chapel Hill and earned his medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2001. He then completed training in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Michigan, lived and worked in Tanzania from 2007 to 2009, then returned to the United States to pursue medical oncology and infectious disease training at UNC-Chapel Hill. After this, he lived with his family in Malawi from 2012 to 2019, when he was the only certified medical oncologist in a country of ~18 million people and treated public sector cancer patients at the national teaching hospital in the capital alongside his Malawian colleagues. He has co-authored more than 90 publications and has successfully mentored many U.S. and African cancer junior investigators. He also served as the Associate Chair for African International Sites for the NCI AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC), and had oversight responsibility for African activities of the AMC, which was the first NCI cooperative clinical trials group to conduct multicenter interventional studies for cancer in the region.
Chrisna Gouws, Ph.D., Pr.Sci.Nat.	Chrisna Gouws (PhD Biochemistry; Pr.Sci.Nat.) is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen™) at the North-West University (South Africa), with an interest in developing advanced cell culture models for pharmaceutical applications. This includes novel clinostat based rotating bioreactor spheroid cultures and air-liquid interface cultures. She specifically applies these models to study traditional African medicines, and to screen indigenous plants for anticancer and skin regeneration activity. She regularly publishes on traditional African medicines and advanced cell culture models in international peer-reviewed journals, and endeavour to educate and inform the general public about these research topics.
Dr. Paige A. Green, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.B.M.R.	Dr. Paige A. Green is Chief of the Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch in the Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Green received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Dr. Green completed her clinical psychology internship, with a specialization in health psychology, at the Brown University Clinical Psychology Internship Consortium and postdoctoral fellowships at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Howard University Cancer Center. In 2005, she received a Master of Public Health degree from Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She is an elected fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and President-Elect of the American Psychosomatic Society.
Carla Holandino Quaresma, Ph.D.	2018 to date: Full Professor at Pharmacy College, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2019 to date: Director of Natural Products Committee at Brazilian Academic Consortium for Integrative Health 2017-2018: Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Dept. Basic Research, Society for Cancer Research, Arlesheim, Switzerland (Head: Prof Dr. Stephan Baumgartner) 2013 to date: Vice President of International Research Group on Very Low Dose and High Dilution Effects (GIRI) 2008 to date: Consultant at National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance, Brazil 2006 to date: Research at the Post Graduation Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences (UFRJ), Brazil
Wei Hou, M.D.	Dr. Hou, Director of Oncology Department of Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. He has chaired and participated in several national level scientific research projects since 1998. Currently, Dr. Hou is a main investigator in the National Science and Technology. His studies focus on the prevention and treatment of cancer with integrated medicine. As the Secretary of National Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Cancer, he completed the analysis and evaluation report on current situation of TCM treatment for lung, breast and gastric cancer. He also participates in the completion of WHO Western Pacific Region TCM Clinical Guideline, Clinical Practice Guidelines of Chinese Medicine on Oncology. Dr. Hou has published over 70 papers and more than 10 books.
Paul Jacobsen, Ph.D.	Dr. Paul Jacobsen is an Associate Director in the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences where he directs the Healthcare Delivery Research Program. In this position, he leads a team whose mission is to advance innovative research to improve the delivery of cancer-related care. Before entering government service, Dr. Jacobsen served as Chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior and later as Associate Center Director for Population Science at the Moffitt Cancer Center. His research has focused on using knowledge from the behavioral and social sciences to understand and address quality of life and quality of care issues in oncology.
Libin Jia, M.D.	Dr. Libin Jia is a Scientific Program Director at the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM), Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute (NCI). He works on establishing research projects and collaborations in the area of anti-cancer compounds and natural products and serves as a liaison between the collaborative parties (intramural, extramural and international) and OCCAM/NCI. He has published more than 40 research papers and multiple books and chapters in the areas of oncogenes, gene discovery, mapping and regulation, natural compounds’ action mechanisms on tumor growth inhibition and control, gene pathway regulation. In recent years, he has actively worked on new international projects of integrative oncology.
Ikhlas Khan, Ph.D.	Dr. Ikhlas Khan is the Director, NCNPR; Director, FDA Center of Excellence; Research Professor in Department of Pharmacognosy, at University of Mississippi. Received a D. Litt (Honoris Causa) from University of Hamdard, Delhi, India 2012; a B.S. in Chemistry in 1980 & a M.S. in Organic Chemistry in 1982 from the Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India. He received a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the Institute fuer Pharmaceutische Biology in Munich, West Germany. He has authored/co-authored 750+ original research articles, publications, or reviews. He is the recipient of numerous awards, the latest "The Wiley Award, Association of Official Agricultural Chemists International, 2018."
Lixing Lao, Ph.D.	Professor Lixing Lao, Ph.D., President, Virginia University of Integrative Medicine (VUIM), Fairfax, Virginia, USA, and Honorary Professor of the School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. Prof Lao graduated from the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in 1983 and completed his PhD in physiology at University of Maryland Baltimore in 1992. He is a licensed acupuncturist and researcher who has practiced for over 30 years and published over 250 journal papers. Prof Lao was a co-president of the Society for Acupuncture Research and served member of PDQ Cancer CAM Advisory Board, NCI, National Institutes of Health.
Marya Levintova, Ph.D.	Dr. Levintova joined the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (FIC/NIH) in June 2006, with responsibilities covering Russia, Eurasia and the Arctic region. Since 2017, Dr. Levintova has been a Program Director at the Division of International Training and Research, where manages the non-communicable diseases, social and behavioral portfolio. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Levintova was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Alcohol Research Group, School of Public Health, University of Berkeley, where she analyzed the impact of alcohol control policies on alcohol consumption and mortality in the Russian Federation. Dr. Levintova is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholar award for the study of the impact of the demographic changes on health-related legislation and policies in the Russian Federation.
Jennifer Ligibel, M.D.	Dr. Jennifer Ligibel is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Ligibel’s research focuses on the impact of lifestyle interventions upon cancer-related outcomes in women with breast cancer. She has conducted a number of studies looking at the impact of exercise and weight loss interventions upon patients’ quality of life and symptoms after cancer diagnosis and is currently leading an NCI-funded Phase III clinical trial that will test the impact of a weight loss intervention upon the risk of disease recurrence in more than 3000 overweight and obese women with early-stage breast cancer. Dr. Ligibel is also the Chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Subcommittee on Energy Balance, which has developed patient and physician materials to help facilitate healthy lifestyle changes after cancer diagnosis.
Gabriel Lopez, M.D.	Dr. Lopez is Associate Professor and Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Center at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, & Integrative Medicine. His primary clinical focus is providing integrative oncology consultations in the Integrative Medicine Center. Dr. Lopez received his medical degree from the Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He received training in Internal Medicine at The University of Texas at Houston, McGovern Medical School. Following his residency, Dr. Lopez completed a fellowship in Palliative Care and Symptom Control at MD Anderson and then a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He is on the National Cancer Institute, PDQ Integrative, Alternative, and Complementary Therapies Editorial Board, responsible for producing and maintaining evidence-based summaries on integrative medicine topics for health professionals, patients and the general public. He is currently a Society for Integrative Oncology Board Member, and also a member of the Conference Planning Committee for the 2020 Society for Integrative Oncology Annual International Conference.
Ram Manohar, M.D.	Dr. P. Rammanohar is an Ayurvedic Physician and Researcher currently serving as Research Director at Amrita School of Ayurveda, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, ranked No. 1 among private Universities in India and recognized as an Institution of Eminence by UGC. He served as PI on Indian side of first ever NIH funded study on Ayurveda conducted in India, which won the Excellence in Integrative Medicine Research Award from European Society of Integrative Medicine. Integrative Oncology is his special area of interest and he is presently engaged in research programs to develop integrative approaches in cancer care with special focus on improving quality of life after chemotherapy and radiation. He is Member of Expert Committee of World Health Organization (WHO) for developing Standard Ayurveda Terminologies.
Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE	Dr. Mao is the chief of the Integrative Medicine Service and the Lawrence S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is a board-certified family physician with added qualifications in hospice and palliative care. He is also an experienced and licensed acupuncturist who combines western and eastern approaches to manage pain and symptoms in cancer patients. Dr. Mao’s program of research focuses on investigating the effects, mechanisms, and integration of Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM) for symptom management in cancer. He has advanced research training in clinical epidemiology and extensive experience conducting acupuncture, pain, and symptom science clinical trials, as well as health services research among cancer patients. Dr. Mao has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the American Cancer Society. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed research manuscripts. He is the immediate past president of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and president-elect of the Society for Acupuncture Research. His research findings have been included in American Society of Clinical Oncology, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and SIO clinical guidelines for developing evidence-informed integrative oncology practices for standard cancer care.
Daniel Miele Amado M.S.	Daniel Miele Amado is a Public Health Consultant from the Ministry of Health of Brazil for the National Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices in the National Health System, since 2011, and National Coordinator since 2017. He was born in Brazil, and qualified as physical educator and Traditional Chinese Medicine. From 2008 to 2011 worked as Coordinator of Integrative and Complementary Practices in João Pessoa city which is located up in the northeast coast of Brazil. In this position, he led the development of guidelines of public management, education and research programs and networks in the area of integrative and complementary health.
Karen Mustian, Ph.D., MS, MPH, ACSM, FSBM	Dr. Karen Mustian is Dean’s Professor of Oncology in the Department of Surgery at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester School of Medicine. She is Co-Director of the NCI-funded URCC NCORP Research Base and Co-Chair of the NCI Symptom Management and Quality of Life Steering Committee. Dr. Mustian is an internationally renowned scientist with expertise in the use of yoga as treatment for the toxicities and side effects stemming from cancer and its treatments among patients and survivors. Dr. Mustian’s work has been honored with over 40 outstanding research awards globally; she has over $80 million in research funding and over 160 publications.
Oluwadamilola Olaku, M.D., MPH	Dr. Olaku trained as an Obstetrician Gynecologist with a special interest in gynecologic oncology in the United Kingdom. He obtained the Membership of the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Olaku is a recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschtein National Research Service Award (NRSA). He has published in peer reviewed journals and has several awards including the CASEC Catalyst for inspiring change award, Distinguished Achievement and Performance awards. He was inducted into the Delta Omega Society in 2006. Dr. Olaku is an investigator on NCI protocols.
Miguel R. Ossandon, Ph.D.	Miguel R. Ossandon has a dual background in clinical laboratory and computer science. He started working in cancer research at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University where he also began his undergraduate training in computer science. He is working for the National Cancer Institute since 2007. Miguel received his master’s degree at The George Washington University and Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Bhushan Patwardhan. Ph.D., FNASc, FNAMS	Prof Bhushan Patwardhan is a biomedical scientist who is Fellow of National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medical Sciences India. He was Professor and Director, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University. He was Vice Chancellor, Deemed University in Pune, Director, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Bengaluru and visiting Professor at Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. He is founder Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine published by Elsevier and is on Editorial Boards of many reputed Journals. He is recipient of many orations and awards including Sir Ram Nath Chopra Oration, Waldemar Haffkine Oration and V K Joag Best Teacher Award. The WHO, Geneva awarded him a study on role of traditional medicine in public health. His scholarly books ‘Integrative Approaches for Health’ and ‘Innovative Approaches to Drug Discovery’ both published by Academic Press Elsevier have received excellent reviews. He has received several research grants and has guided over 25 M.Pharm. and 20 PhD students, 8 Indian Patents, 2 US Patents and over 8000 citations.
Geetha Gopalakrishna Pillai, M.D. (AY)	Dr Geetha Krishnan Gopalakrishna Pillai is a researcher and clinician. His broad background expertise is in Ayurveda, with specific skills, training and experience in Integrative Medicine, herbal drug development, policy and advocacy. As a clinician he has two decades of experience, of which nine years was spent working in a large integrative medicine facility in India. There he collaborated with oncologists to clinically administer individualized protocols for integrative management of cancer patients. He currently works with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Technical officer in the Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCI) Unit of WHO. His current work with WHO entails development of global standards of practice and training in Traditional Medicine (TM), development of standard terminologies in TM, and data collection and analytical systems for morbidities managed by TM. He is also responsible in development of digital tools to support safe and effective self-healthcare practices in the area of health promotion, and is engaged in supporting Low and Middle Income Countries to develop national policies and guidelines for the appropriate use of TM within their national health systems.
Avraham Rasooly, Ph.D.	Dr. Avraham Rasooly joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) in 2014 as a Health Scientist Administrator, where he leads a trans-NCI initiative on microbial based cancer therapy. Before joining OCCAM, Dr. Rasooly served at as Chief of the Cancer Disparities Research Branch and as a Program Officer in the NCI Cancer Diagnosis Program, where he supported research on biosensors, lab-on-chip, Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) and Point of Care (POC) cancer diagnostics technologies. As part of his work at NCI, Dr. Rasooly initiated and managed a bioengineering research program for developing low cost cancer detection, diagnosis and therapy technologies for Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Dr. Rasooly received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University MSU, where he studied the genetics of plant-microbial interactions and microbial nitrogen fixation. Dr. Rasooly has published more than 100 peer reviewed research articles and edited 7 books on biosensors technologies.
Alejandro Salicrup, Ph.D. M.D.T	Dr. Alejandro Salicrup, Senior Advisor for Global Health Research at the National Cancer Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NCI/NIH). Dr. Salicrup has over 30 years of global health experience implementing and managing programs related to basic, clinical and translational research and capacity building in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Europe. At NIH, Dr. Salicrup works for NCI’s Center for Global Health and the Office of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM). After completing his training in Immunology and Molecular Genetics he joined NIH where he held different research and global health posts the Fogarty International Center, the National Institute of Child and Human Development, and NIH’s Office of the Director. He also worked at the United Nations directing programs pertaining global health, capacity building and technology innovation in low-and-middle income countries with both WHO and UNESCO. Dr. Salicrup has published extensively both scientific journals and books and is the recipient several awards in Global Health including Fulbright Scholar (twice), Science Embassy Fellow, NIH Director Award, etc. He teaches global health and science & technology innovation at NIH’s Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences and served as Adjoint Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at American University, University of Puerto Rico and Inter American University.
Sudha Sivaram, Ph.D.	Dr. Sudha Sivaram is Program Director for Global Cancer Research Training at the Center for Global Health at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this capacity, she works with colleagues across the institute to develop and coordinate research and training programs in global cancer control. Dr. Sivaram is a member of several trans-NCI and National Institute of Health committees that coordinate biomedical research, specifically focusing on topics such as Dissemination and Implementation, Cancer Health Disparities, and Bioethics. She serves on the Joe Biden Cancer Moonshot Implementation Team focused on Patient Engagement in Cancer Research. Finally, Dr. Sivaram helps coordinate National Cancer Institute’s cooperation in cancer research and training with the Government of India. Dr. Sivaram is trained in epidemiology and social science and her interests are to help bring public health research evidence to practice. She has worked extensively in the South Asia region and, in India in particular, in implementation science.
Pamela Weathers, Ph.D.	Pamela Weathers (1974, Ph.D. Michigan State University Plant Research Lab) is an internationally recognized expert on Artemisia annua and the antimalarial, artemisinin. She is a Fellow of AAAS and SIVB, won many awards, given many national and international presentations, is an Associate Editor for two journals and mentors many students. Her lab first genetically transformed A. annua. She has >120 peer-reviewed publications, 3 patents (2 more pending). Her Web of science H-index is 34 with >3,083 (self-excluded) citations. She spearheaded the edible A. annua concept for treating malaria and other diseases with research to establish supporting science.
Della White, Ph.D.	Della White, Ph.D. is a program director in the Division of Extramural Research of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH/NIH). Her research portfolio includes studies of complementary and integrative health approaches for health promotion and disease prevention across the lifespan in diverse populations. Prior to joining NCCIH, Dr. White was a program director at NICHD/NIH where she managed research in the areas of social and behavioral research on reproductive health and health disparities. Dr. White earned her B.S. in chemistry from Alabama State University and her Ph.D. in health education/health promotion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She completed postdoctoral training in public health genomics at NHGRI/NIH.
Jeffrey D. White, M.D.	Dr. White joined the Metabolism Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1990 as a Medical Staff Fellow where he performed laboratory research in immunology and molecular biology. While in the Metabolism Branch, he served in various positions culminating as director of the Clinical Trials and Clinical Care Program. In that capacity, he coordinated the development and administration of phase I and II clinical trials using unmodified and radiolabeled monoclonal antibody constructs. Dr. White has been principal investigator for and has reported the results from trials of various experimental treatments for patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). In October 1998, he was appointed Director of the NCI’s Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM). The office was created to augment the activities of the different divisions at NCI that were already supporting CAM research. OCCAM continues to promote and support research and generation of good quality information on the various disciplines and modalities associated with the field of complementary and alternative medicine as they relate to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer. Dr. White graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics in 1979 and received an M.D. from Howard University in 1984. He completed a residency in internal medicine in 1987 and fellowships in oncology and hematology in 1990 at The Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. White is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.
Yufei Yang, M.D., Ph.D.	Yufei Yang, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Chief Scientist of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS), Director of Department of Oncology Diagnosis and Treatment of Xiyuan Hospital of CACMS, Director of Asian Branch of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASIO), Director of Oncology Rehabilitation Branch of China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Dr. Yang established Department of Oncology of Xiyuan Hospital in 1996. She was named one of the 99 “Qi Huang Scholars” of China in 2017. Her research team has been recognized as a leading force in colorectal cancer research by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China.