Dr. Shirin Heidari is Senior Research Fellow at the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Senior Technical Consultant on gender to WHO Gender, Equity and Human Rights Unit. Most recently, Dr. Heidari was the Executive Director of Reproductive Health Matters, and Editor-in-Chief of its academic journal. Prior to that, she oversaw the Research Promotion Department of the International AIDS Society in Geneva and was the Executive Editor of the Journal of the International AIDS Society. Dr. Heidari has been a trusted board member of Amnesty International in Sweden. During her time as a member of Council of European Association of Science Editors, she established and co-chaired a Gender Policy Committee, leading the development of the widely cited SAGER guidelines, encouraging researchers to address the sex and gender bias in research. She has also presented a TEDx talk on the topic.  

As a gender-equality and human rights advocate, Dr. Heidari has served as member of several international expert and scientific committees and engaged in various efforts advancing the integration of sex and gender in the production of knowledge and evidence. 

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Swiss national born in 1975, Ms. Olivia Mettler studied International Hospitality Management at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne and graduated in 1999.

 

With more than 18 years of financial experience in multinationals and international non-profit companies, she is a Finance & Administration executive, member of the board of directors of the International AIDS Society (IAS). More recently, Ms. Mettler graduated in Enterprise Risk Management at the University of Geneva.

Mr. Bernard Kadasia is a senior level professional who brings together close to forty years of experience in technical, managerial and leadership positions in government, civil society, private sector, and international non-governmental organizations.

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Until March 2015 Mr. Kadasia was employed by the International AIDS Society (IAS) Geneva as Deputy Executive Director and Director of Policy and Advocacy, Research Promotion and Communications. Prior to joining the IAS, he worked for 17 years for the International Co-operative Alliance as Director of the Regional Office for East, Central and Southern Africa, in Moshi, Tanzania and in Nairobi, Kenya. 

 

Since 2012 he is the President of the Geneva-based Alliance for Health Promotion, an international NGO in Official Relations with the World Health Organization. The Alliance has official UN ECOSOC Status. Mr. Kadasia is also a member of the Supervisory Board of North Star Alliance.  North Star Alliance provides quality healthcare across Africa to mobile populations and the communities they interact with.

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Dr. Maria Halkias received her PhD from the University of St Andrews in Scotland in the History of Art. She has worked in the field of arts for more than seven years, supporting the promotion and advancement of women in the art world, working primarily with socially engaged artists and art networks. Since then she has contributed to numerous articles and book chapters on the subject.

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Dr. Halkias worked as Communications Manager at Reproductive Health Matters, before joining a start-up team as Project Manager.