|
Mark Anderson
Mark Anderson is currently a Medical Epidemiologist assigned to the International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch in the National Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prior to this, he served as a Medical Epidemiologist and an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Division of Violence Prevention in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Anderson received his B.A. in Psychology from Franklin and Marshall College, his M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and his M.P.H. in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. Back to conference overview Dr. Asfaw Ayele Dr. Ayele was born in Dilla, South Ethiopia. He graduated as a medical doctor from School of Medicine Santiago de Cuba in 1987. Dr. Ayele joined the School of Medicine of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and graduated as an Orthopedic Surgeon. At present he is an Orthopedic Surgeon at Menelik II Hospital. Back to conference overview Kirk Bauer Kirk Bauer is Executive Director of Disabled Sports/USA (DS/USA), the nation’s largest sports and recreation organization for physically disabled individuals, serving 60,000 people annually. Mr. Bauer established the first nationwide fitness exercise program for disabled individuals (“Fitness Is For Everyone”sm) and the first instructor training and certification program for ski instructors for disabled skiing. He won medals in national competitions from 1972-1980, and was selected for the U.S. Disabled Ski Team. As a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, Mr. Bauer lost a leg from a hand grenade during an ambush on his combat unit in 1969. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star; the Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device; and the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in combat. He has served on the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and on the U.S. Olympic Committee. A native of Oakland, California, he received a B.A. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a law degree from Boston University. Back to conference overview Hervé Bernard Mr. Bernard is an engineer in rural development with a specialty in the professional integration of people with disabilities. He has seven years experience in social development abroad, and eight years at Handicap International headquarters in France. He currently heads an integration unit composed of five technical advisers on the socioeconomic integration of people with disabilities. Back to conference overview Cathy Berti Cathy Berti is the Coordinator of the Handicap International (HI) rehabilitation program in Sierra Leone. Originally an Occupational Therapist in France, Ms. Berti became a volunteer with HI in 1990, working in several different countries. In 1997, she earned a M.S. in Community Disability Studies for developing countries from University College, London. Upon completing her studies, she returned to HI as a resource person for Community Based Rehabilitation projects. She has elaborated, organized, and conducted evaluations in various programs. Continuing her studies in Sociology (DESS in Sociology appliquée au développement local) at the University of Lyon, France, Ms. Berti conducted social research on “psychological suffering and exclusion” with Observatoire Régional sur la Souffrance Psychique En Rapport avec l’Exclusion (ORSPERE), Lyon France. In June 2003, she assumed her post with HI, working in Sierra Leone. Back to conference overview Tim Carstairs Since 1992, Tim Carstairs has been involved in Humanitarian Mine Action. As coordinator of landmine advocacy and information activities of Handicap International (HI) in France, he helped found the international campaign against anti-personnel mines in 1992. He also contributed to establishing and managing advocacy, research and public information networks on landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) across Europe. He coordinated the United Kingdom’s Working Group on Landmines, representing fifty British charities at national and international fora: UN Human Rights Commission, UK and European Parliament, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and the ‘Ottawa Process’ as well as with the national and international media. In 1997, Mr. Carstairs joined Mines Advisory Group (MAG) where he is now Director for Policy. He also serves as Secretary to MAG America, a U.S. organization raising awareness and funds for humanitarian mine action. Back to conference overview Dr. Dennis S. Charney Dennis S. Charney, M.D., is Dean of Research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City. From 2000-2004 Dr. Charney was Chief of the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Research Program, and the Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, at the National Institute of Mental Health. This program is the nation’s largest research group devoted to discovering novel and more effective treatments for mood and anxiety disorders. Dr. Charney was formerly Professor of Psychiatry, and Deputy Chair of Academic and Scientific Affairs at Yale University School of Medicine. He has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of neural circuits, neurochemistry and functional neuroanatomy of the regulation of mood and anxiety, and the psychobiological mechanisms of human resilience to stress. He was Principal Investigator of the VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and the NIMH Yale Mental Health Clinical Research Center. Since 1992, Dr. Charney has been listed in every edition of the “Best Doctors in America” and has been honored with major awards in his field. Back to conference overview Santiago Castellón Rodríguez Santiago Castellón is the Regional Coordinator in Central America of the Polus Center, and is the foundation representative of Walking Unidos. He is a Clinical psychologist and holds a degree from an exchange through the University of George Town. He also studied at Coffee Ville Community College Kansas. Back to conference overview Dr. Maria Isabel Castillo Vergara Maria Isabel Castillo Vergara studied psychology at the University of Chile until the military coup in 1974, when she went into exile in Mexico. Living in Mexico for ten years, she taught at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City, obtaining her Master’s degree in Social Psychology. Ms. Castillo Vergara returned to Chile in 1984, and works in mental health and human rights at the Latin American Institute of Mental Health and Human Rights (ILAS). She has worked as a psychotherapist and investigator, and in 2004, received a prize from the National College of Psychologists for her work on victims of political oppression and their families. She is a tenured professor at the University of Diego Portales and holds a Doctorate in psychoanalysis from the University of Andres Bello, in Santiago. Back to conference overview Dr. James C. Cobey Dr. Cobey is a Board certified Orthopaedic Surgeon, in private practice, specializing in major trauma, spine reconstruction and total joint replacement. In 1964, he worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip assisting in refugee care. In western Nigeria in 1966, Dr. Cobey studied the epidemiology and effectiveness of primary healthcare centers. He also worked extensively in northern Haiti developing public health programs. In 1977, the American Red Cross assigned him to the Thai-Cambodian border as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Health Delegate. He coordinated and managed medical care and provided overall relief care at one of the largest refugee camps in the region. In 1981, he revitalized Orthopaedics Overseas, an organization whose main mission is to send physicians to teach abroad. Now known as Health Volunteers Overseas, it sends over 300 health workers — including physicians, nurses, dentists and therapists — to over 20 developing countries to teach medical providers. In 1991, Dr. Cobey, together with two other staff members from Physicians for Human Rights, conducted the initial epidemiological study on land mines. This study led to a publication, “Landmines in Cambodia: A Coward’s War”. Back to conference overview Laurence Cote Mr. Cote trained as an Occupational Therapist at the University of Ottawa and has worked in the field of physical rehabilitation. His focus is primarily pediatrics. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Cote worked in Kisumu, Kenya, as an Occupational therapist in an educational assessment and resource center, and in a community based rehabilitation (CBR) program. From 2001 to 2003, he worked on a Masters degree in Rehabilitation Studies focusing on “disability in the community,” at Queen's University in Canada, with field study in Tanzania. After receiving his Degree, Mr. Cote joined Handicap International-Belgium in Kinshasa, DRC, as a CBR technical advisor. In February, he joined the victim assistance team for the Landmine Monitor Report with Handicap International in Brussels. Back to conference overview Judith E. Heumann In June of 2002, Judith E. Heumann was appointed as the World Bank’s first Adviser on Disability and Development. In this position, Ms. Heumann, an internationally recognized expert on disability and diversity issues, leads the World Bank’s disability work and highlights the importance to include disability in the Bank’s discussions with client countries. For more than 30 years, Ms. Heumann has been involved on the international front, in Europe, Asia and Latin America. She served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education; represented Education Secretary, Richard Riley, at the 1995 International Congress on Disability in Mexico City; and, was a delegate to the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Ms. Heumann co-founded the World Institute on Disability, and served as the Assistant National Secretary, U.S. Council on International Rehabilitation, now the U.S. International Council on Disability. Back to conference overview Diane Jones Diane Jones, a communications and public relations expert for more than two decades, has developed and implemented strategic communications plans for not-for-profit associations and foundations in California and Washington, DC. Her career has focused on international microfinance, children’s health, education and literacy, and youth anti-tobacco campaigns. As a political appointee in the Clinton Administration, Ms. Jones worked on behalf of President Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, promoting the Administration’s education policies, most specifically Goals 2000 and the America Reads Challenge. She also served on First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Millennium Council. Ms. Jones has worked as a litigation consultant for one of the nation’s most recognized trial attorneys firms, working on “bet the company” litigation. Back to conference overview Sebastian Kasack A native of Bonn, Germany, Sebastian Kasack is a Mine Risk Education Officer with United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), and a program manager for the landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) safety project. He previously worked for the German non-governmental organization Medico International, serving in Southern Africa (Angola, Mozambique, South Africa) as a Project Coordinator and dealing with issues related to landmines, victim assistance, persons with disabilities, and psychosocial rehabilitation. He has worked with many other NGOs in Latin America, Europe, and Africa in the past fifteen years. Mr. Kasack graduated from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University, in Bonn, Germany, with a degree in Diplom-Geography. Back to conference overview Anita Keller Anita Keller served as the Program Manager of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation program in Luanda, Angola. She pioneered the planning, design and implementation of VVAF’s initiatives in disability sport, awareness and human rights. She has worked internationally in Kenya, Paraguay, Argentina, and Tanzania. Ms. Keller has an MA in African Studies with a specialty in post-conflict development from the University of Illinois. Back to conference overview Lt. Colonel Andrew Lourake A Gulf War veteran, Lt. Colonel Andrew Lourake was a special air missions pilot with duties that included flying the Vice President, until he injured his leg in an off road motorcycle accident. After enduring seventeen surgeries, including two knee replacement surgeries, Colonel Lourake's research led him to conclude his only hope to return to the cockpit was an above-the-knee amputation in combination with being fitted with the world’s first completely computer-controlled artificial leg. His amputation was performed in 2002, and following intensive simulator, medical and mobility testing, Colonel Lourake received clearance to fly just two years later and returned to duty in October 2004. Colonel Lourake’s devotion to amputee peer support at Walter Reed Army Medical Center is notable. Visiting there 2-3 times a week since injured soldiers began arriving from overseas, he offers encouragement to those who have recently lost limbs and shows by example that they can attain goals they might not have thought possible. Back to conference overview Jesús Martinez On Dec. 7, 1989, Jesus Martinez, LSN El Salvador Director, was injured by a landmine in the town of Apopo, located North of San Salvador. The mine was so powerful that the explosion severed both of his legs. Though originally very frustrated with his injury, he found that he could make a difference for other people injured by landmines or disabled by amputations. His recovery was difficult but, in 1993, Mr. Martinez joined the “Salvadoran Association of Sports on a Wheelchair” (ASADESIR). Sports became a pathway to recovery and renewed self confidence. He now helps other amputees with job training and rights education programs. As a fully participating member of the community, Mr. Martinez is giving hope and a sense of accomplishment daily to his friends, neighbors and fellow survivors. Prior to joining LSN, Mr. Martinez worked with El Salvador’s National Census, “El Fondo de Lisiados de Guerra” to determine the number of El Salvadorans who had been injured and disabled by the war. He was appointed Director of LSN’s El Salvador office in 2000 and continues in that position today. Back to conference overview James M. Mayer In February 2005, James M. Mayer joined the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Seamless Transition Office as an Outreach Coordinator. The office has responsibility for improving outreach to returning service members; priority consideration for world class service for those returning from combat theaters with service-related conditions; and collaboration and communication between Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense (DoD). In 1974, Mr. Mayer began his VA career as Special Assistant for Vietnam Veterans Affairs to the Administrator of Veterans Affairs, Richard L. Roudebush. In 1977, Administrator Max Cleland appointed him as his Executive Assistant. While serving as a VA non-career appointee, he became a charter member of the Senior Executive Service. Mr. Mayer’s VA career also includes: 1981, Communications & Inquiries Staff; 1986, Spinal Cord Injury Service; 1987, Office of the ACMD for Professional Affairs; 1988, Rehabilitation Research & Development Service; 1991, VA Voluntary Service Office. In April 1969, Mr. Mayer was wounded by a landmine explosion while serving in the U.S. Army as an infantryman with the 25th Division in the Republic of Vietnam. The accident left him as a bilateral below-the-knee amputee. He actively volunteers as a certified amputee peer visitor for Amputee Coalition of America at WRAMC and BNNMC. Back to conference overview Charlotte Vuyisma McClain-Nhlapo For the last five years Charlotte Vuyisma McClain-Nhlapo has been a member of the South African Human Rights Commission, where she is responsible for children’s rights, disability rights and economic and social rights. Recently she chaired the National Human Rights Institutions at the Ad Hoc Committee on the development of a U.N. Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities and represented them on the Working Group. In October, taking a year’s leave of absence from the Commission, she joined the World Bank in Washington, DC where she is the Disability Advisor for East Asia and the Pacific. Before joining the Commission, Ms. McClain-Nhlapo worked at UNICEF in South Africa as a child protection officer. She is a member of the South African Law Reform Commission’s Project Committee on sexual offences by and against children, and was Legal Advisor to the Disability Desk in the Office of the Deputy President during 1996. She also was a senior researcher at the University of the Western Cape’s Community Law Centre where she worked on children’s rights. Ms. McClain-Nhlapo holds international and administrative law degrees from the University of Warsaw, Poland and an LLM from Cornell University Law School. Back to conference overview Dr. David Meddings Dr. David Meddings was born in Canada where he obtained his degree in medicine and subsequent specialization in epidemiology. He has earned several awards including the S. Stewart Murray Award and a Fellowship from the Medical Research Council of Canada. His clinical work in humanitarian contexts began in Africa in 1989. In 1990 he began a series of missions in conflict areas with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and served as the head epidemiologist at ICRC headquarters from 1997 to 2002. In 2002 he was recruited by the Injuries and Violence Prevention Department of the World Health Organization to coordinate a multi-country study examining the health impacts of small arms and to develop the departmental strategy on drawing the linkages between health and human security concerns. His interests include the application of epidemiologic methods in humanitarian assistance operations, program evaluation, and the integration of applied research with policy development. He has a specific interest in armed violence and co-authored the ICRC study on arms availability. He has published in the medical literature on civilian involvement in modern conflicts, the direct and indirect effects of social militarization, and patterns of weapon use and wounding in highly militarized settings. Back to conference overview Tina Minkowitz Tina Minkowitz, J.D., is Co-chairperson of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry. She is responsible for WNUSP's advocacy on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and participated as one of 12 NGO representatives on the UN working group that prepared a draft text for negotiation. Ms. Minkowitz works closely with other disabled people's organizations and allied non-governmental organizations through the International Disability Caucus, to ensure that the perspectives and concerns of all people with disabilities are reflected in the Convention. Back to conference overview Dr. Patricia T. Morris Dr. Morris is Director of Programs at Women for Women International. Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies. She directs programs in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria and Rwanda. Prior to joining WFW, Dr. Morris was the Deputy Director of InterAction’s Commission on the Advancement of Women (CAW). She is an adjunct professor at American University where she teaches a course on Gender Analysis and Development. Dr. Morris holds a Ph.D. in International Politics from Florida State University, an MA in Comparative Politics with an emphasis on Economic Development from Bowling Green State University, and a BA in International Affairs from Jacksonville University. Back to conference overview Reuben Nogueira-McCarthy Reuben Nogueira-McCarthy holds two degrees in philosophy, and has specialized in international humanitarian aid and development since 1996. He began working in the field of humanitarian landmine action in 1997, when he took a position with the Demining Agency for Afghanistan. Following three years in Afghanistan and a brief period in Albania, Mr. Nogueira-McCarthy moved to Cambodia where he worked with Handicap International as coordinator of the Disability Prevention Department. In that post, he worked extensively in the field of landmine casualty surveillance. Presently, he is working within the Office of Emergency Programmes, UNICEF New York, and he serves on the board of Standing Tall Australia. Back to conference overview Specialist Kevin Pannell Specialist Kevin Pannell, a member of the U.S. Army National Guard First Battalion, Ninth Cavalry Regiment, was on a routine foot patrol in central Baghdad when an insurgent’s grenade destroyed his legs, which later were amputated. Thirteen operations later, Spc. Pannell, from Dierks, Arkansas, began his personal fight to walk again. Arriving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (which handles most of the military's combat amputees) in June of 2004, the support of medical staff, therapists and the latest technological advances, helped Spc. Pannell take his first grueling steps toward recovery. “There’s a point where you have to grieve for what you’ve lost for a little while but then you need to push that out of your head and start over, start over new and don’t let anyone tell you can’t do anything,” Spc. Pannell told Fox News. While at Walter Reed, Spc. Pannell was fitted with a C-leg, the first computerized artificial limb, a programmable leg containing miscroprocessors and a sensor pylon, used to control the limb’s hydraulics. In fall, 2004, he was fitted with a second prosthetic limb and continued his recovery. Back to conference overview Jeannette Perry de Saravia In l961, Jeannette Perry de Saravia founded a vocational rehabilitation organization in the garage of her house in Colombia, called IDEAL. She founded CIREC (Integral Rehabilitation Center of Colombia) in 1976, as well as a prosthetic center and rehabilitation service with an holistic framework and an interdisciplinary approach. Working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1990, Ms. Perry de Saravia was involved in work that developed technology for manufacturing highly functional prostheses using national materials and parts. CIREC has since become Colombia’s leading organization on Victim Assistance programs. Ms. Perry de Saravia speaks at and participates in international and national conferences and represents Colombia in many venues. Back to conference overview Plamenko Priganica During the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, Plamenko Priganica stepped on a landmine. He lost his left leg below the knee. From 1993-1997 Mr. Priganica was an active member of the War Veterans Association which promotes rights of military and civilian war veterans. He visits new amputees in the hospital and provides them with psychological support and motivation. In 1997, Mr. Priganica met LSN co-founders Jerry White and Ken Rutherford, who introduced him to the LSN approach and vision. As Director of the first LSN Network, Mr. Priganica was part of the LSN team that hosted Princess Diana’s tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) where she met with landmine survivors and their families from around the country. Mr. Priganica is active in Mine Victim Assistance (MVA) programs on the state level, and he participated in drafting a national Substrategy for mine victims assistance, adopted by the BH Government in December 2004. He is a leader in the global campaign to secure a United Nations Convention on the Rights of People With Disabilities. Back to conference overview HRH Prince Mired Bin Raad His Royal Highness Prince Mired Bin Raad, of Jordan, has served as chairman of the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation since January, 2005. He is President of the Hashemite Society for Military Injured Personnel, and a Board member of the Retired Veterans Association. By appointment of His Majesty King Abdullah, His Royal Highness serves as the President of the Jordanian Tourism Society. In 1998, he was awarded a Master’s Degree in History from Cambridge University, in England. Back to conference overview María Verónica Reina María Verónica Reina is President of the Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR). In this capacity she oversees the CIR’s programs including Engineering Research, E-Learning, and the International Disability Rights Monitor Project, a landmark international research process that documents and assesses the situation of people with disabilities worldwide. She is an Educational Psychologist, a specialist in learning disabilities, and a renowned international disability rights advocate. Prior to joining the CIR, Ms. Reina’s advocacy work focused on raising awareness and involvement of the international community on the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. She has organized Inter-American campaigns on the Convention aimed at the media, governments, and other nongovernmental organizations. She has also chaired international disability rights meetings and conferences, moderated the International Disability Caucus communications, and managed the Spanish translation and distribution of Disability Convention documents throughout Latin America. Back to conference overview Jeff Rosen Jeff Rosen is General Counsel and Director of Policy for the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency providing advice to President and Congress advice on issues involving people with disabilities. Mr. Rosen is a third generation deaf person and a participant in the disability movement. Back to conference overview Paddy Rossbach Since 1984 Paddy Rossbach, R.N., has specialized in educating, supporting and advocating for individuals who have either had limb amputations or were born with a limb difference. Having studied the effects of aerobic conditioning on amputees, she co-founded and is the President of ASPIRE, Inc., a nonprofit organization known for its work encouraging young amputees to be active through sports. Ms. Rossbach has spoken extensively in the United States and internationally on all aspects of living well with an amputation. She consults for Landmine Survivors Network, teaching outreach workers about peer visitation. Currently, she is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Amputee Coalition of America, the leading consumer organization providing information and support to more than 1.28 million individuals living with limb loss in the U.S. Back to conference overview Dr. Ken Rutherford Ken Rutherford is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Southwest Missouri State University, where he teaches International Relations, International Organizations, and American Citizenship and Democracy. On December 16, 1993, while working as an International Rescue Committee credit union training officer in Somalia, he lost both of his legs when his vehicle ran over a landmine. Since then, he has traveled internationally to build support for action to ban landmines and to raise awareness of the mass suffering caused by these weapons. In 1997, Dr. Rutherford, Co-founder of Landmine Survivors Network, was a leader of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and the1997 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Dr. Rutherford has co-edited two books: Reframing the Agenda: The Impact of NGO and Middle Power Cooperation in International Security Policy and Landmines and Human Security: The International Movement to Ban Landmines, and has published in numerous academic and policy journals. He received his doctorate in Government from Georgetown University in 2000, and a MBA from the University of Colorado in 1993. Dr. Rutherford recently received a State Department Fulbright Scholar and Research Fellowship, and was appointed to the faculty of the University of Jordan in Amman to teach graduate courses in American Government, and research Jordan’s leadership role in human rights. Back to conference overview Dr. Victor Sidel A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Victor Sidel trained in internal medicine and public health at Harvard, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Sidel is a Co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize for Peace. He currently chairs the Department of Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and he holds the title “Distinguished University Professor of Social Medicine” at both. Dr. Sidel has spoken and published widely on the economic, social, environmental and health consequences of war, the arms race, and the curtailment of human rights caused by war. His most recent book, Social Injustice and Public Health, co-edited with Dr. Barry Levy, will be published by Oxford University Press in August, 2005. Back to conference overview Dr. Rebecca P. Smith Dr. Rebecca P. Smith, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School, New York City, works with Disaster Psychiatry Outreach, a volunteer organization dedicated to providing free mental health services to disaster survivors. She serves as Associate Medical Director of the 9/11 World Trade Center Volunteer and Rescue Worker Medical and Mental Health Intervention Program, a collaborative venture between Mount Sinai Medical School and Disaster Psychiatry Outreach. After September 11, 2001, Dr. Smith was a volunteer psychiatrist at ‘Ground Zero’ and has worked with survivors and first responders since that time. Her main research interest is learning from trauma survivors and scientific experts about sources of resilience in the face of adversity. Her research is part of a longstanding collaboration with colleagues at the University of Oxford, England, in the design and interpretation of large scale randomized evidence, particularly in AIDS/HIV, and in the global epidemiology of suicide. Dr. Smith also works for Doctors of the World in assessment of and advocacy for survivors of torture. Back to conference overview Dr. Gino Strada Dr. Gino Strada was a specialist in heart transplant surgery but in 1988 redirected his experience to emergency surgery and the care of war victims. From 1989-1994, he worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in conflict zones in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Peru, Afghanistan, Somalia and Bosnia. This field experience motivated Dr. Strada and a group of colleagues to establish Emergency, a humanitarian organization which has helped more than 500,000 patients to date. Emergency helps civilian victims of war without being hindered by bureaucracy. In 1996, Emergency opened its first hospital in Iraqi Kurdistan. Today, Emergency operates seven hospitals in areas of conflict, including a surgical hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and a hospital in Lashkar-Gah, Afghanistan. Thirty First Aid posts, in heavily mined areas or close to the front lines, are connected to the Emergency hospitals. Dr. Strada is the prize winning author of Green Parrots, A War Surgeon’s Diary and Bushkashi, A Journey Inside War,. His work was the subject of an award winning documentary “Jung in the Land of the Mujaheedin,” and a PBS Point of View, “Afghanistan 1380.” Back to conference overview Claude Tardif Claude Tardif is Head of the Physical Rehabilitation Programmes of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He was formerly the Head of ICRC’s Physical Rehabilitation Programme in Angola, and Physical Rehabilitation Coordinator for the American Red Cross in Cambodia. Mr. Tardif is the former Director of the Quebec School for Prothetics and Orthodics. Back to conference overview Larrie Warren Larrie Warren is the Director of Post Conflict Rehabilitation of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), in Washington, D.C. Mr. Warren develops victim assistance programs in post-conflict societies and identifies vital funding for VVAF’s programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, Angola, Ethiopia and Central America. He is a specialist in the management of development programs, with extensive experience in the US Government and with USAID funded programs. Under Mr. Warren’s leadership, Veterans International/Cambodia (VI/C) became the flagship of VVAF’s overseas humanitarian programs, and received the largest USAID humanitarian grant in Cambodia. VI/C is the most comprehensive physical rehabilitation program in Cambodia, and VVAF’s largest overseas humanitarian program. It comprises three physical rehabilitation centers and an income generating silk weaving project for war victims and other disabled persons. Mr. Warren spent several years with the Peace Corps in the South Pacific, and as a volunteer in the Philippines, working with Southeast Asian refugees in a resettlement camp. He has an MA degree in American history from Arizona State University. He has published development and political articles in Contemporary Review and Salaysayan, a regional Peace Corps magazine. Back to conference overview Jerry White Jerry White, while studying in Israel in 1984, went camping with friends near the Golan Heights. The campsite was an unmarked minefield. He lost his right leg below the knee and spent months recovering in Israeli hospitals. These experiences had a great impact on his future. Mr. White, Co-founder and Executive Director of Landmine Survivors Network, has been a leader in the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and was co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace. LSN grew from an idea that peer-to-peer support could help the recovery process for survivors, empowering victims to reclaim their lives through comprehensive rehabilitation services, physical and emotional support, peer counseling, and social and economic reintegration. Since 1997 LSN has built a Network of seven offices in some of the world’s most heavily mine-affected countries: Bosnia, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Jordan, Mozambique, and Vietnam. Prior to his work at LSN, Mr. White was an analyst at The Brookings Institution and was Assistant Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. He co-founded, edited and published “The Risk Report,” an award-winning publication and worldwide database that identified companies producing weapons of mass destruction. Mr. White was recently awarded an MBA from the University of Michigan and holds a B.A. in Judaic Studies and International Relations from Brown University. Back to conference overview Eli A. Wolff Eli A. Wolff is a founding member and the Director of the Disability in Sport Program, at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society, in Boston, Massachusetts. Through the Disability in Sport program, he has published and presented papers in national and international venues. Research conducted by the Disability in Sport program addresses the organization, management, and social issues related to athletes with a disability. Mr. Wolff is a member of the faculty of the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Academy held each year in Olympia, Greece. He has helped lead efforts to include sports and recreation provisions within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Mr. Wolff advises and consults with national and international sport and disability organizations on the inclusion of programs and services for persons with disabilites. Back to conference overview |
|