Dr. Pauline Convocar is the Immediate Past President of the Philippine College of Emergency Medicine (PCEM) and currently leads its Section on Advocacy, focusing on addressing emergency care disparities and promoting inclusive health systems. She is instrumental in advancing gender equity within emergency medicine and serves as President-Elect of the Asian Society of Emergency Medicine and Chair of the Specialty Implementation Committee of the International Federation of Emergency Medicine. A diplomate of the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine, her advocacies include occupational safety and health for emergency healthcare workers. She completed her Master’s in Community Healthcare Management with honors and trained in Emergency Medicine at the University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Public Health at the University of the Philippines Manila. An active clinician, she holds leadership roles at Manila Doctors Hospital, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Medical Hospital, and Southern Philippines Medical Center, where she has been instrumental in establishing pioneering emergency medicine residency programs. 

Associate Professor Francesca Frentiu is a research group leader and Director of the Centre for Immunology and Infection Control at Queensland University of Technology in Australia.  Dr Frentiu’s research interests lie in understanding the emergence of arboviruses and the development of novel biocontrols and strategies to prevent outbreaks. Her recent work aims to understand how virus/ vector interactions are altered under climate change, aiming to mitigate infectious disease risks for the future.  Dr Frentiu has been awarded prestigious Australian and international competitive grants, as well as industry collaborative grants, and has published her work in highly ranked international journals.

Ayako Sumi is a Professor in the Division of Physics at the Center for Medical Education, Sapporo Medical University in Hokkaido, Japan. Her research focuses on the intersection of physics and epidemiology, specifically applying advanced time series analysis to understand the complex dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks. She specializes in using maximum entropy method (MEM) spectral analysis to uncover the deterministic, nonlinear dynamical systems underlying epidemics. Her extensive work includes evaluating the inter-epidemic periods of measles and, more recently, tracking the temporal variations and chaotic characteristics of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through her research, she aims to contribute to the development of long-term and effective disease control programs.
 

Dr. Carlos Primero D. Gundran is a leading authority in Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness, currently serving as an Emergency Physician at the Philippine General Hospital, Division Director of the UP Resilience Institute, and Associate Professor at the Department of Health Policy and Administration, College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila. He holds a Master of Science in Disaster Medicine from Vrije Universiteit Brussels and the University of Piemonte Orientale (Italy), and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Santo Tomas, combining strong academic training with extensive field expertise. His leadership roles include heading the UP Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management for Health (DRRM-H) Program, convening the Health, Emergencies, and Disasters (HEAD) Study Group, and serving as Secretary of the Philippine Academic Society for Climate and Disaster Resilience (PASCDR). He has contributed widely to research and publications on disaster simulation training, pandemic response, indigenous values in DRRM policies, and emergency medical coordination during crises, and served as Principal Investigator for the National Health Research Agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (2023–2028).

Dr. Bernadett P. Velasco, MAHPS, FPCEM, is a distinguished leader in emergency medicine and public health management in the Philippines. As Director IV of the Department of Health – Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB), she leads national initiatives to strengthen the country’s health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience systems.
Throughout her career, Dr. Velasco has demonstrated exceptional leadership in enhancing crisis response mechanisms and optimizing patient care pathways at both the national and local levels. Her strategic direction has been vital in advancing the country’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and institutionalizing disaster risk reduction measures within the health sector.
Before her appointment as Director, she served as Chair of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Disaster Operations Management (DOM) Committee of the Philippine College of Emergency Medicine (PCEM), where she played a pivotal role in policy formulation, systems development, and professional capacity-building in emergency care.
Dr. Velasco’s commitment to excellence is reflected in her extensive training and international engagements, including a fellowship at Singapore General Hospital. Her expertise and dedication continue to shape the national agenda on health emergency preparedness, establishing her as one of the country’s foremost advocates for healthcare resilience and emergency medicine.

Dr. Mario Villasaya Capanzana is the Executive Director of the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers Inc. (PCFMI) and a technical consultant for Monde Nissin Corp., as well as a Professorial Lecturer at the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School. He serves as Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Technical Panel for Food Technology, the TWG of the Functional Food Program of the DOST–Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, and is a former Director of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of DOST and Research and Development Lead of the DOST Science for Change Program. He led key national initiatives including the FNRI Expanded National Nutrition Survey (2018–2020) and the Food Safety Program of DOST, with research interests spanning food fortification, functional foods, technology transfer, food safety and quality, product development, and policy studies. He has contributed to landmark legislation such as the Food Fortification Law (RA 8976) and the Philippine Food Technology Law (RA 11052), and is a 2016 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Awardee, Fellow and former President of the Philippine Association of Nutrition. A Professional Food Technologist and licensed Chemical Engineer, he earned his PhD in Food Science from the University of New South Wales, Australia. 

Maria Regina Hechanova-Alampay is a psychologist and an Internationally Certified Addiction Professional. She is  the Dean of the Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciences of the Ateneo de Manila University.  Gina is also the Executive Director of RenewHealth Philippines a non-profit organization focusing on community-based mental health. She led the development of a number of community-based programs such as Katatagan, Katatagan, Kaulusugan at Damayan ng Komunidad and Lusog Isip Kabataan Education  program now being used by  DOH and DepEd. Gina has received a number of recognitions including  Professional of the Year for Psychology  by the Professional Regulatory Commission in 2018, Global Citizenship award by the American Psychological Association 2021 and Outstanding Professional in Psychology by the Philippine Federation of Professional Associations in 2022.  In 2024, she was awarded Metrobank  Foundation Outstanding Filipino for Higher Education and Outstanding Psychologist by the Psychological Association of the Philippines.
 

Dr. Toshio Hattori is a distinguished medical researcher and academic with extensive experience in public health and infectious diseases. He currently serves as Director of Roken Akane Nursing Home in Kurashiki, Japan, and Editor-in-Chief of Reports (MDPI). He is also Professor Emeritus at Tohoku University, where he previously held key leadership roles, including Dean of Human Security. Over his long academic career, he has held faculty positions at Kyoto University, Kumamoto University, and Kibi International University. He has contributed significantly to global health through international collaborations and has published over 300 scientific works. He holds an MD and PhD from Kyoto University, and he reported in 1981, when he was a graduate student, that Ault T cell leukemia cells are activated CD4+ cells. He revealed in a joint study with the Philippines that Gal-9 is elevated in dengue fever. He received the President’s Education Award at Tohoku University.

Dr Michael R. Cousineau, emeritus professor at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California,  Department of Population and Public Health Sciences where he conducted research and taught health policy for over 20 years.  He received his MPH and his doctorate from the UCLA School Public Health.  He was the founding executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Health Care Project and the national health care for the homeless council. Prior to coming to USC,  he was head of public programs at UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and later the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.  
His research focuses on policy interventions to expand health insurance coverage, the effectiveness of outreach and enrollment systems, and the operation of safety-net providers and street medicine.  He has studied the impact of policy changes on vulnerable populations including the unhoused, transitional age youth and immigrants.  He has been funded by several private and public agencies including NIH and has over 100 publications in health policy and research.  
He currently is a member of the Los Angeles Hospital and Health Care Delivery Commission, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and advisor to the Commission California Future of Medi-Cal.