DAPHNE HOLT PhD MBA FRCPath

Daphne joined the world of charity management in 1999 after 30 years in medical research and education, first with the UK Medical Research Council and then at Imperial College in London, where from 1986 she was team leader at the Karim Centre for Meningitis Research.

After working for 10 years on international development for the Meningitis Trust (UK) Daphne joined the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) in 2009 to become the first executive director, and to establish CoMO as a registered organisation in Perth, Western Australia. Daphne became a member of the Governing Council of CoMO and subsequently its Vice President for Europe and Africa, posts that she held until December 2017 when she retired to help found the Coalition for Life-course Immunisation (CLCI) and become its Chair.

Daphne is a member of the editorial board of Vaccine Today and is generally active in the world of vaccines advocacy.

MALCOLM TAYLOR

I joined the Coalition for Life-Course Immunisation (CLCI) in December 2017 as General Secretary. Previously I had spent 40 years in the electricity industry, first as a research scientist, then as a technical trouble-shooter, a general manager, and finally as an operational manager and business development director.

Following the privatization of the UK electricity industry I contributed to the development of the UK wholesale electricity market and then moved on to power project development and operation in Europe, India and sub-Saharan Africa.

My goal is to bring my experience of working in strategic project, regulatory and policy development as well as operational management to bear on the goals of the CLCI and work towards the widest possible take-up of the life-course approach to immunization and hence the improvement in public health.

CATHERINE WEIL-OLIVIER

Professor of Paediatrics, Paris VII University, FRANCE

Professor Catherine Weil-Olivier gained her medical degree in Paris and since 1989 has been Professor of Paediatrics at the Paris VII University, France. Between 1995 and 2005, Professor Weil-Olivier was Head of the Dept of General Paediatrics at Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (Hôpital Louis Mourier Colombes, Hauts de Seine, France). For two decades, professor Catherine Weil Olivier has been working in the vaccinology field on different aspects. She was an expert for the French Drug Agency (AFSSAPS, now ANSM) from 1995 to December 2008, working in the technical group for the registration of vaccines, antibiotics and anti-virals.

From 2007 to 2009 Professor Weil-Olivier was a Core Member of the European Medicines Agency Vaccine Working Party. She was a Member of the national French Technical Committee on Vaccination from 2002 up to 2007. She has been a member of the National Committee against Influenza since the 1990s and involved in several working groups on vaccination for vaccine-preventable diseases at Direction Générale de la Santé. At the European Centre for Control and Prevention (ECDC), Professor Weil-Olivier participated as an expert to the working groups for influenza immunisation (2006), harmonisation of vaccine schedules (2007) and has been an observer for the European Vaccination Advisory Group (2008). Professor Weil-Olivier is a member of Infovac France since its creation in 2003 and of several French paediatric groups, working in Vaccinology and Influenza), and was involved in the coordination of a Vaccinology State-of-the-Art (2006–2007) project with Alcimed and the French Senate.

Professor Weil-Olivier has contributed over 200 international publications to the paediatric infectious diseases field.

PROF. CARLO SIGNORELLI MD, MSc, PhD

Born in Milan in 1962, Carlo is married with two daughters. He is currently Full Professor of Hygiene and Public Health at the University of Parma and at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele of Milan and Director of the Post-Graduate School in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine.

Carlo is Past-President of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health (SItI), Treasurer of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) and Member of the Executive Board of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). He is Co-Chair of the 16th World Congress of Public Health to be held in Rome in October 2020.

Carlo qualified in Medicine at the University of Milan in 1986, he holds an MSc in Epidemiology and a PhD from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. His research work focuses on public health, epidemiology, environmental health, health organisation and immunization policies where he has a strong track record of scientific publications and active participation in national and international research projects.

Carlo is co-author of three consecutive editions of the Life-time immunization Schedule (the Italian Scientific Societies’ recommendations on vaccines) and consultant to the Ministry of Health on the Italian National Immunization Prevention Plan.

Currently he is an active Member of the Italian National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) since its institution by the Ministry of Health in 2017 and is also part of the Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (RITAG) of the Emilia-Romagna Region. In both groups he is involved in providing technical recommendations on the introduction of new vaccines, on the definition of life-course immunization schedules and on strategies to overcome the growing phenomenon of the vaccine hesitancy.

Carlo is author or co-author of 40 teaching books in the fields of epidemiology, environmental health and public health, about 200 indexes scientific papers and over 1400 publications overall. He is also Section Editor of the Scientific Journals Annali di Igiene (Ann Ig) and Acta Bio Medica (Acta Biomed) and reviewer for various International Journals of Epidemiology and Public Health.

From 2006 to 2016 Carlo was Mayor of the town of Perledo (Lecco, Italy) and from 2009 to 2014 Councilor for the Environmental policies of the Province of Lecco. Since 2014 is President of a Local Mountain Community (Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d’Esino e Riviera). As Councilor for the Environment of the Province of Lecco he was involved in the fauna sector, Integrated water service, Ecology and Agriculture and he actively participated in the start-up and assignment processes of the integrated water service of the Province, to the drafting of the Cave Plan, the Waste Plan and the Wildlife Plan.

DAVID SINCLAIR

David Sinclair has worked in policy and research on ageing and demographic change for 15 years. He has a particular interest in older consumers, adult vaccination, active ageing, financial services, and the role of technology in an ageing society. He has a strong knowledge of UK and global ageing society issues, from healthcare to pensions and from housing to transport.

David has worked extensively on the issue of adult vaccination over the past eight years. He was a leading member of the SAATI coalition and is a board member of the Coalition for Life-Course Immunisation. He has presented on longevity and demographic change across the world (from Stafford to Seoul and Singapore to Stormont). In 2016, David won the Pensions-Net-Work Award for “The most informative speaker 2006-2016”. He is frequently quoted on ageing issues in the national media.

David is a member of the judging panel for the British Society of Gerontology Outstanding Achievement Award. He is a member of the Editorial Board for “Working with Older People” and is also a member of the Advisory Panel for the International Centre for Life course Studies.

David is a Chair of a London based charity (Open Age) which enables older people to sustain their physical and mental fitness, maintain active lifestyles and develop new and stimulating interests. He works as an “expert” for the pan-European Age Platform. He is also a member of the BT Customer Inclusion Leadership Panel. He works as a member of three DWP Age Action Alliance Working Groups and is the former Vice-Chair of the Government’s Consumer Expert Group for Digital Switchover.

Prior to joining the ILC-UK, David worked as Head of Policy at Help the Aged where he led a team of 8 policy advisors. He has also worked for environmental and disability organisations in policy and public affairs functions. His other experience includes working as a VSO volunteer in Romania and in Parliament for a Member of Parliament and backbench committees.

David is a retired football referee, is married, and has a teenage son. He runs (slowly) and cycles (a little more quickly) and once scored a penalty against Peter Shilton.

GARY FINNEGAN

Gary Finnegan is an experienced health journalist, editor and author. He has a degree in physiology and an MSc in science communication and is a former Editor of the Irish Medical News and a newspaper columnist.

Gary has been the Editor of Vaccines Today since it was founded in 2010 and has served on the Advisory Board of the WHO Vaccine Safety Net network of trustworthy vaccine websites.

He was a national winner at the European Commission’s EU Health Prize for Journalists in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and a jury member in 2012. He has won two Irish Medical Media Awards for online health journalism and opinion writing.

Gary’s book, Beijing for Beginners, has nothing to do with vaccination but could be worth a read if you are interested in a light-hearted and wholly out-of-date travel diary.

SAMANTHA NYE

Samantha Nye is the Executive Director of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO), an organisation that brings together meningitis organisations from around the world. Prior to her time at CoMO, she spent several years working as an editor and marketing executive in scientific publishing.

Sam joined CoMO in 2015 and orchestrated the move of the headquarters from its original base in Australia to the UK. Sam has presented the importance of the patient voice, Life Course Immunisation and CoMO’s ‘Change Equation’ at conferences around the world and is a strong advocate for vaccination.

Sam also currently sits on the editorial board for Vaccines Today.