Young Professionals Network

Abdullah Bin Shabbir is a medical student and the president of a youth organization: Together We Can Foundation, that aims to empower young people through health and education focused programs. His organization has engaged more than 500 volunteers impacting the lives of thousands of people, across Pakistan.

He is one of the 50 Future Leaders from 11 countries selected by Brotosh Council as an emerging policymaker. He an Associate fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society and a young leader at The Youngers. Shabbir has assumed various leadership roles at the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association-Pakistan, National Youth Assembly and Help to Smile.

Dyana Safitri Velies is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Universitas Pelita Harapan Indonesia, also works in Siloam Hospitals. She is a Social Obstetrics and Gynecology consultant. Her main areas of interest are Pediatric Adolescent Gynecology, Family Planning, and developing Youth Friendly Service in Indonesia. She is a co-founder of Indonesian Association for Adolescent Health (AKAR Indonesia) and currently involved in developing Comprehensive Sexual Education for national school health curricula.

Researchgate Profile

Emmanuel Adebayo has been involved in adolescent health and development for more than ten years. He has a Ph.D. in Adolescent Health. He is a member of the WHO Advisory group on adolescent health metrics. Emmanuel teaches child and adolescent development in a university in Nigeria.

Franck is medical doctor, health blogger, One young World ambassador; CEO and co-founder of Ndakira Group (www.ndakira.net); the first online platform in Burundi providing health education with accurate and easy-to-access information. Franck is the President of Burundi Health Informatics Association and he is passionate about health advocacy, social entrepreneurship, research, youth and adolescent health, NCDs and e-health.

Hashim is a medical doctor providing preventive care for adolescents and adults in Benin, West Africa. For 5 years now, he has been working on Arayaa, a mass health literacy program which aims at empowering Africans to take better decisions to stay healthy.

Jason Nagata, MD, MSc, is an adolescent medicine physician at the University of California, San Francisco. His research interests include global adolescent nutrition, food insecurity, physical activity, obesity, eating disorders, cardiovascular disease, and HIV/AIDS. His international work is focused in Kenya and Guatemala and he has worked with the World Health Organization.

Researchgate Profile 

Melis Pehlivanturk-Kizilkan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a doctoral student in the Adolescent Medicine PhD Program at Hacettepe University.  Her main areas of interest are eating disorders, obesity, internet gaming addiction, and global adolescent health.

ResearchGate Profile

Molly O’Sullivan has a background in clinical and public health research. Her current role has her as a communication and digital media project officer for the Centre for Adolescent Health, and previously the project coordinator for the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. Molly is building a strong career in communications and knowledge translation, and is passionate about the translation and dissemination of research activities, to optimise the application of research into policy and practice as well as ensuring research is accessible and useful for the community.

Dr Natalie Yap (BSc MD) is a doctor training in paediatrics in Melbourne, Australia. She is the current Co-Chair of the IAAH Young Professionals Network and has held various leadership appointments including: President of the Royal Children’s Hospital Junior Doctor Society, Director of REACH (Australia’s first student-run multidisciplinary health clinic), Director of Programs and Executive Board Member at Global Ideas, an NFP which aims to build the next-generation of global health leaders. She has represented Australian Medical Women at the World Health Assembly, the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on the Status of Women. She has also interned at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva with the Adolescent Health team.

Pancho Mulongeni is a Namibian writer and health communications specialist currently pursuing his PhD in public health, focusing on alcohol and other drug use amongst young people in Australia, at the University of New South Wales. Pancho completed his Master’s degree in public health at the University of Cape Town as well as a fellowship in adolescent health at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. Pancho has participated in public dialogue surrounding public health by contributing to the largest circulating newspaper in Namibia, The Namibian, choosing to focus on the political determinants of health.

Dr. Remoué Gonzales is a pediatrician specialized in adolescent medicine, providing health services to underserved and fragile youth, in Houston. She is passionate about caring for the underserved youth, advancing global adolescent health and policy and developing youth friendly health services. Currently, she is earning her master in global health policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Sophie is a member of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and a co-founder of the Global Adolescent Health SIG (significant interest group). In addition, she completed an internship and participated to the development of the Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (Global-AA-HA!) at WHO in Geneva. She is fluent in French, English, Spanish and German.

Souvik is a youth advocate on SRHR and adolescent health. He strives for intergenerational and intersectional approach in emboldening establishment of young people's agency and transformative potential to advance health and well-being. He has bachelors degree in dental surgery (with experience in paediatric dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery); and a masters degree in public health.

I am an NHMRC/National Heart Foundation Early Career Fellow and Accredited Practicing Dietitian. My research focuses on developing scalable, low-cost and technology-based lifestyle programs to improve eating and physical activity behaviors of adolescents. By improving lifestyle behaviors in adolescents, my research ultimately aims to prevent non-communicable diseases in later life.

ResearchGate Profile

I am currently employed as a Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Children’s  and Adolescent Epilepsy at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. I have been successfully granted a career break to pursue a PhD at the RCSI, in adolescent health. I was awarded a fellowship (by examination) by the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery of RCSI in 2016.  I was also appointed a CPD facilitator for Children’s epilepsy and intellectual disability in the Royal College of Surgeons In Ireland.

Tomas currently works as a consultant at the World Bank, specifically on health policy in Latin American and the Caribbean. Part of his work focuses on school health. Tomas previously worked at IDB and OECD and has a MSc in Population and Development from LSE and a BA from the University of Exeter.