Economics Advisor

Federico Tobar

Masters in Economics, specialized in Health, and Doctor in Political Sciences. International consultant in the formulation and management of health policy. Has worked in Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, USA, Ecuador and Argentina. Designed and implemented the Remediar Program in Argentina, the Basic Health Care Program in Paraguay, and the Basic Pharmaceutical Services program in Dominican Republic and for the Social Development Institute (INDES-BID) in Sao Paulo – Brazil. He is the author of fourteen books and eighty articles in specialized journals.

Pharmacology Advisor

Rogelio Fernández

Graduate of the University of Habana (Cuba) in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and specialist in statistical quality control of the Centro Nacional para la Enseñanza de la Normalización de Cuba. He worked for the Cuban pharmaceutical industry in the production of liquid treatments and was deputy director of the Research Center for the Development of Pharmacoepidemiology (CDF) of the Ministry of Public Health in Cuba. In the year 2000 he became professor in Basic and Clinical Pharmacology at the Medical School of the Autonomous University of Nayarit (Mexico), where he is the Coordinator for Research and Graduate Studies. Vice-president of the Drug Utilization Research Group LatinAmerica (DURG-LA) 2010-2014. Director of the journal Waxapa, published by the Autonomous University of Nayarit. He has published numerous articles on pharmaceutical sciences and education in peer-reviewed and indexed journals. He has taught courses and made presentations on issues related to pharmaceuticals at universities and institutions of Latin American and European countries.

Pharmacy Advisor

Emilio Pol Yanguas

Upon graduation from the pharmacy school (1980) he specialized in hospital pharmacy (1984). In 1984 he earned the position of Chief of Pharmacy at the Psychiatric Hospital of Alicante (Spain), which currently is known as Dr. Esquerdo Center. He received his doctorate from the School of Medicine of the Miguel Hernandez University, and his dissertation topic was the determinants and frequency of the use of psychotropics by intellectually disabled persons in the Spanish province of Alicante. In 2002 he completed a Masters in Humanitarian Medicine (UHM) and his thesis was entitled “Pharmaceutical problems in developing countries). He has participated in training activities related to hospital pharmacy in several Latin American countries, in humanitarian aid during emergencies in the fourth world, and has worked with several non-governmental organizations such as the Association of Mental Health Patients and their Families and Physicians of the World – Valencian Community. His interest revolves around the efficacy and safety of medicines used in mental health patients and access to pharmaceuticals by individuals and groups of people who are marginalized and excluded. He is associate professor at the School of Pharmacy of UHM.

Ethics Advisor

Claudio Lorenzo

Claudio Lorenzo, MD, holds a M.Sc. in Medicine and Health with a concentration in Bioethics from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. He also received a PhD in Applied Ethics in Clinical Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Lorenzo is Professor in the Department of Public Health and in the post-graduate program of Bioethics, UNESCO Center for Bioethics, University of Brasilia. He is a past member of the National Commission for Research Ethics in Brazil (CONEP), and is currently the President of the Brazilian Society for Bioethics (Sociedade Brasileira de Bioética). (See http://www.sbbioetica.org.br/)

Ethics Advisor

Jan Helge Solbakk

Jan Helge Solbakk is a physician (Oslo University, 1987), theologian (Oslo University,1989), and has a Doctorate in Ancient Greek Philosophy (Oslo University, 1993). He has been a Professor of Medical Ethics at the Center for Medical Ethics of Oslo University since 1996. Between 1996 and 2011, Solbakk was Adjunct Professor in Medical Ethics at the Center for International Health of Bergen University. In 2007 and 2008 he was the Director of the Bioethics section of UNESCO, in its headquarters in Paris. He was the chairman of International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Collaborates as a bioethics expert with several international organizations (UNESCO, ISSCR, the European Commission, the Association of Europe and Developing Countries for the implementation of Clinical Trials, and the European Research Council. Solbakk has published extensively and participates in several international projects related to ethics training and the ethical consequences of biobanks, genetics, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and stem cell research.

Regulatory and Policy Issues Advisor

Ricardo Martínez

Ricardo Martínez

Dr. Martínez graduated in 1973 from the School of Medicine, National University of La Plata, Argentina, specialist in Cardiology and Health Care Administration. Dr. Martinez has been Chief of Cardiology at the Hospital San Martin, La Plata, and Director of the same hospital in 1987/1992 and 1994/1996. He was Deputy Secretary for Health Planning for the Province of Buenos Aires, General Coordinator for the hospitals of the Province, and Deputy Secretary of Health for the Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. He has had executive positions in the Social Security Administration, and has been the Director (Interventor) of the National Administration of Medications, Food, and Medical Technology (ANMAT), Argentina. He is a Member of Editorial Board of the Journal Public Health; Founder of the Civil Association for Public Health; former Professor of Healthcare Organizations, National University of Lanus, Argentina, and a member of community-based organizations dedicated to promoting public of public health policies.

Advisor Clinical Trials

Tom Jefferson

Tom has 25 years’ experience in conducting and updating Cochrane reviews and in conducting systematic reviews on disparate topics, pharmacological (antivirals), biologic (vaccines), scholarly interventions (editorial peer review) and public health (hygiene interventions). Since the seminal Cochrane review on neuraminidase inhibitors Tom has become involved in campaigning for transparency and accessibility of regulatory data and its practical use as a novel source of evidence. Tom uses regulatory data for inclusion in his reviews and other work. Regulatory data are created for commercial purposes and fit the aims of industry. However, they are complete, exhaustive and not affected by publication bias. Clinical study reports and other regulatory data that form the contents of licensing applications exist to record the design, execution and results of a complete evidence development plan, with no space limitations. In addition, because of legal obligations, no parts of the CSR content are selected to showcase the drug or biologic’s highlights (as in the case of articles in biomedical journals).

Tom is also a founder of the RIAT initiative and a member of the RIAT support centre (https://restoringtrials.org/)

Translator

A graduate of the University of Malaga (Spain) in both translation and interpretation and nursing, he currently is employed as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, the Regional University Hospital Carlos de Haya, Malaga, and is a translator for the Annals of Pharmacotherapy. Mr. Muñoz translates pharmacological studies.