APRU Global Health Mini Certificate Program in Health Research Ethics

The APRU Global Health Mini Certificate Program in Health Research Ethics aims to give students and new researchers an opportunity to strengthen their capacities in ethics to conduct health research, as well as to provide guidance for faculty on how to conduct this training in an interactive virtual environment.

On the two session classes, we had 6 world-renowned bioethicists as speakers plus a total of 20 expert facilitators from 10 countries (including 5 from the Philippines) to help facilitate the breakout rooms and the small group discussions on case studies.

We had 120 students from 20 universities in 11 countries participate in the meetings. The course was 9 hours total, which included  online trainings and homework in addition to the 5 hours that we spent together in live sessions.

Background

Proper training in the conduct of the ethics involved in medical and health research with human subjects is paramount to ensuring that students conduct ethical research.  In many graduate programs, students are required to complete a research project as part of their graduation requirements. However, some universities in the Asia-Pacific do not incorporate ethics training as part of their public health curricula. Ensuring that students are adequately trained is paramount to the ethical conduct of research, especially among vulnerable populations. Further, the pandemic has forced most of the world’s higher education institutions to conduct their teaching, research, and learning activities remotely. However, many individuals – teachers, students, and researchers – were not prepared for this shift.

The series is offered by the APRU Global Health Working Group on Bioethics.Date & Time

April 8th and 22nd at 5:30 pm (PST)
April 9th and 23rd at 8:30 am (Hong Kong & Manila)

Duration: 2.5 hours on each session.

Program

Six expert speakers will each give a 15-minute talk. After, students will move into small virtual breakout rooms for 15-20 minutes to discuss case studies and/or complete interactive exercises that will help concretize the key concepts.

See a flyer and a tentative program here.

Speakers

• Angus Dawson, University of Sydney
• Leonardo D de Castro, University of the Philippines
• Calvin Wai-Loon Ho, The University of Hong Kong
• Sharon Kaur, University of Malaya
• Udo Schuklenk, Queens’ University
• Vicki Xafis, National University of Singapore

View the speakers’ bios and a list of moderatos below.

The three specific aims

1. To provide an interactive, interdisciplinary virtual health research ethics training for students at APRU member institutions to build capacity for ethical research
2. To strengthen infrastructure to support graduate-level ethics training in medical and public health research and to foster and grow the network of the APRU Working Group on Bioethics
3. To collaboratively create a set of core curricula in research ethics and bioethics to be available for the training students in the APRU network

Learning Objectives

• Outline the main principles that guide the ethical conduct of research with human subjects
• Describe some of the historical cases of unethical research with human subjects which have led to the need for more human subject protection.
• Explain the importance of community participation in health research
• Analyze real-world cases of ethical challenges in health research
• Describe best practices in ethical health research and practice to protect human subjects
• Identify major documents, protocol and systems in place to ensure adherence to ethical principles in health research.
• Discuss the function of IRB/RECs
• Practice developing an information sheet and informed consent form

Please note

• The training is free to students (undergraduate and graduate) from any university. However, the preference will be given to students from APRU member universities.
• Due to the high demand, we will use a quota system per country to ensure a diverse group of trainees.
• Due to maximum participation numbers please consider registering for the next training session aimed to run later this year. A further notice will be shared at https://apru.org/our-work/pacific-rim-challenges/global-health/.
• The training will be conducted in English via Zoom in two parts of 2.5 hours each. Students will also complete some online self-paced exercises of about 3 hours via the course Canvas website during the two weeks between the 1st and 2nd sessions.  
• Those who successfully complete all 5 live session hours plus the required “homework” will receive a certificate of participation.
• Students should register if they are available to participate in both sessions.

Speakers
	Angus Dawson (PhD) is Professor of Bioethics and Director of Sydney Health Ethics at the University to Sydney, Australia. His main research interests are in public health ethics, research ethics, and methodology in bioethics. Angus’s work is increasingly focused on working with organisations to embed ethics into policy and everyday practice. He is currently writing a series of papers about key concepts in public health including solidarity, community, and trust as well as working on projects on Antimicrobial Resistance, Vaccine Prioritisation and the Ethics of Migration. Dr Dawson is the joint editor-in-Chief of the journal Public Health Ethics and was one of the editors of the casebook Global Perspectives on Public Health Ethics.
	Leonardo D. De Castro (PhD) is a professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, where he previously served as Department Chair for 9 years. He was Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore and Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bioethics Review from 2008 to 2016. He chairs the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board, the agency responsible for promoting ethical health research in the country. Dr De Castro has served on the National Bioethics Advisory Committee and the National Transplant Ethics Committee. He has been President of the Asian Bioethics Association, Vice Chair of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee, Vice Chair of the Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia and the Pacific, and a Bioethics Consultant to the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the European Union and the European Commission. He represented the Philippines in the UNESCO Inter-Governmental Bioethics Committee.
	Calvin Wai-Loon Ho (JSD) is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, as well as a Co-Director of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, of the University of Hong Kong. He is currently an Ethics Board member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), and was the Co-Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Bioethics in Singapore (2014-2019). He holds a doctorate in juridical science from Cornell University and was also trained in law at the National University of Singapore and University of Cambridge. He also read sociology and economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). Dr Ho’s research is primarily on the governance of health and biomedical technologies, and more generally on medical law and ethics, as well as the normative aspects of health systems (especially on health insurance and access to health) and global health.
	Sharon Kaur (LLB, MA, PhD) is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, where she has designed modules on healthcare law and ethics for undergraduate as well as postgraduate students. She also teaches on the Masters of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE) programme at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. Her research interests primarily revolved around medical research ethics and issues relating to the rights of marginalised populations. She is currently working on a number of projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of which relates to the challenges of data sharing in a middle-income country. Her postgraduate training was in Medical Law and Medical Ethics and her doctoral thesis addressed the role of research ethics committees in relation to clinical trials involving mentally incapacitated adults.
	Udo Schuklenk (PhD) is a German-born bioethicist and works as a Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University in Canada. He has published several books, including Access to Experimental Drugs in Terminal Illness: Ethical Issues; AIDS: Society, Ethics and Law; and The Power of Pulls: Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues in Drug Development, Marketing, and Pricing. He is a Joint Editor in Chief of Bioethics, a leading professional journal. He is also the founding editor of the number one professional outlet for bioethics content pertaining to developing world issues- Developing World Bioethics. He has acted as a reviewer for most leading bioethics journals, mainstream commercial publishers, as well as the Wellcome Trust, the US NIH and INSERM. He also established a web portal covering ethical, legal and social issue of HIV/AIDS in the developing world, and currently runs his own ethics blog.
	Vicki Xafis (PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics (CBmE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and is the SHAPES (Science, Health and Policy-relevant Ethics in Singapore) Programme Director. The SHAPES Initiative provides support and ethics expertise in biomedicine to policy-makers, government agencies, clinician-scientists, and other stakeholders. Vicki received her Master of Bioethics from Monash University and her PhD in ethics-law from The University of Adelaide. She has worked in the area of research ethics at Monash University, Deakin University, and the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria, Australia. Prior to NUS, she held a clinical ethics position at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. Vicki also has a background in linguistics, education, and research.
Moderators
	Gabriela Arguedas-Ramírez is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Women`s Studies at the Universidad de Costa Rica, where she teaches Bioethics and Feminist Topics. In 2015, as part of an alliance between the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Women’s Studies Research Center (CIEM) at the University of Costa Rica, she presented the results of her research on obstetric violence in Costa Rica, in a thematic audience for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. As a result of her research on obstetric violence, gender and human rights, she created the Reproductive Rights Observatory at the CIEM, University of Costa Rica. She has published articles about the ethics of genetic patents, obstetric power/violence, ecofeminism, religious fundamentalism and sexual rights. Her publications include a forthcoming Spanish translation of Dr. Steven Miles’s Doctors Who Torture: The Pursue of Justice (Universidad de Costa Rica Press, 2021), and Situación de los Derechos Humanos de Poblaciones Históricamente Discriminadas en Costa Rica (Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 2013), co-authored with Professor Monterrat Sagot.
	Alexander Atrio L. Lopez is an Instructor in Philosophy at the University of the Philippines Diliman where he is also finishing his MA Philosophy thesis. From the same institution, he graduated BA Philosophy, summa cum laude. He also has a degree in BS Basic Medical Sciences from the University of the Philippines Manila. His research interests are ethics, philosophy of mind, and aesthetics. Contact him via allopez1@up.edu.ph.
	King L Chow, PhD, as a Professor of Life Science, Chemical & Biological Engineering, serves as the Director of Interdisciplinary Programs Office overseeing Environment and Sustainability, Public Policy, Risk Management, Technology Management and various innovation programs at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He heads the Dean of Students Office supporting various student-oriented schemes beyond academic issues, including exchange program, career development and experiential learning. While his research focuses on genetics, development, evolution and synthetic biology, he engages in various teaching pedagogy initiatives and curricular development projects, teaches project courses, experiential courses, online courses; spearheads liberal arts and interdisciplinary education at the juncture cutting across science, engineering, social science and humanity at both UG and PG levels. He was the inaugural School of Science Teaching Award winner and was awarded the Michael G. Gale Medal of distinguished teaching at HKUST.
	Andrés Caicedo is Professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Colegio de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina. He obtained his Ph.D. with Honors in Biomedicine in 2013. He has specializations in Regenerative Medicine from the Biomedicine Research Institute and Biotherapies (IRMB) and in Management, both from the University of Montpellier. He is the leader of the “Biomedical Discovery Team”; his team is interested in the generation of new therapies for the repair of tissue affected by age, environmental stress, or damage. He also has experience in the understanding of the tumor microenvironment especially in how stem cells could affect its progression. In 2017 he was part of the awarded Innovators Under 35 in Latin America Prize by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review. He also won the 2017 Innovation Call “Ecuador Changes the World” for the Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Ecuador (AEI). Since 2019, he has been Member and Chairman of the Scientific Commission of the National Institute of Transplantation of Tissue Organs and Cells (INDOT). Since 2018, he has been responsible for the R&D department at “Sistemas Médicos USFQ”. In 2020 he was elected Regional Secretary of the International Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ISCT). He seeks to develop solid ventures with the support and interaction between the private sector, academia and government to position Ecuador and the region as leaders in the application of effective and safe stem cells-based therapies.
	Mary Ana Cordero Díaz is a MD with a Diploma of Humanities and Ethics. She is a Bioethics docent and the Wellbeing and Professionalism Program Coordinator for the medical residents and fellows at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. Her activities and research focuses on ethics, ethics in research, professionalism, the learning environment and the well-being of medical students, residents and physicians.
	Manuela Fernández Pinto is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Center for Applied Ethics at Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. She received her PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2014, and then conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Helsinki in 2015, before moving back to Colombia. Her latest research aims to understand biasing mechanisms in commercially-driven research today, particularly in clinical trials conducted by the pharmaceutical industry. Her research interests include social epistemology, the science and values debate, research ethics, and feminist philosophy of science.
	Jonathan R. Guillemot is a professor and researcher in gerontology at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador. Beyond his role as a lecturer, he is the director of the training programme of caregivers of older people. His interests include this sociology of aging (including caregiving attitudes towards older people and the political involvement of older people). His main ongoing research includes “osteoporosis drug selection processes in England and France”, “decision to protest among older indigenous people in Ecuador”, among others. He graduated in Gerontology at King’s College London, UK, and in Political Sociology at Universite de Lille 2, Lille, France.
	Indri Hapsari Susilowati graduated from the Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia (UI), majoring in Occupational Health and Safety in 1999 (Bachelor degree) and 2008 (Master degree). She earned her Ph.D. in Human Science Design from Kyushu University Japan in 2012. Her interest research in ergonomics, human factors, aging, and safe transportation. She is currently the Head of Occupational Health and Safety Department, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia, since 2016. She is also teaching Law and Ethics in Health courses in Health Cluster Science, Universitas Indonesia. In this course, students are taught to understand health problems with bioethical principles, both clinical/personal and community / public health. This course is attended by students from the UI Faculty of Public Health, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Pharmacy. She has achieved numerous awards at international conferences and has many publications in international and national journals. She also is writing a book about Indonesian Fall Risk Assessment Tools (I-FRAT) and Health Promotion in the Workplace.
	Monique Jonas is an ethical theorist based at the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has a Doctorate in Medical Ethics from Kings College London. Her current research focuses on the ethics of advising, ethical aspects of parenting and decision making for children and the relationship between the family and the state. Monique is the Chair of the Health Research Council Ethics Committee and has served on the National Ethics Advisory Committee and the National Health Committee in New Zealand.
	Leander Penaso Marquez is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He currently holds a graduate degree in Philosophy and another one in Education. He has published a number of articles in local and international journals as well as presented some of his research papers in various conferences in Asia and Europe. He has facilitated trainings of teachers in the teaching of subjects such as “Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person” and “Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century Culture”. Incidentally, he has also authored a textbook on the latter under the same title. Leander sits as co-chair of the Bioethics Working Group of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities Global Health Program (APRU-GHP). He is also serving as Junior Ambassador to the Philippines for the Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN). His research interests include Ethics, Epistemology, Philosophy for Children, Philosophy of Education, and Philosophy and Popular Culture.
	Honey Libertine Achanzar-Labor is Professor 5 in the University of the Philippines Manila and Program Coordinator of its BA Philippine Arts - Cultural Heritage and Arts Management Program. She received her BA Humanities (Pre-Medicine track) degree from the University of the Philippines, completed the MS Medical Anthropology coursework, and has a doctorate in Philippine Studies from the Asian Center in the same university, with a dissertation anchored on Anthropology of Art. She is a regular member of her university’s Research Ethics Board (UPREB), and a UP Centennial and One UP Professorial Chair Awardee. She was also named as University Artist by the UP system under the lens of its Arts Productivity Program, acknowledging her contribution in creative research, publication, and promotion of cultural heritage. She also served as Director of UP Manila’s Office of Student Affairs from 2011-2014. Her research interests include Southeast Asian Art, Anthropology of Art, and Medical Anthropology. Her most recent publications include a chapter in the Scopus-indexed book Religious Tourism in Asia: Tradition and Change Through Case Studies (Oxford: CABI, 2018), and journal articles: “Calle Faura: Cultural Heritage Amidst Conflict in Ermita, Manila” in The Calle Faura Journal 2017; 7-9 (ISBN 2599-4298) and “The Ibaloi of Benguet as Active Agents in Health Negotiations” in Philippine Journal of Health Research and Development (2018). As a response to the Marawi siege, she convened the conference, The Lost and the Retrieved: Cultural Heritage Amidst Conflict in 2017 and is Founding Executive Director of The Faura Project, Inc.
	María de Jesús Medina-Arellano, PhD obtained her law degree from the Autonomous University of Nayarit, Mexico (2004). In January 2008 she graduated with the equivalent of an MPhil at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During her postgraduate degree she focused on the new paradigm of Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights in Mexico. She obtained her PhD in Bioethics and Medical Jurisprudence in July, 2012, from the School of Law (Centre for Social Ethics and Policy and the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation) at the University of Manchester. Her PhD research focused on the regulation of stem cell research in developing countries (Mexico as a case study). From 2013-2014, Maria worked as Deputy of the Judicial School in the Local Court of Justice in Nayarit. Since September 2014 she has been a full-time researcher at the Institute for Legal Research at UNAM. Since January 2015, she has also been the Deputy of the College of Bioethics, a civil association in Mexico that gathers scientist and physicians working in the area of bioethics from practical and academic perspectives. Since April 2017, she has been a member of the advisory board at the National Commission of Bioethics in Mexico (CONBIOÉTICA). Since January 2016, she has coordinated the Diploma on Bioethics, Health and Law which is offered in the Institute for Legal Research.
	Nenita Baltazar-Panaligan is a Registered Nurse in the Philippines and Associate Professor at Cavite State University College of Nursing (CvSU- CON), supervising nursing and allied health undergraduate students. Prof. Panaligan handles professional courses on Research, Nursing Leadership and Management, Maternal and Child Care, and Community Health Nursing. She served as the first Clinical Coordinator and an Acting Dean of the CvSU CON, and managed the Research and Development Unit of the college. She is also involved in monitoring and supervision of the research and projects, ethical reviews and research linkages of the university. She has also served on the CvSU Ethics Review Board (ERB) and is an External /Medical Member of the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute Independent Ethics Committee (IEC). Prior to joining CvSU, Prof. Panaligan received her Master of Arts in Nursing degree major in Nursing Administration from the University of Santo Tomas and is pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing at University of the Philippines Manila. She is also a member of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Region IV-A Consortium Research Management Committee. As current president of the Philippine Nurses Association Cavite Chapter, much of her work focuses on promoting nurses’ welfare, social relevance and development. She is also the president of the Philippine Nursing Research Society Cavite Cell. Most of her research and extension works are focused on maternal and child care, community and public health, ethics, disaster research, gender and development, nursing education, administration and policy development.
	Diwa Malaya A. Quiñones is a research ethics reviewer of the Philippine Social Science Council’s Social Science Ethics Review Board. He was also recently appointed as chair of the Ethics Review Committee of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. As an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology in the same university, he offers undergraduate and graduate level social and political psychology courses. His research engagements revolve around political psychology, with a focus on civic engagement. Diwa earned his PhD in Social Psychology in 2019 after completing his dissertation on the forms and predictors of civic engagement in the Philippines.
	Sanjay Rampal is a Public Health Physician, and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. Dr Rampal was medically trained in India and has served in the Ministry of Health Malaysia (1998-2005). He obtained his MPH in 2004 from Harvard University and completed his PhD in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 2014. He is a member of the Global Network for Academic Public Health, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, and chairs the Specialty/Subspecialty Education Subcommittee for Public Health within the Malaysian Medical Council. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia and contributes actively to the College of Public Health Medicine. He had also previously chaired the Malaysian National Conjoint Committee for Public Health Postgraduate Medical Program. Dr Rampal’s research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease. He is particularly interested in elucidating common upstream factors of the different Non-Communicable Diseases. He hopes to further leverage this information to design and implement better prevention programs to improve our healthcare system.
	Indang Trihandini is a lecturer at Department of Biostatistics and Population, Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience in biostatistics, and community health curricula at the Faculty of Public Health – Universitas Indonesia. As long as her professional work includes an experience in analysing and conceptualizing and implementing operations research (OR) in many areas such as maternal, children underfive years, HIV-AIDS and also Quality of life on elderly in nationally and internationally. She has been widely published in international academic journals.
	Adik Wibowo holds titles of MD, MPH ,DrPH and full professor in Public Health at the Universitas Indonesia. She is among the pioneer of the public health establishment in Indonesia. She held many important positions at FPHUI, then in 1997 she was asked to join the WHO South East Asia Regional Office in New Delhi, India. After 7 years, she was promoted as Acting WHO Representative for Nepal, and further as full term WHO Representative for Myanmar. She dedicated her work for almost 15 years at the WHO international. She now resumed duties at the FPHUI as senior researcher and senior lecturer until present. In 2017 she founded the Global Heath Initiative Indonesia FPHUI , which soon will become a major in Global Health for the master’s degree in FPHUI. She has published 5 public health books which have become the main reference for the Indonesia public health education and numerous research publications.
	Mellissa Withers, PhD, MHS is Associate Professor at the Keck School of Medicine in the Department of Preventive Medicine. She is based at the University of Southern California Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. She also is also Director of the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, a non-profit network of 56 universities. She received a PhD from the Department of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health with a minor in cultural anthropology. She also holds a Master’s in International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA in international development from UC Berkeley. Her research interests lie in community participatory research, mental health, gender-based violence, immigrant health, and global sexual and reproductive health. Dr Withers is the editor of two books: Global Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Across the Lifecourse, and Global Health Leadership: Case Studies from the Asia-Pacific (in press). She has also published more than 40 scientific articles and serves on the editorial boards of six international global health journals. She also writes a blog on human trafficking titled Modern-Day Slavery for Psychology Today.
	Catherine Zhou, PhD is a Teaching Associate at the Office of the Dean of Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Prior to this she worked at the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has a PhD degree in computer science and engineering and currently focuses on research postgraduate student education. Her teaching and research interests include research integrity, emotional resilience and intelligence, and mentorship. She is in charge of the research postgraduate student professional development program within the School of Engineering. Catherine is interested in student-centered teaching and learning strategies, such as e-learning, blended learning, flipped classroom, and experiential learning.
Assistants
	Frida Romay Hidalgo is a Mexican lawyer from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) interested in global health, antimicrobial resistance, bioethics, and gender equity. She has been a research assistant in several projects at the Legal Research Institute at UNAM and the Mexican National Institute of Public Health. She is currently volunteering in the non-governmental organization Movimiento CUS as coordinator of bioethics and providing workshops on prevention and health promotion in marginalized communities. She has also worked on legal and public policy issues in the public and private sectors. One of her goals is to pursue a master's degree in global health and work to make the world a more equitable place so that everyone is guaranteed the universal right to health protection.
	Zaira Janet Gutiérrez Contreras is a psychologist in charge of the prevention and attention to gender violence module of the Specialized Unit for Gender Equality and Equity. Zaira is a psychologist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She has a specialty as a sexuality educator and gender violence psychotherapist. She completed the diploma in Bioethics, Health and Biolaw at the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM and the APRU Course on Ethics in Global Health in 2020. Her areas of interest are gender, sexuality, violence prevention, comprehensive well-being and bioethics. Her work is dedicated to the promotion of sexual and reproductive rights, in addition to providing sexuality education workshops to populations of various ages. She also provides accompaniment to women who decide on their bodies. Her motto "Educate to prevent" inspires her to accompany people of all ages to provide information and create experiences from teaching. She currently works in the gender unit of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana unit Cuajimalpa (UAM-Cuajimalpa) providing care to people who have experienced gender-based violence and promoting actions to prevent it, as well as providing advice to offenders.
	Haytham A. Sheerah is an epidemiologist who specializes in Nutrition Epidemiology, Non-Communicable Diseases, and Global health. Currently, Dr. Sheerah is accepted in the Global Clinical Scholars Research Training (GCSRT) 2021 Post-Graduate Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sheerah has completed his doctoral degree from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine Department of Public Health in 2020. Prior to this, he had received his bachelor's degree from King Saud University - Medical School in 2012. Dr. Sheerah worked in 2013 at King Saud University at The Center of Excellence in Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CETH) as a Project Manager. Afterward, in 2014 he worked at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre as a coordinator for national hemophilia research. For the past couple of years, Dr. Sheerah was involved in several cohort research studies. His interest and dedication to global health drove him to be a student ambassador in APRU Global Health. He is active in the 'Your DNA, Your Say' genetic research project.
	Susiana Nugraha earned a Bachelor of Public Health, A. Yani School of Health Sciences, Bandung. She also graduated from The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Nagasaki University, Japan. She is currently a PhD Candidate at Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia. She works as a lecturer and researcher in Public Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Respati Indonesia. She is also Vice Director of Center for Family and Aging Studies (CeFAS) University of Respati Indonesia. She is the founder of OASE KUTAI TIMUR, East Borneo, a non-government organization for nutritional issues in under-five children.
	Bonardo Prayogo Hasiholan is a master's student of Occupational Health and Safety in Universitas Indonesia. He graduated from Universitas Indonesia with a Bachelor of Public Health in 2018. He is currently a research assistant for ergonomics study in Center for Assessment and Application of Occupational Health and Safety, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia. His interest areas are public health, ergonomics, and aging. He has been involved in various research and community services in public health, occupational health and safety, aging, and ergonomics. He has scientific article publications in several international journals. He also assists the lecture in the essential public health and ergonomics class for the bachelor program.